We love Kim Chee!

Anyone who knows us IRL, knows that when K arrived from Korea he brought with him a very special dog. We think he has had this dog since he was about 2 weeks old. We have many pictures from his time in Korea, and the dog is never far from him. Thank goodness the nice Korean woman who came off his plane told us about the dog in his travel bag. When he started fussing just minutes after he was in our arms, we gave him his dog and it was like magic. Suddenly, this new strange place wasn't so strange anymore. We knew we had gained another (unexpected) family member. We instantly named him Kim Chee. Honestly, it was the first word that popped into our heads, so that became his name. We truly believe Kim Chee has helped K through his adjustment in unimaginable ways. Those first days were tough, and I actually had moments that I was angry at this stuffed animal because my son loved it more than he loved (or even liked) me. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times we've left our house over the past 15 months without Kim Chee. He comes everywhere with us. I have done several surgical procedures on this poor puppy, he's (literally) being loved to death! This week we had the scariest incident yet, when K got up one morning, there was stuffing on his floor. From where? Guess! Yes, poor Kim Chee somehow acquired a slit in his neck during the night. Just our luck, it was a day we were both working so for the first time K went to daycare without his most favorite stuffy ever. (Luckily, we have Rover, his #2 dog he could take) Joe said he only screamed half way there and was pretty OK with the situation when they arrived, he even told his day care provider: "Chin Chee...owiee".  And don't worry, Kim Chee has made a full recovery from the surgery I performed that evening.

When K first arrived, and we learned how attached he was to Kim Chee, we really realized how much his foster mom loved him, and how well she prepared a 10 month old for the huge change he was about to go through. In our eyes, she is simply brilliant for attaching him to this dog and sending it home with him. 

As K is getting older, more secure, more confident and more independent he's needing his dog less and less. There have been days recently when Kim Chee hasn't even left the crib between K's sleeping times. He's learning to leave him in the car when we go places, or if we happen to forget him at home that Willie will take good care of Kim Chee and he will be there when we return. (Which, by the way, could be a whole no

ther post: how Willie somehow has known from the start not to mess with this particular stuffy.) Now we're just hoping and praying that he will outgrow needing to take the dog everywhere before he falls apart!

K and Kim Chee reading in the rocking chair

3/4/09

Run

by Ann Patchett

I just finished reading this book and I thought it was great. I'm not a big fan of reading books more than once, but I would definitely consider reading this one again in the future. The subject matter was a bit heavy, but kept me going since it was one close to my heart...adoption. I should say, the story was based around bio brothers who had been adopted (transracially) when they were very young. So many other themes echoed through the book: religion, relationships, life-long deception... several different story lines all webbed together very understandably. This was a book that, at a few points, I could literally not put down. In fact, I read about 100 pages over the few days we were away from K on our trip to Las Vegas. This book was so full of surprises, by the end I could not even imagine what might be coming next. Two big thumbs up from me! :-)

Foto Finish Friday

Fun with soap. Last weekend I was trying to clean the bathroom, so I let K "help". He had fun for several minutes getting good and clean. :-)

Can you see his little face? 

He's trying so hard to get the soap out...

breaking new ground

In the fall of 1998, a few short months after we were married, Joe and I attended a public open house for Lane Transit District, where they were showing the community their plans to build one of the country's first bus rapid transit systems. At that point, Joe was nearly 2 years from completing his degree, but he was very excited about this project and even said how he would love to work on it someday.

10 years later...

The past week LTD broke ground on their second phase of EmX (M-X), and guess who is the project manager...that's right, my hubby!  He began his internship with LTD in 1999, and was hired as a planning technician after he graduated.  Since then, he has worked very hard on many projects (including the first phase of EmX) and moved his way up through the ranks.  The timeline for this project has been set for some time, but construction is starting at a time when it's really needed, it will generate hundreds of jobs in our community. 

Here are some pictures from the ground breaking ceremony...

It was a packed "house"

EmX bus and future stop, in front of the new hospital

My Boys

Kai took full advantage of his Daddy's relationship with the construction guys

and scored himself a sit on the backhoe

Foto Finish Friday

Strikin' a pose

Seriously, have you seen a more adorable child?

