No nap.

This is what happens when your two year old doesn't nap!

It all starts out fine...

{wearing jammies she picked out herself}

when you let her outside to stop the fussiness...

{it was even raining a bit and she insisted no one else come out with her}

and she makes smushy faces on the door...

{that I just cleaned by the way, guess I'll be doing that again soon}

but then the tears come...

{because it started raining too hard}

and then the laughter...

{because I tickled her to stop the crying}

till finally, she falls asleep during dinner...

{guess my taco baked potato wasn't very interesting}

Though I'll admit having her in bed since 6pm was a nice break this evening...

for both parents and older kiddos...

{she's a spitfire!}

as long as she doesn't wake up at 3am!

{fingers crossed}

saengil chukha hae Hui-a!

Two years ago today, 

at 7:50pm in Daejeon City, South Korea, 

a 7lb 5oz baby girl named Hui-a (which means joyful pretty) was born.  

For 15 days, she was cared for by her birth mother.

Because of circumstances we may never know or understand, she was then given up for adoption.

On May 4, 2011, she found her forever family.

She would spend the first 20 months of her life in two different loving foster homes,

and celebrate her first birthday with other children waiting for their families.

Three months ago, she finally made it home. 

And we are so happy to be celebrating the first two years of her life with her here in our arms!

She was beyond thrilled to see her birthday present after church today!

 

And big sister had no problem trying it out as well.

And helping mommy make one of Hui-a's favorites, yakimandu (and really Zoey's favorite)!

Hmmm!  Happily chowing down on some of yumminess!

Mandu, bulgogi, bap and fish cake!

There's nothing better than Pororo on the iPad while you're cruising in a pink car.

Except for maybe cake...

with candles.

That you get to blow out!

And then eat!

She happily shared.

Zoey turns four at the end of the month and we decided to have one big party this year, so that's to come, but I must say, it was a great day just the five of us being together!

To Hui-a's foster mothers..thank you for allowing this sweet girl to thrive and grow and learn and be loved...without you, she would not be the incredibly amazing two year old she is today. (and I promise to send lots of pictures soon!)

And to her birth mother...simply...

Thank you.

Saengil chukha hae Hui-a!

I heart foster mothers.

As much as I'd like to say, 'I just don't know how the last two weeks went by without a single blog post!',   I know exactly why!!  In fact, I know THREE reasons why!

Between baseball, school, illness, etc....family life of five is keeping us very busy!  It's much easier for me to just post a pic or two on Facebook here and there!  I know...LAZY!!

Anyway, we finally had our first post placement visit today after having to reschedule three different times for various reasons.  It was nice to report to our social worker that after being home 5 1/2 weeks, that things are going really well!  Of course, we still have our little challenges here and there, but nothing we can't handle and certainly not anything out of the ordinary for a family with a new addition...we feel quite blessed.

I've not had the chance to share a few of these gorgeous pictures that Emersyn's foster mother gave us in a  little album.  I love that we have pictures of her when she was younger and living in Korea.  And I must say, this is one precious little girl!  I'm not sure if Holt has some connection with a professional photographer, as I've had other friends in the adoption community receive pictures similar to these!

I just love them!

I had stepped into my office to snap pictures of the pictures by the big window we have in there, and Em followed me in...

When I was finished, she grabbed the book and started flipping thru the photos. 

I knew there was one picture at the back of the album of her and her foster mother together and I got a little nervous with her spotting it, but she seemed to know the book and know where the picture was and turned right to it...

and immediately pointed her foster mother out...

{I just started snapping pics, so excuse the bit of blurriness!}

huge smile came across her face and she began tapping her face over and over...

she leaned in closer...

{and this is where I started to bawl like a little school girl}

and gave her a tender kiss...

she took one last look, closed the book, and walked out of the room...

and that was that.

***************************************

I heart foster mothers.

I am so happy to be the mother of this absolutely fabulous little girl.

And I feel blessed beyond measure to have her here in in our home finally.

But I often think of what this time is like for her foster mother and family and how much they must miss and love her...and what Emersyn must think about where she is now and why her foster mother isn't here...

I wish I could reunite them just one more time...

Meeting with Zoey's foster mother in Korea, who has been without her for three years now, and hearing how much she still loved and missed her...it's still so hard to imagine the sacrifice these foster mothers and their families are making caring for our precious babies till they can be placed in our arms!

So, right now, while the kids are sleeping and my only distraction is Modern Family on the DVR, I'm going to send a bunch of prints to Costco and put an album of pictures together for both foster mothers and mail them TOMORROW. 

Adoptive mamas, join me!!

Rolling with the punches!

