One Month Down!!!!

Yesterday we celebrated one month down in our wait for Jae-min's brother/sister, or KB too as we refer to this sweet little baby. If you have been following along for awhile you may remember that when we were waiting for Jae-min we named him KB. So...this little one is KB too. Jae-min got in on the action and was excited to go to the playground and for a picnic last night in honor of this special day. I think it hit me yesterday that we are waiting again. If you remember from before I was always a little slow on the uptake and was always waiting for something bad to happen, not really believing this process would really end up with us having a child. But.....look, it works!! So this time around I can believe with my whole heart that things will work out in the end. Yesterday I realized that WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY and I sort of wanted to shout it from the rooftops. We really are doing this all again. We're really waiting, and going to Korea, and feeling those feelings of seeing our babies face for the first time, and trying to comfort a baby who doesn't know us, and seeing a smile and hearing a laugh and meeting a foster family who instantly becomes a part of our family......we're really doing it all again.

How amazing is that? We have one month under our belts. One month closer to getting that call. That call that will change our lives again.
I started thinking of all the hard times that will lay ahead for us. All the sleepless nights, the tears, the feelings of overwhelmness (if thats even a word). But this time I have a different view. I have the view on the other side that all of those hard times make these times that much sweeter. And I know we can do this again. And I think yesterday as I cried for the first time for this new child, I realized that I already love them. They are already very real to us and with each passing month we'll grow closer to having our next baby. So, one month down KB too.

The Negotiation....From The Negotiator

Last night we ate dinner on the back porch to enjoy the beautiful weather. Jae-min was dilly-dallying about eating his chicken, potatoes, and veggies. We were all talking and laughing throughout dinner, and then noticed that Jae-min still had lots to go. Joe and I began talking about yummy oatmeal raisin cookies that we could eat after dinner. Then the negotiation began:

Jae-min: "Ooh, cookies"

Me: "You can have a cookie after you eat up some more of your dinner"

Jae-min raises one of his chunky little fingers

Cocks his head to the side

And says:

"First cookie, then chicken!!!"

Um, no little man

"First cookie"

We just couldn't help but burst into laughter. That's our little negotiator. And no....he did not get that negotiated cookie until he ate his chicken. Silly silly boy.
From these pictures, I'd say that Mr. Potatoe Head has a run for his money. Wouldn't you say so?

Squiggles and Giggles....

Yesterday Jae-min and I went to a story/song time at our local library entitled Squiggles and Giggles. At the end of the class was alittle art project. It was so much fun!!! Jae-min loved all the stories and songs about rainbows and colors (and an owl, not really sure the relevence on that one) At the end of the class all the kids sat at little tables and made their very own rainbows. Jae-min loved using the sticky glue stick and the crayons and gluing the colors onto the paper. As you can see he was very proud of his finished product!!!It was such a fun and surreal experience to sit next to MY child in a little kid chair and create this awesome rainbow. During my teaching days, I sat next to so many kids and helped with projects that this moment was truly awesome!!! The fun we had was amazing. And this mommy let her little man do the project mostly by himself (with just alittle assistance) All of the other kids walked out of the room with perfect rainbows. But my little man walked out with the BEST rainbow of all.
I guess our saying really is correct. SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!!! And one of my silly dreams came true in a library back room with the cutest little man ever!!!

Whatcha Sayin'??

Jae-min is talking tons. I mean tons. So much so that I find myself asking him to zip his lips sometimes throughout the day!!! His new favorite thing is to repeat things over and over. I mean the same word over and over again. Like: Mommy, mommy, mommy, mamma, mamma and then will finally give a sneaky smile and just say "hi". He's putting words together more also which is super. He's also using lots of multisyllable words. It's so funny to hear him use these words because on the first syllable he uses his usual voice, and on the remaining syllables he gets this really deep voice which is too funny. I love being able to have lots of conversations with him throughout the day. It's so fun to hear him answering questions and starting conversations. I especially love to hear it, because when I used to work with EI I worked with so many kids with speech delays and now its fun that my little man talks non stop.

Here are some of my favorite Jae-min words:

beep=jeep

moo me=excuse me

mommy bum=mommy come or mommy drum

chit ho=chipmunk hole

juu ba=juice box

good mornin'And the favorite one of all...

Jae-min, do you want a sister or brother to come home from Korea?

