Joe's First Vacation - Part II

Ok, finally getting back to finishing up about Joe Sung Min's first vacation.  I was a little concerned how he would be after the long drive and around so many new people.  In all, he exceeded my expectations.  We had packed some of his favorite toys from home (and his blanket) and he had his big sister around to make him feel comfortable.

Miss Olivia had quite a list of things she wanted to do while we were on vacation and Auntie Jen made sure we hit as many of them as possible: Adirondack Animal Land, Hoffman's Playland and most importantly, the pool in the backyard.  Although we didn't get to see the parade or fireworks on the 4th of July, we DID travel to Connecticut to a party at Auntie Bev's house where we got to hang out with all of my siblings, their husbands and kids. Yay!  We also squeezed in a visit with my friend Robyn and her girls and a trip down to Hudson, where I grew up, to visit my dear friend Kathleen and her kids and stop at the cemetery to see my mom's grave.

Feeding giraffes

Joe was more interested in snacks

Chased by camels. Liver-lips got a little to close for comfort

Joe-Ji LOVED his cousin Sarah!

                         

Joe and his new friend Robyn. :)

The girls getting their craft on at Michael's

Rides! 

  

Zach's 17th birthday. Ice cream cake!!

Greg showing Liv how to ride her bike sans training wheels

Putting flowers on Grandma Hendricks' grave (she picked them out!)

Playing with my BFF's little one. :)

My little fish (just like her dad!)

Tired from their swim, Liv and Dillon relax on the lounge chair

But wait... we're not done yet.  The third installment of our great vacation is coming soon.  You don't want to miss our adventures in New Jersey, the kids' first trip to the ocean, seeing the Imagination Movers at Sesame Place and the long ride back home... Stay tuned!

Joe's First Vacation

A big apology to Omma, Appa and my family and friends for neglecting this blog.  The past few months I have been insanely busy with work, moving and getting settled in to our new house (no end is in sight, but that is another story entirely) and haven't found the time to update you all on Joe Sung Min and his progress. He is doing VERY well, by the way. :) I think I've successfully cleared all the cobwebs and tumbleweeds from this page and am ready to do this.

For the past 5 years, I've packed Liv up each summer and driven the 8+ hours to visit my family in upstate New York.  This year was going to be a new adventure: me with TWO kids. In a car. For hours. One kid (Joe) who does NOT like to be in the car for more than an hour at a time.  This was going to be interesting.

Liv was up bright and early and helped me finish packing up the car. We were hitting the road a little later than I had hoped (6:15 am) but there were no tears so I considered that a small victory.  Unfortunately, I realized I had Brian's keys with me so we had to turn around but we were back on the road in no time.

We sailed through Ohio, Pennsylvania and through Buffalo before taking a break.  The kids were relaxing in the back seat watching movies, snacking, coloring and zoning.  I was quite pleased with how smoothly the trip was going.  After we took care of business inside the rest stop, the kids ran around and let off some steam.  Liv was a very sweet big sister and helped her brother run up and down the little hill over and over again. And then, we were off to continue our journey.  Luckily for everyone involved, it was a quick ride to Rochester to the incredible Strong Museum of Play, where we were meeting Liv's little buddy, Owen.  Owen was the ring bearer in my niece's wedding over Thanksgiving weekend.  You can read more about that here.

First up was the carousel in the lobby. As you can see from the picture below, it was a big hit.  For the next two hours, the kids shopped, built and destroyed, climbed, learned, played some old school video games and ran in different directions.  I'm glad I was there with another family because Mr. Man has his own agenda and was not, surprisingly, attached to me at the hip.  Let me just say that this kid is fast.  And it is a good thing he is so cute.

Sadly we had to move the museum and continue our drive to Auntie Jen and Uncle Dave's house. Surely the kids would sleep in the remaining four hours. Who was I kidding? Joe may have slept 45 minutes, a far cry from his 2 -3 hour naps. Liv? Nothing. She was too excited to see her cousins, their dog and, most importantly, the pool in the backyard.  At this point I need to give a shout out to our friends the Imagination Movers.  Were it not for their Rock-O-Matic CD/DVD (and their others), we would not have survived the remaining hour and a half of the ride. Works WONDERS on the little man, he is mesmerized by them and loves singing along with his big sister (and me,too!)

To be continued...  

9 Months Home!

Wow.  It is so hard to believe that Joseph Sung Min has been home for 9 months.  On August 31, 2011, my friend Amy and I were doing picking up last minute souvenirs, triple checking our bags and getting more than a little nervous about the trip home. Our poor kiddos would likely be in shock going from the safety and comfort of their foster families to the orphanage to the airport where we picked them up in the nursery. What emotions we were all experiencing. You can read more about that major adventure by clicking here.

Flash forward nine months and it seems as if he has always been a part of our family.  He has fit perfectly in to our quirky household with his quick smile and silly nature.  He has been such a trooper through his surgeries and the results of both have left us amazed.  Looking back, his progress has been incredible.  When he first came home, he was not able to (or didn't WANT to) hold his own bottle or feed himself to insisting on feeding himself and holding his cup on his own.  He didn't stand very much and had NO interest in walking. Now we can't keep him in one place unless he is watching the Imagination Movers, Backyardigans , Charlie and Lola or reading some of his books.

He is talking up a storm and as of today has more than 50 words in his vocabulary.  He is even able to recognize a few shapes, colors, numbers and knows (at least) 9 letters and their sounds.  Each day his sissy listens for new words so she can add them to Joe's word list.  We need to get him set up with OT and PT to bring his fine and gross motor skills up to where they should be, but all things considered he is doing remarkably well.

