Seasonal Celebrating!

December is always a busy month, but with both Chris and I home right now, we've been able to spend a lot of time together as a family. Chris's former work place, Metro Mold, has been down-sizing a bit as a result of a slow economy, so he's been on the job hunt. I am still at home on a child-care leave, but I'll be tutoring a few hours a week now. I'm also hoping to be able to do some substitute teaching in the Osseo district until Chris can find a job. In the meantime, we've been trying to organize and clean at home, as well as going out to holiday celebrations and spending time with friends and family.

In November, we went to Rochester for Thanksgiving. Pete and Paula made a wonderful meal and the cousins had fun playing together. Later that weekend, we drove to Brainerd to meet Chris's family at a hotel, so the kids got to enjoy a big water park.

Sophia enjoyed her first visit to the Children's Museum. We met Amie and her kids, Eva and Zack there. Sophia loved the plastic frogs in the pond.

Daddy and Jacob went to the cabin with Uncle Pete and Michael in November. They had fun being outdoors and riding on the four-wheeler.

Sophia is not very enthralled with the snow. When we got our first snowfall in November, I bundled her up and took her outside. She mostly cried. It's the bundling up part that seems to make most toddlers crabby. Of course, Jacob immediately taught her that snow is eatable, so then she liked it.

Jacob was in a Christmas concert at church with the preschool class. He had fun learning three songs, but I had to bribe him with a gumball to put the angel costume on.

We were a little later than usual in setting up our tree this year, but it turned out okay because we got to have Jenny and Jackie over last Saturday and they were very helpful. One of our traditions is that each year we think of something we are very thankful to God for and we buy a special ornament to represent that person or thing. Then I make a page in a little scrapbook about it. Each year we look through the album and hang up the ornaments. Sophia and Jacob had fun with that!

I loved Jacob's innovative idea for snowman arms!

Sophia is starting to learn new words. I think the English language is starting to take root in her brain. She loves to meow like a cat and she tries to copy what we are saying. She loves to "sing" and dance.

The Splendor that is Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year, but just like a YUMMY dessert or a roller-coaster ride or the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, or nap time, or certain romantic recreational activities, it's all over too quickly. I very intentionally try to soak in all the fall fun while it's here. That explains why I've been to 3 orchard/farms in the last month!

Back in September, we brought Sophia on her first camping trip (I don't think camping was a common activity with her foster parents in Seoul, but you never know). She is slowly starting to explore things out of her comfort zone, but she was still pretty clingy that weekend. Besides the fact that we forgot our tent poles, we had a great time.

I've been so excited this week because Sophia is getting obviously more comfortable with Daddy. She gives him kisses and sits on his lap for stories and plays in the garage or outside with him while I'm taking a break. She doesn't cry as much when I leave her home with Daddy. Little by little, she'll start opening up to others. We just have to give her time to build up her trust and comfort level. I'm amazed at how many words she understands. She doesn't try to repeat words after I say them, but she makes plenty of baby babble sounds, so I'm sure soon I won't be able to get a word in edgewise.

Jacob had a great time at the Oreck store the other day! It was like a dream come true...a whole store with only vacuums in it! The sales lady got a kick out of him.

Here are some of the photos from camping, the apple orchard and hanging out in our backyard.

Getting used to this whole "Stay-at-Home Mom" business

You'd think I'd be more "in sync" with being a stay-at-home mom since I get to do it every summer when school lets out; so it must be the addition of another child that's throwing me for a loop. I can't seem to get into the mind set that this IS my job, and I need to work hard to be successful at it. So, I guess I need to set some goals and plan steps to achieve them. Darn...that means I have to give up eating bon-bons and watching TV. I guess my biggest issue is keeping the house clean. I just discovered something I never knew before...the house gets messier if you're home during the day. You would think that if you're home during the day, you could spend more time cleaning, but in actuality, you just spend more time messing it up! (I mean the children spend more time messing it up). Sophia is so good at finding new places for every item she picks up. She firmly believes that the puzzle pieces look much better strewn across the floor and has taken it upon herself to quickly put them there each and every time I put them back on the shelf. Jacob's mission is to see how many different ways he can make a mess that can be vacuumed up. It's just not good enough to vacuum the regular dirt from the carpet. No, he needs to test out his vacuums on things like rice, tiny pieces of paper, and outdoor dirt. Then, when the vacuum needs to be emptied, it only makes sense to empty it in the middle of the living room so he can vacuum the mess up again. Last night he informed me that he wants to vacuum other people's houses for money so he can buy a new Hoover Featherlite. It's a good thing he's going to preschool twice a week and swimming lessons so he can realize that the earth doesn't revolve around vacuum cleaners!

Oh, my point was, how can I get better at this "stay-at-home mom" thing? I'm also convinced that once allergy season is done, I'll be much better able to function. I've spent the last two weeks feeling like my head should explode from sinus pressure.

No more excuses! I will be "super mom" today and at least get the dishes done!

