Let's Finish off 2008... Part 2

Alrighty... Finishing off 2008...Part 2 will be for December 2008. If you haven't read part 1- you can find it below this post or Here!

December was a BUSY month! In fact, normally I relish Christmas time and try really hard to enjoy my tree and decorations, but this month- I just don't know where it went! I feel like I literally just put my tree up last weekend, when in fact I put it up at the very beginning of December- I think it was the first weekend in December actually... Now, my tree and all christmas decorations are down! Normally I don't take them down until after the new year, but I got some terrible news on monday- one of my former FAVORITE students was killed in Iraq- and I just didn't feel like being Christmasy anymore (more to come on my favorite student- I just need time to gather my thoughts and pics though...)

Okay, on to a lighter subject... our first big event during December was the Turlock Christmas Light parade! It was fun- we got to hang out with the Faddis family and Jon and Belinda's family on the street- however, it was FREEZING cold! I don't know how my child managed to keep from being fussy that night- I'm tellin' you- it was COLD! And the parade was SOOOOOO slow- an hour and a half long- bRrrrrRRR... Anyhow, booger really liked the lights and bands- Turlock High's Band rocked! They have a new band director (this is his 2nd year teaching) and he is Great with the students- so there's my very shameless plug for you all to go check them out some day! ;-)

See the mittens??? COLD!!!!!

See the man with the big blanket behind us??? SOOOO COLD!!!!

This is C and Sophie- aren't they the cutest together? Sophie is only 20 days older than C!

This is the Beautiful Faddis Family: Jimmy, Sophie, Kristy and Winnie Mae.

This is Jon with his adorable daughter Jayden:

SO that was our first fun Christmasy event as a family of 3!

Let's see the next thing that we did was exchange gifts with Andrew and Sandy Cantrell- they were out of town for the holidays and we got to exchange gifts and spend an evening with them before they left... it is always so good to spend time with them- we truly consider them part of our family! Sandy spoiled C and got him the *cutest* Roo stuffed animal and tigger hat from DisneyWorld- it will always remind me of what C was for his First Halloween home with us! That night we also got to congratulate Andrew on his biggest move of his life... he got engaged to the love of his life Gabby! Yeah Andrew!!! We wish you nothing but the best!

A got done with school on Thursday December 18 and my last day was Friday December 19. The 19th we headed to Disneyland... but the only peek you get at that right now is the picture of the 3 of us at the top of the blog... I told you- I will post about that next week! ;-)

Once we got home from Disneyland, I realized that we didn't have a picture of C with Santa yet! So, on December 23 we headed to the mall in the early am to get that done. I seriously thought we must be crazy- the mall 2 days before Christmas- YIKES! However, we got there at 8:45 am and Santa arrived at 9 am- we were the 1st in line! C was totally in awe as Santa came over to him and touched his finger to his- then when I handed C off to Santa this is what we got:

Poor Santa, it was his first picture of the day! Good thing he was such a great sport about it! I put this picture in a picture ornament and whenever we asked C where santa was he would run over to the ornament and touch it and smile! TOOOO FUNNY!

Christmas Eve was our next big day... I cooked most of the day- an 18.64 pound turkey- for 5 people and a 14 month old to eat! HAHA! Can you believe that? However, you can't beat a free turkey right? Who cares if we ate left overs for days!?! ;-) My parents and sister came over in the evening for dinner and dessert- Yum! Mrs. Prindable's Apples- they are GOOD! I bought them on QVC and I will probably start making that a tradition- thanks for that idea Aunt Jackie! After dessert we opened just one gift each- with the exception of C who got to open a gift from us and Nana/Papa. He had fun with the train that we got him from Disneyland! Then we watched our short videos from our Disneyland trip in which C had a blast seeing himself on the TV- too funny! (Don't you just love how I'm teasing you all with the Disneyland references???) Right after that we tried to take a family picture with the 6 of us and a camera with a timer- it was hilarious! Trying to get everyone to smile plus getting C to look at the camera had us all rolling on the floor!

This was the best picture of all of us- with the exception of me- just ignore me!This was my 2nd favorite shot- if A wasn't covering Jenn's face this would be my Fav picture! Silly, tall Allen!My parents weren't over for longer than 2 hours and then it was just us reading our Christmas Shoey & Dot book and the Christmas story from the book of Luke. Then it was bedtime for C and Santa time for us! We had a blast setting things up!

Our Mantel with our overly stuffed stockings! Thanks Santa!

Our tree and all Santa's gifts to Booger!

We didn't take pictures of C opening his gifts but did take lots of video- we just haven't uploaded it to our computer yet- sorry!

