9 MONTHS HOME!!!

This time last year we were filling out acceptance paperwork, preparing a care package and on cloud nine awaiting the arrival of our little girl! Tomorrow, we celebrate 9 months as a family of four!

Then:




And now...





We love you Zoey Seon-Mi!

Poor baby

Well, we finally got in to see the ENT this week, and they have scheduled Zoey for surgery to get ear tubes and her adenoids out. Sigh. I can't say it doesn't stress me out to know she will have to go under general anesthia and we aren't allowed to see her till after she's awake and in recovery. But I know in the long run, she will be healthier and therefore, happier. The doc said she has so much fluid and pressure built up in there that he's surprised she can hear at all and wondered if we had her speech evaluated yet. I guess technically, she doesn't say a whole lot, mostly parrots what we say, so that's a good sign. I'm not worried about speech delays, but we'll follow up with our pediatrician after the surgery, which is scheduled in two weeks. Even after three injections of antibiotics, the infection is still raging and likely will not go away till all that fluid can be drained, releasing the pressure. Ugh. My poor baby!

Priceless

Sick baby, double ear infection, fever, third injection of antibiotics, squirming away so she doesn't have to get her hair done, modeling for mommy's Etsy store, a meltdown because no one would give her a second cookie, and all the time nose running and a cough won't quit, equals this:

Where do I begin?!?!

Playing a bit of blogger catch up today!

I'll begin with the big news of the day...my four year old lost his first tooth! It seems so young to me and very strange, but my brother-in-law, who happens to be a periodontist, insists that it's okay. His other front tooth is loose too, so he will surely have a big window in his mouth soon! His speech has already changed a bit and he's excited, and I quote, "I won't have to brush my teeth anymore!" Don't worry, I explained to him that he just won't have to brush that tooth anymore!



It was my birthday on Monday and my cute husband brought home this cheesecake with Happy Birthday written in Korean! The local grocery store was happy to print it on the cake as long as "it doesn't have any swear words!" My husband assured them and explained, "My wife is Korean." :)

It's been a little crazy with schedules around here lately as my husband started a new semester at school and the kids are used to seeing him throughout the day. So I've been coming up with some "extracuricular" activities to keep them a bit more occupied lately. Here, they decided to lay together and watch 'Up' and Zoey insisted I get her pillow and blanket just like big brother! Mind you, she only stayed put long enough for me to take this picture, but it was important that she had all the same treatment as Braedan! By the way, this was 10 o'clock in the morning!

And the temperature changes have been record breaking for this part of Texas lately and our pool froze (well, at least the surface did)! This is Danny's hand pushing on the pool surface which was frozen solid!

And with the colder weather it warranted my kids actually dressing warmly and I had fun playing a bit of dress up with Miss Zoey and these adorable hats! Thanks Little Lesiw and BriarClaire!




So that about sums it all up for the week...the kids have been battling some illness...Braedan with a pretty wicked cough and Zoey still fighting her double ear infection. She's now had two of three antibiotic injections and we will go see the ENT next week. She will probably end up with tubes in her ears. At this point, we'll do anything to get rid of this infection that has now been with her for three months. But we're fortunate that everything else, we can say is going okay!

28 years ago today...

a woman gave birth to a baby girl she knew she wouldn't be able to keep. And for that decision alone, I am eternally grateful. Never before on a birthday have I thought of her. Not until I celebrated this birthday with my children, one of which has a woman in her life who made the very same decision. Whether it has been a year and a half or twenty eight, I doubt that day is very distant in either of their minds. Today my birthday wish is for that woman, my birth mother, to be at peace, and know that I am thinking of her. I may never have the chance to meet her in this lifetime, but I will always keep her in my heart. No matter what her circumstances or place in life, she made the decision best for me so that I could be where I am today, celebrating this, my 28th birthday, with my husband, son and daughter. My appreciation for her has reached an entirely new level, as I am now a mother of a little girl, whose life was also forever changed because of a selfless act of another woman like her. No birthday will ever be the same from here on out, in a very good way, as I will always remember her on this day, knowing that somewhere in the world, she too, is celebrating right along with me.

Saengil Chukha Hamnida My Kyung!

Drum Roll Please...

Our new shop is OPEN for business!!

After many weeks of trips to the fabric store, phone calls and emails, my sister Tara and I are finally ready to unveil our new Etsy store!! We do, afterall, live in two different states! But we are so pleased with the results and hope you'll enjoy our stuff!

It is appropriately called Lil' Birdz. Bird being my niece's nickname since she was a baby and of course, the Lil' and "z" are for my very own Zoey!

So, head on over and check it out!! And why don't you pick up some stuff for your lil' birdz!

Lil' Birdz Etsy Shop

Celebrating Seven Years of Marriage!

One
The number of vacations we have been on in our entire marriage!! Sad, but true! And it was our honeymoon to Cancun, Mexico! We have never been on a family vacation!

Two
The number of kids we always said we wanted and now we have!

Three
The number of houses we have owned. Two we flipped and lived in for less than a year. The third, we built a year and a half ago and plan to stay for a while!

Here's a little before and after at our second flip...we did all the work ourselves!


Four
The number of years we dated before getting married. We were high school sweethearts who started dating when we were juniors and were married three years after high school! Here we are at graduation, class of 2000! Our 10 year reunion is this year!


Five
The number of pieces of furniture currently in our home that my amazing husband built! I'm actually surprised it's not more, he's just so handy!! They include an entertainment center, end tables, night stands, TV stand and this beautiful bench he built pictured below! I am one lucky gal! Eat your heart out Pottery Barn!

Six
The number of vehicles we have owned between the two of us in the last seven years! Crazy, I know, we're kind of car people and like to trade in often!!

They consisted of:
Dodge Ram
Honda Civic
Nissan Pathfinder
Honda Accord
Dodge Durango
Honda Pilot

Seven
Number of times we have moved in seven years!! Between Danny playing pro ball and flipping houses, we moved A LOT!! It is so nice to finally be settled in one place for a while! Especially I come from a military family who has lived all over the world! Thankfully, we do not have one picture of us moving! That is definetly something I want to forget!

And this beautiful picture is of the Mission Concepcion where we were married seven years ago. It is not far from our home, but last year on our anniversary was the first time we'd been back since the wedding and I must say, it is still that awesome looking!


Here's to many, many more years of marriage with my wonderful hubby!

And one to grow on....EIGHT...the number of hours it felt like it took me to blog this post!! It was a lot of work finding these pictures and thinking up these events!!!! Fortunately, my hubby helped!!