Christmas in pictures

(In no particular order)

One Year Ago...

One year ago we became a family. One year ago our dreams came true. One year ago we held our sweet boy in our arms for the very first time.

Wow! What a year it's been! It's been probably the most difficult, yet most rewarding year of our lives. One year ago, our son did not like us. He only wanted his foster mom, who he had been abruptly taken from. He slowly began to accept us as care givers, and somewhere along the line he actually began to like us. He's been through such an amazing transition, it is hard to put into words. But today, to feel his hugs, how he melts into our arms makes it all worth it!(His hugs and snuggies still bring tears to my eyes...) We know that attachment is a process which will never end, and just as we think we're doing "pretty good", he takes it to a whole new level which only makes us feel more securely bonded. It's amazing how far we've all come this year!

To celebrate our first year as a family, we took the MAX train to PDX where we watched planes and had lunch. I can assure you that we were the only people there for the thrill of being at the airport (the day after Christmas). K didn't really "get it", but we kept telling him about the day we became a family, and he thought it was cool to ride the "choo-train" and see "pare-planes".

SFO- 12/26/07

PDX- 12/26/08

OK, so in this years photo K looks about as happy as he did in last years. Trust me, he is a happy guy, just not when asked to sit still for a photo! That's life with a toddler, and we love it!

Merry Christmas to All!!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!! I hope you all experience the peace and joy of Christ during this blessed holiday! 

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of tomorrow morning, when we will share our first Christmas morning with our sweet little boy! I don't think I've been this excited for Christmas morning since I was a kid! He has no idea what's coming.  He did get to open one gift tonight (his new pj's) and after he opened it he found some other gifts in the back room (for other family members...his have been securely hidden...), brought one to me, and said "MORE"! Oh boy!!

This afternoon we got to attend our church's Christmas Eve service. It was wonderful. We've attended our church for about 6 years, but this is only the second time we've been home on Christmas Eve to attend their service. It's a big to-do at our church, they offer three services and really aim to reach out to the community, even offering treats and coffee/hot cocoa afterwards! I think it works because the service we attended was packed, and I'm sure the other two were as well!

We are still hoping to get together with our families as we've planned, but mother nature is making it difficult with all this crazy weather! I hope anyone who is traveling arrives to their destination safely! 

Christmas Blessings to All!!

Foto Finish Friday

Where did my baby go??

Seriously, I just took this picture this morning, he looks like such a "little boy"! Don't think I'll be able to call him "my baby" for much longer!

footprints

How very softly

You tiptoed into my world.

Almost silently,

Only a moment you stayed.

But what an imprint

Your footsteps have left

Upon my heart.

by Dorothy Ferguson

SNOW!!

We're enjoying a rare treat...snow! OK, it's only a treat if you can stay home and play in it. The first snow fell on Sunday night, but there was still some left yesterday for us to play in. Well, we tried to play, but it is the driest snow I've ever seen so we couldn't even throw snowballs at Willie. About all it was good for was throwing it up in the air and making it "snow" again, which K tried to do (mimicking me of course), but only ended up dumping it all over his head and becoming horribly upset at the situation. Despite the cold temperatures (we topped out around 25, which is cold for here!), I could barely get him to come inside and had to resort to some bribery. Here are some pictures of our snow fun.

Luckily, in the recent weeks we've acquired snow boots and snow pants for K, both of which were put to good use yesterday!

Foto Finish Friday

Last weekend our friend came over to take some family pictures for us. K was fairly uncooperative, and not really in the picture taking mood, or rather, he wanted to be taking the pictures instead of being the subject of the pictures. Here are a few of my favs, some "posed", some "out takes".  Our biggest obstacle was the tripod, which K really wanted to play with. We finally gave in and let it be in our pictures, and we were able to get a few decent family shots. Enjoy!

Our future photographer

He loves looking at the ornaments

It wasn't all smiles...

There's a decent shot...

Foto Finish Friday

Our Snuggle-Bug!

