Just a quick update...

to say the baby is better! No fever today and sleeping much better. I think she may have a little virus, so there's little the doctor can do, especially since she's feeling much better! Didn't want anyone to worry by not posting today!

Why thank you!

I am a big thank you writer. I have a bit of an obsession about it. You do something or give something to us, you'll get a thank you. But how do you say thank you to someone who took care of your child? Simple. Send pictures of that precious baby! I was finally able to get some collages together to send to both foster families that cared for Zoey while she was in Korea the first nine months of her life. One family had her from birth till she was four months old, and the other five months until the day I picked her up. After being home three months, I really regret not sending anything sooner, but am happy I was able to include pictures from her Tol Party as well. We have also decided that each year on her birthday we will send something to be put in her file in the event that someone in her birth family inquires about her. I would love for there to be pictures waiting for them. A friend from the Holt Forum, who got her travel call today (yay!) volunteered to hand deliver the pictures and letters, which puts my mind more at ease that they will make it into the right hands. I kept the letters simple, as they will need to be translated and hope that by sending updated pictures often, they will know just how much we appreciate them and what they did for us, as well as for Zoey. They are the reason she is so happy and fun loving today, because of the love she was given by them. I think about them often, especially since I had the priveledge to meet her last foster mother when I traveled to Korea. What wonderful women we are honored to have part of our lives!

I always try and come up with something clever for thank you notes and while the party was a week and a half ago, I finally came up with something cute! I collected all the birthday cards she was given and made them the back drop for the Korean word for thank you, gamsahamnida. I had the image printed on cards at Walmart. So, some of you reading this...look for this card in your mailbox soon!!!


And finally, today was a bit of a rough day for Zoey. And I. And Braedan. She has been running a fever since Sunday, but today was just not herself. Won't take a bottle, eating very little and having some diaper issues. She wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her and poor Braedan was just plain bored basically roaming the house on his own! But fortunately, late this afternoon, the fever broke with no medication and she ate everything we put in front of her! She was even walking around bugging her brother as usual and proceeded to turn the satellite on and off and on and off. We knew with that, she was back to her old self! I'm not totally convinced it's all teething but I'm not entirely sure it's something else either. So we're going to play it by ear and see what tomorrow holds. Hopefully not a trip to the doctor. We are just so thankful she has been so healthy and well taken care of in Korea. We are hoping for a good nights sleep for everyone and maybe we could even leave the house tomorrow!!!

And just one more thing...a shout out to my sister on her birthday!! I love you and you are the best (and only!) Korean sister I have!! Happy 29th Birthday!! Be proud of it! (Cause next year, you'll be 30!)

Well someone is getting enough sleep!

You'd never be able to tell from this video that she's not sleeping well, running a fever and has had diarrhea for the past few days! I honestly think she's just delirious! She thinks it's very funny to pull her pacifier in and out of my mouth! Shortly after this video, she was screaming again!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And the short nap she did take today on her own, Big Brother and I decided to make some homemade play-doh and in honor of Shark Week on Discovery Channel, we made play-doh sharks! He watched me as I made the one on the left and then created the one on the right all by himself! Excellent job I think!

Sleep. It's overrated. Or is it?

Well, as many of you know, we've had some sleep issues around our house lately. From the beginning, Zoey has not been a great sleeper, but was progressively getting better. The last few weeks, however, have been crazy, to say the least. Today, after 6 dirty diapers and a shirt soaked in drool, we realize now we have a teether. I'm not sure that all the sleeping issues are related to teething but at least it's a start! So we loaded her up with a dose of Tylenol and then Motrin before laying her down and I am very interested to see how the night progresses. I (and my hubby) would love a full night's sleep! So wish us luck! I'm not sure I remember what a full night's sleep feels like! And with 8:30am church, this is one night we could really use it!

Random Picture Thursday

Just had to show off this adorable outfit Zoey received for her birthday!! Perfect for our second post placement visit we had on Tuesday!

We ordered a baby doll for Zoey's birthday last week, but it didn't quite make it here in time for the party...but that didn't seem to matter, since she fell in love with her right away! We LOVE this baby doll! Want one for your kiddo? Here's the link: http://www.jctoys.com/product/71218/13109./_/11%22_La_Baby_(Asian)


Playing outside on an unusually mild temperature morning! Shortly after this, we found the bunny had escaped but we found her in the corner of the yard taking a little snooze...

Tol Party!

Here are the pictures from Zoey's Tol Party, finally! We had about 45 guests show up, including two that we met in person for the first time after connecting through the Holt Forum! It was an honor to have them there and we pray that their babies are home as quickly as possible!

My brother and I made all the food and it really did turn out quite well! At least, there were no real leftovers to show for it!

We had family and friends attend that were meeting Zoey for the first time since arriving home three months ago! We are thrilled that they could be part of her special day!

Zoey chose the pencil first and the money second for her toljabee, so we will have a scholar with wealth! She had a hanbok change half way through the party and didn't mind it at all! She seems to love playing dress up! A Korean friend of ours ordered two traditional rice cakes for display on the Tol table and they were yummy!

She was definetly overwhelmed with the party and all the people and just stayed on either mine or her daddy's hip the entire time, but definetly let loose once all the guests were gone and she was out of her hot hanbok. She was swimming in new toys and clothes and just loved it! We are happy she did so well even without her afternoon nap! She loved her little chocolate cake which read Happy Birthday in Korean on it. I even showed her a mirror so she could see what a mess she had made of her face! She had to take a quick bath before returning to the big celebration.

It was a bit of a difficult day on Friday, her actual birthday, as I thought of her birthmother at this special time. Our family will continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers and hope that she is doing okay. In honor of her at the party, we made a special cake with Zoey's Korean name and date of birth, with "pyong hwa" written at the bottom, which in Korean, means peace. We lit a candle and Zoey and I blew it out, wishing that she is at peace.

The party was quite a success, and one that we will remember forever! Big brother had such a good time, we barely saw him throughout the day as he was with his cousins, aka his "friends" the entire time and refused to wear the hanbok we had for him or pose in many pictures! But he had lots of fun and especially enjoyed "helping" Zoey open all her presents!

Thank you so much to all who contributed and were part of this special day!

Roll Call!

Well I know you thought the next post would be TONS of pictures from the party. Sorry, I'm working on it! In the meantime, I was inspired by a fellow blogger to check out who's checking us out! If you're not already signed up as a follower on the side bar to the right, please do! I'd love to hear from you by commenting to this post just to see who's keeping up with us! (and you have a blog I don't currently follow, I'd love to check yours out too!)

I promise, the next post will be all pictures from the Tol Party!