I went back to work last week ...

:(

... need I say more?

p.s. acclimating back to work is one reason you haven't heard from me in a while.  Plus my computer hard drive crashed (argh)  so I was without a computer for almost 2 weeks!  I've got some great photos so will be posting more this week once I get them loaded onto this new computer.

happy anniversary, baby!

Just 3 months ago today, we picked JD up from Eastern in Korea and drove to the airport to bring him home. 

I can't believe it's been 3 months already, although at times it feels like he's been with us forever.  We had our 3 month post-placement visit with our social worker this week.  The next step is the longer-than-it-probably-needs-to-be adoption finalization process where we go to court and get a new birth certificate to make things final.  Sounds like it will be similar to a lot of the other adoption paperwork process we've been through - we expect a lot of waiting and relying on other parties to fulfill their part in the process.  I fully expect to be annoying to those parties as I "push" the process along :)

So this week, we met up with my friend Amy and her 2 cute little boys Q (3 yrs) and L (19 mos) for some play time at Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater.  That place is awesome and who doesn't love Stillwater!?!  After a morning of play, we had lunch in Stillwater and headed home for a nap - most of which occurred in the car ride home :0

a new friend

JD had a play date this past Saturday with a new friend who was also adopted from Korea.  I met his mom through this lovely blog world.  D's parents brought him home last September and he is 3 months older than JD.  D is adorable and was a good little sharer of his toys with JD!  We met D and his family at their darling home in Mpls and then walked to a local park where the boys had fun walking around, swinging and playing in the sand.  It was a hot day so, after all the fun, the guys needed something to wet their whistle!

We're thrilled that JD has a new friend with a connection to his birth country.  And I'm thrilled to have met another couple who have adopted from Korea - they are a bit ahead of us in this journey so we can learn from them :) 
We're looking forward to another play date in August - that one will involve lots of water!

the man cave

Here's JD's "little man" cave - it's fit for a little prince.  This is where it all happens:  the magical sleep and the not so magical diaper changes.  This is also where the previously mentioned "construction incident" happened. 

I love his man cave.  It's very fun, yet calming.  He's surrounded by pics of his furry brothers and sister (Kramer, Fletcher and Ginger) amid a sea of blue walls and dots of chocolate.  I sometimes long to crawl into his crib to take a nap myself. So does Kramer ...

happy 16 month birthday to jd!

JD provides us with 2 reasons to celebrate this weekend: his 16 month birthday and he's been home with us for 2 months!

My husband is from NY and to say he is an avid Yankees fan is an understatement.  He's going to kill me for posting the below photo.  What the heck, I like to live on the wild side!!

p.s.  yes, JD also owns some Yankees apparel.  At some point I'm sure I'll be forced to post a photo :)

jd's construction company - he's accepting new clients ...

So I finally hung pictures in JD's room. We received the super cool Andy Warhol print of Ginger that I won in a "cutest dog" contest (thanks to all of you who voted) and I had a few others things to hang on the walls. 

Ginger, the cutest dog

I put JD in his pack-n-play in our bedroom for his nap so I could work on his room.  I had all my tools: measuring tape, straight edge, level, hammer and drill. His room was full of tools and his crib came in handy as a spot to lay them out while I did my work. After a looooong afternoon, I finished the job - all pictures and his initials were hung and everything was looking good (and straight)!  I was so happy to have it done!!  After dinner, I touched up a few areas of paint and put away all the tools just in time for JD to go down for the night.

After putting JD to bed, we could hear him babbling and playing in his crib. We have one of those video monitors (thanks RHI girls), so we were peeking at him and all his silliness. About 10 minutes into his bedtime chit-chat, I heard a knocking mixed in with his babbling. I ignored it for a minute, figuring he was playing with his plastic butterfly teething ring, knocking it against his crib.

The knocking continued, so I grabbed the video monitor and watched. I could see JD lying on his back with something in his hand and he was tapping it against the crib rails. We keep some items in his crib for him to play with so, again, I assumed it was either the teething ring or a little book. I was staring at the object, trying to figure out what it was when, finally, I detected the silhouette of ... A HAMMER!!!!!!!!!! OH. MY. GOD.

I burst into his room and flipped on the lights! JD immediately stood up. You should have seen the stunned look on his face - picture a baby going "what the heck"!?  I took the hammer from him and put him back down on his back, gently whispering how his mother was a total moron and that he should go back to sleep. I left the room (yes, with the hammer this time), figuring that now we’d never get him to sleep for the night after shocking the little peanut. But, lo and behold, he whined for a minutes and fell right to sleep (probably having nightmares of me bursting into his room)!