Christmas morning was fun, but took forever! At first C had fun opening a few gifts and then he got overwhelmed and had had enough! It took us 1.5 hours to open like 15-20 gifts between the 3 of us! Yikes! We then drove out to my parents house for a delicious christmas breakfast and more gifts. Again C did great for the first one or two and then he was done! We stayed at my parents for about and hour and a 1/2 then drove home for nap time for me and C! We were pooped! Around 12:45 we drove to Turlock to A's parents home to have a late Christmas lunch and to open more gifts. C did great! Allen and I could tell he was very overwhelmed but he showed every one a happy face! We were there for almost 4 hours and then it was time to end our day! We drove home and watched a movie and just tried to decompress from our very busy 2 days...

Poor C was so wound up and overwhelmed that it was much worse than A and I thought- he fought us (physically) while we tried to put him to sleep- there was lots of screaming and arching of the back- poor guy his body was just so wound up. He hasn't had a good nights sleep since Christmas day (I am talking NOT good; 5 hours sleep maybe?)- we are just so hoping that we can get him back on a good schedule- we have tried super hard to keep his world much smaller the past few days!!!

The day after Christmas we hopped back in the car and drove back to Grandma Alvernaz's house so that C could meet A's Godmother, Janet. We stayed for 45 minutes or so and C showed off his skills of being cute and climbing the stairs! Oh what fun he had as we don't have any stairs at our house- thank GOD! After that we went to our oldest and dearest friend Eric's mother's house so that C could FINALLY meet his Godparents: Eric and Dolores! Eric and Dolores totally spoiled C and showered him (& us) with gifts- C also played for a while with Eric's nephew and did great while there. He totally loved Eric and Dolores and I am so happy that now he can call them Aunt Dolores and Uncle Eric! Who by the way get married in less than 6 months! YEAH!!!!

Aren't they the cutest couple???

The last thing that we did this crazy busy month was have Aunt Jackie, Uncle Kevin (our best friends) and their children Josh and Joey over for a delicious dinner of hot dogs and chips! haha! We exchanged gifts and Aunt Jackie got C the cutest fire truck with MegaBlocks in it- he has had a blast playing with this toy!

While I am so very happy to see the year 2008 leave (so many sad things have happened to us, our family and friends) I have to be thankful for this year as well- it brought C home to us! We are INCREDIBLY blessed to have him as our son and we are also so blessed to have our family and friends in our lives- our lives wouldn't be the same without all of you!

So, Good Bye 2008- I won't miss you! And Hello 2009! Here's to hoping that everyone we know and love has a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Love,
M

Let's finish off 2008...Part 1

Okay, I am going to try to quickly finish off everything from 2008 that I have missed getting you updated on... everything EXCEPT Disneyland- that deserves it's own post- maybe next week:-)

NOVEMBER 2008:

C had his baby dedication on November 16 at our church New Life Christian Center! Our church believes that the dedication is to show that we as parents are promising to bring up our children in a church where there is faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and our church does the dedication service probably 3-4 times a year. There were lots of families in our service who dedicated their children- 2 or 3 families we knew from the past or church softball. The dedication only takes about 10-20 minutes but we were so overjoyed that we finally got to have a child up there that WE get to raise in the Christian Faith! So, when the ceremony started all the families that are dedicating children go up to the front and have scripture and a small message read to them. Then we each get to "present" our child to the church body- basically we raise them up above our heads so every one can see! Well, to say the least C was a little overwhelmed that there were so many people starring at him and he was a bit clingy with me and A; however, his name was called first and when A raised him up this is what he did:

Yes, our child POINTED out for himself and got the loudest cheers and hoots from the church crowd... He cracked every one up! (and yes, for those of you who know Stacey and Steve Parker they are the couple next to us with their adorable baby girl) :-). After church we didn't do anything too special- just went to eat some bagels at Panera with my parents, sister & Dennis, one of my best friend's, Jackie (Aunt Jackie) and her two kids Josh and Joey, and A's parents. We just hung out and talked for a 1/2 hour or so and then we went home to enjoy the day...

Next thing that happened in November would be... uh, let me see... OH YEA! Thanksgiving! How could I forget?!? Just kidding- there is no forgetting the biggest cooking day of my year! Our Thanksgiving Tradition that we started 4 years ago is to go to our Timeshare in Angels Camp, Ca. It's just a nice, beautiful area where we can go to relax and NOT be at home! All our timeshares (yes we have access to MANY, in MANY different spots at ANY time of the year- I'll explain more if any one wants more detail just let me know) have a full kitchen which is great because my mom and I prepare a ton of food for my family and A's family. Let's just say that we never just have Turkey- there are a ton of things for everyone's different tastes... It's so much work but I have lots of pride when it is all finished! Anyhow, my mom came up to Angels Camp with us the Tuesday before Thanksgiving- it was great because she helped prepare all the appetizers while A and I got to play with C and/or relax! Thanks MOM! On Thanksgiving Day, my dad, sister and Dennis, Allen's parents, grandmother and brother came up about 12:15- we ate around 2 and just enjoyed each other's company until about 6 pm. Poor C was a little overwhelmed with all the people that had "invaded" his space but he warmed up to everyone fairly quickly and then had fun running from person to person the rest of the afternoon. Other than going to Angels Camp, we have a pretty normal all-american Thanksgiving day!

