We're going on a bear hunt

We're gonna catch a big one. What a Beautiful Day....

While we were at our travel group reunion in Savannah last month our friends the Palumbos had this book. Sophia took right to it and I knew right away we had to have it for her ever growing library of children's books we have been amassing since before her arrival into our family. Sophia LOVES to read and we do it several times a day always ending the day with the same three books.

Brown Bear a true classic children's book, Good Night Gorilla, an other classic

and a little book I found in our favorite book store in Savannah, Ga~ E. Shaver books.

The book is simply called Good Night.

The main character in the book looks very similar to Sophia so we sort of have renamed the book to be Good night Sophie. We read these same three books every night before bed. I have been adding in one more book that rotates in relation to the holiday or season. We just finished reading a boat load of valentines books and Chinese New Year books. We have now moved on the books about St. Patrick's Day and the Lantern Festival. Any way I got off track there after reading We're going on a bear hunt I knew we had to add this to the collection. I Love it for the illustrations and for the content of the book. It is a very simple story about some children and there father going on a bear hunt and the obstacles that lie in their way. I like this book because the adult in the book is a father. Which has prompted Sophia to want to "Go on a bear hunt" every afternoon with her daddy. She is so cute when he gets home from work she grabs his hand and says come on daddy we have to go catch a bear..going on a bear hunt daddy... I captured these pictures yesterday as Sophia and her daddy headed out on there bear hunt.... I love them..:)

We're going on a bear hunt

Evan

It was a sad day in The Little Gym this past Saturday. Sophia's favorite teacher Evan announced that he is leaving The Little Gym for a great opportunity in a local private school. She loves to go to his class and asks me all the time if we can go see Evan. I think she has a little Baby crush on him, she lights up when she sees him. Evan is such a great guy and a wonderful Gym teacher. He is always enthusiastic with the class. His voice is booming, just what you need when you teach a class full of toddlers under 3 years old. He makes Gym fun and changes things enough each time to keep in interesting for the kids. We are all sad to see him go but wish him well on the next chapter in his life. One bright spot is that Evan will be continuing to work at the The Little Gym on a limited basis doing the Birthday Parties and special activities. This make us very happy because we have scheduled Sophia's Birthday party to be at The Little Gym this year. Evan told me he would be there to do her Birthday Party for sure :)


Good Luck Evan you will be missed...

sorry some of the pictures are blurry it is hard to get pictures of kids and teachers in motion :)

Adoption

The topic of how to talk to Sophia about adoption has been on our minds a lot lately for some reason. I guess because she is growing so fast and learning so much we don't want to miss the opportunity to make it part of her every day language. Obviously she will always know that she looks different from us but the details of that she will have many questions about. We are trying to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of questions that will inevitably come. We don't know the answers and maybe never will but we are searching for a way to express to her that she has always been loved by us, before we knew her and by her birth mother because she chose life for her and by her foster mother because she gave her so much love and care while she was in China before we became a family. Today I received an email from a Grandmother I befriended during "The Wait" . Her daughter was also in the process of waiting for her daughters referral from China. Grandma B sent a letter that I wanted to share. It gives a glimpse at what is in store for Sophia as she grows and a glimpse into the spirit of a child's mind.

The letter frmo Grandma B
"Thought you might like to hear R's story. She is a blond, blue eyed 5 yr old, very verbal and outgoing. She was adopted domestically as a new born. Her mother, M, is often amazed by her antics.The one thing R did not want to discuss was the being adopted...until after Lauren came. Family and friends had a party to welcome her and R was there and thoroughly enjoyed the celebration. A few days later R's teacher called."Mrs. M. it's about R...she is going around telling the other children that she is adopted." "She is"Silence...then an incredulous voice of the teacher asked, "From CHINA???" Seems that the party had convinced R that adoption was a wonderful thing. She also was confused about how China fit into the picture, but that if you were adopted you are from there.At Christmas, R's children's choir was waiting their turn to sing. M noticed that she was wearing an angry face and talking to the little girl next to her. After the children sang their director came to talk to M."Did you notice that R was upset?" "Yes, and I am sorry if she did something she shouldn't""No apology needed...I wanted to give her a big hug. The girl next to her said, "Nobody wanted you and that is why you are adopted." R glowered and replied, "You are wrong! EVERYBODY wants me!"May our little ones always have the confidence and assurance that they are from a special country, and that everybody in their family wants them."

