새해 복 많이 받으세요 - Seollal 2014

We were fortunate to celebrate the Lunar New Year in style this year at a local event hosted by the Korean Cultural Center of Iowa.  We met up with another adoptive family that we have never met in person and had a lot of fun with their family.

Sweet girl loving her yummy Korean food.

There was a fun information sharing presentation, a Tae Kwon Do demonstration, some singing and learning of the proper bow (our kids chose not to participate) and then a fabulous traditional drumming performance.

Someone was hamming it up in the cutout board.

Playing the traditional game of Yut (윷).

Lots of pouty lips and duck faces from Lillie today.

Goofball!  He had lots of fun playing with a few other boys....it **might** have gotten a little crazy at times.

Checking out the craft table - making a Korean fan.

 Gotta love a good Korean flag temporary tattoo!

Back for a little more food and then a tweak of Daddy's nose!

And finally our beautiful babies in their hanboks at the end of the event.

We had a lot of fun today and plan to become a member of this organization and continue to participate in any activities they have planned.  We also talked to some other families about a local Korean camp that we were planning to attend this summer with Paul.  Looking forward to getting Paul into a culture camp now that he is at a good age to participate!

Official Lunar New Year isn't until Friday, January 31st this year but it was nice to celebrate a little early!  So great to have an opportunity to provide a little more Korean culture in our lives!  

Welcome to the Year of the Horse.

Care Package #1

We are so blessed to have such a strong network of adoptive families - both those that are waiting for children to come home as well as those that are already home and are navigating attachment, sleeping, eating and other toddler related stuff.  These private forums allow us to track data and see who is traveling soon....since the trick to sending a care package is finding a family willing to take it in their luggage.

Peter's first care package leaves for Korea tomorrow with Sara and her family as they head for their first trip to meet their son.  And how fitting that her son's name is JeeHoon.  We wish them safe travels and can't wait to see pictures of their first meeting.

But back to Peter and his first care package.  He goes into Eastern at the end of the month so this package should be waiting for him at the end of January. I forgot how small the gallon sized ziploc baggie can be.  I am a little rusty but I think I can get back on my game quickly!  I managed to sneak the following items in that teeny bag:

• Sweater
• Jeans
• Candy cane jammies
• Take Along Tunes (with spare batteries)
• Cool dude shades
• Soft sided photo album
• Translated letter for the foster family

Love this striped sweater and jeans combo.

I know they don't typically wear one piece footed jammies in Korea, I decided to get these anyway - they were just too darned cute.

We sent the same musical toy to Lillie - it's cute and small so easy to pack! And our family is all about the shades so we figured Peter needed his own pair.

I really like this soft sided album.  It has crinkly paper and a nice hard plastic handle with room for five photos.

 And here's it all put together in the teeny tiny baggie.

So that is the last time a first care package will be created and sent by us. On step closer to Peter which makes me happy.  Oh, and I am already working on his second package.  We have another friend who is headed over to Korea in early February and can take a package for Peter to receive at his late February visit to Eastern.  Picking things to send certainly makes a small piece of the wait go faster....so that is what we will do!

Bowling!

We decided to hit the bowling alley this afternoon - Paul always enjoys it and Lillie had never had the chance to try....until today!  They were busy and we had to wait a while to get a lane with bumpers....the wait was worth it.

Check out the look of concentration!

Lots of crazy antics from BOTH kids today.  Paul had so many looks of excitement after he rolled his ball down the alley.

Lots of celebratory high fives today....

Lillie had a few excited looks of her own.....

 A few quick selfies.....

 Decent stance and awesome follow-through.....

And a little video clip of the man in action.....

 Final score of the first game....pretty pathetic scores!

We played a partial second game.  More of the same - lots of noise and fun and crazy shenanigans!  Oh, and everyone stands with their legs crossed while they bowl, right?!?!

Leg hug daddy!

Lillie used the metal ramp to help her bowl - she actually got a few spares and seemed to have some fun.

Her reaction to her great roll....like brother like sister I guess.

Tonight we had a little dance party in the living room.....not as spunky or groovy as some of our previous dance parties but cute nonetheless.

It was a nice weekend and a fun day to wrap it all up.  Back to a full week of a normal routine which will be nice for everyone.