This is C with Grammy (a's Grandmother- she is the SWEETEST lady ever!):

Isn't the foilage just gorgeous in the background of the pictures?

This is C with his "dada" and A's brother, Jason/Uncle Jason:

This is C with Grandma and Grandpa Alvernaz (Allen's parents)- again the greenery in the background is just one reason I LOVE going to Angels Camp!

Yea, no pics of my family from Thanksgiving weekend- when I was taking pictures my parents *refused* to take pics and my sister and uncle denny were sleeping- too much good eating I guess! But don't worry, I have a fun family pic with them from Christmas eve...

My parents spent Thanksgiving night with us at the timeshare because the day after my Godparents and their children came down to Angels Camp to hang out with us for the afternoon. My Godparents had met C a few weeks earlier but their children wanted to meet him also and they just happened to be home from college that weekend... It was so fun to catch up with everyone! I had not had the chance to see Cydney or Lucas for a very long time and it was so funny to see how grown up they were- totally adults in all ways! C was very comfortable around them and he showed off the entire afternoon!

Here is the entire family with C: Aunt Diana, Uncle Ed, Cydney and Lucas:

This is one of my all time FAVORITE pictures from this year- it was just such a happy day! Thanks for taking such a great picture Lucas and Cydney!
Okay that finishes off November... December will be my next post in an hour or so!

M

So Ready for...

CHRISTMAS!!! and winter break... and extra sleep... and time to do what I want instead of staring down STACKS, and I literally mean STACKS, of work to grade for my students... any one else feel this way??? Come on winter break, I NEED YOU!

The next post that I will do is going to be on C's Dedication at church... I'd do it right now, but don't have the pics with me. I officially have what I like to call "mom syndrome"- it's where i have all these things that I need to do/remember and I don't because those are NEVER the top things on my brain... see, "mom syndrome." Plain and simple.

Okay, enough rambling for now!

By the way, I figured that most of you have your christmas cards by now, so adding the card for everyone to see on the blog shouldn't ruin the surprise!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy Halloween (only a month & 1/2 late)!!!

We did lots of things on Oct. 31, 2008!

Obviously it was Halloween, but unfortunately it was a friday and A and I had work to attend to before we got to "party" with our little one! So, C went to daycare like normal in the morning and got to spend time with his friends there. Then, in the afternoon C had his 1 year appointment at the Pediatricians office. Poor little guy remembered the last time he was there and that he got shots the last time he was there, so as soon as he saw Dr. Chan's nurse he clung to me and wouldn't let go. He did great for Dr. Chan, but then when the nurse came back he realized what was going to happen and he got 4, count them 1-2-3-4!, shots in his thighs. :-( Poor baby- he cried so hard- I have NEVER heard him cry like that! It seriously broke my heart! He did great though and calmed down after the nurse left the room enough to really cuddle with me and let me wipe his tears away... *sigh* those mommy moments are so sweet sometimes!

Once we got home, we had just enough time to quickly carve a small pumpkin (of course I did that!). I tired to get C to touch the pumpkin seeds and the inside of the pumpkin but he wanted nothing to do with the yuckyiness of it all! He actually made the funniest icky face that I WISH I could have captured in a picture- but Daddy wasn't home yet and I couldn't take a picture and hold out the pumpkin guts at the same time!!!

Once A got home we quickly drove to Turlock to see Grandma and Grandpa Alvernaz for a few minutes. Then we left and ran by our church's Harvest Festival where we got to meet up with our friends Jo and Maria. We took a few pictures of C and Corbin together- C was Roo from Winnie the Pooh and Corbin was a Kangaroo- so it was definitly not a picture opportunity to miss since they were both kangaroo's of some sort! They cracked us up because they just checked each other out with these faces that said something like "Man, your mom made you dress like this too!?! Shheesh!" Too Funny! They were so cute together though and now we will always have that picture to embarass them with!

After our time with our friends from church, we ran home to hand out Playdoh to trick- or -treaters (I am SOO not a big believer in gobs of candy- most kids love that we give out playdoh too!) and we had a pizza dinner with Nana, Papa, Aunt Jenner and Uncle Denny. C was super hot by this time of the night so we took off his costume for an hour or so before we left to go visit some more friends. We tried to take pictures with C smiling but got very few as I do believe he was too hot in his costume and he was tired and cranky from his shots that day. We did get a few cute ones with him and Aunt Jenner/Uncle Denny though- the two of them got all dressed up for a Halloween party and we took pics of C with them- what do you think? The most beautiful Cave People around, right? Jenn made the costumes and I think they turned out just perfect!