A decision

We have decide to continue this blog as you know from recent post. However, we have decide to take it private. There has not been any real issue, but for a number of reasons we decide that for now the best thing for us is to make the blog private. What this means is that you will have to be invited by us the blog authors through Blogger to be a reader. I have sent out invitations to most of the people I know still read the blog. If I missed you please send me an e-mail and I will be happy to send you an invitation. We so appreciate you sticking around to see Sophia grow and to witness our lives unfold as a family of three. We hope that you will continue to do so in the future....

Reunion time

We had a GREAT month......

Jan 4th Sophia started school and loved it. We were so happy that she really seemed to enjoy going and the new environment. We of course have all had some adjusting to do to the new schedule but I think things are going pretty normally with the whole experience. You know moms always worry to much and i am no exception. School has been a lesson for me as well as for Sophia in letting go and letting grow.....

On Jan 16th we took vacation and meat with three of the other families we traveled to China with when we adopted Sophia. We spent a week with them enjoying each others company and of course enjoying the kids. There were five kids total and it was such a wonderful thing to see how they have all grown and changed so much since our time together in China. The girls all love each other and played together really well considering they are all pretty much the same age (2 1/5 to 3 years old). Savannah is such a great little southern city and provided the perfect backdrop for some really great pictures. We spent most of the week strolling around from one coffee shop to the next or from one Pub to the next. Lots of coffee, wine, and best of all laughter. We just love the families we traveled with and feel VERY fortunate to call them life long friends. We are already planning for next years reunion....LOL .. here are a few pictures from the trip..

LilyKate Love, Claire Palumbo, Sophia Rizzo, Eleanor Love and Stephanie Gonzalas

February promises to be a busy month for us with things planned for several weekends. We are going to do a Journey to Discovery program at Sophia's School on Feb. 6th. This program is designed to help parents fully understand the Montessori method of learning. We are really looking forward to this. I really want to get Sophia into an Art class so I am on the hunt for something age appropriate in our area. If you know of anything please drop me a line. We are excited that this year Chinese New Year falls on Valentines Day. The decoration possibilities have me giddy LOL...not sure what are plans are yet but it should be fun. The weather has been so wonderful this week that we are going to squeeze a trip into Disney World on Saturday.

We are still waiting for a fingerprinting appointment from USCIS so we can move forward with our second adoption. Riz and I are both anxious to complete this and bring a sister home for Sophia.

Go check out the new blog and read all about Sophia's first day at school

Our Montessori Journey

A Brand New Year

All Signs of Christmas are gone and the house is clean. It is January 3rd and a New Year is upon us. One of my many New Years resolutions was to blog more often so I am starting off on a good foot by writing down some of the things that are going on in our lives right now. We had a wonderful Christmas and a very quiet New Year Eve and New Years Day this holiday season. Riz and I don't like to be out on the road on New Years Eve so we usually stay home and watch the ball drop in NCY on TV. We did the same this year too. Sophia was fast asleep by the time that happened tho. We did let her stay up a bit later but by 9pm she said to us "time to sleep" So we took her up to bed and tucked our girl in for the last time in 2009. Riz and I stayed up watching TV and reflecting on the year we have had. It is amazing the changes in Sophia in the last year. She has gotten taller by nearly 4 inches and has gained 4.5 pound since last year this time. Her hair has grown and is now past her shoulders (not for long we get hair cuts on Wednesday). The thing that amazes us the most is how her mind has grown in the last year. Every single day she amazes us with a new word,phrase or action that we haven't seen before. Tomorrow starts a whole new world for Sophia and for her mommy and daddy as well. Sophia will be starting school at a great Montessori School not far from our house. We have been preparing her by talking about school, reading her books about going to school, taking her there several times just to look around and her favorite TV show right now is Little Bill. We love Little Bill too because it focuses on age appropriate things for preschoolers. We are all very excited about her first day of school even if mom and dad are going to be a bit choked up. See it seems when you adopt a 15 month old child everything is in fast forward and every little milestone is a HUGE milestone to be celebrated. My plan is to start a blog that follows our Montessori Journey. I have started working on it and hope to have a post ready for tomorrow night. I will post the link here tomorrow night if I get it ready in time. We are excited about what this next yer has in store for us.