Foto Finish Friday (umm...Saturday)

Sorry for being a day late, we've been having a lovely time with our families and are now safely back home. We had a wonderful holiday weekend and did lots of fun things. On Thanksgiving, we met some friends at the zoo and had a very fun, cold time! We went to the holiday parade on Friday, which K enjoyed only slightly more than his first parade back in July. We also went to a model railroad show, which was very neat, but K only thought so for a few minutes then he was ready to go. We also enjoyed a lot of family time and holiday dinners with both sides. It was a great time! The photo this week is K and his friend H. If you look back in my posts about a year ago, you will see my joyous announcement of H coming home to his forever family. I met his Mom while we were waiting for K to come home, and H traveled just a few weeks before K. They're also only 11 days apart in age. They're so cute together I just had to share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was going to write about everything I am thankful for this Thanksgiving. The truth is, I have so much to be thankful for I would probably bore you all to death, not to mention give myself finger cramps. So, I will attempt to highlight the big ones, and I'm sure you'll get the idea. I am thankful to God for all that He has provided for our family this year. I am thankful that we never have to wonder where our next meal is coming from. I am thankful to all my wonderful family and friends, who have all been tremendously supportive to Joe and I over the past year as we've transitioned K into our family (and understanding when we want things that seem absurd). I am thankful that we have been blessed with an amazing child. I am thankful for a wonderful husband, who is my level-head in stressful times. I am thankful that K's birth mother chose an adoption plan for him. I am thankful that I have been able to maintain a connection with K's foster Mom. I am thankful for my parents, now I see just how much they gave and sacrificed while raising us, and am thankful for the example they set for me as a parent. I am thankful that K has two awesome sets of grandparents (and aunts, uncle, cousins), who love him unconditionally and have welcomed him into our family. 

OK, I'm going to force myself to stop here, although I probably could go on all night. As I've been thinking about all the blessings in my life today, I've also been reflecting a lot about how far we've come since last Thanksgiving, how Joe and I have grown as individuals and a couple, and the amazing transformations we've seen in our son. Today is K's 11 month anniversary of joining our family. Due to the timing of his arrival, I feel this time of year will always be very reflective for me...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my loyal viewers! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday that you are able to share with those closest to you. We plan to!

tv research family

Ever wonder where "they" get the info for the "Nie1son Ratings"? Now we know...from people like us! We're not sure how we got "chosen" for this "honor" (I hate to think it's from the amount of time we spend watching TV...), but somehow they got our number. They've been sending us CASH in the mail to complete their surveys and send them back. This week we're supposed to be keeping a TV watching diary, not as easy as it sounds. But, I'm happy to report, our diary is pretty boring and I feel good about the amount of time we spend (or don't spend) watching TV. Of course, they don't ask us to record the DVDs we watch or our "On Demand" viewing, in which case we would have slightly more to record...but only slightly more. Joe is convinced we've seen all the $$ we're going to see from them, but I'm excited to see what comes next. So, the next time the Nie1son ratings come out, you can say you know someone who contributed to them!

Foto Finish Friday

At first glance, this could be a potentially confusing photo, seeming not really worthy of note. Let me explain. Lately, specifically today, K has been very interested in dressing himself (or trying to). This morning, he actually put his shirt on (the right direction might I add), with practically no assistance from me. Tonight after we put his pj's on, he instantly started grabbing the clothes we'd just taken off and started putting them on. He did most of it himself (as you can probably tell by the shirt and pants being on backwards), and even has underwear on under the clothes (but on top of the pj's....let's not be silly now). Notice the feet of his jammies peeking out the bottom. :-)

i'm a maniac...

Please excuse me for all the videos lately, I just can't help myself with this adorable, funny little guy! This one is too cute. He had just been reunited with one of his favorite toys (which we'd had in the garage for a while)...

irritated by my own stupidity

Anyone wonder what I meant by this on FB?  I'm getting over it, and thought it might give you all a Friday laugh. Let me just say: cell phones are not water proof. Short version of the story is; K and I were outside playing on Wednesday, it was a beautiful day here. I grabbed Joe's sweatshirt as we were heading out since it was handy. Got a little dirty outside, so thought I'd be nice and wash said sweatshirt. Upon re-entry into the house, I stuck the phone in the pocket of the sweatshirt. Fast forward several hours, I go to look for my phone, remember it's in the sweatshirt and go to find the sweatshirt...IT'S IN THE WASHER!! URGH! Why can't my brain function? Of course, anything is possible if the price is right, so the friendly folks at my cell company hooked me up with a new phone, for a small fee. :-)