And, he's got a personality too!

Why???

The why's have begun! Starting the day he turned 2, this has been the response K gives us to everything we say! I honestly thought we had a few more years (or at least months) until all the questioning began... apparently not. 

Kai turns 2!!

Let me tell you, we have celebrated this little boy's birthday in style this year! 

Last Saturday we had his party, where we had close to 25 of our favorite people come and celebrate with us. Of course the theme was Thomas, and K had the time of his life. That whole day, as we were getting ready for it, he walked around the house saying, "My party, my party, my party!" He handled himself fantastically for only having a one hour nap, and I think everyone had a great time. Luckily, it wasn't raining, so after the main festivities were over we let the 11 kids who were in attendance go outside to play. It was so fun to have all those kids running around our backyard, playing basketball and squealing with delight! 

His actual B-day was Thursday, which he got to spend at daycare. I won't go into the Mommy guilt I had for having to send him there on his birthday, but he had a wonderful time. They were also having their Valentine's party that day, so along with the cupcakes I sent for him to share with his friends, it turned into quite the celebration. Of course, he thought it was all "My party, my party, my party".  His care provider told me that when they were all singing Happy Birthday to him, he was just beaming and clapping his hands!

I was able to get off work early on Thurs., so I picked him up and we went home to relax for a little while. Later, we met Joe at Red Robin for his birthday dinner. It was his first Red Robin experience, and he thought it was just great. He loved looking around at everything, but wasn't sure what to think when the big red bird started walking around the place. After dinner we went home and he opened a few gifts from us. Today the festivities finally concluded when we gave him our "big gift", a tricycle! We didn't want to give it to him right before bedtime expecting him to go to sleep right away, so we waited a few days until he could play with it. He loves it!

The other aspect of his birthday which will always be on our minds, is thoughts of his birthmother on this special day. We hope and pray that above all, she has peace in her heart that she made the right decision and that she could know how much we love him. 

Please enjoy the video montage below, the video footage right at the end shows you a very tired, very wired little birthday boy! 

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Foto Finish Friday

Yesterday at daycare they had their Valentine's party. See the little bucket K is putting the pencil into? It's filled with his Valentine goodies from all his friends. After we got home yesterday, he carried that bucket around for nearly an hour. Taking everything out, putting it all back in, inspecting everything intently. It was so adorable. He even wanted to make a fort to hide in and keep it safe from Willie. It was all too cute!

So much excitement...

So little time to blog about it. 

We've had lots of fun stuff going on this week, but the details will have to wait another day or so. I just don't have it in me right now. The biggest news, of course, today is K's 2nd Birthday!! He had a great day, and I promise I'll write all about it soon... very soon.

Foto Finish Friday

OK, OK, I know it's not Friday, and I've missed the mark again.  Better late than never, right? We're in the midst of a busy week for us, and I just couldn't get to it yesterday. 

He made this drill all by himself this week. I left him for a few minutes with his blocks and he thought this up. :-) Check back soon for details on some of what's been keeping us so busy...it has to do with someone's birthday coming up!

reading

One of my favorite past-times is reading. Unfortunately, the only time I to read is right before bed. I can get through a few pages before I start falling asleep. Thus, it takes forever for me to read a book. Most of my reading material comes from my Mother-in-Law, who is an avid reader and has great taste in books. Most of the books I own were gifts from her, and the other books I read I borrow from her. I call her my library. :-)

I've added a book shelf to my sidebar so you can see what I'm reading or have read. The first book will always be what I'm currently reading, the rest are books I've read and have loved. I've also added some of Kai's favorite books as well. He gets his love of books from me, I guess. ;-)

If I've read something particularly moving or thought provoking, I just may blog a book review.

LARGER THAN LIFE

(Warning: this post lives up to it's title...it's LARGE!!)

This is the only way I know how to describe Las Vegas. We've been there several times, but every time I get there, I am in awe of how everything is larger than life. The buildings, the food, the entertainment, the cigarette smoke (OK, this is one disgusts me, but honestly, it is everywhere!!), the people; just take every aspect of life and multiply it by 1000. And yes, you got me, I'm going to write about our trip. It's not like we did anything in Vegas that we should "leave in Vegas"...Here are a few highlights:

Bellagio Garden: This place never fails to amaze me. There is always something beautiful to look at in here.

