I can't believe my baby is 4!

So today brought Paul's official 4th birthday.  I don't think the reality has really sunk in that I am the mom of a 4 year old and an 18 month old.  Wowsa.  We wrapped up our birthday weekend with church, lunch and then we hit the road to come back home.  Paul waited patiently while we worked on his big birthday surprise......and then it was time......

Yep, we bought him a big bounce house.....what every 4 year old needs, right?!?!  It is 9x12 and 7 feet tall.....it fits in our house and can also go outside when the weather is a bit nicer.  We knew he would love it since he loves to go to the bounce house places.

I love my new bounce house!

Jumping, jumping, jumping.....

It was all smiles!

 And then it was time to get his Super Paul cape on....because we all know that you can jump higher when you are a super hero.

And just like that, he was done with the fun and wanted to go do something else.  So, he helped us deflate it!

It is always so much fun to see his excitement at big gifts.  This one will be fun for him and will be fun with Lillie when she gets home as well.


And as with every birthday, my heart is full of love for my boy but it is a little heavy for his birth mother.  I am so sure that she is thinking of him today and I hope she can feel the love that we have for the little boy that she brought into this world.  I am so excited that Paul should be able to see his foster mommy again when we travel back to Korea later this year.  I am sure she is excited too.


Thanks to all of our family and friends who helped to make this birthday so very special.  From those that hosted the festivities, and those that had to travel and those that picked the most perfect of presents.  It was a busy weekend...we are all pooped out and I will admit that I am super sore from my mad bowling skills yesterday!  I am quite sure that we will all sleep well tonight.

The Birthday Boy's Bowling Bash

Hard to believe that our little man is turning 4 this weekend.  And what a wonderful young man he has become.  I am proud of his kind heart, sharing spirit (mostly) and his gentlemanly manners.  The weather was quite uncooperative for the fun we had planned, but our backup itinerary was lots of fun as well!

We headed for some bowling fun to a very upscale and newly renovated set of lanes in a martini bar at the Hotel Blackhawk.  It was the fanciest bowling alley that I have ever seen and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.  Can you tell that the birthday boy was happy to be there?

 He got a very special lightweight bowling ball which just happened to be bright green....easy to pick his out of the line!  They had the automated bumpers for him which made it nicer for him to play as well.  We saw a lot of smiles and cheers and jumps and "ca-chows"......

 

I love his little bowling shoes....even if they were 2 sizes too big!

 Taking a picture of the score board....he scored pretty well!

 Taking time to snuggle with Gram and Pa.

 Auntie Jen and GranJo looking good!

 After 2 games of bowling, it was time to hit the road for some presents, food and cake!  It felt like Christmas morning.....clearly everyone went OVERBOARD on gifts!  Checking out the cool new toy from Mimi......

 And in theme of the superheroes birthday, he now has a Superman shirt (along with his Spiderman and Batman shirts).

 Cool new slip and slide from Uncle Chris.....Paul is thrilled and Daddy was cringing (grass killer).

 Our decorations hanging over the table.

 Cool new hippity hop from Auntie Jen....Lightening McQueen style!

 Checking out his new globe from GranJo.....now where are we again?!?!

 And then it was outside for some bubble fun before dinner.....Uncle Chris supervised.

Someone was LOVING his new bubbles....thanks Uncle Chris!

 Plotting and scheming over some bubbles.

 A snack before dinner.....funny toothy grins from Gran Jo (apples, peanut butter and marshmallows).  Paul thought these were hilarious.

 Pondering if he wants vanilla or chocolate ice cream with his cake......

 Instead of party has, we had Spidey masks!  Here's the birthday boy.....

 Spidey kiss with Pa.....

 Spidey Auntie Jen!

 The entire Spidey family!

His cool cake.....it was strawberry flavored with butter cream icing....YUM!

 Sue and Larry came over for some cake.....and brought Paul a new book which he had to read immediately!

What a VERY full day.....and lots of fun.  Tomorrow Paul will get his gift from us and that will deserve its very own blog post.....looking forward to the surprise on his face!

Our Soccer Star

 Paul started his spring soccer league today....this is his very first foray into organized sports.  For the last year or so, we have enrolled him in the Happy Feet program that comes to his preschool.  They come for 30 minute sessions in the school and teach the kids the basics of soccer.  He has come to really love his Happy Feet Wednesdays and so when they started a new spring soccer league, we knew we would sign him up.  They teach soccer in a really great way and the coaches are all players themselves.  The program was started in Kansas City and has spread to other cities.  We are lucky to have it here!

