Monday, December 6, 2010

Finalization...October 4th 2010

Our life has been so busy lately I have not had the chance to update the blog. We have a house guest staying with us from Korea. She has been stying with us for the last couple months so life has been a bit different and a bit busier as well. We have enjoyed her stay and look forward to visiting her in Korea someday.

Jack's adoption was finalized in Court on Monday October 4th. We had a nice crew in court with us. Here is a few photos from the event!

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Our First Chuseok

We have officially survived our first Chuseok celebration.
What is Chuseok? It is Korean Thanksgiving. This year it was on September 22nd. We had a great day. I wanted to mark the occasion with some fall photos of Jack in his Hanbok. It was rainy most of the day but the rain held off long enough for me to get some fun shots of Jack.

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I really like the circle because it reminds me of the full harvest moon of Chuseok.

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I spent time preparing a Korean meal. We had bee-bim bop, which means "mixed up rice" in Korean.
It is thinly sliced beef marinated in garlic, green onion, soy sauce and sugar. Then you cook thin strips of eggs, various veggies. We choose spinach, sprouts, and carrots. Each item has it's own bowl.
Then you pile the rice in the bottom of your bowl, then add whatever you choose of the other ingredients and mix them all together. In Korea they sometimes serve this dish in a HOT bowl. They put a raw egg on the top if thir rice mrat and veggies, and when you mix it, the bowl is so hot it cooks the egg for you. I hope to try that next time we visit Korea.

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Jack saying the "B" in "bop" Korean word for rice.

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Jack saying the "o" in "bop" He said bop evening long, over and over.

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The spread.

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Bee-bim bop

We ended our evening playing a game of Yut. It is a fun game, and can be simplified for kids like our five year old daughter, or involve enough strategy that it can make even adults think hard on what moves they want to make.
It is played with a set of four sticks. One side of the stick is flat and you get to move spaces on a board for how many sticks face up or down when you toss them.
Jack had the tossing part down. He enjoyed himself. What one year old boy wouldn't like to throw sticks?

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A special surprise came at the end of the day. We got a phone call from a friend who brought over some Songpyeon. This is a special rice cake that is made special for Chuseok. It is glutenous rice stuffed with a sweet sesame seed mixture or sweet red bean paste. It is sticky and chewy and sweet. It did take a bit of getting used to, but it was a great treat. I ate much more the next day, since the first night I was already so full from eating dinner I didn't have much room for more. I think Songpyeon is much like Kimchi, at first you are not so sure, but it grows on you and then you start to crave it!
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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Happy 4th of July!

I know it is early but I wanted to get a post up and took some red, white and blue pictures today. We have done lots over the past few months. Time flies. It honestly feels weird to have a blog about just Jack because he is one of our three kiddos. He does have a special story and he is adorable. Yet in our house he is one of the crew.
This is one reason this blog has not been quite so busy lately. The process of adoption does not consume our lives as much as it did while we were waiting for him to come home and during his adjustment. Jack's adoption process is no longer something we are learning about, or striving towards it is our lives. We love him so much! Enough mumbo jumbo, let's get on to the photos and all the stuff Jack has been up to.

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It was a pretty wet spring here so we spent a lot of rainy days inside playing in boxes was a fun pastime. His PJ's are the ones he was wearing under his clothes when we picked them up. They still fit. He wore them last night.

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When it wasn't raining he got to help dad wash the car!

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Jack attended sister's preschool graduation program.

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He likes to help unload the dishwasher.

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Jack modeled the new "knee pad" pants his mom patched up for him. Sporting the golf club, hat turned backwards and turned up collar. Look out Baby Gap!

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Finally was warm enough to test out the water table Jack got for his Birthday back in March. You are supposed to stand and play in the water, Jack prefers to climb in and sit in it. Guess we should have gotten him a pool instead.

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Jack sleeps thought the night now consistently. Doesn't wake for bottles, and just last week started to take water in his bottle before bed and nap instead of milk. We are in no hurry to ditch the cuddle bottle routine before bed. This was a day where he decided that he was ready for his nap and went into the other room and went to sleep. Too funny. Never did it before and has never done it since.

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He likes to play outside with his brother and sister. They can get each other giggling that is for sure.

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He knows his nose. Will point to it if you say "Where is Jack's nose."

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Likes to wash his hands in the kitchen sink. But you have to make sure he doesn't try to climb into it like the water table.

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He traveled to a family reunion in MN. with his cousins and got to meet his great-grandparents.

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Still falls asleep when carried on someones back. Jack loves his blue and brown blanket. We brought it with us to Korea and he has not been a night without it since. The last thing his foster mother did was wrap this blanket around him while he was on my back and tucked it in, then we walked out the door.

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Jack has had many play dates with is friend Zane since he came home. Zane is 3 months older than Jack and came home from South Korea three months before Jack did. Nice to have a friend who is blazing the finalization trail for us. Then we will know what to do and who to call once our final post-placement visit is done next month. They are usually excited to see each other, but are just not to the point of playing together yet. When they get a bit older, we will totally have our hands full keeping up with their big ideas I am sure.

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When you like to climb, life has it's ups and downs. Jack fell off a recliner and hit his head on the side table in his room. This is right after the trip to the ER. He didn't get stitches just some glue. As you can tell he was TOTALLY upset about it. Ok it really didn't bother him hardly at all. Plus he finally got to do something he had been dying to do....

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take a bath in the sink. It was the only way I could keep him from blowing bubbles with his whole face in the water. He has no issues with water in his eyes. Can you tell he was LOVIN' it!

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Men and their power tools! Jack has helped with a few projects around the house this spring too. Likes to put on the sound proof headphones and yell. Because he can't hear himself.

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He has decided that this is the best seat in the house. Nice and cool on hot summer days and plenty to eat.

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Having Family Picnic's on the Deck.

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Playing with Grandma at Daddy' soccer game last night. He likes his red Adidas soccer jersey and wears it for both USA world cup games and South Korea world cup games. Other times too since it is so cute! Both US and South Korea have moved on to Round 2 of the World Cup. Fun to have two teams to cheer for! (Disclaimer:Dad does not play in the World Cup, just local rec league.)

Here is mommy's photo shoot from today! Patriotic style!

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Happy 4th of July!