Mini Vacay Part Uno

Are you impressed with my spanish skills? Heha. We took a little mini vacay and had a blast. We were supposed to take the kiddos to Great Wolf Lodge over Christmas but Jee got sick (bad sick...pneumonia...no fun) and so our vacay was postponed. It was MJ's Christmas gift from the babies. Soooooo, we got to head over there for Valentine's weekend. The first night we stayed in a hotel that I had been wanting to try out and it was awesome. Ree kept saying that it felt like we were outside when we were walking around.

Pay no attention to the over-exposed photo and look at those cute kiddos!!!

Sittin' by the fire and loving life. (Well, okay...this pose lasted all of 2 seconds I think)
Yep, she's cute...I know it.
Okay, this is Jee's OBSESSION. Particularly drinking out of a Sonic cup. He is obsessed. He will climb mountains (the table) to get to it, risking his little life (or a bonk on the head from falling off the table). He enjoys it most when it is full of Diet Dr. Pepper (I know, I am a terrible mom....he's kid number 3 people, cut me some slack here). Side note: Ree still won't drink anything except water because I was so careful about never giving them anything other than water and milk their fist year of life. I still don't do juice or soft drinks (well, except for Jee when he sneaks it)....Okay, woosh...thanks for letting me explain, I feel like a much better mom now.
After seeing this, I was even more proud of the fact that I got the room for $99---woohooot.
Room Service was one of the coolest parts of the vacation for the kiddos.
The pool prior to Great Wolf Lodge. They enjoyed the freezing water very much. (notice, I said "they").
Little cute tree things dressed up for Valentine's day.Jee was slightly frightened for good reason (look at those things).
Side note: This is my favorite time of day. When the kids first wake up and they have their blankies, messy hair, and are ready to cuddle. Yummy. I could eat them up for breakfast.

Ice Storm 2010

The best thing after playing in the snow....hot chocolate....Jee was feeding his panda bear on his cup some of his candy cane :)

Gotcha! Forever Family Day

How else would we celebrate Jee's "Gotcha! Forever Family Day"??? With photos, of course! I am so, so, so beyond blessed by my friend, Angel. Check her out, here. She captured Jee in Jee fashion. What a cutie pa tootie, this kid of mine. She's an amazing artist, a great friend (even if we have only met face to face a few times!), and an incredible adoption advocate. I can hardly wait to see the rest of the photos, but I just needed to show you these soooo bad....I couldn't wait!!

We have decided to call the day we brought Jee home his "Gotcha! Forever Family Day". We are hoping to have little traditions that we have every year. We would like to spend some time with just Jee and Mommy and Daddy. This year I took him to get his photos and to the asian market. He loved it, of course. Once he saw the seaweed we needed to go ahead and bolt on out of there because he didn't make it to the car before he had eaten an entire individual packet (he loves the stuff). It really is so much fun to just hang out with him all by himself. At the asian market they have these big marble buddha statues. Immediately upon seeing them Jee says (in a loud clear voice with many people around) "HO HO HO" and grabs his belly. He thought they were santa....nice (so adorable!).

Then, each year we hope to have a Korean dinner/lunch. This year we tried out a new place and loved it (Thanks, Kimberly!). I am serious when I say Jee loves Korean food. It is really true. He loves it. He ate his weight in bulgogi and kimchi (it was super spicy which he didn't mind a bit).

Finally, each year we hope to have a little family celebration with Jee and his big "bubba" and "noo-nah". This year we did chocolate fondue. It was yummy and they all loved it. We also gave him his little gift we got him in Korea for his first "Gotcha! Forever Family Day." It was a little Korean boy doll ornament dressed in a hanbok. While we were in Korea, we got him a small gift to open at momentous occasions; each Gotcha day, his wedding, his graduation, and the time when he trusts the Lord as His Savior.

It doesn't seem right that Jee has been home a year. In many ways it seems like longer, in some ways it seems like just a few months ago that we were having sleepless nights and bonding at home with the family. I remember clearly the nights we spent walking the halls loving on each other. He insisted that I wore a tank top because he wanted to be close to my skin (yumm-oh, man, i love that kid). I would go days without bathing because I didn't want to be out of his sight. I remember waking up next to him, his sweaty little self. He hated it when I wore a hat, it confused him so I stopped wearing hats (of course). I remember when his sort of half smile that he gave us in the beginning turned into a full face smile, eyes and nose scrunching up. I remember when I let Ree give him a bottle for the first time (I was very protective of that!). I remember laying out a "buffet of pacifiers" and letting him choose the one he wanted to try. I remember being so careful to introduce his pureed food slowly and then finally realizing he had had just about everything he wanted to eat in Korea. I remember moving from being in love with a photo to being in love with my child.