I know, I know - you're wondering how I ever got approved to adopt a child! :)

disclaimer:  it was a small hammer, not the standard issue used by most (just trying to redeem myself) :0

p.s.  and yes, since my child was alive and free of hammer dings to his body, I was laughing when I left his room :) :)

it's a date!

JD had his first official play date this past weekend.  He had a great time hanging at Parker and Wilson's house (thanks, Sara, for hosting).  And Maddy came over with her little sister Emma.  Emma just so happens to be JD's girlfriend - this was decided months ago by me and her mama, Lisa, when I was still waiting for the travel call to get JD :)

The kids played well together! It was as much fun for JD as it was for me, as I got to catch up with my coworkers Sara and Lisa!

Emma and JD couldn't wait to get their first "couple" picture taken!

The four Amigos:  Emma, Mads, JD and Parker ... the fifth (Wilson) was catching some shut-eye!

I think I had a pom-pom up my nose in this picture!

why wasn't I warned?!

Someday, JD will read this blog journal and be upset with me for the story I'm about to share. But it must be told. I feel compelled to warn others, as I wish I had been warned!!

JD had a good morning, he practiced eating his cereal with a spoon (and, of course, his hands) and got super messy -- and why not, that creamy warm cereal feels good when squished through your fingers. :)

So we decided to take a bath. Yay, he was soooooo excited! He was in there with all his toys, splashing and giggling. I stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway, about 8 feet away, to fold some towels. I had one eye on him the whole time, occasionally telling him to sit down when he was trying to stand up, etc. It was going well - he was having fun and I was multi-tasking. Hey, I thought, I've got this parenting thing down pat. I am THAT woman who can do it all, right? Wrong.

When I decided he was clean enough, I stepped back into the bathroom, got close to the tub and shrieked in horror! The once clear water was now ... BROWN!  A sea of brown water!!  Oh. My. God.  I was disgusted and practically gagging - HE was still splashing and giggling, having a good time among his newly created "bathtoys".  I immediately pulled the plug, took the handheld shower and started spraying him off and soaping him up (he wasnt happy, by the way)!  I threw out all his bathtoys (maybe he did this to get new ones) and bleached the heck out of that bathtub ... it's never been cleaner! :)

So I ask you, my fellow parents: Why? Why wasn't I warned!?  Is this some sort of sick initiation into the "parent club"?  Well I, for one, will not play along. I will not be silenced!  It is now my mission in life to warn all new parents of this potential hazard!!!

Here he is after “the incident”.  Little devil.

wordless wednesday: man's love of the remote control begins at a young age :)

i have a 15 month old!

We've had a breakthrough with JD!  He's been with us for one month.  The first 4 weeks were very hard for him (and equally hard for me & David).  But in the last few days we've noticed a difference in his level of comfort with his new surroundings, new mama/papa ... with his new life.  No longer does he break out crying when we simply look at him.  Our intl adoption pediatrician told us it was part of his grieving and not to take it personally ... but how could I not?!  Now, instead, we get smiles :) :) :) :)  Yay!!

Today JD is 15 months old.  He took a leisurely bath and plans to take his mama for a walk so he can buy her a coffee ... actually, I think I saw the little devil slip the caribou gift card from Liz in his pocket (thanks Liz!).

my very first mother's day

my first mother's day card came from my very own mama (and papa) 

i was lucky enough to receive some other sweet cards too!

of course THIS is the best mother's day gift of all :)

the trifecta

Pneumonia, sinus infection and ear infection.  For 3 weeks.  The trifecta.  Sure, when I do my annual horse racing excursion at Canterbury Downs, I never win the trifecta.  But when it comes to getting sick ....

So after 2 different antibiotics I'm finally on my way to being well again.  Yay!  I can't believe that with how sick I was, the littlest prince didn't come down with anything more than a cold for 5 days on top of his teething.  I hope that means he has an iron clad immune system!

Yesterday, on a whim, his Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) got him a cute little outfit.  Here is the handsome devil, hamming it up:

jd, ginger and kramer: best friends forever ...

I heart dogs.  I have 2 of them - well, technically 3, as my little cuddle bug Fletcher is now an angel in heaven.  With us here on earth we have a 12 yr old mini-schnauzer named Kramer, who can be a little stubborn (typical German ... I can say that since I come from a family of Germans) AND an energetic 1 yr old cocker spaniel named Ginger.  We thought it would be best to introduce the dogs one at a time to JD, since he's likely not been around any in his short little life.

