Adoption Day - Revisited

I never finished posting about Adoption Day (January 2nd) - I posted our 2-year video but did not ever post about the actual day. It was pretty low-key. We went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner, Mari ate off my plate and ignored hers (what's new?), I gave her a couple presents, we had ice cream cake, then she colored on my couch with markers and Happy Adoption Day was over. That's it in a nutshell! But here are a few details.....

In recognizing Mari’s Adoption Day, I try to accomplish two things…celebrate her home country and heritage and celebrate her uniqueness and individuality. This year she received two gifts.

The first one was an Ethiopian flag (representing the flag from when she was born - it changes quite frequently). I was very surprised by how much she loved it…granted, she thought it was a blanket and has a recently developed fascination with blankets, but I was still surprised by how happy this gift made her. BTW, she knew instantly that it was an Ethiopian flag…she opened it and said “Ee-ti-o-pee-a!!”

The other gift was a doll. I’ve struggled with dolls with Mari. She has NO interest, whatsoever, in playing with dolls. I’m trying to foster this a little bit because I worry about her ability to nurture and show empathy…she actually is very good at feeling empathy but lacks in the physical acts of nurturing. I thought that maybe a doll that looked like her would help. A fellow adoptive mom sent me a picture of a doll she had had made by an Etsy artist pmsusie (crafter, sewer, seller, whatever you call them….she is definitely an artist!). It had the most adorable face ever and was like nothing I could find on the market anywhere. I contacted her and asked her to make a doll for Mari. I sent her a couple pix of Mari and even the link to our blog so she could capture the “spirit of Mari.”
Not only is she an amazingly easy person to work with and very gracious, but she really puts her heart into her work…it’s not just about making dolls to sell, it’s about making someone very happy. Before she shipped the doll, she emailed me some pix to make sure I approved (I did - the doll was amazing!). So when the doll arrived and I opened the box, I was moved to tears by the surprise within. I saw yellow fabric and I thought, “hmmm…what’s this?” Not only had she gone back through the blog to look at pix but she had used my post on Mari’s Raffey as an inspiration…and made a little Raffey for Mini-Mari. I was so surprised and blown away by this gracious act.When Mari opened her doll…she said “It’s ME! Mommy, it’s ME!!” Yes, Mari, this doll represents you completely - cheerful, adorable, whimsical, light-hearted, and full of joy.

Thanks pmsusie!!
I think she liked her gifts...she even shared the real "Raffey" with Mini-Mari.

Week 4 of 52

2010: 01/28

Yes, that's Pluto on her cheek.

Donald Duck is on the other side, in case you're wondering.

2010: 01/27

We've had some rough times lately. I snapped this picture of Mari as she was watching her "One Year Home" video. She told me that she wanted to "be a baby" and "not be Mari anymore." What a struggle between dependence and independence. I'm amazed and frightened by her level of empathy and emotion. 2010: 01/26
Monkey bread.
YUM!
Yes, Mari helped make it....helped a lot actually.
2010: 01/25
Probably the worst night of our lives, behavior-wise.
Can't imagine it has anything to do with the increasing frequency of her nebs.

2010: 01/24

Playing alphabet game on her LeapFrog computer.
2010: 01/23
During Playgroup with a Purpose

Mari got in trouble and I took her to her room for a couple minutes, Madi got very upset about this and needed to come along for some calm down time too.

2010: 01/22

Mari was pretty sick this day with a bad cold, respiratory infection.

She is actually throwing a tantrum because she said she was "too sick to take a nap."

I think the picture proves that she needs a nap really badly!

Week 3 of 52

Again....going from most recent to earliest. Another week down. Hopefully this coming week will be more exciting!

2010: 01/21

Mari playing with an umbrella indoors. GASP!

Also one of my first Photoshop Elements Projects - just playing with color

2010: 01/20

Blue-nosed Amari - new species of bathtub fish

2010: 01/19

On a crusade to stay away from fast food.

Less than 15 minutes, less than $10, leftovers for 2 meals

2010: 01/18

We recently had pix done. I put this one on our end table. Mari will not leave it alone, she carries it all over the house and calls it "US."