I'm not sure why, but my favorite part was the red lanterns from the ceiling.

At night:

Ethel M. Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden: As to why they decided to combine a chocolate factory and cactus garden...you got me. I'll leave that one to Seinfeld. :-) This factory was opened by Mr. Mars of the candy bar business after he retired in the late 70's. They make fine chocolates here, and yes, they are delicious! It was all I could do to contain myself in the presence of such yummy looking carmel apples! These were going for $12 each in their store! (I love carmel apples, but not THAT much!)

In the "Garden"

These are the treats we 

got for ourselves!

M&M World: Honestly, I'm not sure how we've been to Vegas all these times without ever going in here before. Imagine...4 floors of M&M "stuff". Everything you can think of. We had a very hard time controlling ourselves here, and only got a few things for K. I could have blown a year's salary easily. 

Bellagio Water Fountain: Hands down, the best free entertainment in all of Las Vegas. We could have watched these fountains all day, and we know why they don't put any benches around...because we would have watched them all day if we could have sat down! The experience is only intensified at night.

Paris: This is one casino we haven't ever really spent much time at. We walked around it for a while, and explored the outside a bit. We took a journey to the top of their Eiffel tower (which is half the size of the original)...38 stories in all. These pictures give a pretty good idea as to the scale of things.

From "the Strip"

Yes, we went ALL the way up there!

View from the top

Joe at the base of the tower

New York: Where else can you visit New York just a few "short" blocks from Paris? We went to both in one afternoon! 

Their replica of the Brooklyn Bridge:

I think the scale here is 1/5 the size of the original.

Sorry, these two wouldn't allow pictures:

Mac King Comedy: This guy was hilarious, and did a good job entertaining in this "family show". Every person's worst fear came true; I was picked from the audience to help in his magic show. It wasn't as bad as I would have thought, and I had a few blonde moments up on stage which only made his show funnier.

The Beatles "Love": Each time we visit Vegas, we like to take in a "Cirque du S0leil" show. They are amazing. Definitely worth every cent. This one was no different, set to the familiar music of the Beatles, it was nothing short of fantastic. Of course, they wouldn't allow any pictures, but you can click here for a preview.

We had a fabulous time, and are happy to report the only money we left there was in the form of goods or food purchased.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH...

Lest you think we had all the fun, K spent the weekend getting doted on and spoiled by my parents. Actually, my parents do a great job of not spoiling too much, but grandparents will be grandparents afterall...

Coloring with Grandma

They took him to gymnastics and he got to jump in the bungees!

He got his birthday present early

By Saturday, we were all ready to be back together at home. K did great while we were away, and Joe and I felt refreshed and ready to tackle life with a 2 year old! (Which we got a good dose of the following day)

weekend get-away

Wish I could tell you all about our first trip away from baby, but sorry....

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!!!

the right words

What do you say to a woman you don't know, but gave you the greatest gift of your life? 

Since we finalized K's adoption, I've been wanting to write a letter to his birthmother. It's taken me months to find the right words (they probably still weren't the perfect words), muster the courage to put them on paper, and have them translated into hangul. Not sure why I found this to be such a daunting project. I am more than happy to brag about my adorable son and can talk about him for hours on end. Part of the reason is the utmost respect I have for her and the decision she made. Perhaps another reason is that I can just gush and gush about how much I love this little guy, what he means to our family, and how grateful we are that she chose an adoption plan for him, but I didn't feel this would be well received with our cultural differences and was sure much of the emotion would be lost in translation. 

With his birthday in the near future, I was feeling an urgency to get this done, in the event that she checks his file on his birthday. We will most likely never have any direct contact with her, but we can send letters to his "file" and she might check it. 

I am happy to say, the task is completed. The letter and photos are in the mail, and we will never have a "first" letter to write to her again. The letter ended up being much more factual than I would have liked; telling her about his personality, what he likes to do, some of his developmental milestones, and of course, assuring her that he is a happy, healthy, well loved little boy. I don't expect to ever hear anything back from her, that's just not the norm in Korea, but I feel good knowing we've done our part, and if she does decide she would like to know more about him, the letter will be there waiting for her.

