Our First Family Day!

One year ago today, Leah and Sarah were placed in our arms in a conference room in our hotel in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province in China. That morning was a blur. I just remember waking up all nervous. We were about to become parents and not to one child, but twins! What would it be like? We started with a meeting to explain what was going to happen. We had a quick break and then the children started showing up. Once we received our girls, all else was a blur. Just staring into those beautiful eyes and hoping that they would understand that we would always be there for them. We were in love instantly. They never cried. We just handed them their lovies and giving them Cheerios and they were just absorbing everything in.

Today we marked the occasion with chocolate cupcakes that they helped me make along with purple icing (their color choice). They LOVED licking the icing off the cupcakes! For dinner, we took them to one of their (and daddy's) favorite restaurants - the Great Dane (a local brewpub). No, it's not very Chinese, but there aren't any really good Chinese restaurants in town and we know how much the girls love eating there, so why not... It's about spending time as a family.

Sarah licking the icing off of her cupcake

Leah licking off the icing off of her cupcake

We love you so much Leah and Sarah. Every day we get to see you smile, laugh and be funny (and occasionally be "nawnie" (naughty)). We enjoy every single second being your parents. Every day is always an adventure!

Hiking at Devil's Lake

Where were you one year ago?

One year ago, our plane landed in China to start our journey to become a family of four. We started our trip in Beijing. We couldn't just travel thousands of miles and not see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the hutongs (the old parts of Beijing). So, we started our trip a few days early to catch in a few sites before meeting up with our adoption group. It also allowed us to be more on the correct time zone by the time we were handed our girls and that was pretty smart thinking on our part!

Here we are on Day 1 at the Great Wall - the Mutianyu section

Making Moon Cakes

This was our first Moon Festival together as a family and I thought making moon cakes would be a fun afternoon activity with the girls who love to help me cook and make "dough". I also needed to make them for our FCC potluck which is on Saturday and our chairwoman let me borrow a mold to make them. The girls really loved helping and I read them a great moon festival book beforehand. It is also wonderful that it coincides with Sukkot, another harvest festival where you sit outdoors and look up at the sky. Perfect! And that also includes the amazing fall weather we've been having, too!

Here's the moon cake recipe I used. I typed the recipe as it was given to me and made notations as to what I did. Also, my forms were smaller so a single recipe would make 12 of those moon cakes. I doubled the recipe for the dough and made a single recipe of the filling, which was perfect and I still had filling left over. Moon cake molds can be purchased at the Wok Shop in San Francisco and online (http://www.wokshop.com/). The one I was given to use goes for $10.

Moon Cakes

Makes 6 cakes;   Recipe from "Favorite Dim Sum" by Lonnie Mock (book is out of print)

Dough:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Instant nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter or margarine

Filling: Mix together
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (I omitted since it was for an FCC event and in case anyone had nut allergies)
1 cup lotus nut paste or red bean paste (I used sweetened red bean paste)
2 Tablespoons softened butter

Mix:
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Grind dry milk in a blender or food processor to make the granules into a finer powder. Place flour, dry milk, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat egg with sugar until sugar is dissolved. Gradually add egg mixture and butter to the dry ingredients. Mix well with 2 knives or pastry blender to get a dry dough similar to pie dough. Roll out the dough to about 1/16" thickness. Cut a piece of dough large enough to line the bottom and sides of the moon cake mold (or a tart pan). Gently press into place. Spread and press filling over dough, leaving enough room at the top for a layer of crust. cut another piece of dough to cover the filling; gently press it into place. Remove excess dough and return it to the bowl. Firmly but gently press all over the cake to get a good impression and smooth surface (this will be the bottom) Holding the mold, cake facing down, in one hand, give it a whack against a hard edge (such as the table edge or the center divider of the sink), catching the cake with the other hand as it is released from the mold. Place cake on baking sheet. Repeat until all cakes are made. Brush tops and sides with yolk mixture. Bake at 350° in the center of the oven until the bottom is golden brown - 18-22 minutes. Turn heat dial to broil. Open oven door partially and watch until the cake tops turn brown (about 30 seconds or so). As soon as the tops have acquired the desired brown color, remove cakes from oven and transfer to racks to cool. Store container at room temperature or refrigerate or freeze for longer period. Moon cakes are rich; cut into slices before serving.

Variations: There is an endless variety of moon cakes. Cakes can be filled with lotus nut paste, red bean paste, any sweet filling having a somewhat thick consistency, or even a filling with chips of preserved meat.

My Notes: Flour the forms first! I rolled the dough into a ball and used my finger to press dough into forms and created a hole for the filling. I did roll out the dough for tops of moon cake (which really is the moon cake bottom).

Hard to believe...

It's hard to believe that today marks one year since we got "THE CALL" and saw the beautiful faces of our twin daughters, Leah and Sarah (LiLi and XiuXiu) for the first time. I had been prepared for the adoption of one child with the very slim chance (I think we were told about a 3% chance) of being referred twins so when the call came and she told me to "sit down" while she told me the name of my first daughter, my hands began to shake and my mind was going a million miles an hour. I am not sure that it has stopped since! I was given Leah's information first and then Sarah's.

