What Ahnalin Made Us For Christmas

This year for Christmas,

Ahnalin made all her gifts!

I am so proud of my girl!

She came up with the ideas all on her own

and then planned out how she

would design and sew them.

Our family is CRAZY for 

The Muppets!

In fact, we saw the movie

for the second time 

on Christmas Day!

(This was after the oven caught fire,

because I learned that you CAN use too 

much butter in Spanikopita!)

So when Ahnalin saw this Kermit

fleece at Joanns,

she HAD to have some to make

a scarf for Daddy!

She wanted to embroider his

name on it,

so she set up the font

and hooped

the fabric too.

Then she sat and kept an eagle

eye on it while the machine was

embroidering.

Afterward, she cut strips on

each end of the scarf and tied knots.

The handsome wool cap

was India's gift to Daddy.

I think he looks very handsome in his new

scarf and cap from his girls.

Don't you agree?

She made this beautiful

red ruffled breakfast pillow 

for her big sister.

I am over-the-moon

in love with it!

I couldn't get it to 

photograph very well,

so yes, it is 

outside in a tree 

in this picture.

Again,

she drew out what she wanted

to make and then 

figured out how to make her 

design a reality. 

 

She wanted the ruffles on the top

of the pillow, 

not in the edge seams.

And she wanted India's name

embroidered too.

She tried to do it by hand

but got too frustrated 

and decided to use 

the alphabet stitch 

on my machine.

It is very well loved already

because India took it with her

on her trip to Chicago.

And for me..........

She made me a fabric envelope.

She wanted me to help her 

with the buttonhole.

 

So I had to do it with a blindfold

over my eyes.

I didn't actually see this finished

until Christmas Day.

She made the rest,

all of it.

And the best part............

what was in the envelope.

Oh my. 

Yep, I cried.

I am not sure how I feel 

about her 

thanking me for adopting her.

I mean, 

I am so blessed and grateful.

But wow. 

I have so many feelings 

about this one........

But I LOVE LOVE LOVE my present.

 

It was made with love by my sweet

precious baby girl.

And when we go through

days where her RAD pops up

with a vengeance,

I can think about my letter

and know she loves me. 

I love her heart.

I love her so very much.

Thank you Ahnalin for 

our beautiful,

"Made-with-love" 

gifts.

You are one of my very favorite gifts.

Happy 6th Chinaversary To Our Family!

We are a family.

And 6 years ago today

our precious Ahnalin was placed in our arms.

This is not the prettiest picture of me,

but we both had been crying.

God has brought us a long, long way.

We struggled with Reactive Attachment Disorder,

PTSD and Sensory Processing Disorder.

She didn't sleep at night

for a long, long time.

But God has healed her and now

she is a wonderful sleeper.

She was terrified of Daddy for a long time

but they are so tight now!

Ahnalin and India are REAL sisters in every sense of the word.

They fight (like crazy!) 

but love each other more than life.

We are so blessed to have each other.

We are a family.

Thank you Lord.

Pink Plaid For Kylie

I love this plaid.

In fact, it has been included in 

several of my custom dresses lately.

This dress is for Kylie.

Kylie and Ahnalin are 

"China Sisters".

While they are not biologically related,

our families traveled together to 

China to adopt them.  

We are so grateful to have contact

with Kylie's family

so our girls will always have that connection.

Can you tell that I love sewing with plaid?

I love making pockets and growth tucks!

And matching those plaids at seams is

one of my favorite things to do.

It appeals to my "math brain".

The back actually matches up perfectly,

but I could not get a good picture 

that did not have my shadow in it!

I have finished all current custom

garments and have one more to show

you tomorrow.

I am taking a few days off but 

will be taking more custom orders next week.

I am slowly getting well. 

This bronchitis and trip really wiped me out!

I will post trip pictures soon!!

Happy Sewing.

The First Time Ever We Saw Her Face.........

This little face captured our hearts.

After many years of praying

for our new baby,

we received her referral

on June 27th, 2005!

Isn't she the most yummy thing!!

(not a question really, as I know the answer!)

This picture made us laugh!

These toys were on her lap,

but she was so stuffed into that sweater,

that she couldn't move!

And the expression on her face

is pure Ahnalin!

I   was  so, so, scared.

(Ahnalin typed this.)

Isn't this face so precious and sweet?

I just wanted to hop on a plane

that day and get my baby!!!

We had to wait 10 more weeks to finally 

have her in our arms

and it was torture!

She was in China and was 

too young to understand that we 

were coming for her.

But this little baby was

now mine and I knew

her face in my heart. 

Happy Referral Day 

my darling Ahnalin!

Our Lives have never been the same!

Love Mommy

Hearts For Hannah

Oh how I love to be a part

of the miracle that takes place when a child

joins a family through adoption.

And I was blessed to pray for a little girl in China named

Hannah, who will be 

joining her loving family very soon.

You can read all about here on her mother, 

Shecki's blog.

 

One of the most special times in any Internationally Adoptive 

Family's journey is that moment when they

arrive in the airport with their

new child.

They are joyously greeted by awaiting family members

and friends.

In many cases, the child becomes an American 

citizen when they go through Immigration in the airport.

And so it is a beautiful tradition for the newly adopted child

to be dressed in patriotic clothing.

Hannah's mommy asked that I make her 

a smocked dress that would celebrate this exciting day!

I chose the smock plate by Creative Keepsakes

called "Love My Country".

