Sunday, May 31, 2009

Happy 10 Months Old Zoey!

We received her referral when she was just 5 months old and today she is double that! We had a very busy weekend but she continues to do well! Sleeping is getting better (although as I'm typing this, Daddy had to run upstairs to rock her as it seems she wakes up every night around 10:30-11pm!). She has popped out two new teeth since being home, one on the bottom next to her existing two and one of her two front teeth up top! We love her to death and it just seems as though she's been here all along!

To all my fellow adoptive parents - it is SO worth the wait and I'm hoping your babies are home very soon to celebrate these milestones with them!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Our Adoption Journey

I wanted to get this completed by the time Zoey had been home a month...I just made it! Would love to hear your comments after watching.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

4 Weeks as a Family of 4!

It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun! Zoey Seon-Mi continues to do well besides some sleep and carseat issues still! It is as if she has been here all along...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

Here's some great pictures from our Memorial Day Monday as a family of four (plus Papa, Kim's dad!) And yes, you will notice there is absolutely NO pictures of me in my bathing suit! That was on purpose! Maybe next summer!


Scroll down for more weekend pictures!

Pictures, pictures!

Spreading the love...and the germs! This is quite common around here lately! Community sippy cups as well as anything else Zoey thinks she needs too! If you have something she wants, you better expect to share it! She'll crawl across the room if she spots you eating a popsicle! Big brother is always willing to share! (Well, not always!)


There's that bed head again!

We don't hang out often in Zoey's room, but we went in to put away some laundry today and she was very interested in the animals!

How cute am I?!

This is the hanbok I purchased for Zoey from Itaewon market while in Korea.

This is the beautiful hanbok that Zoey's foster mother gave her. As we get closer to her first birthday, we'll get some pictures made in both.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Happy Sunday!

Yes, she's standing! Really, it's the combination of being propped up against the wall and those new shoes, which are hard soled! They were the only ones I could find as she hasn't worn shoes to church since we've been home! Just had to show off her cute dress!

Just hangin' out this afternoon!


Hopin' for sunshine tomorrow on our holiday to get some good swimming time in at Papa's house!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Woohoo, three day weekend!

Rough night as far as sleeping last night, but a long fun filled day today despite the off and on thunderstorms. We're hoping to go swimming on Monday if the weather will hold out, Braedan is anxious to get in the water! We made it to the Korean market today for more snacks. There is such a great variety at our local store, we just wish it was a bit closer to our house! Zoey attended her very first wedding reception this evening for our bishop's son, and she was so excited, she crashed on her daddy's shoulder after being there for about 10 minutes! She was one tired girl and went to bed for good about a half hour after arriving home. She is so shy around strangers and will bury her face in my chest when someone talks to her or smiles at her. But it is clear she is really starting to know who we are and hanging on tight! Enjoy the pictures below!

Bed head! Zoey looks like this EVERY morning no matter what we do to her hair the night before! We've tried leave in conditioner, mommy's conditioner, mousse! Nothing will hold that hair down! Needless to say, we have to work on it a few minutes every morning to get it to lay down!

I love my sister! Braedan has been doing so well with Zoey, he loves her to death!

It's very rare lately for Zoey to sit still long enough for me to snap a clear picture! She is constantly reaching for the camera!

I swear this child has a beautiful smile! He's just very picky about when it comes out!

We love all the great hand me downs from Cousin Emma, this one included!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Celebrating 3 weeks as a family of four!

The four and a half months waiting for Zoey to be home was, to say the least, hard. Days seemed to drag on. Heck, minutes seemed to drag on! There were truly moments when we thought she would never be here. And now, it's been three weeks! Things have really started progressing around here! Zoey will now happily take baths with brother in the big tub! And now, for the majority of the time, she does not scream in her carseat! She has also been sleeping much better at nights with only one or two wake ups. She is comforted easily by Danny or I, either by just being held, or a bottle. Most of the time, she ends up in bed with us and she is the squirmiest sleeper ever! Most mornings she will wake up the complete opposite way we layed her between us! I was not feeling very well last night and so my back was faced to her from about 2am on when she decided to join us in bed. Danny got up and left for work without me hearing and I didn't turn around to face her. But I was pleasantly waken by a tiny body crawling onto to my back! If she starts frequenting our bed more often, I think it would be best that we put the mattress on the floor...

And in honor of this milestone, Zoey decided it was time for her first diaper blowout since arriving home! Braedan had a Tball game today and we were already running late before we even got into the car. Parking was already pretty full, so we walked a LONG way to get to the fields. I hadn't been sitting there but 30 seconds when I took her out of the carrier and noticed a strange green streak on everything - the carrier, my shirt, my jeans, her dress, her legs...then I traced it to her freshly changed disposable diaper, as we take her out of cloth ones when we go out. It wasn't tight enough and you guessed it, the poop was halfway in, halfway out! By this time, it was up my arm and all over the place! So I walked. Walked all the way back to the car, but not in the carrier, since that would have made it worse! Got back in the car, so of course, it was now all over her carseat, and drove home to change her, and me! By the time I cleaned up everything and made it back to the game and walked back to the field, it was over! We had just enough time to say hello to a few people who hadn't met her and head home for baths. She is now sleeping peacefully in her crib. Ugh! I guess that one time in three weeks isn't so bad!