After pictures, we went to Dave and Celina's house with Nana and Papa to visit some old friends. This is where many of my childhood halloween's ended and so it is tradition to go visit there on holidays still for A and I... It was fun to catch up with everyone and C had fun showing off how cute he was. Our last stop for the night was the Cantrell house to see Andrew (& Gabby 2) and Sandy. We only stopped in for 10 minutes or so- just to say hi and show C off to Sandy. Sandy was a HUGE support to me while waiting for C to be placed in our arms and she has the strongest faith in God- I only wish that I had her faith! The Cantrell's are dear friends and it was the perfect ending to our near perfect 1st Halloween with C!

Happy 1st Birthday, C!

C's first birthday was in October and it was such a day for celebration! More obviously for A and I, as we had been waiting for these special celebrations to happen for our family for a while, but for C also, as he had so many people that loved him come to celebrate with us.

We had C's party on a sunday at our house. We had lunch and about 25 people at our home- luckily the weather was great so we were able to spend a ton of time outside. Around 12, our families arrived so that we could do a little traditional Korean celebration with C. In Korea, the child's 1st birthday is very important and it is a HUGE celebration called the Tol or Dol (I don't know which is officially the right spelling- I've seen it spelled both ways MANY, MANY times). During the Tol there is a special table that is set up called the Toljabee: it has many items on it that represent the "future" for the Korean child; items such as thread for longevity, rice cakes for wealth, a sword for being a warrior, etc. Anyhow, during the Tol, the birthday boy (or girl) gets to choose things off the table- traditionally I believe it is one item- we let C pick three! I tried to get as many items on the table as possible that represented a true Toljabee; we also added a baseball to represent our culture and Allen's, papa's, and my favorite sport of all time! Guess what item C picked off the table first??? The baseball! Then C picked the thread and finally the rice cakes (which were supposed to be traditional korean rice cakes- I subsituted rice crispy treats though because I just didn't have time to make traditional rice cakes!) So, as far as we can tell, C is going to be a baseball player that is rich and lives a long time! HAHA! Of course, during the course of this tradition C was in his Hanbok again; again, he hated it and was very mad at us for making him take pictures with everyone... I swear I have one of the happiest, most talkative, best smiling kids in the universe but when the camera is pointed at him, he wants nothing more than to prove the above statment wrong!

Anyhow, around 1 pm all of our closest friends (except Jackie & Kevin as they were whoppin' it up in Hawaii that weekend- oh the jealousy ;-) ) came over to enjoy some homemade crockpot Bulgogi, which is, basically, steak bbq'd Korean style, and then of course some good old American hot dogs, chips and eventually cake & ice cream. Later everyone watched C (or rather Winnie Mae and Jordan) open his gifts and then laugh at him when he cried at his cake in front of him! Haha! He hated that cake that day- now, of course, he loves cake but not that day! C got lots of gifts that he absoltuly loves playing with- the loudest one he got was a "mini" drum set that my sister got for him. The amazing part is that C actually looks like he already knows how to play the drums... oh, what waits for our ears in the future???

The party wasn't anything spectacular, but it was wonderful to be able to chat with everyone and get to watch Chave fun with some of our friends children. We are completely blessed to have some of the best people in the world as our friends... they helped me wait for C telling me that God's timing was always perfect... their honest excitement for us to become parents was touching and their children clearly learn from them as they love C to death as well. Belinda & Jon, Kristy & Jimmy, Maria & Joe- your kids are wonderful with C. They play with him and watch him and give him the best attention! Jon Jon, Jamison, Jayden, Shae, Jordan, Winnie Mae, and Nolan thank you for being awesome little kids!!! Sophie and Corbin- I look forward to watching C grow up with you as friends in church and outside of church- I couldn't ask for God to put anyone more special in our lives...

On Monday Calen spent time with just A and I in the evening. We had one more special gift for him, an adoption book created by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth Chapman, called Shoey & Dot: Bug Meets Bundle. The book was a tribute to adoption by the Chapman's because they adopted 3 beautiful girls from China and they wanted to make a story for their girls. It is an adorable book and we just adore the Chapman family... so it fit the day well.

All in all, C's 1st birthday was wonderful! We cherished every second of it and got a ton of pictures to capture the special occasion! C- we love you so much and can't even begin to imagine our lives without you! Happy Birthday again "booger"!

Hope that y'all enjoyed the pics!
-M

PS- All of the links in here take you to pages with more information on what I was talking about...

I got tagged...

10 Random things about me and Food...

Krista tagged me & I think Courtney too (but I couldn't tell for sure because she used the name A on her blog and she has NEVER called me A- always M)! ;-) Being tagged means that you *have* to do the survey/list too- of course I will only do a "tag" if I like the topic or feel it is fun!

List 10 random things about yourself and FOOD...

