A -15 windchill is not a bad start to my birthday compared with last year's -45. Gotta love Minnesota, whatever it gives you.
January 10
Buying little girls clothes for the first time! Feeling very overwhelmed and out of my league.
January 10
Nine of us who met over 5 years ago when our first born children were newborns (we now have a total of 20 kids) celebrated with Kirsten Partenheimer as she (and we) welcome two children coming from China next month! Congratulations Kirsten!
January 17
Does anyone have an Ergo or other kid carrier Chris and I can borrow to take with us to China? Thanks!
January 17
Does anyone have a house cleaner recommendation in the Twin Cities? We're just looking for one or two times (to help out while we're in China) and not necessarily something we'd schedule long-term.
January 19
Do any of my techie friends know how to get a VPN installed on a first version Microsoft Surface? The operating system is Windows RT. We're hoping to get a VPN so we won't have Facebook and Google blocked while we're in China.
January 20
Just finished snuggling in bed with the kids and reading bedtime stories for the last time as a family of four. It's three long weeks until we're reunited as a family of six.
January 21
Last
goodbyes before heading to the airport. Poor Oliver woke up with a
fever, so we had to say goodbye to him up in his room. This picture is
deceiving as there were plenty of tears when it was really time to go.
We had an uneventful trip to the airport and have boarded our flight to
Seattle. Waiting for takeoff on the first leg of our journey.
January 24
January 26
In the next hour we'll be meeting our little boy for the first time. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I'll get to call this beautiful little boy my son, but sad for the loss he's going through right now, especially of his foster family, the only family he has ever known.
January 26
We're excited to introduce to you our beautiful little boy, Matteo.
January 27
Immediately
after Matteo's adoption was finalized. In the picture are two of the
women from Matteo's orphanage. They were very happy for him.
January 30
After a week in Matteo's birth province, we're at the airport in Hefei waiting for our flight to Guangzhou. It'll be Matteo's first ride on an airplane!
February 2
What is Chris doing the morning we are to meet our daughter? Watching the Super Bowl of course. He spent the week researching how he was going to be able to see the game in China to discover it's being aired on one of the channels we get at our hotel. The commercials are different though. The first one was advertising the German Bundesliga. Now that's my kind of Super Bowl.
February 2
We're leaving in a few minutes to go meet Kiera for the first time. I'm a little less nervous than when we met Matteo, but nonetheless, I still have butterflies knowing that our lives are going to change forever for the second time in a week.
February 2
We met Kiera this afternoon. Matteo was so excited to meet his sister
that he skipped his nap, but fell asleep just shortly before meeting
her. Everyone seems to be adjusting well. This is our first family
picture with our new additions, we just need Brian Garnell's help Photoshopping in Oliver and Soren.
February 2
Due to VPN issues, we're having trouble posting pictures. In the meantime, here's my blog post about meeting Kiera.
February 7
Matteo devoured his sushi dinner tonight. The only food we have found that he doesn't like is ice cream. Yup, ice cream. I'm sure that will change quickly.
February 10
We
counted out our yuan and figured out what expenses we still have during
our final days in China. Luckily there was still enough room in the
budget for ice cream, which Matteo liked this time.
February 11
We are so close to coming home. Our last official appointment was our consulate appointment in Guangzhou.
February 12
Touched
down in Seattle where the United States welcomed its two newest
citizens. My wish for them is that they grow up proud of their heritage
and being Chinese-American.
February 12
First family photo as a family of six.
February 13
Oliver got into the Twin Cities German Immersion School. Super excited!
February 17
Riding around in style at Gillette's to meet with all his new doctors.
February 19
We've only been home eight days and I've already gotten 1. Is this a daycare? 2. Oh, they're all yours. Are they triplets (pointing to Soren, my white child, and Kiera and Matteo, my Asian children)?
February 22
On
a morning where it's -6, we're getting our money's worth out of the
Minnesota Children's Museum family membership with one price regardless
the number of children.
February 22
Dean
Tim Foster, who with other friends, teammates, and colleagues visited
Smith in the hospital over the weekend, wrote of Smith’s life and what
he has meant to the College and to so many others.
bowdoindailysun.com
March 16
Facebook has already become quite acquainted with these two cuties, but here's our official adoption announcement.