Overall, she is doing great, especially for the three week mark. Reading through the list of healthy attachment signs, she is showing several. She will still go between Danny and I with ease and keeps her distance from strangers, but will smile at them if she feels comfortable. She is not reaching out for anyone else to hold her and while the only other people she probably recognizes are my parents, she still makes sure we are close by when they are near. She is becoming more and more interested in the dogs and bunny and of course, still interested in whatever brother is doing! She's eating better too as we have found a few more foods she is used to, though she will NOT eat baby food from the jar! We need to make another trip to the Korean market to find a few more things on the list her foster mother gave us that she likes to eat.

I will say that being a mother of two has proven to be a much bigger job than I ever thought it would be! I am exhausted! Usually, your second one doesn't come crawling and eating solids while just meeting you for the first time! But I wouldn't change it for the world, and thank God every day for my wonderful husband and two beautiful children. As a little girl, I was never one to dream about a huge white wedding and six perfect children. I just wanted to do the best I could and feel complete. I never imagined at age 27, my life could be so fulfilling. I am grateful everyday for the miracle of adoption. Without it, I would not have the life I do.



Enjoying an unusally cool day outside for Texas!



Just playing around with her hair! Girls are just too fun! And SO different than boys! Braedan won't even let me comb his hair!

Cute outfit of the day! I couldn't get her to sit still long enough for her face not to be blurry!

And because he won't let us comb it, I decided to just shave it all off tonight! It's so much easier this way and I always break down around summer and do this to his hair! He's cute either way!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

We'd like some Z's please...

Sleep. Something we're not getting a whole lot of lately! Zoey fights it till the end and Braedan has pushed staying up later to spend some extra time with us which equals doing dishes, laundry and household chores till midnight! Once our heads hit the pillow, it seems one of the kids wake up, so maybe we should just stay up all night! I remember pulling all nighters in high school and either not being phased at all the next day, or having the ability to sleep till noon to make up for it! It's amazing how parents can function on such little sleep! We wouldn't trade it for the world though and the payoff is obviously worth it! That's why they invented caffeine, right?!?!

Well, after thirty minutes and the wiggliest worm I have ever seen, I managed to pull off this some what of a hairstyle only for it to pulled out seconds after the camera went off! I don't what we're going to with that hair! Bows fall out all the time and her hair wants to lay flat on her forehead but her bangs are too long and get in her eyes. We don't want to cut it though because then we'll just keep running into the same problem over and over! So most days, I just do my best!

So after several mini parties to celebrate his birthday, now that they're all finally over, Braedan is now having withdrawal! On Saturday night he and I ran (really we drove) to the grocery store for some formula and he asked if we could pick up a chocolate cake. I caved and the whole way home, he kept asking to see it. Then he came up with what he thought was the best idea ever! "We should put a candle in it and sing Happy Birthday to me!" I explained that his birthday was over, but he insisted we pretend it was still here and do it all over again! So we got home, I took out a candle, sliced him a piece of cake and proceeded to sing "Happy Fake Birthday to you..." to him. He smiled the whole way through the song, made a wish and blew out the candle! After his cake was all gone, he said "Where are my presents?" "I know! How 'bout you wrap up all the toys in my playroom and I open them?" Gee, what a great idea! So I grabbed some of his birthday gift bags and loaded them up with toys from his playroom! He was just as excited to open them this time as he was the first! Here he is opening his "fake" birthday presents!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Beisbol!

As some of you know, Danny played baseball in the minors for a few years when we were first married and has continued to play here and there when he can, mostly for a local Mexican League. Several weeks ago, the manager of the team asked him to come to the field for a "photo shoot" and yesterday we got to see the results. Here is the cover of the "Beisbol" magazine...notice Danny in the blue uniform, the only non-Hispanic on the cover! We had my dad translate the article as he is fluent in Spanish, and basically it says Danny is the star of the team - seriously! Go Daddy!


On our last visit, Zoey's foster mother brought several clothing items, a hanbok and a few pictures of their time together. We were thrilled to have these things as we hope Zoey will treasure them in the future. Below are the pictures we received and as you can see, the early ones are pre-hair cut!


Saturday, May 16, 2009

Pictures, pictures!

We had a bit of a rough day yesterday with what appears to be teething issues, which turns into eating and sleeping issues...but finally Zoey was able to get some much needed rest and she's still her happy self! We got up this morning to attend her first ever baseball game! Brother had Tball and so many people there were waiting to see her! She did really well, though shy at times, and enjoyed being outside even though is was very hot and humid! We had to run a few errands after the game and got caught in a HUGE rain storm! But even the loud crack of thunder didn't phase her (Braedan was practically curled up in the fetal position!) and is now taking a bottle from daddy to hopefully settle in for a long afternoon nap. And hopefully brother will take one soon too!