1. I am allergic to a ton of food I love! Avocado's, watermelon, cantelope, carrots, banana's (& many more)- they all make my throat itch and swell... I've never been tested to find out offically what I'm allergic to- I think I probably need to though... I think I also need to get an epie (Sp?) pen to stab myself with if the reaction ever gets too bad... see, although I know I am allergic to this stuff, most of it I still eat because I LOVE IT!
2. I go to the Stanislaus Fair just to eat a Corn Dog every year- the Fair has the BeSt corn dogs and as far as I can tell that's the only reason I go to the fair!
3. Seafood is my favorite type of food- I think that is why I love the coast so much.
4. Pizza is another favorite food of mine... but not just any pizza- specifically the pizza from Tary's Boscolo Pizzeria & Italian Resturant in Atwater is the best pizza of all time... If you don't believe me, go and try it!
5. I don't like having food touching my face- love corn on the cob, but hate that it touchs my face when I eat it... probably the reason I go thru a million napkins when eating...
6.Hate onions- unless they are deep fried and in ring shape ;-)
7.Like tomatoes by themselves, sliced and salted. Will not eat them if they are in a salad or on a burger unless I am in a very strange mood!
8. I try different baking recipes at christmas time because it is my favorite holiday and I like to look like I can be a "martha stewart" haha. I am always pleastantly surprised and smitten with myself when something turns out better than I thought I could do it
9.Maryann's Ice Cream in Santa Cruz has the best ice cream and I stop there almost always when I visit the area for my favorite- peppermint!
10.I am generally keen on eating foods I know that I like, so I was surprised at how easily I tried Korean food and that I have so far liked most of the things i have tried. However, I hate kimchee and that is a fact!

So i know that i am supposed to tag someone else, but I'm not going to because I don't know of anyone who hasn't already been asked to do this...

M

Update #2!

Hi guys!

So, I have been procrastinating on doing update #2 because I keep forgetting to have the disk of C's 1st bday party pics with me... so my solution is to go a little out of order in our events and then revisit the bday party in maybe the next update...

About a week after C's 1st birthday, our little family of 3 drove down to Fresno to attend a picnic that I organized for adoptive families from Central California. Normally, or at least in the past 5 years or so, our adoption agency Holt has put on a picnic for Holt families down in the Fresno area- we attended last year and it was lots of fun to meet families who had adopted from Korea and China. Well, this year Holt decided to not have a picnic because of low attendance. I was SOOO upset! I loved going last year and think it is so important for C to grow up knowing that our family isn't the only family out there that looks like we do. I decided something had to be done about this picnic deal and quickly contacted a few people that I had met thru the Holt BB. We decided to set a date and then I found a place to go. We ended up at Woodward park in Fresno and let me tell you that this park is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL!

When we arrived at the park we were the first family there and my initial thought was "Oh NO! NO one else is going to come." However, within the next 40 minutes we had between 25 and 30 people at the picnic. There were lots of kiddos for C to "play" with and run around with. All in all, I think there were about 9 families that attended the picnic. There was another family there whom we had met last year and they just got to bring their baby girl home from Korea in May. Another family just brought their son home from Thailand around the same time C came home. There was a couple there who has been waiting almost 3 years to bring home a baby from China and they were really hoping to have a referral by next spring! A 3 year wait- I can't even imagine how excruciating that must be! We waited 19 months start to finish and trust me that was long enough for me to feel like I was going loony! Most of the rest of the families we had met back in September at a Korean heritage night in Fresno and most of them are also members on the Holt BB! It is so fun to get to hang out with others that I have talked to for months on the BB!

All the families seemed to have fun at the picnic and I really hope to be able to organize it again next year! The day was nothing too special... just a day for happiness, talking, laughter and some good food. It is so good to connect with other families/friends (!) who have adopted as I believe we all share a very special connection with one another...

I would love to put up pictures from this event but can't as all my pictures have other kids and families in them and for privacy reasons it just wouldn't be right of me to post those pics online! If you ever want to see the pics of all the wonderful adoptive families let me know and I will be happy to share those pictures with you in person!

M

Lots to update...

Okay everyone,

So I know that I am clearly terrible at this blog thing since I went back to work at the end of September! It's just that being a working mommy is soooooo BuSy! By the time I am done with work and get home to booger all I want to do is snuggle with him and enjoy him and writing for the blog generally takes me some time... So here's my solution... I am going to write a little bit every few days- right now I am going to write about one event that has happened in the past few months every couple of days. Let's see there have been a lot of events... C's 1st birthday, our Adoption picnic that I helped to create for our area, Halloween, and this weekend C's Baby Dedication at church... Then of course we'll be getting into the holidays and there will be oh so much to update on! :-) So I guess I better get ready and get a schedule going so that I can keep up with this update promise... ;-)

So here's your first update... I have officially been back to work for almost 7 weeks! It has gone really well... My first week back was rough but then God reminded me why I worked where I do and why I love my job so much... I came back to work just in time to save one of my favorite students (I know we're not supposed to have favorites- but oh well!) from dropping out of high school! It was a huge reminder of the fact that God really does have my life in his hands and that he knows best! Since that day I haven't looked back at being a working mom- sure I have days that I wish I could be at home with my son, but I also know that this really is what God wants for my life!