I could brag for hours about this little fella, how much we love him and how blessed we are to have him in our lives but I'll stop. For now.  I know the pictures are the real draw here.  For your viewing pleasure, here are a few from the archives of his first moments with our family and some recent ones.

Then...

And now...

We appreciate your support as we continue on in this journey and look forward to sharing our next adventures with you. Thanks for stopping by - and please come again!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a difference a year makes.  Last year, we were reeling from the news that Joe Sung Min wouldn't be coming home in 2011, probably wouldn't be granted a visa in 2012 and there was a definite possibility that he would never come home since his government was aiming to end their international adoption program. Not easy news to take.


Luckily, the worst case scenario didn't pan out and our (not so) little man ended up coming home much earlier than anticipated.  Our lives were forever changed - and enhanced - with his arrival.  We had much to celebrate on Mother's Day 2012.


It hit me during church that this was our first Mother's Day as a family of 4. A complete unit. Things are crazy, but very good. Liv is finishing up kindergarten, we're packing up and getting ready to move, work is keeping me insanely busy, Brian is busy tending to the 5 acres at the new house and Joe is amazing us daily with everything he is learning and doing.


Mother's Day was spent enjoying the kids, getting ready for my trip to NYC and going to Grandma and Grandpa's house where I was spoiled with gifts from the kids.  Liv made me an incredible card, a scrapbook and picked out a basket full of flowers to decorate our new house.  I wasn't allowed in Grandma's office for over a week since they were hard at work on my surprises. 


After I opened my presents it was time for ice cream cake.  I can't think of a better way to end the day.


We'd like to wish a very happy Mothers' Day to Kyung Sook (Omma) in Korea.

Looking through the scrapbook Liv made of our memories together

Another overdue update

Let's see.  Where to start.  Time has once again slipped away from me and I am woefully behind.  Omma, Appa, Joe Sung Min is doing very well and you'll be proud of how well he is doing.
Joe Sung Min's surgery was a success and he was a trooper.  Luckily the doctor was running ahead of schedule and we went in about a half hour early.  Considering this was his nap time and he hadn't had any joos or ahhs, that was a very good thing.  He was, of course, his dramatic self when they (gasp) listened to his heartbeat and took his temperature.  We don't call him Joe Broadway for nothing!  (and how cute is he?)  I should note that as soon as I picked him up, he stopped crying immediately. The doctors and nurses were in awe.  What can I say? He loves his Mama.

He went through the surgery like a champ and within 15 minutes of me leaving him in the OR, he was in the PACU.  He was not happy coming out of anesthesia, but before long he was happily drinking joos and eating some graham crackers.  Me? I was proud of my little man AND the fact that he was feeding himself the crackers. Soon we were home and after a nap he was off and running.  As you can see here, he is no worse for the wear.

We went to Grandma's house for a little extra TLC.  Liv (Sissy) had soccer practice and team pictures so while we waited for Brian to take her to soccer, Liv was schooling Joe in the ways of the "helicopters."  Poor kid wanted to go outside and be with his Sissy.  

Since the surgery, he has been doing remarkably well - and boy has he been sleeping.  Most importantly, we have seen amazing progress in his speech development.  He is saying new words every day.  We are so proud of how well he is doing.  At this point, he can say almost 40 words, knows 8+ letters and their sounds, a handful of signs and is adding to his repertoire every day. Surprisingly enough, "yes" and "no" are not currently in his vocabulary.  Here is a little video of what he's been up to recently.  As a warning, please turn your volume down for the second video.  I'm a little loud.  He was very happy to see his Mama.

Friday night was Liv's first soccer game and we were a little concerned with his grass aversion.  If you've been keeping up with all things Joe, you'll know that he and grass do NOT get along. Exhibits A and B:

Surprisingly, after initially freaking out after his feet touched the ground, he noticed some other kids running around in the grass.  Before we knew it, he was off and running; making a beeline for his sister on the field.  Brian and I spent the rest of the night taking turns keeping him distracted and/or causing a distraction to the parents trying to watch their kids play soccer. I had great plans to write a post specifically about his grass aversion but that won't be happening.  Check out the little man tooling around at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  

He is growing up so fast!

Finally ... An update

Wow. I can't believe so much time has passed since my last blog post. Omma and Appa, I'm so sorry about that and will do much better at posting updates from here on out. 


Time has been flying by and so much has happened in the past month:

• Joe Sung Min not only walks but RUNS everywhere
• He is learning and speaking new words almost every day
• He is becoming more and more independent, feeding himself with a fork or a spoon and (finally) learning how to hold a piece of food and take a bite out of it instead of shoving the whole thing in his mouth :-)
• Joe Sung Min pats me (and only me, so far) on the back and says "pat, pat, pat"
• His sister is still his favorite person and he LOVES being with her
• Joe Joe still does NOT like to walk on the grass. At all.  He will, but he will fuss the whole time
• Liv and I went to see her "friends" the Imagination Movers in concert. (that will be another post)  Next time we'll bring Joe; we think it would be a little too much going on for him now, although he absolutely LOVES their music and dvds
• After 6 ear infections in 8 months, it is time for him to get tubes put in.  This should be happening on May 8, barring any unexpected illnesses
• Oh, we bought a house, in the country, with 5 acres of land and 2 barns.  We hope to officially move in late May, although Brian may get settled in there sooner to take care of the chickens and turkeys.

As gripping as this all is, I know the real reason everyone is here is to see pictures of Joe Sung Min, so without any further ado, here he is in all his cuteness:

Trying to make a break for it

One of his favorite things to do

Poor Joe. So much grass, so little fun.

Liv in the quince tree.  She will be in the trees a lot this summer.

Joe likes goose calls...