Happy Lunar New Year!!

Kai practicing his bow

Lunar New Year, otherwise known to us as "Chinese New Year", is one of the most important holidays celebrated in Korea. Similar to Christmas celebrations for us. The tradition is to make lots of food, visit your ancestors and pay respect to the elder of the family by performing a traditional bow. The elder reciprocates by giving away money. :-)

Yesterday we attended a Lunar New Year celebration at a Korean church near our house. We had a great time, learning to play some traditional Korean games and a little more about the Korean culture. The members of the church were so welcoming and couldn't stop doting over Kai. We all got the opportunity to dress in a Hanbok, and I took advantage! Then we learned how to perform the traditional Korean bow, and let me just say, it's WAY harder than it looks! I could barely complete it without stepping all over the lovely Hanbok I was wearing! As you may be able to tell, K's Hanbok from his birthday last year still fits him, it was only a little snug through the belly and the sleeves a little too short. Probably won't be able to squeeze another year out of it, though. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. :-)

See, he really did play the games!

Takin' a break

Kai and Emma 

Me and Kai

Foto Finish Friday X 2!

I was a bad, bad blogger last week, and didn't keep my end of the bargain. Here's a pic from last week. Let me just say, our little guy is getting to be quite the ham! (Of course, the stickers were placed strategically by him!)

And here's this weeks:
He wouldn't wear these sunglasses last summer to save his life. But, of course, this week we couldn't keep them off him. Doesn't he look like a super hero??

time for a change

What do you think? I decided it was time to change things up a bit on the ol' blog. The main reason being, our "Seoul baby" is no longer a "baby"! :-(  Where has the time gone? 

I've also decided that I'd like to use the blog to do a bit more journaling, and hopefully in doing such, be able to provide support for those going through the same stuff (good and bad) we've dealt with. Don't worry, I'll still post every single cute thing that our little guy does (like it or not!), and if you don't want to read the other stuff, you don't have to!

Oh, and please notice, the web address has not changed, so you don't have to change your bookmarks!

Gymnastics!

This past Friday was Kai's first gymnastics class! He had such a blast! We had gone on Wednesday to sign up, and he was so sad that we couldn't stay and "play". And by sad, I mean he threw a big-ole 2 year old tantrum when we had to leave. I tried to explain that we would be back in 2 days to play, but he didn't quite seem to get it.

When we arrived on Friday morning, he greeted his teacher with a huge hug. (He's turning into quite the little hugger) True to form, after only a few minutes, he was running around the gym screaming and playing with the other children. As you can imagine for a class of 18-36 month olds there was not a lot of structure, but there was a lot of FUN, and a lot of happy giggles! We had  a short period stretching (in which I only had to run after K and bring him back to the appropriate area once or twice), everyone lined up and made their way through the obstacle course. I was pretty impressed with some of these little kids' skills, and hope after a few times in class K will catch onto what the equipment is used for. 

But mostly, I was happy he enjoyed it, and it helped get A LOT of wiggles out!!

Little chef

I'm not sure, but this may be a sign we've been watching too much Ratatouille in our house. K entertained himself (and me!) for a good 15 minutes this morning playing chef.

First, chop, chop, chop...

Then, put it in the bowl...

Then you mix, mix like crazy!

Time for Bee-Bim-Bop (or a huge banana mess)...

Oh, the stories he tells!

With K's vocabulary growing daily, he is beginning to tell us "stories", and it is so fun! The first story came a few weeks ago. Upon arriving at his daycare to pick him up for the day, he greeted me with saying, "toe...bug...loud" (really, it sounded much cuter in his words "toe...buu...youd"). Our daycare provider filled me in on all the details, and he was telling me the "bug" (their new roomba) got his toe and it is loud. If that wasn't enough, he proceeded to recount the story for days. It is so fun to finally hear all those thoughts in his head, and see things a little more from his prospective! He's also telling us more about things he's done, and things other people have done. We're realizing we better watch out, he's about to start spilling all our deep, dark secrets!