A has been back to work since Oct. 21 and he is doing well. He enjoyed his time off with booger but he is so good for his Jr. High students that he also knows where God wants him to be... He is now coaching his "varsity" girls basketball team and is enjoying it! We just hope they get a win soon!

Next update: I know, I know... I said one every couple of days; however the ones above don't have any pictures with them and I know how you all love the pictures!

A few days before C turned one we took C out to Hilmar Cheese to take pictures of him in his Hanbok. Remember I told you that this is the traditional Korean dress that South Koreans wear for very special occasions? According to Wikipedia.com a hanbok is: "the traditional Korean dress. It is often characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means "Korean clothing", hanbok today often refers specifically to Joseon Dynasty-style semi-formal or formal wear that is worn during traditional festivals or celebrations. The women's hanbok consists of a chima meaning a wrap-around skirt and jeogori which refers to a jacket. The ensemble is often called chima jeogori. The men's hanbok is comprised of jeogori and baggy pants called baji." Well, we were blessed by C's foster family when he came home because they sent a Hanbok home with him. We want to honor C's heritage and so we took pictures of him in the hanbok for his 1st birthday party... The session wasn't too long because C was hot in the hanbok and wanted out of it pretty badly- however I think that I got some really good pictures of him and want to share those with you! When I update about his birthday party you will probably see him in the Hanbok again...;-)

Enjoy the pics!

This is the BEST picture I got of him!

Mesmorized by the waterfall that he was behind:

Looking a little serious...
I love the lighting on this picture and his "huh?" look!

M

Some Pictures...

Hey everyone!

So just a quick update tonight... I go back to work in the morning and am slightly distracted and can't think about what to post tonight... :-O


Last night, A, C and I drove to Fresno to a Korean Adoptee dinner at the Fresno Korean Presbyterian church and we had a BLAST! The church prepared a wonderful evening to honor Korean Adoptees and their families- they think it is important for adoptees to realize their cutlure/heritage but also to realize that they are in the exact family God had planned for them to be in. The people at the church were so sweet and we were welcomed with such open and loving arms- in fact, we got a ton of attention by church members because C was the youngest child there and they all thought he was adorable! The church prepared a bunch of traditional Korean dishes for us to dine on- there was kimchi and fried sweet pototoe and many, many other delicious dishes that we were able to try! I was not a fan of the kimchi; it was super spicy and just not my thing but the sweet potatoe was wonderful and I am going to learn how to make that dish for sure! Many of the church members were wearing beautiful Hanbok's which is the traditional dress of Korea- C has one that his Foster Family sent home to us and we plan to take pictures of him in it soon so you can look forward to getting to see what a hanbok is if you haven't already seen one! We also watched a couple videos on information and sites of Korea- they were great videos and now I can't wait to visit the country in a few years!!! We were so very grateful to be a part of this wonderful celebration and are also excited because we met other adoptive families (that I have been communicating with online for a few months now) and we feel like we are making amazing connections for C!


C had new pictures taken on Monday- which he was super cranky for but they turned out well despite that fact and I wanted to share those with you!

























That's all for now- I promise to update how my first few days back to work go later this week...

Love you all,

M

11 months old today!

C turned 11 months old today! We honestly can't believe that he has already been home for a month and a half- it's true that the older you get the faster time flies and even truer that once you have kids time flies even quicker! We laid pretty low today- just hung out the three of us for most the day- Nana and Papa did visit for about 20 minutes and of course that made C's day! Eventually we went to town to do a little shopping and C wore his first SF Giants jersey which made daddy's day! Now I just have to get a Braves jersey for C to wear one day to make my day!


Sorry it's been two weeks since I last posted- the past few weeks have been all about getting our schedule set and that has taken a lot of time to do! However, it has really paid off in so many ways! Our little guy is so SMILEY now that he is on such a great schedule! He now has two naps a day and when he is awake he is so much fun! He really rounded a corner with A and I the past few weeks. He has become such a little lovebug! He loves to give hugs, snuggles and even kisses! He does the cutest thing to his mommy- he pulls my face down to his and gives me kisses on the lips and then gets all smiley and shines like he is doing something amazing- which to this mom- he totally does! It melts my heart every time he does it! He is even getting to that point with daddy too- not so much the kisses yet, but he does snuggle into his shoulder for lots of hugs and everytime I see that it again makes my heart melt! How did we ever live without C? Oh my, we are so head over heals for him!

Along with all the love we are getting from C we are also getting lots of laughter! The kid loves to laugh and almost anything can make him laugh at us- funny sounds, funny movements, a smile or laughter from us. Some day I promise to catch the laughter on video and post it- it will warm your heart and make you laugh too!