Foto Finish Friday

K and Daddy, reading the Sunday paper together. Joe's probably not gonna be too happy about this one, either. But, what can I say? K loves his Daddy, and they're so darn cute together! I took this last Sunday, they were waiting patiently for me to make French Toast for breakfast. Also highlights another leap we've taken this week- moving K to a big boy chair! 

the parent herder

So, one of K's newest games is to "herd" the entire family into some small, dark hiding spot he's found (usually the laundry room or a dark bedroom). He's sooo funny! He goes around, grabbing J and I by the hands, saying "my...my...my" (which, I think we've translated to mean "c'mon") and herd us into this space. Then, he has to make sure Willie is there, and oh, let's not forget his other (stuffed) doggies Kim-Chee and Rover. Once he has the whole gang corralled, he closes the door, and we just hang out. Of course, he thinks this is a great time to start jumping around or giving Willie loves (which we try to discourage in the dark...). I just think it's so stinkin' cute. I tried to get a video of it today, which (of course) is mostly just us in the dark, but maybe you'll get the idea.

Today must be a day for videos...I took this one even earlier this morning (hence the p.j.'s), but K was just talking up a storm, which, of course, died down once the camera turned on. Please ignore the messy "gift wrap" storage closet. And, the stuff he found that was "Mommy's" is a stash of Christmas presents, guess I better get to wrapping...

Foto Finish Friday

Playing in the leaves at Grandma & Grandpa C's house last weekend. 

He had a blast romping with his cousins!!

Halloween!!

Kai had a blast on his first Halloween! We started out the day a little rocky, but he got himself together and we had a great day! In the morning, we visited Daddy at work (really, I just wanted to show off my handy-work). Then after nap time, we made the rounds to my work, daycare and visiting some friends. Then we met J for dinner, headed to the Harvest party at our church, and trick-or-treated at a friend's house near church. We were all exhausted, but K had a great time! I was a "mean" mommy, and politely declined most of the candy that was offered to him. At the our friend's house that we t-or-t'd at, I did let him choose one treat, and he choose M&M's. When we got home, I let him eat about 5, and that was pretty much the extent of his sugar intake. Of course, I still had to give him his "little" treat in the original packaging, or else we may have gotten tricked! Enjoy the pictures!

Visiting Daddy at work

The back side, so you can tell what he was.

At our church party

Enjoying his treat!

latest developments

So, I haven't bragged about my genius son for a while... here's your fill:

His speech is developing like nobody's business! He is learning multiple new words everyday. Not so many simple, one syllable words either. He's goin' for the big ones! He's learned to say three different types of balls (and can usually identify the correct ball with it's name). He knows football, basketball, and baseball. Amazingly enough, he can pronounce basketball and baseball nearly perfectly, even saying the "s" and "sk" sounds. He has also said two different 3-word sentences: "I love you", and "bad boy Willie" (guess you know what he hears a lot of...). This week he told J "I love you", all on his own (instead of repeating it after us).  He also says his name, "Tai Tai". Oh, yea, and did I mentioned he counted to "2" last week? 

And, here's my photo for the week:...well, I earnestly tried to put up a photo, actually, I've been trying for nearly 24 hours and blogger won't let me, so you'll see photos later. Sorry.

Foto Finish Friday

Is it really almost Halloween?? My roses are still blooming fast and furious! Even with our cold nights and chilly mornings, they're still going strong...

more fall fun

Last weekend we headed north to partake in some fun fall activities with our families. It was a beautiful weekend, sunny and a little fall crispness in the air. We arrived on Saturday, and headed over to the Apple Festival with my parents. I've never seen so many types of apples (and pears)! As you can see from the tasting lines, there were so many and they were all so yummy! We had a great time, and best of all, it was free!! After the festival, my Mom made us a lovely turkey dinner for my Dad's birthday celebration. All the cousins and the great-grandma joined us at our parents house, and Willie got to meet his new puppy-cousin for the first time! They played together fabulously and had a marvelous time! And, the kids had a blast playing together, too. Then we had probably the best night sleep away from home yet. K went down without a peep, and slept all night, even longer than he does at home! On Sunday, we visited J's parents and somehow talked them into going out to (probably) the most "famous" pumpkin patch in the area. (You'll get what I'm talking about when you see the pictures, and if not, just watch TLC on Monday night at 8!) There were so many people out there, and we waited for at least an hour and a half to go on the wagon tour. For us (big fans), it was well worth the wait, unfortunately J's parents don't have the same connection we do, but they enjoyed the time with their grandson (who, by the way, did wonderfully during the LONG wait in line). After that adventure, J's Mom made us a wonderful brunch then we hit the road to come home. It was a busy weekend, but we had such a great time spending some time with our families! Since there were a few too many pics to post one-by-one, I made a short slide-show. Enjoy!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