March 21
With four kids, we can't keep our refrigerator stocked with enough milk. After an early-morning run to the store, I wish shelf-safe milk in Tetra packs were more readily available in this country, or better yet, we had milk delivery like my host family in Switzerland did. Fresh milk and yummy Swiss yogurt delivered to my doorstep - that would be wonderful.
March 23
Twofer surgery day
March 24
Look who came home from the eye doctor with glasses. He looks like he's ready to start college, not preschool.
April 4
Visiting our local fire station
April 7
Kiera's first day of preschool
April 11
After
getting in a spat about who got to sit where, I strapped them in to the
cart. Just a few minutes later, they had clearly made up. Some thought
we were crazy for adopting two at once, but here's why. Love these two!
April 24
More than a decade with our team. It's the end of an era, but a good run it was. #hansa #jtizzle
April 25
Brave is taking four kids to Chutes and Ladders Park by yourself. #kids #chutesandladders
Monday mornings are tough for all of us, kid. #Soren
May 8
Dawn Puroway
cooked us dinner on her birthday! Well, she actually cooked it awhile
ago, but her enchiladas from last month's meal exchange are what I
happened to pull out of the freezer this morning. Cheers to the cook!
May 17
Back
at the "cabin," this scene was a more accurate portrayal of what a
bunch of moms do the moment they get away from their kids for the
weekend.
May 18
I spent the weekend with an amazing group of women, the ones who've supported me since I became a mother and I hope will be apart of my life for years to come. No amount of rain or a tornado warning that forced us to dine in the basement deterred us from having a wonderful weekend.
May 23
Come-Harriet Streetcar Line #kids #streetcars
May 25
They transferred the entire wash to the dryer one article of clothing at a time and I, dare I say, relaxed while I watched. #kids #Kiera #Matteo #mylittlehelpers #puttingthemtowork
June 1
Oliver
found this cutie, but no, we didn't get to keep him. Turns out there
was another five-year-old missing her dog, Rocket Ship. The morale of
the story is that a tag with a phone number leads to a happy ending.
June 12
At
Matteo's speech evaluation this afternoon with a Mandarin translator
present, they said he still comprehends his native language. We're four
months home today. Both happy he has still retained a piece of his
culture and sad knowing this retention won't last much longer.
Just yesterday a family was in China visiting their newly adopted child's orphanage. As they were leaving they saw this sweet baby who had just been left at the gate. She's wrapped in the warmest blankets and left with diapers too. Somewhere in the crowd, her birth mother watches to make sure she's collected by safe hands. She was left just like my girls, and given a chance at life by her brave birth mother. This crisis is real, y'all. Ask yourself how you can help. If you are considering adoption, ask me how you can get started. If you can't adopt, please support a family who can.
June 12
At Matteo's speech evaluation this afternoon with a Mandarin translator present, they said he still comprehends his native language. We're four months home today. Both happy he has still retained a piece of his culture and sad knowing this retention won't last much longer.
June 12
Every
kid deserves a friend like Noelle! She has taken Kiera under her wing
and is her surrogate big sister in a family of brothers.
June 16
Most
mornings are chaos as I try to get ready for work with four young kids.
And then there are mornings like this when it's unusually calm and I
discover my rising kindergartener "reading" a book (from memory) to his
siblings, who sit in rapt attention while I finish getting ready in
peace. #lifewithfourkidsunderfive #kids #Oliver #Matteo #Soren #Kiera
June 21
Four reasons to feel blessed on Father's Day
June 26
I
had once been afraid I would never see this happen in my lifetime. I
was allowed to marry the love of my life and finally everyone in this
country will be able to do the same. Love wins, love wins.
In a landmark victory for gay rights, a divided Supreme Court ruled that state…
washingtonpost.com|By Robert Barnes
June 26
Beautiful goal Carli!
June 27
The timing of Twin Cities Pride couldn't be better! I'll be staffing Minnesota Housing's booth all day today and tomorrow, so stop by and say hi. We're at booth O95 in the orange zone.