C had a pretty busy week this week! He and I went to his daycare providers house on wednesday and hung out for a little over an hour just so that he could get used to Linda and some of the other cute kiddos there. At first he clung to me but the other kids were so sweet to him that he eventually started to play with them. I thought the day was a success! The next day C= and I had Grandpa Alvernaz over for the morning so that he could get used to C's schedule (Grandpa is babysitting a day and a half a week). C had a good morning with Grandpa too- especially racing around the house on his Mater toy- he was all smiles then! Then on Friday, C went to the sitters for the first time by himself!!! I was a nervous wreck- even though he was only going to be there for a little over an hour- it was our test run! C did great- me on the other hand? I cried for a few minutes when I first walked out the door- I am loving being the sole caretaker for C and even though I LOVE my job, I am having a hard time knowing that I have to go back to work on Sept. 29th. C didn't cry once during the hour and 20 minutes that he was at the sitter's- and he came right to me and snuggled when I came in to get him! I can only hope that this continues to happen! The last thing we did this week was visit Grandma and Grandpa Alvernaz's house on Friday evening- we visited for a while and had a good time! What a full week we had!

I have one last week at home with C... Honestly, I don't know where the past 6 weeks have gone. Looking forward on them 6 weeks ago, I thought these days were going to be the longest of my life. I think I was obviously still not used to being a mom and didn't know what I had been missing out on as a Stay at home mom. I have really embraced being a mommy and now I wouldn't trade these past wonderful six weeks for anything! I am so grateful to my school district for allowing me this time off and to God for providing this time off as well. Once I go back, Allen gets to take 3 weeks off with C and I think that he will have a blast those 3 weeks! If you happen to think of us this next week, please send up a prayer for me that I can transition to being a Full time working mommy fairly easily- the prayers would be very much appreciated!

Okay...now for some news and video...Drum roll please............................
Our little boy has begun to take his first steps!!! He really has been ready since he first came home, but he has just started to take some steps and we thought we should let you all see for yourselves how cute he is in motion! Just click your mouse on the play button below and you can watch a quick video of C walking... Hope you enjoy!



Love,
Amanda

Our Chosen Path...

Hi!

A and I talked a lot about what to post on our Blog this week and we decided that we really needed to post about how we came to adoption... Not only how we came to adoption in general but also specifically Korean adoption. So here goes our story:

We get lots of questions on our "fertility issues" and really wanted to clear the air that our fertility ( or lack there of) is unknown to us! A and I talked long and hard about how we wanted to have a family and even before we were married we had the idea of adoption in our heads. Come to think of it, I have always loved the idea of adoption- even as a child! I specifically grew up with a lot of knowledge about adoption- my mom is adopted, my childhood best friend's mom was adopted, my Godparents adopted both of their children- it's just always been apart of my life! Same thing for A- his Godparents also adopted both of their children. So, we think that God had it very planned out that we were meant to build our family through adoption! We honestly think this is the COOLEST thing in the world and wouldn't trade it for anything...

We get lots of people (friends, family and strangers) who come up to us and act like adoption was a second choice for us. IT WASN'T! :-) We couldn't be happier with the plan that God had for us. I get a lot of sad faces from people who think it is sad that I haven't experienced pregnancy or child birth- I think they think I must feel like I missed out on something- I don't think that I have! :-) While I am sad that we missed the first 9 months of C's life- We are not sad with the amazing process of adoption. How amazing is it that C has had so many loving and caring people come into his life?!? How amazing is it that even though I didn't "grow" C in my tummy, he Grew in our hearts thousands of miles from us and God still placed the PERFECT child for us in our lives? Not to mention, I have made some AMAZING friends through our adoption journey- friends that I never would have made otherwise- they live in California and across the United States- also a huge blessing! Everyone has a different perspective on how to grow the perfect family and our PERFECT family is going to be grown through adoption! This is truly what we both feel God wants for our family and it is what A and I are both at peace with! Please be excited for us because we are so excited for ourselves!

Now- the next question we often get is- "why did you choose Korea?" Let me just say that while people may think we CHOSE Korea- Korea actually chose us! Yes, it is true that originally we started the adoption process with Korea in mind. My godparents children are both from Korea and I have always adored them! A's godparents also have a child from Korea. Korea has AMAZING medical care for their children and this country also tries to find out as much as possible about the children's birth parents. So, with all that in mind- in Oct. of 2005 A and I went to our first adoption information meeting through Bethany with Korea as the country we wanted to adopt from. It just so happened that Bethany (the one in Modesto, CA) didn't place "Healthy" children from Korea into families from our area. They told us to try Holt International. Fast forward to December 2006 and we sent in our initial application to Holt and put down that we wanted to adopt from Korea. Fast forward to April of 2007 and for some reason, A and I started looking into adopting older children from the United states. We really thought this was what we were going to do and were totally up for the challenge! Then, on Sept. 11, 2007 Holt International called me to tell me that they had a referral for us from Korea. Low and behold, I hadn't taken us off the list to be matched with waiting children from Korea. As most of you know, we waited for Ezekiel (our first referral) for 5 months before finding out that we couldn't take care of his special needs. It was absolutely heartbreaking for us. However, I truly believe this was God's way of getting our attention back to Korean adoptions and preparing our hearts for C. So- essentially Korea really did choose us! And boy are we glad for that because what a blessing from God we have been given in C!