The most unexpected surprise

It is funny how God leads us down His path in His own perfect way and in His own perfect time.  Let me tell you the story of how the most unexpected gift was given to us for Christmas this year.

When we started Lillie's adoption process several years ago, we assumed it would be our last.  But there was an inkling in my heart that maybe it just wasn't our last time down the path.  I knew Jason was hesitant so I didn't push the issue.  Back in March 2013, a little boy who we will call SH flew onto my radar screen.  He was considered a waiting child due to his medical history and needs.  Something struck me about that little man and he immediately took a place in my heart.  And then I moved on with my life but not without the passing thought of him from time to time.  Wondering if a family had chosen him as their son.  Wondering how he was doing.  Quietly wondering.

In the summer, he presented himself to me again.  Another gentle nudge that sparked a little bigger place in my heart.  This time I emailed the social worker in charge of waiting children at the agency where he was listed.  I didn't tell Jason that I did this.  The social worker informed me that there were five families waiting to see his file.  I felt relieved and confident that he would be chosen by one of those families.  I went on quietly wondering.

In the fall, his little face popped up in yet another place.  This time I could not keep it to myself.  When Jason and I were in Galena for our wedding anniversary, I brought up the very real fact that adopting a third child was on my mind and had taken hold of my heart.  I told him about little SH and how God's gentle nudges had kept at me.  While still hesitant, he seemed open to the concept once he got past the shock.  We decided to inquire again about SH and find out what was happening with his file.  When I reached out to the social worker, she indicated that another family had just turned his file back in the day before.  God's perfect timing.  I asked if we could review his file and she agreed.  A few weeks later - after completing some paperwork - we had lots and lots of documents to review.  There were a few holes that needed to be filled in so we waited a few more weeks.  Finally we had everything we needed to review his complete medical record and our pediatrician (and good friend) had a chance to review the file as well.  In the end, there were some medical concerns that were just not sitting well with us or our pediatrician. Things that we weren't sure we could get comfortable with.  He is an amazing and sweet little boy but he wasn't ours.  My heart hurt but my head knew it was the right decision.  I informed the social worker on Monday evening and proceeded to be in a funk for several days. 

On Wednesday evening of the same week, I saw a facebook posting from Lifelink which is the agency we worked with on both Paul and Lillie's adoptions.  The post indicated that they were in need of families for the Korea program.  They were receiving referrals but did not have families on the waiting list.  This is unprecedented folks.  My heart lept.....God's perfect timing in action!  I emailed the head of the Korea program on Thursday to ask what it really meant.  Oh, and to clarify with her that little age limit that Jason is bumping up against.  She assured me we would have a referral within two months of our home study completion and we should apply immediately given Jason's age. Let me just tell you that she NEVER gives definitive timeframes so this felt really amazing.  We just needed to be sure that we wanted to head down this path.

Lots of discussion ensued.  Could we handle three kids?  How far apart in age would they be?  Where would everyone sleep?  Would we need a different vehicle?  Do we want to start this horribly long process again?  How would Paul and Lillie feel?

In the end, the decision came down to this:  We have more than enough love in our hearts for another child.  Our kids are loving and will make excellent big brother and sister to another little one.  Who cares what kind of vehicle we need or where they will sleep.....we can totally do this!  I won't say we aren't nervous as the move from man-on-man to zone defense is a big one.  But in the end, this felt right.  And it felt right for both of us.

And so we applied.  On November 25th of 2013.  And we started a fast tracked homestudy process.  I don't recommend this for the faint of heart. The process is hard enough but when you cram several months of stuff into a month's time and that month just happens to be leading up to Christmas which by nature is a crazy month anyway.....I think I lost my mind a few times.  The Des Moines based social worker is no longer with Lifelink so we are working with the social worker that helped us to bring Paul home.  She is working out of the QC office which also makes this a little more complicated. We drove there one day to meet with her and then she came to our home the following week to meet with us and the kids.  At that point the kids still didn't know we were doing this.  Really no one did except our pediatrician and a few very close friends.  We wanted to surprise our family as this was likely the last thing they would expect.  The idea of Paul and Lillie had been discussed so when we received our referrals it was very exciting but not unexpected. This time around it will be both.  And there are really very few true surprises in life any more.