pumpkin patch time

This past Saturday K's playgroup met at the pumpkin patch, our favorite local farm Lone Pine. He had a great time, and probably thought he was in pumpkin heaven. It was a gorgeous, crisp fall morning, and sharing the experience with other adoptive families was wonderful! Joe and I have never actually made it out to their patch, since you have to ride a wagon out and the line to pay is always so long, we typically haven't gotten pumpkins there. But now, our lives are different... Let me say, it was well worth the effort! The patch is beautiful, and I loved how there were random corn stalks and sunflowers about. Perfect setting for fall pictures, and in fact, there were some people we saw out there, posing with their children, no doubt taking pictures for their Christmas cards (holey moley, is it that time already??).

I think at first, he didn't even know where to start. Once he got into the patch, he just ran (well, tried, but the vines running along the ground caused a little stumbling) from pumpkin to pumpkin. (Keep in mind, this is only one small section of the patch, this place is huge!)

When we were waiting in line to purchase our pumpkins, we spotted these beauties:

You may or may not know, carmel apples are just about my most favorite thing on earth! They were hand dipping these guys, right there, made to order! These apples were huge! The picture above is a little over half of the carmel apple, the apple next to it, is a pretty large size Fuji apple (had to get the scale somehow). And yes, it was as good as it looks, but I had to eat it in waves since my jaw would get sore from chewing the delectable carmel.

Foto Finish Friday

OK, so this isn't the greatest photo, and I'm sure Joe is gonna kill me when he sees it, but honestly...it's the ONLY picture we took this week! It's been a crazy week, I've had to work more than I want to, and we've been going, going, going. K has started this new thing where he leads us to something he wants to play with with us. He takes our hand and says, "My... My... My...My". Just about the cutest thing ever, but we have no clue what he's trying to say. Anyhow, he had just done that to Joe in this photo, and he wanted J to play in his ball pit with him.

Joe really was very happy to be playing with K in the ball pit. He wasn't, however, happy that I was taking pictures...probably for this very reason...

Foto Finish Friday

So, I've decided not to post the pictures from the party on here, for privacy reasons. I will be emailing a link to the pictures; if I don't get you an email and you'd like to see the pictures, please leave me a comment. My picture this week is one of our favorites from the party...

Oh yeah...and "Happy Birthday to Me"!

This calls for a Celebration!!

Yesterday we were joined by nearly 50 friends and family members in celebrating the finalization of Kai's adoption. We were once again reminded of our amazing support system we had during those long months of waiting, and rejoiced with them that we are finally done! There was a combination of friends and family present, and even our family and some friends from up north made the trip to be with us. It was a really nice time for everyone to be together, complete with "citizenship" type games, a red-white-and-blue cake, and a bounce house for the kids! Kai did great at his first "big" party, and loved the audiences he could draw with his antics. My friend Robyn graciously acted as our photographer, and got great pictures for us which will have to be posted later after they're organized a bit.

Foto Finish Friday (a few hours late...)

Drinking milk from a big-boy cup...

And proof that he actually did...a little milk mustache!

Further proof was the change of clothes that occured after lunch was over! :-)

It's FINAL!!!

Earlier this week, Joe and I went before a judge, with our lawyer and my parents present as witnesses, and were lawfully pronounced as K's legal parents!!! Now, according to state law, we have the same rights "as if he was born to them in lawful wedlock". The whole proceeding took all of about 5 minutes, but it was still amazing to hear the judge's statement, and know that after almost 2 and a half years, our adoption process is finally complete! He's ours forever and always and no one can take him away!! Having our adoption finalized also made K become a US Citizen, and although our adoption paperwork is complete, now begins the paperwork for his citizenship. Next we'll begin our paperwork for his SSN, passport and COC (Certificate of Citizenship). Even though through adoption laws, once he becomes our child he is a citizen, his adoption decree is not sufficient evidence to prove his citizenship, should we need to for say... a Korean military draft. We can start all this fun after we receive his birth certificate in a couple weeks! And, before I leave you to look at photos of our special day, I wanted to say a special thank you to my parents, who have been tremendously supportive of our adoption, and made the 2 hour journey by 9am to be with us on Tuesday! Thank You Mom & Dad! We love you guys!!