We love you, Jee Jee, and are so blessed that we get to call you our son.

Happy Gotcha Forever Family!

One year ago today, many many many prayers were answered.I will never forget holding him for the first time, sobbing, and kissing his neck.
The one time daddy got him to smile at our first meeting.
Daddy still making him smile a year later.
Today as we celebrated GOTCHA Forever family day (they really are happy, just not showing it :)....how HILARIOUS is this pic!?!?)
Details to come.

We love you, Jee Jee. You are a blessing and a gift to us. Happy GOTCHA! Forever Family Day.

Ringin' it in!

We did something super fun this year. I have to give credit where credit is due. My buddy, Rach, is super mom o' the year and she has been doing this for years. I stole the idea from her.

I got little gifts (or used things we already had) for the kids to open on the hour every hour from 5pm to 11pm (we celebrated NY New Year). It was an evening of family fun. Here are the things they opened:

5 pm Streamers/balloons/New Year Hats

6 pm Puzzles

7 pm Games for Game Night We ended up playing "Don't make me Laugh, Junior" and funny glasses

8 pm Stuff to make S'mores and New Year plates

9 pm The 8th Season of Little House on the Prairie ( for some reason I never watched this growing up, or don't remember....I blame it on my mom...sorry, mom but seriously what kind of mom is that depriving her daughters of Little House on the Prairie? and No, I have never read Anne of Green Gables either :)

10 pm Books- Reading time

11pm (opened a little early) poppers/horns/confetti
Opening the first present (above)

Seriously, the below picture summarizes my eldest son's personality
What Jee had to do and the reason we were having "family fun night" and not "out with some friends to celebrate New Years" night....



What Jee decided to do with the stamps he got....
I mean, how fun is this?!?!



This one summarizes how Jee was feeling about 9:30 or so
He did go ahead and participate in the obligatory funny face pic
C and Ree making s'mores with these fire cans that are supposed to be used to keep food in containers hot. Well, they made them and toasted the marshmallows just perfectly. Then I started to freak out that these fires were carcinogens and how could I ever allow my children to eat something made with this fire? Panic set in (welcome to my world, people) And, so......of course, I made them throw those away promptly and we made them in the microwave instead. Sorry, Kids....mommy is a freak.

My little Kimchi Pancake

And boy is he ever a toot. When we began praying for the child that God would place in our lives I told the hubs that I could really do just about anything. However, I didn't know if I could handle another blessing quite like CK. You know, talkative, stubborn, ornery. Ha, that's funny now, real real funny. God has a sense of humor as I have found out so well recently :)

Jee is the most effective non-verbal communicator that I have ever met. He can be very clear about his desires with a simple point and grunt. I am sure part of the reason he isn't overly concerned about speech is because he prettty much gets his point across without it.

This kid is a bundle ball of cuteness. Man, I love him.

His favorite things presently are: climbing on the table, bonking his head, playing in the dishwasher, bonking his head, eating gummy vitamins and vitamin C, spicy foods (I'm talking spicy spicy)balls (oh, he is obsessed!), playing with bub and noonah's toys, yelling at dada when he comes home, flying on my feet like superman, stamps,pulling his sister's glasses off, reading the book "I love you through and through", eating bananas dipped in something/anything, Ranch dressing, carrots, helping me with the laundry, making us laugh, and bonking his head.

One super cute thing he does now is he loves chapstick. When I put it on him he is just so proud of himself. He likes to walk around everyone and make a fish face, scruch up his nose, and pucker up. HILARIOUS.

He also loves to pretend like he is peeing in the toilet. He walks up to the potty pulls up his shirt and just stands there and smiles from ear to ear. Also HILARIOUS.

I think he is my most stubborn child. I know we moms forget lots of things, so I may just not be remembering accurately my other two at this age. I just don't remember them doing things like this scenario.

Mommy: "J, Don't pull open that drawer any more please."

J: Pulls open the drawer (after clearly hearing my request)

Mommy: (firm voice) "J, do NOT touch that drawer again."