Thanks to Uncle Dave, Aunt Staci and Cousins Christopher and Emma for the cute dress! It's size 9 months and fits her perfectly!

She loves to look out the window!

This is actually my dress when I was a baby! Fits her great and so cute! As soon as I find myself in that dress, I'll post those pics too!


Waiting for Daddy to come home for lunch.

Aw, there he is! She loves her daddy! And apparently, we need to clean our windows!

In the car on the way to Braedan's Tball game this morning.

That's right, she's in her car seat and she's not crying! But that's because I was sitting right next to her!

Even after a long break from baseball because of the Swine Flu, Braedan did a great job and loves his team! (that's him in the blue!)

First baseball game as a family of four!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Two Weeks Home Today!

Unbelievable! Time is flying by and we are enjoying every minute of it! We still hope to get on some sort of schedule soon but things are going well! To make up for the last few days, tons and tons of pictures below! We feel truly blessed and honored to have these children in our lives. Happy two week anniversary to our family of four!

Saying Goodbye...This picture was taken at Holt when I was given Zoey forever. One last ride on her foster mother's back. I was exhausted as you can see in this picture! Could I possibly be carrying anything else?!?!?! I looked and felt terrible! But was so happy to finally be home! One tired Mommy and Baby happy to be home! Finally a family of four! Brother was so happy to see Mommy after leaving him for the first time ever! And Zoey clung to her daddy right away! First time sitting out in the front yard full of fresh, soft grass while brother was at school! Not sure what to think yet... Maybe... Ah! I do like it! Shout out to Kelly from the Holt BB for the cute bows! A little bit of Zoey noises!

I had mentioned a few posts ago that Zoey likes to dance...with just her head! I was able to catch it today on video for you!

And not to be out done! Braedan had to get his groove on too! And yes, that is a four year boy suckin' on a pacifier in the middle of the day...I'm choosin' my battles the last two weeks, and this is one I choose not to fight!!!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Busy, busy day again!

Zoey again had some sleep troubles, but fortunately caught up this afternoon with a longer nap and went with me to church this evening as I have a new position at church working with the youth and Daddy and Braedan were off to TBall practice after two long weeks of break because of the Swine Flu. Zoey did very well even with all the girls doting on her the entire time. She stayed close by when she crawled around the room and didn't attempt to crawl into anyone's lap but mine! It certainly made me happy to see that she starting to really recognize who I am. She was so well behaved and was so excited to come home and play with Daddy and brother for a few minutes before heading up to bed. She still screams every time she's in her carseat, but seems to console herself by the end of the short trips. I've tried everything from food, to bottle, to toys to distract her and even try to hold her hand while driving. Nothing seems to work and eventually she quiets down somewhat. Hope that she will get used to it soon enough...I feel awful when she screams like that!

Funny Braedan story today. Usually after TBall games, a parent will hand out tickets to the kids to get a free snowcone at the concession stand. They were running late today for practice and Daddy told him they had to hurry. So Braedan told him to "just drive faster". But Danny had to tell him "No, we can't drive faster or the police man will give us a ticket." To which Braedan replied, "Oh, so can you get a snowcone?" Four year olds are the best!

Sorry, no new pictures today! But working on getting both the airport pictures as well as some Korea sight seeing pictures up soon!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Long Day

Sorry, no time for pictures today! Just a quick note to say that we had some sleeping issues and it has been a LONG day! But both kids are finally asleep so that means I should be too! Braedan had school today and is doing well, although we're still working out a few regression kinks with all the changes that a new sister brings, and Zoey has had a tough time fighting sleep till her eyelids can no longer stay opened. She had a tough time in the car today too dropping off and picking up Braedan as she gets very upset if she can't see Danny or I, and Danny is back at work. All in all, we continue to do well and are still trying to work out some sort of schedule!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Aunt Jan and her family today as she continues to fight the battle against cancer. We're thinking of you.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Pictures of the Day!

Well, today was my first full day of being a mommy of two since Daddy headed back to work today! And I must say, I was nervous about it, but it really turned out well! I have two great kids! Hopefully things will start going by a bit more of a schedule as our lives have been just chaos lately! So far, so good. Enjoy some new pictures!

Ever since we received Zoey's referral in December, this is exactly what I had envisioned once our family was finally together...my two kiddos just playing together on the floor! Love it!

Zoey decided to crawl through her exersaucer rather than sit in it!

Big Brother sharing his popsicle with his baby sister! So cute! She's addicted to those already as is the rest of our family, but we're trying to limit it with all the sugar!

Another kitchen sink bath! This time with what I like to call "The Last of the Mohicans" hair do!

I love bath time!