Foto Finish Friday

Playing on his "new" slide. Oh yeah, and GO DUCKS!!!

Foto Finish Friday

OK, so I am totally stealing this idea from other blogs I read, but it's fun and forces me to at least post something every week. Every Friday I will post a picture from the week. It might be something exciting that happened or something that reflects the mood of our house for the week, or something I think is just plain cute. I promise, I will try to be a better blogger and post other stuff too, but at least this way you will all see something every week. :-)

For my first Foto Friday:

Kai sharing his raisins. 

Three big things: he loves raisins, he loves to share his food, 

and he loves to eat from the original package...

progress report (aka Mommy brag)

So proud after climbing into the dining room chair all by himself!

I thought it was past due to give everyone an update on how well our little guy is developing and learning new things. He really is (in our opinion) just about the most brilliant child in the world! So, without further ado, here is the scoop:

- He is now saying about 20 words (not all understood by other people other than Joe and I), including some of his recent favorites: choo-choo (as in train, specifically, Thomas the Tank Engine, his new best friend), Willie, poo-poo (thanks to Daddy), and drawing (no joke, last night he and Joe were looking at his coloring book, and he kept saying it, clear as day!). 

-He uses about 6-7 signs regularly and appropriately, including "please", and we're working on "thank you".

- He is feeding himself with finger, fork and/or spoon nearly all the time, except for those rare occasions (yea, right) when he seems to overlook his veggies.

-He loves to throw things in the garbage, and actually seems to know what is garbage and what isn't, we're working on teaching him garbage vs recycling. He also loves to put dirty clothes in the hamper (and again, seems to know when clothes go in the hamper). 

-He has mastered climbing. He learned last week that if he climbs on his toy box, he can reach the light switch in his room.

-He is as silly as ever, and once he sees he has a captive audience...watch out!

-He has 3 molars.

-He is a toddler in every sense of the word.

(He did make it down safely, my camera just ran out of memory)

dreams really do come true

Most of you have probably heard about my good friend Kim. Kim and I met about 3 years ago, when we were both going through infertility. She came to work at my office, and worked there only for a short time, but we became fast friends. She's been such a huge support and inspiration to me over the past 3 years. Kim's dream of motherhood came true in May of 2007 when her twins were born; my dream of motherhood came true a few months later when we learned about our son in Korea.  Although our children were born a half a world away from each other, they were only born about 3 months apart! So, this past weekend, I took Kai to visit Kim and her twins in Salt Lake City! It was so fun to see our babies together at last, and they LOVED each other at first sight! In fact, our first night there, Kai was so sad when he couldn't sleep in the same room as Elle and Diesel (the twins). It made us both wish we lived closer together so they could play together all the time. It was a busy, crazy time with 3 one-year olds, but so, so fun!! (Just wish the twins had felt better... they were sick the whole weekend)

Here are a few pics of all the kiddos together.

Three peas in a pod

Elle on a mission

"The boys" 

On Saturday the twins didn't feel very good, so Kim's parents came and stayed with them while Kim, Kai and I saw some of the sights of SLC. The fountain at the Olympic Plaza was a hit with our little water dog! He had the time of his life running through the water, squealing with delight the whole time! I don't think any explanation is needed for these pictures!

A huge Thank You to Kim (and her family) for once again being a wonderful hostess (and taking the great pictures)!!

Aug. 14, 2007...

...was the day our lives changed forever. It's hard to believe that one year ago today, we learned that we had a son waiting for us in South Korea. The past year has been a huge whirlwind of activity and an emotional roller coaster. But here we are, all adjusting well, and loving every moment with our amazing son. That night we went out to dinner to celebrate, and wondered who this little boy was, what he would be like, and what he looked like. It was the longest night of our lives to wait until the next day to see his sweet face for the very first time:

We still wonder daily how we got so lucky to be blessed with this beautiful, amazing child!