Hi!

Hi everyone!

I never intended to be a big "blogger" but I have realized that this may be the easiest way to keep everyone up to date on how we are doing out here in California! I never realized just how many friends and family we had to keep updated now that booger has arrived home so I think this just might keep me a little sainer than trying to email everyone new pictures or new updates with what booger is up to!

First off, for those of you who I haven't talked to in a few weeks, booger is the most amazing son ever! He is cheerful and so funny when he isn't sleepy! He is very smart and I can already tell that he is going to "take care" of others- he is only 10 months old and I "caught" him feeding his bear a bottle the other day- TOO funny! Maybe I am just a proud momma who thinks her kid is the smartest, but I have never met another 10 month old who has done that in front of me! C is also quickly acquiring English which I think is a huge feat considering he already knew 5 words in Korean before he came home to us- he was ALREADY acquiring the Korean language at 9 months old! When A or I say byebye C will wave to the person we are directing it to and not a HUGE word but C is calling his bottle and sippy cups 'baba'- please keep in mind that he already knew the korean word for food and he was saying that when he first came home but no longer does for a bottle! Okay- proud mommy ranting over! C LOVES bath time and will splash around in the tub for hours if I let him- generally I come out of the bathroom soaked and needing my own bath thanks to C's gleeful splashing! haha! He truly is super happy during tub time- maybe we have a swimmer on our hands???

For those of you wondering how C's attachment is going... we think it is going pretty well! We had our first post-placement visit with our social worker last saturday and he was simply amazed at first of all how smart and observant Calen was and secondly at how he had attached so well to us as a family. Derek (our SW) said that he could tell C new where he belonged which truely made A and I feel soo good! Also, yesterday I kinda gave booger a test... we went to our local bagel shop which is owned by some Korean-Americans whom I have come to know and respect throughout our adoption journey to C. I have read that many children that just come home from Korea prefer to be around other asians and will try to them if they are able. I was nervous that he was going to want to go to them and be held especially since they were speaking to him in Korean but... HE DIDN'T!!! He actually held on to me just as tightly as he does when he is meeting other people and I felt really good about the fact that he KNOWS who hs Mommy is! With that being said, there are still rough days around here. When C is sleepy he grieves. If we don't get him down for a nap or down for bed at just the right time, C goes into extreme grief mode and we have an hour or so of hard crying once he sets into that. I know that he dreams of Korea in his sleep- I just know this as a mom- and as much as I wish that he doesn't have to grieve I don't ever want him to feel like I want him to forget his past history or where he came from. So, yes, the grieving can be hard for us to watch and for C to go through, but it is part of the adoption process and we don't in any way want to diminish the way that he needs to grieve.

I have just over 4 more weeks off from work and as much as I miss my "kids" (this is what I call my high school students) I am having a great time staying at home with C and getting to know his personality and likes/dislikes! Please continue to pray for the three of us to continue becoming a family unit and for C's grief- your prayers are truly invaluable to us!

Please feel free to comment us through the blog or continue emailing us and I will try super hard to update this site with new pictures every few days or at least once a week AND I will try to email you back too!

~M