Thanks for keeping up with us :)

Happy Holidays

So much is going on with the hustle and bustle of the Holidays.

I wanted to take a moment out to update the blog.

I have been away to long and really miss putting my thoughts down here.

I was recently looking back at a few old post and realize just how much I have missed blogging. It was so wonderful to look back and relive some of what has happened to our lives in the past few years. A sort of trip down memory lane if you will. It got me thinking that this blog is much more then about "right now" or about us. It is more about Sophia and preserving memories for her. I always want her to know she was loved from the moment she was thought about. We want her to hold dear memories and traditions of our family. We feel like it is our job to create those memories and traditions for her and then preserve them for her in some way. We have begun to do that in many ways even before this year, the blog being one of them. We have added a few new things this year like attending the Candle Light Processional at EPCOT. We want her to know that the true spirit of the season is about giving to others. We want Sophia to understand that we have a responsibility to others and that giving is not only a responsibility but a pleasure as well. This year we picked an angle off of a Salvation Army tree and shopped for a 2 year old little girl. We have donated clothes,food and toys to a local a charity as well. We know she is still young and probably wont grasp what we are doing but we feel it is important to teach her these things early so they are just part of her normal routine. We believe that we have been blessed with so much and we want to share that where and when we are able.

Our Christmas looks like this so far. Every Christmas Eve we used to attend Midnight Mass at our church but with a small child that is just not possible so we are going to the Mass at 4:30 on Christmas Eve. Our Church does a Live Nativity with the Children's Choir. It is a spectacular Mass that depicts the Nativity Story with the Children in the Church playing the lead rolls, The Children's Choir does all the music and Live Animals come right down the middle of the church. It is truly a beautiful thing to witness. After that we will return home to start to prepare for Santa Clause to come. Riz and I have been having a very none traditional Christmas Eve Feast of Chinese Food Every year since we started waiting for Sophia to join our family. So we will again do that. Then Sophia will get her bath and then into her Pj's That the Elves left her while we were at Mass. Daddy will read "Twas the night before Christmas" and then Mommy and Sophia will leave out Milk and Cookies (Sophia wants to leave Fortune Cookies) for Santa . Sophia told me last night we can't forget the reindeer so I have to get some carrots for them too. Then it is off to bed for Sophia. Mommy and Daddy will have a long night of putting together toys that Grandparents bought her. Everything we got her is already put together :)(Smart mommy and Daddy). Last year was our first year as a family at Christmas, but this year Sophia is very aware of the whole experience and is very excited to experience anything and everything Christmas related. We are so really looking forward to Christmas morning seeing her face when she comes down the stairs and sees what Santa has left for her. We will have Cinnamon Rolls and Coffee (Sophia will have Coco) and just have a nice relaxing morning of watching her open gifts. Our families are coming in the afternoon for dinner and more festivities. It is a good thing we are off for two more days after Christmas so we can rest up after all the fun. This Saturday we are taking Sophia to Disney World to see all the beautiful Gingerbread displays at the resorts. Disney Hollywood Studios has a spectacular Christmas light display every year so we are going to try and catch that as well.There is just nothing like Disney World at Christmas time.

This all brings me right back to my initial thoughts when starting to right this update.

The New Year is coming!

It holds so much excitement for our family and what is yet to come for us. Sophia will be starting Montessori School on Jan. 4th and we are all excited about that.

I normally don't make New Years resolutions or should I say I don't normally stick to them but this year I am going to make one and try very hard to stick to it. I want to update the blog more often maybe once a week or once every other week might be easier to do.