July 1
Look who joined me for lunch at work today. #adorablelunchdates #kids
July 2
I've been looking through all the pictures I took in China as I finally get around to making a video of our trip. Holy moly I took a lot of pictures. Over 1,400! And yet I wish I had taken more.
July 5
Carli and the rest of the '15ers, you made America proud. Enjoy the limelight. You deserve it.
July 13
First soccer game in almost two years was a bit (or a lot) physically painful at times, yet long after the final whistle and I'm still feeling the high of being back on the field.
July 18
First rodeo for this little cowgirl. #WaconiaRodeo #Kiera #kids
July 27
Watching
a hotly-contested game of Memory between G-Ma and Oliver at the old
folks home. My grandmother is at a slight disadvantage since the last
time she played this game was probably with me 30 years ago. #Oliver
July 27
Visiting
my grandmother in the old folks home when the activities director
displaced the puzzle we were working on in order to set up for "ping
pong ball toss." Anyone who's ever been to college will also recognize
this game as "beer pong."
August 3
August 5
Our
first au pair experience was a great one thanks to a young man who
moved from Germany to Minnesota to live with our crazy family. In
Marcel's year with us, we underwent a major house renovation and doubled
his workload by adding two children to our family, and yet he continued
to demonstrate patience, flexibility and a sense of humor through it
all. It was an honor to be a part of what I think was a time of intense
personal growth and accomplishment for him. It's hard to believe that
our remaining time with Marcel can now be counted in hours, but I know
he returns to Germany with a bright future.
Soaking up every last moment of the Minnesota experience on the final night of his au pair year.
August 9
First trip to Target #aupairbootcamp
August 13
Future doctor? #childrenshospitalofminnesota #Matteo
August 13
Popsicles make everything better. #childrenshospitalofminnesota #Kiera
August 13
How long is your kids' school bus ride? Oliver's will be an hour (or possibly longer) for a trip that would otherwise take 15 minutes tops. I don't like the idea of him sitting on a bus for two hours a day, but it will also be logistically challenging to drop him off and pick him up at school ourselves and then we'd be subjecting our other three kids to a lot of time in the car (an hour's worth of driving two and from school twice a day, plus the 20-minute long wait time in the pick-up line at school). Neither option is ideal.
August 21
Made
it to Duluth and the shores of Lake Superior and looking forward to
Uncle Andy and "Papa" Danielle's wedding weekend. @celina_hue #dandysdangerouswedding #Matteo #Kiera
August 26
On the lookout for bison #thereissomethingtoseeinnorthdakota #greatamericanroadtrip #northdakotaroadtrip
August 27
After
a hot, hot hike earlier in the day down a canyon, Celina agreed to
another hike, which involved traversing a river and then hiking up to a
plateau. This is definitely not part of her au pair contract. What a
trooper. #reasonsilovemyaupair #greatamericanroadtrip #northdakotaroadtrip
August 31
Many of you have noticed someone new in our latest family pictures, so it's about time I formally introduce you to Celina Hüser,
our new au pair. She comes to us from a small town in northwestern
Germany and is 20 years old. She brings calmness to our loud and crazy
family and if she survived 20 hours in the car with all of us on our
recent road trip, (and with a smile on her face!) I'm convinced she's
going to thrive here. If you live locally and see her out and about
town, don't be shy about saying hi.
Oliver's first day of school
September 2
It's a relief to have parents like Kirk (KM Bub), Elizabeth Lampert and Aaron Gjerde, and our au pair Celina Hüser, take Oliver under their wing. Sometimes the second day of kindergarten (and probably the third, four, fifth...) is harder than the first! It does take a village.
September 9
The school bus was 25 minutes late today, which meant Oliver spent almost 1.5 hours on the bus this afternoon. Not happy.
September 12
September 14
Kiera, Matteo and Soren on their first day or preschool. Cheslas make up a third of the class!
September 14
Twin Cities area folks - I've been invited to speak tomorrow evening about adopting from China at a community gathering and discussion group in my neighborhood. I know many of you have heard our story or followed my blog, but if you're interested in hearing more, join us for an open discussion on September 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Paul Gallery at 943 W. 7th Street, St. Paul.