When I picked Em up in Korea, (a month ago yesterday, how is that possible?!?!) she was on meds for some 'flu-like' symptoms.  She pretty much has had a runny nose and a little cough since coming home, and this past weekend, spiked a pretty high fever...

We headed to the doctor Monday morning, and unfortunately, she has pneumonia.  Thankfully it was caught early and is only in her right lung, so we're treating with 10 days of strong antibiotics and avoiding a hospital stay, thank goodness.

Her breathing sounds terrible!  And her usually addictive bottles of ooyoo were causing her to throw up, so she was avoiding bottles, had no appetite and wasn't sleeping well.  Poor baby.  She is usually so happy and active but has been pretty fussy and miserable these last few days.  Fortunately, today she seemed a little better after having a few doses of meds and her breathing already sounds so much clearer.

And she's back to her bottles of ooyoo. :)

This was right before she fell asleep tonight...my sweet girl!  Oh how I love her!

She's getting so much more comfortable with our co-sleeping and a month in, we have evolved from walking her around in the carrier on my back, to rocking her in my arms in our rocking chair, to now, simply laying next to her in our bed till she falls asleep.  To me, after all the sleeping issues we had with Zoey, that's like heaven on earth!  She still will not allow Danny to take her to bed, or sleep with us, but we'll get there one day soon! (Or maybe she'll transition to her own room by then!)

She's not really a cuddler, but in the morning, will reach out to find me and lay her head on my shoulder. :)

To add to it, I have an upper respiratory infection and have not been feeling great!  At times, this week has got the best of me and it's only Wednesday!  I will say that I feel like I've taken a few punches these last several days!

I will admit that one of the hardest transitions for me as a mother of three, has been needing to be in three different places at the same time!  Filling three different needs and answering three different questions, etc, etc, all at the same time!  The language barrier with Emersyn continues to be frustrating for both she and I, and she is still not really interested in the English language, saying little to nothing in English and only repeating Korean phrases.  She's  just not interested!

Overall though, her transition continues to go pretty smoothly, and we are very grateful for that.  It's now hard to imagine life before her being here...

I'll leave you with our first family picture at the airport three and half weeks ago!!

Thanks to my friend Mario of Mario Lopez Photos for capturing these moments for us!

Happy Referral Day!!

One year ago today, these precious pics popped up in our email! 

And here we are today ready to celebrate 3 weeks home with our girl!

Happy Referral Day, Emersyn Hui-a!  

Saranghaeyo!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

While the boys were at baseball practice, it was swim time instead of bath time...

cause we can't all get the mother of the year award...   :p

Num, num, mashiseyo!!

This picture cracks. me. up!

It certainly sums up the way she feels about most of the American food I try to give her!

This morning's attempt was mini organic waffles with a little syrup and butter...not a fan!

So we went with the safe choice and she chowed down on some toasted seaweed wrapped bap.

Mashiseyo!

And some rice noodle soup!

Now she's happy!

I gotta say...

I LOVE KOREAN FOOD!

My brother and I were hoping to do a lot more food experimentation, but picking up Em so early in the week (which I wouldn't trade for the world!) put a bit of a wrench in that plan and we didn't quite pack in all that we wanted!  

But we still had some pretty good food...

The kimchi just tastes different there!  I love me some kimchi!

And my bowl of bi bim naengmyeon...YUM!  

One of my favorite cold noodle dishes!

And the mandu was to die for...curry and kimchi filled. 

I could drink the dipping sauce with a straw. :)

But oh the mandu....sooooo yummy!

My brother ordered this cheese filled pork thingy with a brown sauce and it was sooooooo good!

Wishing we could replicate this, so if anyone knows exactly what it is, let me know!

This was all at a little place in Insadong.

It was delicious.  And super inexpensive!

And my favorite bakery where I ate every morning last time I was there!

Tous Les Jours.

Something about Korean baked goods that is so different from American.

I think they are less sweet and more savory, which is just how I like it!

And if you're a Kimchi Chronicles fan, then you'll recognize these guys and their candy making skills!

It starts out with a donut shaped honey something and by hand, they turn it into thousands of thin strands and wrap a mixture of whatever you choose inside, chocolate or nuts or both.

I will say that the show is good, the candy is not! Save your money on that one and just watch. :)

And it's always fun to spot little tastes of home...

Our favorite meal was the last day when we met Zoey's foster mother for lunch at Bulgogi Brothers!

No pictures of the food as we were too busy chatting, but oh my goodness was it delish!

What I love most is that it tasted so similar to the Korean restaurant we frequent here in town and so I know I'm getting fabulously authentic Korean cuisine right here at home!

I'm thinking next time I'm gonna rent one of these bad boys and just ride from food place to food place...

it would burn calories and work up an appetite in between!