quotes

Some quotes we have heard this week...that made us laugh.

(Ayden in bed last night discussing his day at "school"....mainly focusing on bathroom stuff.)
Momma "Ayden did you go potty at school today?"
Ayden "yes...Miss Abbi helped me...momma...Miss Abbi is pretty. Miss Lauri is pretty too."
Momma "HEY...do you think I am pretty?"
Ayden "yes momma - you are pretty, Ali is pretty, Ava is pretty, Erin is pretty......
Ayden "momma - girl Erin is pretty and boy Aaron is pretty too!"

(Ava this AM....hollering at her daddy from bed...she has bug bites on her ankles)
Ava "DADDA - I need medicine (pronounced medi son)"
Ayden.."Ava - I am the son....you are the daughter!"

(Daddy and Momma tonite having a "discussion" that bordered on an argument.)
Ayden in a quiet voice to momma "Daddy need time out?"

Hot Summer Days

Alec is sick(fever & sore throat)-so not alot of time to post - but thought you might enjoy these pictures from yesterday!

this week...

has flown by....and I really didn't even take any pictures - that is how busy we were! I worked part-time - while trying to manage Alec and his daily stuff. The kiddos LOVED playschool this week - they got to run through sprinklers...which was the highlight for sure. One of Ayden's papers said he "SMILED ALL DAY". That is music to a momma's ears. Erin came home after her trip to North Carolina to see Aaron...(I didn't even let her have a nap!) and we were off working.....we primed 2 rooms at Ali and Sam's...Grandpa hung a door and it is really starting to look great. Alec loves his big sister Erin who took care of him while Momma RAN to get her hair highlighted...which made her feel like a new person. He is way more comfortable with people than either Ava or Ayden were at this point....3 weeks home...and he really really likes his extended family and is willing to hang out with them for a little while...especially if I am close by. That is very nice for momma most definitely.

Alec carries things around in a very cute fashion that I did happen to get a shot of.

And whenever Ayden lays on the ground - he is immediately on top of him. Ava waits and waits but he never does jump on her....much to her dismay.

Very noisy here tonite - so I think I put some tired kids in the bathtub and then to bed!

Mr.Alec on this Father's Day 2009

What a blessing it is to celebrate Father's Day with this little gift in our lives. He completes our family....with his smiles and laughs...his strong determination...his easy going personality.....his contented baby sounds......and even his temper (when he is tired)! His crooked little grin....practicing walking backward(very scary)......his fear of practically nothing....his open mouth kisses(only two given so far)......

We love you Mr. Alec

*****

And a special hug to Daddy of 5......(did you ever think you would say that???)

Happy Father's Day! We love you so much!!

Our beach vacation....

Not alot of sand....not alot of water....

sprinklers...

one who declined swimming for bike riding....

wild crazy jumping... and we might need a little bit bigger pool.

Make the best of it....

that was the advice I just gave Erin as she is in a whirlwind of crazy plane flights and traveling to North Carolina to see Aaron. It is a really long story - but she ended up getting two separate round trips which the airline would not let her combine - so she had to fly back to KC today to leave again for NC tomorrow. Sheer craziness. And then because of mechanical difficulties missed her connector to KC in Atlanta (and our memories of that airport are not too good anyway) but luckily was 2nd in line for the next plane and was allowed to board. Geesh. But - as I told her - make the best of it - life is short. She and Aaron may not get the opportunity to even see each other again before he leaves for Iraq. Air travel is just not that much fun...luckily she didn't have to bring back her big bag - so no luggage to check.

Sam and Ali are enjoying some cooler temperatures inside their cute old house - since we got a window air unit installed yesterday- just in time for this horrible heat and humidity. Thank goodness. We hope to dive into the baby's room next week and get it ready for paint. Exciting stuff!

We are totally completely exhausted tonight for some reason. The kids were good tonite too - busy - but good. Maybe it is all catching up with us....but tonight we are both looking a bit worse for the wear. Alec is adjusting so well...and is firmly attached to me...which is exactly what we had hoped for. He is just wanting to be held alot and it wipes me out. The other two are enjoying their new preschool immensely...but seem to have a ton of energy or something when they get home. They definitely have fun...thank goodness. Ayden loves having some guys his age...he wants to tell us all about them when he gets home. They both ask every day about "Naynay" too....they definitely miss her.....we will have to go visit very soon!

