A Day in the Life

Have you ever had a perfect day in which you found complete bliss in all things comfortable and familiar? Yesterday was one of those days. I love slow, easy, late-summer Sundays and yesterday we started our day with breakfast at Manna Cafe, where we ran into our friend Phyllis. Ivy showed Phyllis many of her tricks and then we drove a mile north up Sherman Ave. to the Northside Farmers Market (even though we live in a city with what many consider the best & largest farmers market in the country, we prefer the smaller Northside and Eastside markets). Ivy helped us pick out eggplants and peppers and charmed the farmers with her animal sounds.

Ivy woke up from her afternoon nap and played with her daddy while I made a lovely and luscious ratatouille. (The recipe comes from the book, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg - check out the recipe for Roasted Eggplant Ratatouille on page 124 and please tell me that this is the best ratatouille that you've ever made and eaten, too.) Ivy is a great eater and gobbled up every last spoonful of her ratatouille and chunks of baguette. She also presented us with signs that she's going to be a great cook and helper in the kitchen.

After dinner we sprawled in the living room and, after a few moments of angelic rest, Ivy ditched the halo . . .

. . . and attempted a swan dive from the loveseat.

Our day was a perfect one and we all went to bed early and content. Kevin and I are on vacation this week and we look forward to many more moments of family bliss.

Our Happy Adoption Day!

Ivy's adoption was finalized on Wednesday, July 1st. We've been an authentic family since the minute we took her into our arms on November 26, but the finalization hearing officially puts our names on Ivy's birth certificate and grants American citizenship. (This is a simplified explanation of the process.)

I've been focused on being a mom to our 16-month-old toddler and really didn't spend a lot of time pondering the significance of the hearing, so I was surprised at the tears of happiness that welled in my eyes as Kevin, Ivy and I sat down in the courtroom with my parents, sister, nephew, niece and Tantes Kimi & Mimi. I was glad that they were all with us on our special day. Ivy happily played with my necklace throughout the 10-minute hearing.

Judge Ebert finalized our friend Natalie's adoption in April and we were glad that we were assigned to him, too. July 1st was his last day serving as a Dane County judge before his retirement and he was thrilled to spend some of his morning with us. He gave Ivy a giant teddy bear that she absolutely adores.

July 1st is an important day; not only is it Ivy's adoption day, but it's also my parents' wedding anniversary and Tante Kimi's birthday. We gathered up our dear ones and enjoyed a celebratory lunch at our house after the hearing. There was so much to celebrate and my sister surprised us with lovely little handmade dolls that look like our family. Readers of previous blog postings might recognize the clothes that the artist painted on each doll.

To our great joy, we're an official forever family.

Thank you to everyone for all the support and love you've given us these past 14 months.

On this day, May Twentieth

Exactly one year ago today, Kevin and I met with our adoption agency for the very first time:

Exactly six months ago today, Kevin and I received our travel call, telling us that Ivy was ready to fly home to Madison:

Exactly Today:

Oh, Happy Day.

Weekend celebrations

This weekend was a celebratory one. Today is Ivy's 14-month birthday and she wore a fancy sun hat, a spring dress and her sweetest smiles.

Another birthday was observed in South Korea this weekend. Korean Buddhists marked the birth of Buddha on May 2nd. The festivities in Seoul were spectacular as thousands flocked to the streets for nighttime parades; here in Madison the three of us reveled at home in our greening backyard -- the blue sky our dome, the afternoon sun our temple bell and Ivy our baby bodhisattva.

We all come together as one, singing and dancing under a shower of pink lotus petals.

Lacking lotus flowers in our Madison garden, we painted them on scraps of fabric, made a garland and hung our cheery lotus flags on our pergola where they fluttered in the breeze all afternoon. Ivy liked watching them during our Buddha's Birthday picnic on the grass.

Afterwards we relaxed on the deck in the shade of our sun umbrella . . .

. . . laughing and finding joy on this enlightened day.

We hope that you've all had a peaceful weekend.

Happy Earth Day

The weather was beautiful on this Earth Day and we spent a lot of time outside. My favorite time of the day was after dinner, when the three of us went into the backyard and basked in the late afternoon sunshine.

Ivy explored the gardens and discovered all the new growth, budding trees and garden ornaments that survived the winter.

We sat on the deck with our own little Drop of Golden Sun. I gathered fallen wisteria seeds that I hope to germinate and transfer to the garden later this summer while Ivy and Kevin played with a slinky that I picked up at a meeting last week. It was a perfect, beautiful way to end the day.

I've always loved Earth Day and it holds a special, sacred place in my heart; my grandpa Ottmar passed away on Earth Day in 1988, which I think is fitting for a man who spent his life on the Mississippi River. I thought of him today and smiled when I realized how much he would have enjoyed his youngest great-grandchild. I think that they would have been very good friends.

(A special note to my knitter friends - in honor of Earth Day, Ivy is wearing a dress that I knitted for her! It's a little too big and I have some ideas for altering the pattern when I make it the next time.)

Sweet professions

When I grow up I want to be a:






First I'll hone my skills by playing pat-a-cake over & over with my Aunt Kersten:


Then my cousin and I will buy matching outfits and we'll devour cookbooks until we find the world's most perfect cupcake recipes:



But, until then, I'm going to spend lots of time hanging out in river town bakeries with my Grandma



and Grandpa.






(And I'll observe how an expert baker makes the magic happen by spending lots of time crawling around with my cousins on our grandma's spotless kitchen floor.)





And, speaking of professions and what we want to be when we grow up, I returned to work today after a 12-week family leave. The last few weeks have been difficult for me. I was quite sick in mid-February (which accounts for the lack of brilliant posts this month) and last week I grew sad every time I thought of all the special moments I would miss throughout the day when my family leave came to an end. But today was truly wonderful and the most difficult part of the day was walking out the door at 7:00 this morning. I've missed my friends at work, all of whom have been fiercely supportive of us over the past 9 months, and today they welcomed me back to the office with a lovely surprise breakfast of homemade quiches, muffins, sweet breads and fruit. I accomplished so much today and this long break has allowed me to step back and view my routines in a new light and change those that are ineffective or no longer working for me. I've returned to the office with a renewed sense of purpose and vigor and I'm looking forward to working on some special projects in the weeks ahead. Heartfelt thanks to all my working mom friends and to my loving mom & sister for letting me cry on their shoulders and for sharing their strength and wisdom.


Kevin is now on family leave for the next several weeks and knowing that the Loves of my life are spending their days together makes my heart swell. I returned home shortly before Ivy woke up from her afternoon nap and Kevin and I sat down with cups of tea and talked about our days before Ivy awoke - being home when she woke up and getting her out of her crib this afternoon was glorious. She smiled at and reached for me and I held her in my arms and inhaled her sweet baby sleepiness. I know that I'll be exhausted from time to time and I know that there will be days when I feel like I'm an unwilling participant in a juggling act, but I needed today to show me that I will be able to balance both parts of my life.

Yes we did!

Kevin took today off from work so we could spend this special day together as a family.  Happiness abounds for us in 2009 and today we showed Ivy that we actually own a TV and she even had her lunch during President Obama's Inauguration ceremony.  I think that Ivy's avocados perfectly match the color of the gloves that Michelle Obama wore today.

We turned off the TV shortly after noon and sat in the warm sunshine of the porch.  It was a bright, sun-shiney day.

First pig tails

Pig tails add so much joy to life.