exposing the dark side of adoption
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Blog reveals Sieferman's happier times as a mom

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By Jake Grovum

Sylvia Sieferman was a proud, loving mother, documenting her every experience through the adoption process on the Internet.

"Today is the first anniversary of our becoming a family," the Roseville woman wrote in March 2000. "We're still having a wonderful time together."

Sieferman's blog is a journal of her efforts to adopt the two girls from China and their early lives together.

It provides a peek into the life of a woman whom, until Thursday, a neighbor described as "absolutely" a loving mother. It includes photos of the girls, and Sieferman's musings on motherhood.

"I'm a lucky and grateful mom," she wrote.

One photo caption simply reads, "Princess, age 4 1/2." The blog documents nearly every step of daughter Hannah's progress since arriving in the United States, and touched on her personality, favorite activities and intelligence.

Sieferman described Hannah as a "happy child with an infectious laugh."

"She loves to snuggle in the evening, which melts my heart," she wrote soon after returning to the U.S.

Sieferman also wrote of her longtime dream to adopt an Asian girl, a journey that started 25 years ago, she wrote.

The last entry on the blog is April 2005. "Well, it's been a little while. Hannah has a sister, Linnea Kai. Both are wonderful, smart and loving," she wrote.

It was just months later that Sieferman lost her job, the first in a number of financial and personal setbacks that friends said may have led the 60-year-old mother to stab the girls and herself Thursday.

2008 Aug 22