First up:  Ginger.  We were really worried about her, since she's still a puppy and a sassy one at that.  We brought her back into the mix on JD's 3rd day with us and, wow, did she surprise us.  She's been so motherly toward JD.  She's very gentle with him, licks him, I even think she was trying to clean him one time when she was nibbling at the back of his head (like a mother dog would do to her pups).  Super cute!   We thought our little girl (Ginger) had matured overnight now that she had deemed herself "mother" to this cute little boy named JD.

Second up:  Kramer.  We introduced Kramer on JD's 8th day home. We were a little worried about Kramer as he's very set in his ways.  And why shouldn't he be, after all he's in his retirement years!  The one thing we thought might be a problem with him is that he gets jealous when humans show affection to each other.  So if I hug my husband, and vice versa, he barks at us.  Well, wouldn't you know it, if I needed to hold JD, Kramer barked.  Question for you:  how many times a day does a baby need to be held?  A lot!!  That's the same number of times Kramer barked the first 2 days!!!  Needless to say we've been working on that with intensity as it needs to stop.   And thankfully it's getting better.

Oh, and about Ginger's overnight maturation: Um yeh, didn't happen.  What we thought was instant maturity was really just her being 'the only dog in the house'.  She's always been a cuddly, gentle and playful dog with us "humans", but has a tendency to spend a lot of energy on being dominant over Kramer.  It was interesting to observe what an obedient little girl she could be when she was the only dog (we've never had her in that situation before).  This lasted the 5 days we left Kramer at my parents.  But presto-chango, we bring Kramer back into the family, and she is instantly a "you know what" to him.   So now I know what to tell our dog trainer that we need to work on - she tries so hard to be dominant over Kramer that she gets into trouble.  I'm hoping we can nip that in the bud fast, as outside of that she's the sweetest. 

Overall, I'm VERY happy with how well JD has taken to both dogs.  Even though Kramer was a bit jealous the first few days, the barking never upset JD.  And it makes my heart smile every time I see Ginger go check on JD when he's sleeping, or I find her sleeping on the mattress we have in his room, or catch her trying to "clean" him as if he were her pup.

Here are some pictures from our first couple of days home ...

ginger has been following him around everywhere, doting little mother that she is ...

... she's with him even as he goes to check out the vacuum (remember he liked them in Korea)

ginger finds any way she can to be by his side - even helping me put him to sleep

home sweet home

I'm on day 10 of my "walking" pneumonia. I've been sicker than a dog (where does that saying come from, do dogs really get THIS sick?).  My lungs have felt like they have gravel and glass in them and my ear still feels like it might explode. I've got so much 'stuff' congested in my lungs and head that I've got a hot stock tip for all of you - invest in Kleenex, cuz I'm going through it by the truckload over here!

Besides shamelessly going after your sympathy with my paragraph above, I mainly wanted to write today to continue the story of our homecoming.  After we had the amazing experience of both family and friends greeting us at the airport, we went home and found our house decorated to welcome the littlest prince.  Signs, balloons, flags and stickers!!  It was awesome (thanks mom, dad, and my RHI girlfriends).

Then we went inside and started unpacking.  It was probably about 10:30 pm.  My brother Glenn stopped by to drop off the balloon bouquets from the airport.  I was asking him if he knew who the "creatives" were involved in the decorating and he told me.  He then went on to tell me who stocked my fridge with groceries!  We hadn't even noticed it yet!

I immediately went inside and found a kitchen filled with fruits, veggies, yogurt, cereal and snacks for both adults and baby.  A "What to expect ..." book on toddlers (we've been reading it) and a book on Korean adoption.  There was also baby bubble bath in our bathroom with a cute little note - of course I was horrified that Jenni and Charlie saw my messy bathroom in dire need of a cleaning :).   Thank you Jenni, Charlie, Kristin and Helen:  I've barely left the house given I've been so sick, so these groceries were absolutely just what we needed ... absolutely perfect, as are each of you!

Here are shots of the decorations the next morning ... and of the littlest prince checking out his new kingdom:

welcome home to the littlest prince!