I am signing off and hitting the sack! Kim

11 days home...

and doing great. Bronchiolitis is almost gone..sleeping is much better and life is getting back to normal a little bit. What a happy kiddo we have been blessed with.

And can you get much cuter than these 3?

and the parents look a little tired - but not too too bad.
How about these 4 - cute or what?

(We send our love to Aaron - we need this time away to pass by quickly - these pictures are not the same without you!!!! Stay safe and know that our prayers are with you!)

And again - is this the cutest pregnant person you have ever seen? I do believe so.

(Sam you are cute too of course!)

We are BLESSED indeed.

miracles

We are sick of being sick!

Goodness - there are alot of us and this "cold" seems to hit one of us every 3 days! Poor Ayden had it first - running a temperature of 103 Wednesday night....with a yucky cough and runny nose...he got better Saturday. Then Saturday night Ava started running 103 fever - with a wheezy cough....still sickly today. Poor Alec is hanging on for dear life trying to get over jet lag and new food and new people....with a little cough today as well. So needless to say not much sleeping for the adults around here. Erin came home and helped - thank you!!!! Mom and Dad have been taking the short people for gator rides - thank you!!! Kristi visiting and providing much needed distraction...and answering medical "oops" questions - thank you!!!

Once everyone is well - I think we will take a deep breath and say- WE CAN DO THIS! Alec is a sweet, sweet baby....smiley and playful. Easy to put to sleep...hard to keep asleep. But that will find it's pattern also. Ava is THRILLED to be "big sissy" and Ayden is gentle and sensitive to Alec (not so much to his sister though....they fight like cats and dogs!) We did venture out to visit Grandpa Jim before he went to the hospital - I warned him we were probably contagious - but he did not care.....in fact I know I would have been shunned had we not taken them to play.

As you can see - Alec is much easier to adjust to new people than Ava was. He is firmly attached to his momma - but he is willing to interact with others - which is very nice. And as I have said before - he is fearless. That in itself is scary - but he doesn't get too worked up about much...just "grunts" at me when his fingers are stuck in the VCR....no crying. He does have a temper and can throw himself on the floor when I don't understand what he is trying to tell me...but he is easily distracted.

I am off to try to catch a quick nap before the entire gang is awake again. Until later! Kim

the haircut

2 days home

I am actually too tired to type and make any sense....and thought these pictures might show you why I am so tired! He is FEARLESS! And he is attaching really well - which means he is on my hip unless he is running down the lane. He is doing exactly what he is supposed to do...I am just completely exhausted. The other two are a bit jealous but actually handling it quite well - and they are very very sweet to him. Mom helped me get them down for naps today as Shannon had to work and then made us dinner - so that was wonderful. Thank you Mom!

Hopefully we can get some cute pictures of them this weekend...I couldn't get Alec to sit still for longer than a minute today! Kim

The adventures of it all....

We have to document these past days or we will forget all the "stuff" that happened to us on our journey to Alec!


The drama of the Kansas City Airport was really the thing we can't forget from Saturday. Our flight to Korea was so nice - we didn't get to sit together which was weird sitting by strangers for 13 hours - but my two guys were super quiet. The one on my right was young and fell asleep immediately and kept falling over toward me...then jerking awake just before his head would hit my shoulder....then falling over toward me again. He was completely exhausted - but then woke up and quietly watched videos and ate our yummy meals without a word to me. The gentleman on my left was super quiet - he was on his way to Cambodia from Montreal and he still had a 5 hour flight after we landed in Seoul. He was not excited at all. He watched NO movies and read NO books the entire 13 hours. He just sat still as a mouse watching the map of the little airplane moving on our flight path and checking how many kilometers we had left to go. I think he said he slept one hour....he was too tired to concentrate on a movie. Poor guy really didn't enjoy it much. Me personally - I did absolutely fine the entire flight. Watched 3 movies and the time passed rather quickly actually. Erin said she was the same - watched movies, ate and slept. Her seat mates also spoke no English - so no worry of conversation there.