 

The smock plate is actually designed for 

an insert or yoke dress but I was able

to adapt it for a bishop style quite easily. 

I simply back smocked in a wave pattern

instead of the normal cable that would have been used for an insert.

I also had to pay special attention to the sleeve seams

which were a bit bulkier than the rest.

 

I chose Imperial Broadcloth

because I love how beautifully it holds its shape

and looks crisp even when it has been smashed in a suitcase.

I ordered all my supplies from 

a wonderful shop called

Bessie Mary

and was so pleased with how perfectly 

everything arrived. 

Oh, and one more note.

Every time I sew something for a client,

friend or family member,

I pray for them as I stitch. 

So it is an even bigger blessing for me!

Hannah, I can not wait to see pictures of you in your mommy's arms!

Punkys Pumpkin Patch

Ahnalin is on Fall Break!

So, she and I got to go to Santa Rosa with Don

on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Most of our time was spent looking for rental houses

so we can move.

But all house-hunting and no play,

makes Sivje a very stressed out mama

and Ahnalin a very grouchy girl!

So, Ahnalin and jumped in the car 

and drove up Redwood Highway to 

Punkys Pumpkin Patch,

There are many Pumpkin Patches in Sonoma County,

but Punkys offers lots of fun things to do for FREE!!!

Look closely and you will see Ahnalin

Jumping inside the bounce house. 

She jumped for at least 20 minutes before even going down the slide!

Then she went down the bouncy slide a bazillion times!

Then we headed over to the SUPER GINORMOUS TALL SLIDE!!!

There was NO ONE THERE! 

No lines!

And she slid to her heart's content!

There was no "Hay Bale Mountain" 

at Punkys so she improvised.

We saw green pumpkins....

and white pumpkins....

and lots of colors in between.

And this very lumpy, bumpy orange pumpkin

just made me really happy!

In the end, she chose a sweet yellow orange pumpkin

without a stem.

She did not want this pumpkin to be left unloved 

and unchosen because it had no stem.

That is who my little one is. 

She has a big heart for those who may feel 

left out and abandoned. 

Happy Pumpkin Patch Day my darling girl!

A Little Help For My Friends

Aren't they darling?

Grady and Ruby are two precious children

who were adopted from China. 

These gorgeous gifts
both have special health needs that could not
be addressed in China.

They were adopted by my friends,
the Clark family.


Tiffany, their mama, blogs
over at Gingham and RicRac.


And you all know my affection for ANYTHING
having to do with RicRac or China kiddos!


Adoption is costly,
especially if you are dealing with special health needs.


The Clarks have been blessed to have been chosen by
Hip Mom Jewelry
to benefit from an adoption fundraiser.

Go check out the beautiful jewelry at Hip Mom
and use this code,
clark1010.
 During the Month of October, the Clark family will receive a portion
of each purchase of adoption jewelry.

Oh, and just so you know,

Tiffany is an amazing seamstress and 

smocker too!

I am hoping she posts some more of her 

darling smocked concoctions on 

her blog again.

(hint, hint...)

Happy Saturday Everyone. 

Happy Saturday. 

I pray God blesses you today.

Chinese New Years at Kindergarten

 

Tuesday

was a big day for Ahnalin!!!

She got to celebrate Chinese New Year
with her kindergarten class!

We got to bring snack for the class.
We brought Mandarin Oranges, which are actually grown locally, and so delicious.
We also brought locally baked Fortune Cookies
Of course, Fortune Cookies were originally made in San Francisco,
not China. But we had to include them anyway.
Another kindergarten mom picked up rice and chopsticks that were
donated by a local Chinese restaurant.
She also brought those yummy almond cookies, but since they have
both corn syrup and red dye, Ahnalin could not have them.
Instead, her friend Reagan shared some of her sesame candy.

Notice Ahnalin's hair.
We tried to make it look like Kai Lan's hair but it looks wonky now.

It was fun watching the kids try chopsticks.

Ahnalin used to handle chopsticks like a pro, 

but we do not eat Chinese food often enough anymore for her

to stay in practice.

We got to share about Ahnalin's name.

This is a calligraphy that Ahnalin's grandfather had made

for her in San Francisco. She is very proud of it.

Ahnalin loves the doll that we bought for her at the Forbidden City.

You can really see it, but the doll's jacket is the same

fabric as that of Ahnalin's "Qipao". 

We bought the doll before we adopted Ahnalin, but had

the dress made a few days later, in a different city.

This dress us a size 2 and still fits her around.

But the slits in the side are way too high up now and the 

dress is no longer full length.
So I had to make her some new black leggings to wear underneath it.

 The children cut out red paper lanterns and covered them with

glitter!

Later, Ahnalin passed out Lai See, which are

the traditional red envelopes with 

lucky pennies inside. 

And to finish out a lovely day at kindergarten

I read our favorite "China Book" to the class.

Ruby's Wish

If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it.

Ahnalin was very proud to share with class. 

So proud that I discovered this yesterday when I downloaded the pics from the camera.

She had hijacked the camera while her sister was baby sitting her.

Don and I were at rehearsal and had no idea what was happening at home.

I actually found 5 different takes of this, so Ahnalin must have 

done it several times. In each one, she is stuffing her mouth with fortune cookies!

I truly wonder what India was doing at the time since Ahnalin was busy with the camera

for quite a while. Hilarious!!!

YIKES!!

Enjoy!