Summer Fun /Race for the Cure!!

Sara has been having so much fun playing outside!!! All she wants to do is go outside. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been cooperating too much, but we manage to get outside as much as we can. We had a great Mother's Day, mainly because we spent the day together. The Tornado Warning kinda put a damper on things, but we had fun with family. Gary got me a gorgeous silver heart necklace from Tiffany's with Sara's initials on it. He did good!!


Sara and Great Grandma just love each other!!

We broke down and bought Sara a new play set. She likes it, but she just goes around to everyone's and plays on them.
We took Sara to a Birthday party at "Pump it Up" this weekend. She LOVED going down this slide. It was like 20 ft high. By the end of the night, she was going down all by herself and refused to ride on our laps. The only bad part was, she couldn't quite climb up the ladder and Gary and I had to climb up with her every time!
Saturday was Race for the Cure. Every year I would look at the babies in strollers and say "maybe next year...". This year, people couldn't stop saying how cute she was. She did great, too.

5 years ago today

As long as I live, I will never forget May 7, 2003. At 7:30 pm, I got a call from my Surgeon. "I wanted to make sure your husband is coming with you to your appointment tomorrow." Hearing that was all I needed. I don't even remember the rest of that conversation. I just knew that the biopsy I had taken wasn't nothing, it was Cancer. That was the day my life changed forever. I was 33 years old, I had been married for 2 1/2 years and Gary and I were desperate to start a family. The last thing I expected was Cancer. I went through months of grueling Chemotherapy and surgeries. Days would pass that I couldn't lift my head off of my pillow and couldn't even drink water. My friends and family were so wonderful to me and I will never forget that.

The day after my appt with my Surgeon, we saw an Oncologist. The first thing he said to me was "I don't think it's too late." He also told me conceiving a child was out of the question. At that point, I thought my life may as well have been over. I sobbed and sobbed, thinking we could never have a child and Gary promised me we would. I never forgot that. I think that hope helped me get through those horrible days.

Who knows where our lives would have taken us if we didn't experience Cancer. Would Sara be in our lives? Probably not. We had looked into adoption before my illness and considered China. China is out of the question once you've had Cancer. Actually, we thought all adoption was. I never really believed things happen for a reason, but maybe in this case, it's true. Maybe if I hadn't had Cancer, I would have had a different career and never met my dear friend who encouraged me to explore adoption, even with my past illness. I know it may sound crazy, but it was all worth it because now we have our Sara. She was definitely chosen for us. Life is way too short and full of surprises. Anyone "thinking" about anything should "just do it".

6 months ago!!

I can't believe it's been 6 months since we met Sara! We can't imagine life without her. Tomorrow she will be 18 months old! So much in our lives has changed since we met Sara. We never knew how hard this parenting and working thing would be. That is why I (Sue) have decided to step down from my Manager position and take a 30 hr/ week job as a Sales Associate at Saks. I am so looking forward to having an extra day a week with Sara and so much less stress!

Here are some additional "Sara" things:
Vocabulary- now she says pretty, go, kitty, Jakey (the sitter's son), pee (really! Mommy said it once), T (for the sitter, Teresa)

She is still obsessed with dogs and really loves babies. Now that the weather is warmer, she wants to play outside all of the time. We are so lucky to have this angel (did I mention that before, ever??)
Here are some memories of "then" and some pictures of now!

The day we met!

And NOW!!!

Sad news!!!

We heard some very sad news today! Effective Sept 1, adoptions will be closing between the US and Vietnam. You can read all about it here:

http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/irreg_adoptions042508.htm

My heart aches for those who have been anxiously awaiting their referrals. Some families started the adoption process the same time we did! We will hug Sara extra hard this weekend! We are so lucky to have this happy, healthy, gorgeous little girl. She's pretty smart too! We have thought at times about getting a second child, but with this latest development, we probably will not pursue another adoption. We are just so blessed to have this precious little angel!

Our first day with our Sara

Scott, one of our travel mates, has posted video of our trip to the Orphanage to meet Sara. Check it out!
scottlan.blogspot.com
Wow! Does that bring back memories! We feel like we have know Sara her whole life!

17 months old!

Sara turned 17 months on Saturday, which means she has been with us for 5. It's hard to remember life before this precious little girl. Here are some things she does:

Vocabulary:
She says "good girl" (my favorite), Gigi (the dog), doggy, puppy, mama, daddy, dada, baby, that, guys, yeah!, uh-oh, thank you, hi, gentle, gotcha.

Food:
Wow! Does she love to eat! Some of her favorites are-
chicken, rice, noodles, edema me, cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, ravioli, egg rolls, cheese, cheerios. She does not like red meat, which is very funny, because Mommy does not eat red meat.

Play:
Sara LOVES to play outside and is mainly interested in the neighborhood dogs. We are dying for the weather to get warm. Our neighbors gave us a Cozy Coupe and she LOVES it. Every time we go to put her in the car seat, she tries to get down so that she can play with it. She loves other kids and babies, although she can be a little bit aggressive at times. As I have mentioned before, she could spend hours buckling the buckles on her stroller and now she can buckle her car seat. She has a play stroller that she pushes around all day long, putting anything she can inside. She also likes to put things inside other things.

Sleeping:
Sara is an amazing sleeper. She naps for about 2 hrs/day and sleeps about 12 hrs/night. We never have any trouble getting her to go to sleep. We just say "night night" and she waves to us and we don't usually hear a peep out of her until the next morning.

Other "Sara things"
She gives kisses, she LOVES animals, she seems to adapt to everything. She is pretty much happy all of the time and has quite a sense of humor. She loves her bath and loves to run around naked before and after while we chase her so she doesn't pee on the carpet. She does not like to cuddle too much, she is way too busy, although mommy is always trying. She is VERY social and pretty much has no fear. When she knows she's not supposed to do something, she shakes her finger no, no, no. We have decided that we got the perfect child for us. Now only if she would stop drooling and putting everything in her mouth.

Kona matches Sara's room!! She loves any house with a dog!!

Our Jewish Vietnamese American Princess with Bunny ears. She loves her friend Caroline!!

Post-placement

Saturday we had our Post-placement visit for Sara with a Social Worker. I think she was pretty impressed with Sara's adjustment and her vocabulary. Going forward, we are required to send written reports twice a year for the first 3 years, then once a year with pictures until she's 18 so that the Vietnamese government can see how she's doing. Other than that, not too much is going on. We found a new child care provider for Sara. This is her last week at the current sitter's house, which is sad. We thought Sara would be there for a long time.