"Sista"

Oh boy, we'll see!!!!!

Buckle Up......

And "enjoy" the ride AGAIN!!!!!
Surprise.....we're officially waiting for a little brother/sister for Jae-min!!!!! This is how the story goes....
In Feb 2010 our agency contacted us and informed us that their Korea program was reopened and was accepting just 60 families to join the waitlist before the program went on hold again. I think it took Joe and I about 20 minutes of discussion before filling out the initial paperwork and mailing it in.
On March 11th (ironically 1 year since we had become a family of 3) our social worker came by to do the updated home visit.
We then worked on our dossier and mailed that in to our agency, along with our I6ooA. They mailed the I600A to the government and we just waited to be fingerprinted.
On June 2nd we had our fingerprint appt. Shortly after this appt we were notified that mine needed to be redone (those darn teeny tiny fingers) We went in again on June 21 and waited and waited.
On July 12 we were notified by our govenment that our fingerprints were approved and on July 13 we were notified by our agency that we were officially placed on the waiting list on that day (coincidentally my birthday!!!)
So.....that's our jouney so far.


If you had told me this time last year that I would want to do this all again, I would have told you no way, absolutely not!!! That was when all the pain and stress was still so fresh. Joe and I were struggling with this little guy we didn't know and trying so hard to do a good job. I would have told you you were crazy.
In the fall things got alot easier and we began talking about doing it all again. At that time our agency had the program on hold so it was just a fantasy anyway.
But...in the winter we began to really talk about adding a brother/sister to the family and were beginning to get that "itch" again. So, when that phone call came in, it was a no brainer. We were 100% ready to begin again!!!
I just can't believe we're waiting again. I find myself beginning to daydream of all the new possibilities that are to come. I find myself daydreaming of our return trip to Korea and of our new little one to join our family.
How long will we wait? Will it be a boy or girl? Will they look like Jae-min at all? How will Jae-min handle this change? How will we? These are just some things that have begun to cloud my brain. Oh, but we have lots of time to wait. And we all know that we're really good at that !!!!!

Psst....It's Me, Martin!!!!

It's about time that I weighed in on this blog and gave my side of the story and what better time to do it than summer when everyone else is having so much fun!!!
So yeah, I was the first "baby". You know, I got ALL of the attention, the hugs, snuggles, and goodies. Now that my little brother Jae-min has joined the family things have changed. The house is always busy, mommy has someone else to snuggle with (although she does still include me) and talk about the goodies. Well, now there are just a different kind.....people kind!!!!
They dress me up in silly hats and make me join the partyThey have parades down the hall and make me carry the stuffed monkey around my neck.But....it's really ok because I get to sit under the table and watch this little creature eat and he's still learning so boy oh boy do I get alot of goodies!!! I won't complain!!

Why is it though that everyone shouts and cheers when Jae-min does potty in his little potty chair, but no one cheers for me when I go in the backyard? I'm just sayin".

So.....my world changed dramatically almost 16 months ago but don't tell anyone....I'm loving it!!! I love this little boy and mommy's right, we are best friends. I wouldn't let anything happen to him and would let him pull my ears, chase me with his cars, and try to ride me like a horse anytime if he lets me kiss his cheeks and get those toes!!!

Oh gosh I'm so glad this little guy joined our family. And if you look real close you can see in the envelope that Jae-min is holding their may be a little secret ready to unfold soon.

Oy, I think my life is about to change again!!!!

Teeckle, Teeckle!!!!!!

Jae-min has a new favorite activity.....tickling bellies!!!! He frequently comes up to us throughout the day, lifts our shirt to see our belly, and exclaims "teeckle teeckle teeckle" in this adorable high pitched voice. He not only "teeckles" us but likes to have Martin join in the fun too. He'll also approach us with his shirt lifted up laughing, wiggling his fingers on his own belly saying "teeckle".
The best part of the whole thing is when he takes Joe's hand and raises my shirt bottom and puts Joe's hand on my belly shouting "daddy teeckle". Oh what a ham bone!!!! And he likes everyone involved in his shananagans!!!! Bring it on little man. We'll play that "TEECKLE" game anytime to hear that sweet voice and that silly laugh that follows.
(And yes, as you can see I'm that crazy mommy that encourages her child to paint. And he LOVED it)