Sorry I've been silent - I have a teething child who also has a cold (in addition to all the change he's trying to deal with).  He has not been the happiest of campers, but he's a trooper.  On top of that, this mama is also sick.  The shortage of sleep the last few weeks has clearly caught up with me.  I'll describe the last 4 days in one word: trying

try·ing 
–adjective
extremely annoying, difficult, or the like; straining one's patience and goodwill to the limit: a trying day; a trying experience.

With that said, it's also been an absolutely amazing experience everytime I get a smile or laugh out of my adorable little boy!  I know in a few days we'll both be healthy and feeling better - and this trying time will be but a memory for all of us, overshadowed by all the funny and cute things that we've already witnessed (and that I'll share w/you in yet another post).

I owe an update on the scene we encountered at the airport when we FINALLY arrived in Mpls.  We waited for all other passengers to deplane before we did, so we could do so w/o feeling too frazzled (yeah, right) with all our gear and our cute chunky peanut of a child.  Of course our gate was G20, basically as far away as you could possibly get from baggage claim.  We got a good workout making the trek, knowing that we had amazing family and friends who were awaiting our arrival. 

We got to the top of the escalator and started to head down.  I saw everyone there waiting, with signs and big balloons, and I immediately began to cry - partly because I was overwhelmed by the love in everyone's faces and partly because I was just plain old overwhelmed by this whole emotional experience we had gone through ... and maybe a little bit because my arm hurt from carrying my little tank of a boy :)

I'll tell the rest of this 'welcome home' story in pictures:

kitty kat, ang, heather, mb, glenn & 'chelle eagerly awaiting the littlest prince...

 and here we come ... see the tears? 

 jd + esme` & shirley + kitty kat

 jd meets grandpa & grandma ...

 ... and aunty michelle (who saved my arm by holding him)

 

... and uncle glennerd (sorry glenn, you'll never live that name down)!

 

 the first of many hugs from grandma  

... and from grandpa

 ms. ezzy made him a sign (lil' flirt)!  

 some pretty amazing friends who couldn't wait to meet the littlest prince!

(he's a lucky lil' dude and so am I)

p.s.  uncle steve isn't in any of these pictures because he was busy behind the camera.  Thanks steve!!  :)

seoul + 777 + bewildered one year old + 18 hours = kiss the ground when we land in Mpls!

I'm typing this on day 2 of us being home.  It's noon and JD has finally gone down for a nap after a morning of inconsolable crying (he's grieving - misses his FM), so I finally have a chance to update this blog, do laundry, and take a shower.  It's been a tough 36 hours since arriving home.  It's nice to have him sleeping ... the poor little peanut needs it and we need it too.

So, back to our travel day.  We spent Thursday morning (April 15th) strategically and efficiently packing our luggage - we crammed things into every nook and cranny we could find, as we were now packing for three!  Remember those streets in Yeouido with cherry blossom trees that weren't quite popping earlier this week?  Well we got to see those cherry blossoms in full bloom on the taxi ride to the agency.  They were beautiful!  We arrived at the agency at 1:30 PM (we were told to be there by 2:15). 

Shortly after 2pm, our SW came to get us and the next 30 minutes was kind of a blur; a flurry of activity. I had to sign custodial release papers, she gave me his medical records and a sheet listing his "typical" schedule. His foster mother was there with JD and she gave us 2 big tins of formula and powdered baby food, 3 boxes of his favorite crackers and cookies, a pack of yogurt and soy milk for the travel home (with a little ice pack to keep it cold).  She also gave us his favorite little car, the snuggly bear we sent in his care package and a teddy bear. It was oh-so-sweet how she packed all these things for him to help him with his travel and transition to a new home. I kept wanting to hug her, but didn't want to cross a boundary so I restrained. Oh, she also told us that JD typically "poos" once a day, but that he hadn't had a poo yet today.  Great, I thought - just our luck he'll have a major blowout on the plane :)

The couple we met earlier in the week from WY was also there picking up their child, so they were in another part of the room. JD and their son were running around playing while all this paperwork and exchange was going on. It was a nice distraction :)

Then Dr. Kim, the agency director, came down to give a blessing to the children.  We all gathered in a circle - both the families, the 2 foster mothers and our children - to listen to her blessing, which lasted 7 minutes (seemed longer with 2 toddlers squirming around).  Then JD's foster mother had her time to say goodbye to JD alone and we were told to gather our things and go to the van for the ride to the airport. Looking at the foster mother talking to JD, my eyes were filling up with tears.

