Happy 4th 2009!

We didn't do anything major, but the kids still enjoyed it.  We actually went to town to watch the 4th parade.  We've never done a parade and the kids LOVED it!  Chelsi was VERY outgoing and would ask anyone who walked by, in the parade, for candy.  She was NOT shy at all which is a little odd.  We had met our friends and their kids to watch together and they all enjoyed it.  I don't think the two youngest, ages 2 and 3, stopped waving their flags once!  They had to be the two cutest girls at the parade!  Afterwards we went to their house to watch some fireworks we bought and they bought with some other friends.  It really was a nice evening and the kids loved getting to play and be together.

At the parade.

The dads...



The two little girls



The 6 year olds.



The 8, 12 and 9 year olds...in that order.



Me and my baby.



Our little spectators.



4 of our sparklers.

My baby boy/Miracles

seems to really be becoming "my little boy".  I pray this stays when I have to return to work and he goes to daycare.  I'm so thankful I can work part days for a bit to be with him more.  He's starting to really snuggle and trust.  Trust is HUGE!  There's probably a post somewhere in here about that back when Chelsi arrived home.  I can hold him for a bit in his room while we listen to Brahm's and lay him down awake and rub his head, face and bottom and he'll go to sleep shortly after I walk out.  He never even fusses now.  He knows if he does I will come back and rub some more.  He trusts.  Makes me feel SO good!  Even his grumpy isn't as grumpy as it was just a couple of weeks ago.  He's been home 5 weeks now which totally amazes me.  It's starting to feel like we've known him forever already and we only found out 3 1/2 months ago we were even having a baby.

It's amazing the changes a family can go through in a short period of time; good or bad.  We had some rough and rocky last year and some mind-blowing amazing this year.  Trust mind-blowing, amazing miracle.  That's what this feels like.  Even thinking back to visiting Korea last month to get him.  It all felt so surreal and felt like a miracle.  I mean it's a miracle this other Korean agency found us and our two little ones are together as their birth mother wanted.  I so hope she reads our annual letters one day and knows this so she can feel better they will always know each other and love each other.

I think about my life and some of the pain; real pain; loss, fear, anxiety.  But, how many people get to witness these kinds of miracles in their life.  I witnessed a man paralyzed from the neck down walk again.  I witnessed 2 beautiful children born of my husband and I.  I witnessed 3 beautiful children travel all the way from another country to allow us to love them.  I witnessed God putting all of this together and orchestrating all of it regardless of any mistakes we made along the way.  I know there will always be pain in our lives, but I will try so hard to remember these miracles every day of my life.  I know there will always be days when I'm at my wits end due to stress of being a working mother, but I will always try to look at my family and thank God for these incredible miracles.  How on Earth did we get so lucky and deserve to witness this and enjoy these miracles in our lives?  I feel incredibly blessed to have them here with me and feel little fingers around my neck and being hugged by yet another child God has bestowed on us.

Lisa

2009 Weiny Roast

We went out before Brian got home, so it was still pretty darn hot.  We got everything out there and ready to go and the kids went ahead and started swimming.  Then the kids ate their hot dogs, chips and juice and swam again.  After that we roasted the marshmallows and swam again!  :)  We had chocolate covered graham crackers to put the marshmallows on.  Not the greatest idea.  They were pretty melted by the time we got to them and the kids had chocolate from head to toe.  :)  Kaelin finally stopped putting hers on graham crackers and just kept eating the marshmallows.  I have no idea how many that girl ate!  I was surprised at how much all of them ate tonight.  Jaemin liked the graham crackers too.  He likes the pool, but needs breaks getting out, so we finally got him this gate today.  Now we can do more outside and not worry about where he is.

First a picture from a night earlier this week, it was just too sweet when they were sitting there.



And the roast.





Chocolate and more chocolate....all over the body for some people.









Marshmallow Champ!



Break Time!



Swimming!









Ice pop anyone?



I just liked these looks she puts together.