I don't want to miss the details of Sophia's childhood......

So

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukkah

Happy Kwanzaa

Happy New Year

a Very

Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

with love

The Rizzo Family

A busy life

Lots going on will post picks later but I thought I would write while I had a chance to catch you all up on what we are doing..

So much is going on right now life is more busy then ever. Sophia is still attending Then Little gym twice a week and loving that. Each time we go she learns something new and comes out of her shell more and more. Friday we were talking about going to Gym on Sat. and she told me she really likes Even (the teacher). When I asked her why she likes him so much she told me because he is cute. LOL Oh no I think we are going to have our hands full in a few years.

Riz and I toured a few preschools in are area and after much consideration and research we have decided to start Sophia in a Montessori school. We just fell in love with the school and the Montessori philosophy. The school that she will be attending has been in business for 40 years and the teachers are all well educated and have been with the school long term. Sophia will start some time between now and just after the first of the year, we are still working out the details. She will go 5 days a week for a half day program. She loved the environment and wanted to stay when our tour was over. We are all super excited to see what happens next for her with school. I of course have been reading everything I can get my hands on about Montessori. I have discovered that there are tons of resources, blogs and groups all about Montessori. It is a subculture if you will.... stay tuned for more on Montessori. Sophia has been learning things at lightning speed and we feel like she is more then ready to be in a learning environment.

Adoption number two is coming along slowly but surely no new news there really. Progress is slow but we will get there. Kim, our wonderful agency rep. keeps us up to date on everything and we could not be more grateful to her. A name for baby number 2 is still forth coming.

Recently one of the families in our FCC group had a Halloween party for the kids. It was great fun to see them all dressed up playing together. We also had a Thanksgiving/ Adoption Awareness month Picnic and had a great turn out for that, over 50 people were there. It was lots of fun the food and the company were good as always. We are hosting a "Cookie Throw Down" on Dec. 5th for the FCC group. It promises to be a messy good time. We will have sugar cookies for the kids to decorate however they would like and for the parents there will be a cookie taste testing. Then we all plan to walk down to watch our Christmas parade (we live one block off the parade route).

I was very productive over the weekend and got the house cleaned and decorated for the Holidays. Thanksgiving we will have our usual morning as a family of 3. Cinnamon rolls and tea for breakfast watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in our Pj's. Then we will go to dinner at Riz's parents house. Then home to watch my all time favorite Christmas Movie Miracle on 34th Street (the old black and white one with Moreen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gween. We normally get our Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving but this year we will be spending the weekend with great friends instead. I will need to hurry to have our tree ready before the Cookie Throw Down on the 5th. I have all of Sophia's Christmas shopping done but I still need to wrap them all. She is 100% into Christmas and Santa Clause this year. It is really neat to see Christmas through her eyes. We put away the Thanksgiving books last night and broke out the books about Christmas and Hanukkah. We want Sophia to know the true meaning of the Christmas Holiday as well as teaching her about other cultures and their celebrations. We have been doing lots of holiday art projects around the house too. Sophia is becoming quite the little artiest and has master the Happy Face. We laugh because everything male or female has to have earrings and a mustache. I'll post a picture of her Felt Turkey, poor thing is having an identity crisis..LOL

We are still trying to sell our house with no luck what so ever. The housing market is so bad here in Florida that we have not even shown our house in over a year. We are grateful that we are not upside down with our mortgage and that we are not in the position like so many others. We are still ready to sell and have a new start some place different. If you know of anyone who is interested in a 105 year old Historic House in a nice small Central Florida town not far from the Beach and Disney World(all of the attractions) please pass on my contact info.

We stay in close touch with several of the families we traveled to China with We have developed a close relationship with them all. It is hard not to when you are there for the most important part of a families life. We will all meet for a second reunion in Savanna Ga. this Jan. There will be four families and five little ones gathering this time. We are so excited to see them all again and to spend time together catching up on life.

OK I have board you enough I am sure. I will post pictures tonight..Hugs to all.