We awoke to a cold and drizzly day....perfect day for soccer, right?!  We arrived a little early to get the lay of the land.  Paul decided to do a few stretches and run around a little to get loosened up.

Then it was time to check in and get his cool Happy Feet jersey.....he was thrilled with ALL of his soccer gear.  He's been begging to wear his shin guards and cleats all week.  Here he is sporting his new jersey.

 He ran SO much today....we saw lots of smiles and lots of the back of his head while he was running around!

 Holding Bob the Bobcat which is what Happy Feet calls the soccer ball.  We purchased one for Paul at Christmas and they really are cute.

 Getting ready for a big kick......

 Lots of running and lots of concentration today.

 Coach Dan and the rest of his team huddling up during the game.  I love that all the kids are so serious and then Paul has this huge grin on his face.  Paul was lucky to be put on Coach Dan's team as he is one that runs Happy Feet in our area.

 I love this picture.....he looks so big here and you can clearly tell how much fun he is having.

In the end, Paul's team got completely blown away by the other team.  They don't keep score, but the yellow team was clearly dominating the field.  They had a few older girls on their team who had clearly played soccer for a while - including Coach Dan's daughter.

I am so proud that Paul scored the first of only 3 Team Blue goals!  Admittedly, he also scored a goal for the other team...whoops!  It was a miserable day for soccer, but he had a blast!  I was glad to have my umbrella and Jason spent a little time in the car.  We were cold and wet by the end, but the excitement from our little boy was totally worth it.  We grabbed lunch at Wendy's and then Paul proceeded to fall asleep on the way home.  Jason and I were lucky to have date night with some yummy food and alone time while Paul hung out with one of his preschool teachers.

I can't wait to see how Paul's skills progress as the season moves along.  I truly think he will be a very good soccer player someday.  For now, he's so stinking cute that his skills don't totally matter!

Little Miss is 18 months old!

Dear Lillian,

You are 18 months old today. I don't even know what to say about that other than I find it totally and completely unbelievable. We have been waiting for you now for 9 months. I have to tell you that the first 6 months flew right by for me and then I had my first meltdown. Like a really ugly mental disturbance. The last 3 months have been a little more sporadic. I find myself having days when I am fine and then others when I think about you constantly. I know you will come home in the exact perfect time....in His time and not in ours. And while I know this is my head, my heart is another story. In MY time, you should be home. There are so many firsts that we are missing each day and right now that is all I can focus on.....I know that when you come home, all that we missed will fade away and be replaced with all of OUR firsts. I am grateful for that and to be honest, that is often what keeps me going when I am having a tough day.

It is not lost on me that we have been waiting for 9 months. The time it takes others to give birth to a child....that's how long we have been waiting. But there is no due date or expectation of when you might arrive. So I expect that I will be about 5 months "over due" and that just stinks. I cannot tell you how many people are asking about you every single day. Our friends and family are so supportive and I cannot imagine walking this path without them. They all want to meet you so much!

For now, continue to enjoy this time with your foster family. Love them because I know how much they love you. Enjoy this time in your beautiful home country. We can't wait to meet you and to bring you home to us, but it gives us such strength knowing that you are healthy and happy right now.

Much love to our 18 month old sweet cheeks!

Hello Baby Samuel!

We were so lucky to have our friends Jeff and Sisilia bring their one month old baby boy to come and meet us today! Paul was super excited that a baby was coming to visit. Baby Samuel is such a cutie pie. He was quite the mellow fellow today and seemed to enjoy just hanging out - a little eating, a little sleeping, a little pooping and he was happy. We had a nice lunch and then just hung out for the afternoon.

When Paul asked if he could hold the baby, my reaction was HECK NO! But Sisilia was just fine with it...evidently Baby Samuel is quite the pro at being held by his cousins, so this was just no big deal. With the appropriate pillow to keep him safe, Paul was ready for his chance to be a big boy and hold the baby. I was so proud - he was very gentle. He was quite proud of himself too. He ended up taking two turns at holding Samuel.

A closer shot of the peanut....such a cutie!
Jason took a turn as well......he doesn't get the chance to snuggle with such a little baby very often.
Paul entertained us with his crazy antics and funny imaginative play. He spread a blanket out and we had a picnic all while he was wearing a backpack. We ate a lot of ice cream at our picnic today.
Smiling on our picnic blanket.
He has been really into making funny faces......so here is a trio of Paul's funny faces for today.....enjoy!