And here comes the most unexpected surprise - the surprise that was on US and not just our family.....on December 20th of 2013 we received a referral.  Our paperwork is not yet complete and we weren't anticipating "meeting" our child until sometime in first quarter of 2014 (likely February or March).  And yet there he was.  Jason was running an errand when our social worker called.  She was going to email me the information in 3 emails.  First the paperwork and written information.  Second and third were pictures.  I promised we would look at the paperwork first - as we did with both kids before.  That was the longest wait for Jason to get home!  Not checking and not peeking....tough to say the least.  And finally he came home and we got dinner going so we didn't starve our kids and then standing in the kitchen we opened the file on the computer.  I read through the paperwork and then when we were both ready, we opened the pictures. Our hearts melted! Such a flood of emotion.  A million thoughts crossing through my head.  It was the most perfect way for us to "meet" our final child.

Our son was born in October, 2012.  Yes, another October birthday. Hilarious and perfect all at the same time.  He and Lillie are almost exactly 2 years apart in age.  He had a tough start at life but he is doing just fine now. He is in a loving foster home now and appears to be thriving.  We had the opportunity to chat with another family whose son had the same foster family. So nice to have these connections.

There are now very strict rules about posting pictures before you take legal custody.  So there will be no posts of his beautiful face from now until we bring him home.  I will post updates of his progress and plenty of pics of Paul and Lillie to tide us all through.  And likely a few pics of the care packages we will send.  We are hoping for a quick process but we know that is likely not going to happen.  A reasonable estimate could be about 18 months until we travel.  The process has changed to now include a trip to Korean Family Court and also means we travel twice.

So, until then we will love you Peter William JeeHoon through pictures.  And we will count the days until we see your cute face in person for the very first time.  God's grace is so good and we are truly blessed.

Stir crazy!

When mother nature gives you subzero temps with even colder record breaking wind chills......the following things happen:

1.  The school district cancels school....for 2 days in a row....after the kids were already on a 2 week winter break.
2.  You go several days without leaving the house.
3.  Things start to get a little nuts as the natives get stir crazy.


There is dress-up.....and glow sticks....and slippers OVER your jammies.

There is tandem screen time on a pile of blankets.

And a few selfies thrown into the mix.....

And so much more that was not documented on film.....probably better anyway.

Thank goodness that we reached some positive temps today - actually felt a little balmy!  Kids should be back to school tomorrow.  Jason will have some mental health time in the quietness of an empty home.  All will be well with the world.

Our little Cougar!

Paul decided a few months back that he would like to play basketball so we signed him up for Little Dunkers.  They had about 300 kindergarten kids sign up which is about 1/3rd of the kindergarten population in our district....that's a lot of little dunkers!  He was assigned to the Cougars and his team is yellow.

Paul lucked out and got a really great coach - there are 9 kids on his team and his coach remembered all of their names during their first practice and game. He was very good with Paul who has never played basketball before.  The kids had practice for about 15 minutes and then played a game against another team for the remaining 45 minutes.  It is hilarious to watch those little guys double dribble, travel, over and back and all the other egregious actions in basketball.  Paul needs a little work on his skills but he certainly had a lot of fun which is the whole point.

The team listening to their coach....Paul was actually paying really close attention.

One of the shorter kids on the team was the blocker for the shooting drills. Hilarious.  Hands up Paul!

Turns out his friend Christian from his kindergarten class was on his team - what are the chances?!  He is a tall one that Christian!

I count week one as a success.  Paul wants to go back for week two...always a good sign!  We might need to spend a little time at the Y for some practice before next weekend.  So glad to see Paul wanting to branch out into some different activities.

One more random Christmas post

The last of the Christmas posts.....with some gifts from our good friends Kiya and Katie (and their parents).  

First.....must eat cheese.

Still loving the Rock Em Sock Em robots!

Cool new book she opened.....

She wasn't excited about it at all!

Ninjago stuff....yes please!

Had to start putting it together right away.....

We broke out the adult gift from Cathy and Dave and downed a shot from the mini chocolate bottle....but alas, no pictures of that fun!  So nice to exchange Christmas fun with our friends.