Hello new picture.

It's very, very nice to see you. :p

This was taken December 19th and this is the little Christmas care package we sent. 

She's wearing an outfit we sent in the care package before!

She's leveled out the last few months at around 25 lbs and has grown to just over 32 inches!

I wish I didn't have to hide her foster mother's face! She seems so sweet and clearly loves our girl!

Oh how I hope we are headed to Korea soon!

{and hoping they keep letting her hair grow!}

On The Night Before Christmas...

Though we may not be all together this year...

May we never forget...

the pure of love of Christ...

and what He has given us all...

and what more He has to give...

Three Years! Wowza!!

This past Monday was the third anniversary of the day we received our referral for Miss Zoey!

Here's a little excerpt from last year's post..

Hard to believe that much time has passed! 

And oh what a surprise that phone call was! 

We had been waiting several weeks to go to committee on a photolisted child, when, on December 18, were told the other family had been chosen. 

All three of us were down with a wicked case of the stomach flu 

and it was a rough day!

(Strangely enough, we're jet getting over a case of the stomach flu this year as well!) 

But the very next afternoon, 

we received a phone call that would change our lives. 

The social worker at Holt told us that a new referral had come in just that morning and they thought our family would be a good match! 

A good match it was indeed! 

We definitely had a wonderful Christmas that year!

Happy 3rd Referral Day Seon-Mi! 

{four days late! What a slacker I am!}

The Gifts.

So, being our second time around, you'd think I'd be a good resource for all things adoption...

uh, not so much!!

It seems my mind went completely blank (mostly because I thought we were done adopting!) after Zoey was finalized and seriously, I forgot just about everything!!

Fortunately, I have an army of awesome adoptive mamas I've met over the years who keep me informed!

But one of the main topics always at the top of list for discussion is gift giving...

Gifts for foster family members, agency staff, social workers, tour guides, the list goes on.

Sometimes I feel a little stressed as it can be a quite overwhelming...

what do you give these people, who have done so much for your family?

So I decided to try and think of something that would help these amazing people realize what an impact they have on our lives.  Namely, the staff at Holt Korea.

But I need your help!!

I would love to put together a book of Holt adoptive families with a letter of thanks and an updated picture of their family or child!

What a wonderful way to show these amazing people how they helped bring our families together, care for our children before they joined us and made sure to make our children's transition to our family as smooth as possible!

I realize that many families already send letters and updates to their child's foster families, but usually, the entire staff doesn't get to see these updates and pics, nor is the letter directed at them, so I thought this would be  great way to show the staff how much we really appreciate everything they do too!

 I'd like to start collecting now to get ready!

So, if you'd like to participate, here's what I need from you!

1.  An 8.5 x11 sheet of paper (plain white, colored card stock, scrap book paper, whatever you'd like!) with a thank you letter, in either English or Korean directed at the Holt Korea staff. (This would include social workers, office staff, doctors, nurses, etc.! Be sure to identify your family!  I think including your family's last name or child's Korean name would be great so it's recognizable by the staff!)

2.  A recent picture of either your family or adopted child, whichever you prefer, attached to either the bottom of your letter (if there's room) or on a separate sheet of paper.  (I think a 5x7 or larger would be best, but standard size will still work too!)

3.  Email me at kimbapandkimchi@gmail.com to get my address (or Facebook me if we're friends!) to mail to my house!

I'll be collecting each letter and picture and adding them to a book with page protectors.

And because I still have absolutely no idea when I'll be going, there is really no deadline at the moment, but the sooner the better to start compiling!  (As it gets closer to travel, I'll let you know!)

I'd love nothing more than to walk into Holt with books full of thankful letters and updates on the children they helped find homes for! What an amazing gift we could bring to them by showing our gratitude!

And I would be honored to just have the title of 'book carrier' as this gift is truly from all adoptive families...

and don't forget, I'm also still collecting donations to take to Holt Korea when I travel!  The current needs are Gerber Puffs and Aveeno Baby Lotion, all of which can be ordered and shipped directly to my house thru amazon.com!  Use THIS link to connect to amazon and Holt gets a percentage of the proceeds!  (again, just email me for my addy!)

And now, back to the drawing board for the list of other people on my gift list!!

Phew!

Practice makes perfect!

Or let's hope so anyway!!

We had the privilege of having two extra kiddos with us tonight...

my nephew and niece!

While we get to see them often, we don't usually have 'alone' time with them without other cousins, their parents, or my parents!

So this was a fun opportunity to kind of see what it would it will be like to have an extra toddler in the house. :)  Especially since my niece is just five months older than Emersyn!

We had a little living room picnic dinner...

And then the boys got busy playing Wii (in fact, as I type this, they are still playing Wii!).

And despite some early bickering, these two really started enjoying their time together!!

They even snuck a little kiss in there!

But honestly, who could resist this face?!?!?

Being that Zoey is the older one, my niece wanted to do whatever she was doing, and stayed close by at all times. :)  I imagine that Emersyn will want to do the same!

I'm not sure 'personal space' really has any meaning to toddlers!

And my niece liked playing the role of baby sister, even if it was in the doll bassinet. :)

I must say, not only did I thoroughly enjoy the extra time with my niece and nephew, it was nice to have a little time with two toddlers on my own to get a feel for it.  It was double the food, double the clean up, double the baths, double the supervision, double the play, double the fun and most definitely double the love!

I can hardly wait to have my two girls under one roof. :)

Hard to imagine...

that after 7 long months...

there will soon be three little faces...

 another pair of hands...

and thirty tiny toes...

all connected to this sweet, beautiful girl...

As the new year fast approaches, we cannot help but feel that much closer to our Emersyn!

Though we still have no idea when we will travel to Korea to get her, we are hoping that January brings many families good news!

We love you Em!  Hurry home!

Move aside Kobe.

Braedan is a comin' and he means business!


He started basketball recently and this kid is serious about his sports!  He hustles up and down the court, puts his hands up on defense, takes a shot whenever he gets the chance and absolutely loves every second of it!  Ugh, what can I say...I just love this kid! 

Oh, to be six and carefree again...

What's in your bi bim bap?

Bi bim bap is one of my absolute favorite Korean dishes!

I'd eat it anytime, anywhere, with just about anything in it!

Funny enough, I learned all about this dish from the book by Linda Sue Park, which my kids have memorized!  We love that book!

I usually order it at my favorite Korean restaurant, but will occasionally make it at home,

 it's so easy!

I pretty much keep everything in it on hand, but the possibilities are endless, so you really can't go wrong with whatever is in your fridge already!

I made it just the other night and it was scrumptious!

Here's what I put in mine...

I cannot get enough of that gochujang...

I keep a big 'ole jar of it in my fridge!

I really love the dol sot bi bim bop too!

(the crispy rice at the bottom?  Yah!)

That's also how I know I'm Korean...

I like my food super spicy and hot as lava!

I had some spicy cabbage kimchi on the side and I was all set!

Yummy.  Making my mouth water right now!

So, what do you like in your bi bim bap?