I love sharing new, cute pictures of Sophie! I've been known to take pictures of her for no other reason than she's wearing a new outfit! Here are some pictures of the kids in Stillwater. We went to the Teddy Bear Park with friends, Sadie and Emma. We also stopped at the apple orchard. Sophia continues to amaze us with her easy-going personality and her happy, smiley attitude. Last night I watched her fall asleep in her crib and spent some peaceful moments in prayer for our new child. What a blessing and privelege it is to be entrusted with the raising of a child.

Adjustment still going well!

Sophia is still getting an A+ when it comes to adjusting! Chris and I have been so blessed with a smooth transition since Sophia joined our family! She is sleeping well and eating well and exploring and happy and cute!!! At home, she's pretty comfortable walking around, playing with toys, picking things up from one spot and dropping them in another. When we go to a new place, she is expectedly a bit clingy and worried about all the new faces around her. We have stayed pretty busy instead of secluding ourselves, so I'm really happy with her level of ability to "go with the flow." We've had so much fun introducing her to family and friends!

We finally had Jacob's party for his 5th birthday. We went with a lawnmower theme, which was a bit hard to get creative with, but still managed to have lots of fun! The rain had to dump on us though, so we were a bit crowded in the garage and house. Jacob's favorite present was a new wet and dry hand vac from his cousin, Michael. When he opened it, he screamed, "OH MY WORD!!!" It was pretty hilairious!

Adjusting to a New Life!

It seems like today was the day that Sophia decided she belonged here. It probably started with finally figuring out that 3 am is really not daytime. She slept through the entire night for a total of 12 hours! (I slept for 11 hours)! The next milestone she accomplished today was sitting by her brother in a cart while shopping at Cub. She thought the whole excursion was fascinating. She also decided that the car seat really isn't that horrible of a place to be and promptly fell asleep on the way home. But the most exciting news of all is that Sophia found the joy of walking again!!! Ever since we got her last Thursday, she has screamed if we tried to let her feet touch the ground, but today, she finally felt comfortable enough to venture off of my lap and walk around her room. Then she was walking down the hallway; then she was pulling books and puzzles off the shelf; then she was climbing on the coffee table! She has been a happy toddler today which makes my heart so full of joy! The saddest thing we've had to go through during this process was the sorrowful look she had on her face most of the time for the last 5 days. Today she's a different girl and it's so encouraging! I know there is still a long process ahead of understanding our language and establishing more predictable patterns, but we know we're heading in the right direction. Here are some more pictures from the last couple of days.

I wanted to include a picture of Jacob with his favorite new vacuum. It's a USB powered mini vac!

Home at last!

It's so good to be home! The whole time I was in Korea, I kept thinking, "I'm glad I get to soak in all the sights and culture, but I just can't wait to be home with my baby." I don't have time right now to give a detailed description of our trip, so I'll just summarize. The flights we took to Seoul were on time and uneventful. It's a painfully long trip when you factor in the time spent waiting around the airports. We were basically traveling for 20 hours with about 14 hours in the sky. We stayed at the agency guest house in Seoul and met some other nice couples who were adopting as well. One couple lives in Blaine, so I'm sure we'll plan to get together with them in the future. We got to meet Sophia on Tuesday. It was confusing and awkard and special. We got to see her again on Wednesday for a special birthday party they had for us. It was so cool to be a part of the Korean traditional birthday celebration. The foster mom gave us a photo album with pictures of Sophia. It made me cry. On Thursday, we met with the founder and his daughter (of the adoption agency in Korea). It was pretty formal, but wonderfully touching. Then, at 4:00, the foster parents all came (there were 7 couples picking up chidren) and the founder said a blessing. Then we went up to our guesthouse room where the foster parents tearfully said goodbye. The foster mom helped put Sophia in my backpack carrier, and then she left. Sophia proceeded to cry so hard that she threw up on my back! She cried hard for about an hour, and then fell asleep in Chris's arms. She was up for a few hours in the evening, but was very sad. Thankfully, she slept through the night. We had a grueling journey home, but overall, Sophia did pretty well. She threw up on the plane at one point, but didn't seem to be sick, just upset. During that plane ride the thought crossed my mind that this is probably our last child because I'd never want to go through it all again. When we got to Minneapolis, my sister, Sue, along with Jenny, Jackie, and Jacob met us at the airport. When I got through immigration and walked into the baggage area, I just stopped short and cried. It felt so good to be home! We came home to a home cooked meal by Sue, a banner of special messsages from friends, and the company of Chris's mom, sister and niece for the weekend. They have been so helpful in entertaining Jacob and helping us celebrate his actual birthday today by going to Chuck E Cheese. Sophia is slowly adjusting. She was very fitfully asleep and mostly awake all last night which was pretty much a nightmare. She doesn't smile very much and she is extremely clingy to me. She doesn't want to get down and play or walk yet, so we're still looking forward to getting to know the "real" Sophia soon. Here are some pictures!