All's well

Jaemin's attaching quite nicely.  We spend a LOT of time on the floor all day, then dad takes over part of the night so I can get some stuff done and feel productive still.  Then, when he can't I carry him on my back.  When we make our Walmart runs he rides on the front and falls asleep in the store every time.  :)  We're somewhat getting on a schedule.  At least he takes a decent mid-day nap now and sometimes takes a 20 minute here and there on either side of that nap.  He gets in bed at the same time every night now, which is nice.  Just shortly after the others go to bed.  I think it helps him to see everyone else go to bed as the house goes dim.  He doesn't fight it like he did.  He cries, sometimes, but not often and doesn't hit and scratch like he was in the beginning.  You could definitely tell the first two weeks or so were full-on grieving.  When he was tired, I think that's when he missed his foster mother most.  I heard him say omma over the weekend.  Omma is mother in Korean.  I wasn't sure if he was saying it to me or not until we went to visit grandma's daycare.  She had him and he reached for me and was repeating it.  He finally called me omma.  The girls never did, but coming home 3 months younger they were barely even saying it in Korea.  He was already saying a couple of things.  I've heard him says mama from time-to-time too.  That's not me.  It means eat!  He doesn't say that any longer, you just have to read his mind when he's hungry.  :)  He's sort of picky, but for the most part likes orange veggies.  We're moving onto solids as soon as the baby food is gone.  He wants what's on our plates anyways, so we've been trialing some things here and there.

He really has become a huggy boy.  If I pick him up and put him against my shoulders, he hugs me and then sits there and plays with my hair very sweetly.  He likes to lean his face to mine or lay his face to my lips while I give him little butterfly kisses on his cheek.  He's become very cuddly, which was definitely not the boy I came home with.  He pushed to get down and roam.  Really didn't want held too often.  I thought he was just busy at 9 months and crawling, but held him a lot anyways and now he likes to be held.  I think he's really beginning to trust.  Now we just have to keep building and keep that trust.  He still wakes a couple of times a night, maybe more.  It's usually not too bad.  Usually you just have to go put paci in and he nods back off.  This morning he was AWAKE at 4:30.  Wah, that was rough.  Hopefully, tomorrow is better.  But, I've been working on his schedule.  We're trying to get more on a schedule that will work when I return to work.  So he's not used to me getting him up by 7 am.  That may have thrown him yesterday.  We'll see, I guess.

Anyways, that's my little man for now.

Lisa

50 Toes

My 50 toes.

Successful Evening Out

Not without the kids, too early to leave little man, but we went out to eat for Father's Day as a family of 7 with no incidents for the first time.  It really wasn't bad.  All were in a good mood, ate well and we went home.  Of course, Brian picked Ryan's (buffet is always his choice), so when they can eat immediately there are always few complaints.  Jaemin ate like a pig!  He ate almost a whole jar of applesauce, some sweet potatoes from the bar and at least half a yeast roll.  He was leaning back in his high chair towards the end.  I believe he was stuffed.  Chelsi even ate well.  That was a first.  She even tried fried shrimp.  Kaelin was in heaven with ice cream with M&Ms and sprinkles.  We got stared at the whole time was the only bad part.  You're never sure why people are staring, they just are.  One older couple, right in front of me, stared 60% of the time they were there and they arrived the same time we did.  Another couple stopped by while I had taken one of the girls to the restroom to tell Brian we were blessed.  She told him she told all young couples with children that.  It was nice to be told we were young.  :)  We're not feeling so young right now.  I think Jaemin aged us quite a bit.  :)

We came home and I took all 5 of the kids swimming until bedtime.  They thoroughly enjoyed the evening!  But, we were all dog tired come 9:30 after the showers.

Now, Brian gets to go fishing with some other dads as their Father's Day gifts.  An evening all to themselves.  I think all 3 would prefer this over anything we could buy them.

Lisa

New pictures

Dad's going to get some family pics sometime, probably birthday too??  Anyways, I was afraid the kids would all grow out of the coordinating clothes they happen to already have, so we went to the backyard for some quick pictures.  I mainly wanted to replace the collage I had on the living room wall from when Chelsi came home.  I didn't want the focal point of the wall missing a very important person.  ;)