September 19
September 21
Dr. and Mrs. O'Donnell
September 24
I
just watched Stuck, a documentary about the problems in international
adoption that hinder orphaned children and adoptive parents from
becoming a family. Having just completed an adoption, I identified with
every tear shed, frustration encountered and heartbreak and joy felt by
the parents and adoption advocates in this film. Although the film was
made a few years ago, it's so depressing that seemingly nothing has
changed since. Adoption is only getting more expensive and requiring
more hoops to jump through and government red tape to wade through,
longer waits and more uncertainty. What's lost in all this is the tens
of millions of children around the world who lose out on the fundamental
human right to a family.
September 30
A
year ago today I was so sad we couldn't make it to China before Tao
Tao's second birthday. A year later that sadness has been replaced with
joy that he is forever part of our family for all his birthdays to come.
#Matteo #foreverfamily
October 1
For the next 10 days, we will have three three-year-olds. Welcome to our crazy town.
October 3
These
three made our boys' birthday party the success it was. Fourteen wild
kids, a scavenger hunt that had them crisscrossing the neighborhood and
the mummy toilet paper game that ended like this. #reasonsilovemyaupair...andherfriends
October 4
October 7
We
haven't even gotten the bill from Soren's ER visit two weeks ago and
now I'm back with another kid. This time it's a fractured arm and
possible surgery. #kidsareexpensive #thankgoodnessforgoodinsurance
October 11
Nothing
is sadder than a kid who's sick on his birthday. We couldn't even coax
Soren into having a cupcake. Hopefully he starts feeling better tomorrow
and we can have a do-over celebrating this little boy turning four.
October 21
My
first corn maze. You shouldn't leave me in charge of reading the map.
Thankfully Alina has better map-reading skills and got us out of there.
October 28
It's
rare I'm home in the middle of the day, let alone on bread delivery
day, so I was in luck today that I finally got to thank the Brake Bread
delivery guy for their delicious bread. It even gets a thumbs up from
the German in my household who is particular about her bread. #brakebread
October 28
When did my kindergartner start looking so old?
October 31
Kiera and Matteo's first Halloween! I promise Matteo had a blast, despite what the expression on his face implies.
October 31
Our little firefight, Dalmation, police officer and mouse. Granny Nanny even made the Dalmation and mouse costumes!
November 14
Another reason I love the Minnesota state park system!
November 14
A sign that you have a large(er) family: the Target cashier flags down a co-worker to bring a second cart for you and help you out to your car. I did fit everything (easily) into one cart. This was actually a smaller-than-usual Target run for us.
November 22
I've gotta brag a bit about my little brother (Scott Partenheimer) who's now a three-time Boston qualifier with this morning's 3:01:07 time in the Philadelphia Marathon. That's sub-seven-minute miles for 26+ miles! For those who know me, (and especially those who have been out on a run with me) who would have guessed I'm genetically-related to such a speed demon.
November 26
This picture is only partly staged - Celina usually only has one kid in her lap while trying to eat.
November 27
I
was content to spend my Black Friday not at the mall, but in the woods
letting my city kids romp in the snow and do what kids like to do, like
collect big sticks. This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for Minnesota's state
park system and the foresight to put one of those parks right in St.
Paul. #freeparkfriday #OnlyInMinnesota
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December 2
What kind of toys, books or games are/were your kids into as six- and four-year-olds? Christopher Chesla and I are looking for gift ideas for our kids that are NOT Legos.
December 5
Shhh...der Sankt Niklaus kommt!
December 13
Early yesterday morning, while Chris and I slept in, Oliver fed himself and his siblings breakfast and even figured out how to bandaged a bloody stubbed toe on his littlest brother. This morning was not such a morning. #selfsufficiencywillcomesomeday
December 20
The
first child of mine I managed to get out on skates happens to be the
one born in a sub-tropical climate. At only three and a half years old,
Kiera did great!
December 24
Sightseeing Minnesota-style by braving the ice and cold.
December 26
Awesome post-Christmas Body Pump workout with Celina Hüser this morning.
December 31
Oliver is looking at a magazine with pictures of new houses and picking out the house we would need to fit our family. "If we adopt two more kids, and then we need room for Celina Hüser and Marius Reckels, and that would be....[pause for some finger-counting] 10 people in our family!" He clearly has some exciting plans for our family's future.