She has even taken "US" to bed - feels good to be a part of us!

2010: 01/17
What happens when I leave Mari alone painting while I head for a shower.
To each their own....
2010: 01/16
Mari and Cousin Madi got to spend the day together last Saturday.
I think they like each other.
2010: 01/15
Mari squirms around more in her big girl bed than she ever did in her crib.
The blanket is one I used when she first came home and she was doing "floor time." She recently found it and I showed her pix of her playing on it as a baby. It is now her "baby blanket" and she is becoming very attached to it.

Another exciting week!! I bet you were on the edge of your seat the whole time, huh?

Another Week of Pix

Yes, already falling behind on the posting. Yes, I still owe you a couple of posts from some other things (like Adoption Day). Yes, I promise I will post more often...as soon as life settles down again (so, when Mari's about 25ish).

Here is Week 2 in pictures (yes, we are already well into Week 3 and I have some really funny pix for it but you have to wait!). Week 2 was not terribly exciting, sorry. And they are in order from most recent to earliest; can't really figure out what format I want to do but it'll do for now.

Week 2 of 52

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2010: 01/14

Attempting to reorganize, cleanout, and simplify. Today's task was the hair accessories. This is what we started with....I got it ALL into one large, 3-drawer container.

2010: 01/13

Meet Britney and Alvin

"We're the Chipettes, UH-HUH!"

"Hello, Gorgeous!"

2010: 01/12

Reorganization at it's most complicated. This "Art Cabinet" used to be the pet pantry. The pet food is now in the cabinet that used to hold the vacuum sealer and miscellaneous small kitchen appliances. The small kitchen appliances are now in the big kitchen drawer that used to hold miscellaneous sippy cups, bowls, parts of bottles, etc. All that baby stuff is now in a box awaiting yard sale! That was a 3 hour project that I decided to do spur-of-the-moment.
2010: 01/11
My little Medusa!

2010: 01/10

Mari typically rips socks off every chance she gets. She must have been really cold to go grab two pairs out of her drawer and stick them on her feet.

2010: 01/09

Mari and I went to have pictures done professionally. Here's Mari with her luscious curls waiting on me to get ready.

2010: 01/08

Mari sharing her stickers with Raffey. Guess she didn't want him to see what she was watching on TV.

Wow! Wasn't that exciting?? Welcome to our lives. Day-by-day. Pretty thrilling, huh?

Awesome Art

Do you LOVE this as much as I do?

Click on the picture to check out Jodi's awesome art.

"Even the Mighty Oceans of the World Could Not Keep My Heart From You"

Week 1/52 - A Picture a Day

I've decided to play along with some fellow bloggers and post a picture for every day of the year. I got the idea from Angie, who did this for most of last year...she is an incredible photographer and I have no hopes of coming close to achieving the beauty she does on her blog. But....armed with a new camera and Photoshop Elements (and the Dummies book to go along with it), I figured I'd give it a try. After all, I usually take lots of pix daily and I'm always posting them to FB...now I'm making myself narrow it down to one a day. And it's not always going to be about the best picture of the day...this will document our lives. Our daily, sometimes monotonous, somtimes exciting, sometimes strange life.

Oh, and I don't have the energy to put up with blogger's antics every day, so I will be posting my daily pix on a weekly schedule. I will also be doing regular posts in between when I feel like it.

Here we go.....

Week 1 of 52

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2010: 01/07

Mari's badly dehydrated hair need some hot coconut oil but I couldn't find the shower cap...

2010: 01/06

Bubble blowing is hard work

2010: 01/05

no caption necessary

2010: 01/04
The best part about doctor's visits? The exam table paper!
Never leave home without crayons in your purse!

2010: 01/03
Little People Parade

2010: 01/02

Adoption Day Gift - Ethiopian Flag

Mari LOVED it, although she thinks it's a blanket!

(more on Adoption Day soon - it deserves a separate post)

2010: 01/01

Could there be any sweeter start to a new year?

Cousins and BFFs napping together after a hard day of playing together

Happy Adoption Day

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