SO- that is our family's path so far- we are so blessed to have all of you be apart of our journey and we look forward to sharing many more of our family moments with you!

~M & A~

PS- C is doing well this week. He is recovering from his first cold and that has been an experience all in itself! ;-)

A weekend of Firsts!

Hi All!



Our little family had a weekend full of FIRSTS- some good and some not so good...



First, last Friday C had his first Dr. appointment here in the U.S! We have an excellent pediatrician and I was very impressed with the office even though it is 30-40 minutes from our house! C has grown since he left Korea- he is just over 20 pounds and is OVER 3o inches TALL!!! Dr. Chan said that he is very tall and skinny for his age and that is her guess as to what his structure will be his whole life! C really liked his dr. but wasn't so thrilled with the shots he received before he left. Korea is a very Westernized country when it comes to medical stuff and he did receive most of his immunizations there before he came home; however, he was missing one of the biggest in our country- the one for meningitis and so we had to get those immunizations started that day! Poor little guy- it hurt so much and this first time mommy had a hard time watching him get those shots! Nana, my mom as she is now known, was super impressed with how good C did and it was so nice to have her there with me!



Second, this past weekend C had his first softball experience! We went to watch Daddy play in a tournament for a bunch of church teams- this tournament had 19 teams (!) with a few from Oregon and one all the way from Alaska! C had a lot of fun- mostly playing with the grass and trying to put it into his mouth, BUT he also got to meet some of A's family members (Aunt Ann, Amy and Todd) and he had a lot of fun with them too! My dad, Papa which he is now affectionately known as, came to watch a game on Saturday with us and was impressed by how well C was behaving at the game- he told C that he better get used to that lifestyle! Poor kid, we are already predispositioning him to be a ball player! ;-) I mean how can he not be with daddy and papa????? I was impressed with how well C paid attention to two men warming up next to us on Saturday morning- more than anything he wanted them to throw him the ball also- TOO cute!



Unfortunately the weekend ended on a slightly bad note... First of all, A's team won 5 out of 5 games on Saturday and was put into a higher bracket for Sunday's games- they lost their first two and were done after that- bummer for Daddy! On top of that, we received our first negative comment about our family in public from one of A's teammates. When C and I got to A's game Sunday evening we went up to A to say hi. As A and I were talking, one of A's teammates came up to us and said, "Oh look! That must be the milkman's baby! Hahahaha!" I was shocked to say the least and just looked at A. A was quick on the draw and said back, "Hey now! That's MY son you're talking about!" After I walked away I tried to forget about the man's comments but I just couldn't. I don't think that he was trying to be mean; he thought he was being funny more than anything. However, this experience really made me think how people's comments can hurt and it made me hurt thinking about how much that would have hurt C's feelings were he able to understand. We are well aware that we are going to get many more comments (and stares) from strangers in the future and I know that C (and our future adopted child/children) will be watching for our responses and finding strength and belonging in the ways that we choose to respond. I had prepared myself to get these comments because many people don't know what to say about the way that we have CHOSEN to have a family. I had even prepared responses to many possible things that could be said- however, once the time came to say something I just couldn't. We have found such joy in having C as our son and I guess that I was just taken aback that someone chose to not see that joy that exudes from us! I am sharing this experience with all of you so that you can pray for A and I to really make our son strong in who he is as a person and to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God meant for him to be our son and to be a part of this family! Please also pray for the way that A and I respond to future comments- we only want to protect our child and we want to be able to do that in the BEST possible way!



Okay, now for the last, but defiantly the BEST first that we had this weekend! On Sunday night, I was rocking C to sleep and feeding him a bottle. Generally C just stares at me when I do this, but on Sunday night C was so SWEET! While C was drinking, every once in a while he would stop, pull the bottle from his mouth and then smile at me!!! It gets even better! After a few times of this, he then let me take the bottle from him and he gave me kisses!!! Once he finally finished his bottle (normally he is asleep at this point) he gave the bottle to me, smiled once more and then curled into my body and fell fast asleep very quickly! It was the BEST! I couldn't stop thinking how lucky we are to have C for a son and I quickly offered up prayers of thanks to God for being so faithful to us in giving us the EXACT child he wanted us to parent. What a huge blessing! "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" 2 Corinthians 9:15



~M~