We landed and got through customs quickly, exchanged some money and grabbed our KAL bus to our hotel. Uneventful which was exactly perfect! We washed up a bit in our room and struck out to find a quick shop, made sure we remembered how to get to SWS and then back to our room. I tried calling SWS to let them know we had arrived - but no one spoke English and it was Sunday night in Korea - so I finally just gave up and decided to wait till morning. We organized our gifts - realizing we had left a photo album at home - but made do with what we had.


After a night of intermittent sleep...we got up and got ready early. I tried calling SWS at 8:00 AM -but was told to call back at 9:00. The phone rang in our room - and it was our case worker asking us to come there at 9:30. So we headed out to grab some coffee and stroll the 5 blocks over. We got in that hilarious elevator

and headed up for what we thought was a planning meeting. Instead we found out we were heading out to the foster home immediately! We were able to stop by the hotel for our gifts and then we were on our way. It was a 40 minute drive to a very different, but beautiful part of Seoul we had not seen.
We arrived in a very quaint neighborhood...and came around a corner to see our sweet Jeesuk outside waiting for us. We had a wonderful visit with foster mom and sister....so funny how you can tell people are just good people without even being about to communicate with them. Body language and the love we could see they had for our little man told it all. We stayed about an hour....Alec was a little quiet at first and then came out of his shell. Much more than Ava did - I actually got to hold him a couple quick moments. That never happened with Ava. He loved showing us his toys and was almost showing off! An hour flew by and we took 300+ pictures and headed back to the reception center. We were told we needed to be back at SWS at 10:30 the next day (June 1 here in the US) to pick up Alec.



So.....we ran back to the hotel....changed into comfy clothes and headed off to the market. Caught the subway without a hitch (last year I got stuck in the toll thingy that you put your ticket in)

and came out of the subway into the biggest, craziest market we had ever seen. We were a little overwhelmed at first...so we wandered for awhile eating huge hunks of fruit on sticks and some unknown delicious street food. Erin at one point got in a line (I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it) with a ton of people getting some extremely popular steamed meat filled buns that we had no idea what it was. Delicious! We got all our gifts and hanboks for the kids and headed back to the subway.


We relaxed around our room that evening knowing that the next day we were going to be busy with a 15 month old!


The next morning - we nervously got dressed....stopped by our favorite cafe for breakfast and headed out. We were a little early - which is always fun because you get to watch all the babies and foster ommas coming in and out. Then here came little man....and the process began.
We exchanged gifts and information. We laughed at his antics...it was obvious he had been to the reception center alot - everyone knew him....and he acted like he owned the joint. We signed one piece of paper. We waited for his final "physical" from the orphanage physician to make sure he was healthy enough for travel....and then the time came.

I know why I could not be a foster mom. Giving up a child....that you have loved and nutured....I couldn't do it. My heart breaks for Alec's foster family - I know they are missing him terribly. Our joy is their pain.

Alec and Erin slept fitfully in the bed (I slept on the couch with a bit of a belly ache - too much street food???) - got up in the AM - drug all our bags downstairs and caught the shuttle to the airport. We were put in a holding room on our way through customs like there was some problem with Alec's Visa - but we were released with no explanation. Needless to say we left customs quickly and quietly before they could change their minds and waited anxiously at our gate!

And then the long long long flight home. Alec was truly exceptional.......at the time it seemed so hard....but he really did fabulous. We were so exhausted we finally did get some sleep...all 3 of us....spilled some wine (it comes with every meal on Korean Air) and some soup (on Alec's feet no less)...but other than that no real big messes. Our transition in Chicago was amazing - the staff was so helpful as we were in a bit of a hurry....even though we had a 2.5 hour layover - we needed every minute of it to get through all the gates and searches. In Seoul - they took our temperature as we got off the plane - but not in Chicago. So we had "tylenoled up" for nothing! Our flight to KC was wonderful - we slept the entire way! We were so excited to go up that exit ramp and into the arms of our family!

I was telling Shannon today (after a little tiny meltdown) it all seems rather surreal....but then I see this gorgeous little man toddling around and know that it wasn't a dream...we actually went to Korea and came home with "Little Brother". And the journey continues.....