J: Looks me squarely in the eye. While maintaining eye contact takes his right pointer finger (so as to specifically just "touch" the drawer) and (again, while keeping his eyes on mine at all times) takes his pointer finger and touches the pull on the drawer.

Oh boy, you know what they say about paying for your raising....yep, it's true. Dadgummit. It's my fault.

He loves to cuddle at night night time and of course is still OBSESSED with his lovey blanket. When he wakes up in the morning he is just so sweet and sits on my lap for awhile. He is starting to love his big sis a lot and goes to her even for comfort sometimes. I love that.

He made a HUGE stride last night. We all know the boy is not super fond of going to any form of a class (other than at our small group which is people that he is around all the time). Well, one goal for him this year is to get him to go consistantly to class on church days. We weren't going to attempt Wednesdays for a few more weeks to get him to transition back to his main class first. Well, when he saw his big bro and noonah going to class last night I asked him if he would like to go to his and he nodded his head yes (his other new big thing), I said "Will you be a big boy and walk into class by yourself?" Again, he nodded. So, I tried it (figuring it would never work). Yep, you guessed it..he walked right in and was happy. Weird. I guess it is his New Years Resolution too :)---Don't worry...I know this is most likely a one time event.

I am thankful for the Lord blessing us with Juju. He is just that, a blessing. I love how God puts surprises in our life like Jee's funny little energetic and ornery personality. I wouldn't change him for the world (well, I mean other than making him more obedient :)

The MOST beautiful girl

My "Joyous Song." She really is a little angel in my life. She is my analytical one, thinking well beyond her years. She is very sensitive and compassionate. She is an encourager and usually slow to speak. She thinks about things before she says them (something she is teaching me about). She is concerned for her friends and those around her. She cries a lot not for herself (she is actually very, very tough when she gets booboos) but for others. Anyone whose feelings might be hurt, she will cry. She is a HUGE movie crier.

The only real argument we get into is about how beautiful she is, how she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. She will always fight me on that! She always says that I am (I know, how sweet is she!?!?!) She is being fully honest when she says it. She isn't trying to be funny, she really believes it. She will also remind me that when I say that it could hurt someone else's feelings.

Another thing she does that is adorable is thinking like an adult...a mature adult about food/health. She used to use it to get something she would like. She would say things like "Well, I've already had a cookie so I shouldn't have another (pause.pause)...should I? But now, she has moved to really reasoning it out and deciding, ahhh...I better not. The other day I offered her something sweet and she said "ummm, well I should probably eat some vegetables because I have had lots of sweet things already today." SERIOUSLY. I looked at MJ like, who is this girl!?!? Although she talks a big game on healthy eating, actually getting her to eat very much is not easy.

She is a very analytical little girl. It is incredible the thoughts and questions she can logically understand. The other day we were reading a book and at the end it says "and know that God who made you loves you nose to toes." She paused for about 10 seconds and said "Huh (thinking out loud)....I guess God doesn't love my forehead." ....Yep, meaning that your forehead isn't between your nose and toes....weird, I know.

She LOVES baby dolls and stuffed animals. She likes to sing to them, feed them, read to them, and sleep with them. She also loves to read. Her current obsession is the "If you give a mouse a..., A moose a..., A pig a...." She is actually learning to read (I know, it's way way way early...I would have never tried this with other children and would have laughed at someone if they would tell me they were teaching someone her age to read. She is figuring it out on her own by watching her brother, it's nuts-oh). She is certainly all girl and loves dressing up fancy, painting nails, and doing hair. The other occasional battle of wills that we have is whether or not she HAS to wear something like (God forbid) a cute little comfy pant outfit instead of a dress.

She does the cutest little body gestures with her shoulder and pulls it up (like a little tick) when she is telling stories or thinking about stuff. She also does this really hilariously funny frown face when she is pondering life. She asks me often that when she grows up can she still please live with me in our house. Hehe, I hope that continues on into her teen years :)

She still thinks that her brother is an infant and treats him like he is a little tiny baby. It is hilarious seeing as how he is nearly as big as her. They share the same size shoe. She is very petite, or as she likes to say "fuh teet."

This new year Ree is going to work on her whining :) and despite how incredibly sugary sweet she is, she is occasionally quick to anger...just like you might envision a little red head might be.

I love you, Reeser Rooty!