When I got off the phone with CCAI, I immediately called Robert to to tell him "twins!" I can't speak for him on how he got through the rest of his day. I do know that my day was crazy to say the least.

I then called my parents and had them scheduled to help me repaint and fix up what would then become the new and improved nursery that would work for two cribs. We had to switch the guest bedroom and nursery around and repaint each room. It was crazy. I had to find a second crib, buy a second high chair, two baby carriers, and the list goes on... And we had 5 weeks to get it all done in.

I can't imagine life without these two amazing little girls! We love you!

Sarah and Leah at about 6 months old. Our first glimpse of what was to come.

Kids say the darndest and cutest things!

The girls are beginning to talk more and more every day. Some of the words that they say are just too darn cute. Here is a sampling of some of the cute things they say and their translations into the actual word they are trying to say.

Leah/Sarah-isms:

Bean-pole or Bankie: blanket

Low-he: lovie

Buh-hee: bunny

Tay-doh: play doh

Bee: bib

Pate: plate 

Doo-dah: noodles
Mee ma: Meat sauce
duh-lide: outside

Meow/kitty: cat/kittie

Moo: cow

Baaa: sheep

Bawk bawk: chicken  (especially cute when I tell them that's what we're having for dinner)

(yes, they tend to go by the sound they make as opposed to the animal name)

faw: frog

De-lide: fly
Nawnie: naughty

Pah-he: potty

Boo: blue

Eee-ah: Leah (same for Sarah: neither can pronounce it!)

Gnd-pa: grandma or grandpa -they both seem to use them interchangeably

Eee-be: airplane

Wah-wer: water

Cah: car (think Boston accent)

Neck-ah: necklace

Side: slide or outside (you need to listen of connotation)

Ba: bra

Puh: purse (they each have 2 each and love to carry them)
Mee Mouse: Minnie Mouse

Plus tons of other words that they know and use/pronounce correctly (like wine and beer!)

First haircuts

We thought it would never come, but finally their hair was long enough to get a first haircut. As the girls won't let me stick hair bows in or pony tails in their hair, my only option was to trim their bangs and straighten out their hair in the back. We can now see their beautiful faces again. Yeah!

And they were both amazing! The best part was that the day before we went shopping for a "treat" to have after their haircuts and they picked out these puppy purses. Sorry you can't see them in the "after" photo, but the girls LOVE them and I put a fruit snack in them for afterwards as a reward.

Sarah's first haircut

Leah's first haircut

all beautiful! and enjoying their "treats"

10 months home

It's hard to believe that it has only been 10 months since we saw their beautiful faces for the very first time, but it has been... It seems like they've been a part of our lives forever. It's hard to even imagine life before they became part of our wonderful family.

These girls light up a room and you can't not fall in love with them, even when they are being "nawny" (naughty).

They love to go to the park, take walks (with purses in hand!), go to the mall, Costco (for crackers! their faves!), go on rides on the carousel at the Madison Zoo and see the bears. Their favorite food is still noodles, but they also LOVE Indian food (thank g-d!). They will eat broccoli first if it's on their plate.

They are talking up a storm and their enunciation is getting better. Sarah is lagging behind Leah on this and I will see if I will need to get her evaluated again later. For now, I understand her, but not sure that anyone else would...

Minutes after we were handed them in China

and now...

Our Little Firecrackers!

The girls have now celebrated their first 4th of July. The cute hair bows only lasted about 1 minute in their hair, but don't they look adorable in them!

They enjoyed beating the heat by running around our little pool we have in the back yard and getting doused by the hose. The heat wave here has been a real killer. Today's high was 102 and it's supposed to be similar tomorrow and the rest of the week. The girls love to "walk" and I really can't let them with all this heat. The girls would walk for miles if I let them.

Every day new vocabulary pops up and the past few days they've now been saying "nawnie" (naughty!). Yes, they can be that at times! One will point to the other sister when she's doing something she isn't supposed to and will tattle on the other. Gotta laugh!

And lately, their favorite thing to do is "jump". They will jump off coffee tables (not sanctioned by mommy or daddy!) and chairs and sofas and you are supposed to catch them... they get all excited. Mommy just gets an arm ache and heart palpitations...

Double Happiness: June 2012 Edition

Every day I kick myself and think how lucky we are to have these two amazing little girls be part of our lives. To watch them grow and smile and just flourish in their new life. I also think of their birth mother and birth father who made the very difficult choice to give them up in the hopes that they would have a better life. We have tried to give the girls so many experiences and hope that we are giving them the wonderful life that they so deserve. I just love these girls with all my heart. Just seeing them smile makes me smile.

still running and smiling after walking on their own for a half-mile hike

making challah with mommy - they love rolling the dough between their hands

Leah

Sarah

Happy Father's Day

Today marks Robert's very first Father's Day. The girls have been home with us for over 8 months now and are just beginning to talk up a storm!