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~