We quickly gathered all our things, our paperwork, all the items his FM had packed ... we were seriously being rushed out the door.  Next thing I know, the other family is in the van and we were next to go in.  I was bawling as I hopped into my seat and looked out the open door to the foster mother as she was getting ready to hand JD to me.  I kept saying over and over,  "thank you for taking care of him" to her and again wanted to hug her.  As she handed JD over, she grabbed both me and David and gave us the biggest hug and I gave her the biggest one right back.  For real, the floodgates were open and I couldn't stop the tears until a good 5 minutes into the van ride.  JD did well, and thankfully we had the other family in the van to distract me so I could stop the crying (I also didn't want to upset JD).  The ride to the airport was probably about 40 minutes and JD fell asleep.

We were dropped off at the airport first, because we were flying Korean Air and the WY family was flying Singapore Air.  We grabbed all our things, including JD :), and the driver gave him a big hug and said goodbye to him.  Then we walked into the airport and both looked around wondering how we were going to manage what was ahead of us.  We had to check in and go through security for the first time with a child.  And we learned quickly that we had way too much luggage with us - silly first time parents, we wanted to make sure we had everything we needed, so we had 3 carry ons + diaper bag + JD.  Waaaayyyy too much and, yes, we learned the hard way. 

Because JD was leaving the country, we had to go through immigration with him (his paperwork had to be processed). Once we did all that - check in, security, immigration - we were finally inside and had a good 2 hours before our flight left Seoul at 6:30 PM.  Again, JD was doing VERY well through all of this. We found a play area by our gate, and David played with him - JD was laughing up a storm!  So much so that many people stopped by to see this giggling child - he was putting a smile on many faces at that airport ... mine included. We grabbed a bite to eat and fed him some of his yogurt. He was a good sport through all of this.

Then came time to board the plane and, again, we did so without incident. We got all situated and had the flight attendant help us to get a bottle ready for JD (we wanted to feed him when the plane took off to help with the ear pressure). And it worked like a charm. He sucked away, no issues with his ears, and eventually fell asleep. We were lucky enough to have a 3 seat section of the plane and placed him in-between us to sleep.

             

I kept looking at this angel of a child and thought, man are we ever lucking out, so far so good - no major crying spells.  "Maybe he'll sleep through most of the 10 hour plane ride", I said to David.  Well, well, well - were we ever in for a surprise. 

About 2 hours into the flight, he woke up and just looked around for about 5 minutes at this loud flying-metal-tube-in-the-sky-thing he was stuck in.  Then it started.  He began crying and he wouldn't stop.  We tried everything and the only thing that "sort of" calmed him down is if we were holding him WHILE WALKING.  And even that didn't stop him from crying for long.  He was crying and kicking for over 5 hours!  THANK GOD for the flight attendants, as they were so helpful.  They helped us make his bottle to try to soothe him, tried playing with him and talking to him in Korean to get him to calm down.  One attendant was a father of 2 and he was able to quiet JD for a short while.  We were able to quiet him for 5-10 minute stints and then he'd start up again!  It was a nightmare!  We tried several times to sneak him back into our seats, but JD wanted nothing to do with it.  Not that I blame him, as they certainly weren't roomy.  

So for over 5 hours, David and I took turns with JD and occasionally a flight attendant would help too.  JD is a major chunkster and weighs a ton, so we gladly accepted the help (or my arm would have fallen off).  Some other people were nice and would come talk to me to keep me company while I was hold JD.  At one point, a woman l call "the baby whisperer" was up talking to me as I was holding him by the bathrooms.  She offered to hold him to give me a break and, although I initially hesitated, I gave in (again, my poor arms).  Sure enough, within about 10 minutes, he was asleep.  Right about then we hit some turbulence and HAD to be seated, so I sat down and snuggled him in my arms and he stayed asleep that way for the rest of the 90+ minutes of the flight.  There IS a GOD :)

We had a layover in Seattle before our final flight home, so this is where we had to go through US immigration.  Everyone in immigration was kind - congratulating us, taking us to a special line and allow us to sit while waiting.  But it still took some time for them to go through the packet of info that Eastern agency had given us for this part of the process.  Finally, we received his temporary Visa (good for one year, at which point his adoption will be final) and we were on our way.  The flight from Seattle went well, after an initial 10 minutes of crying when we first walked into the metal tube thing again (he was not happy).  David fed him a bottle as the plane took off and he fell asleep for the entire 3 hours.  Yay!!

And then we landed in MSP; it was 8:30 PM.  To be continued ...