So we finally got our travel information for South Korea. Don't get too excited it is just a packet of info telling us what to expect when we get there. We are figuring we have 10-12 months before we travel.
Travelling to countries outside of North America was something I had never done until we went to Ethiopia. It was an awesome experience to be some place new, some place where I wasn't the majority, some place so welcoming and beautiful. I loved Ethiopia. It was an eye opening, life changing moment. You can't go to some place like Ethiopia and see what we saw and not come home a changed more grateful and aware person.
Korea is going to be different from Ethiopia but culture shock all the same. Things are much more formal in Korea. We will be packing dress clothes. As in Dave will need to pack a tie or two and maybe depending on the time of year we travel a sport coat. I will need to pack business attire and/or a dress or two. Who knew.
The trip itself will also be much less structured. In Ethiopia we had an hour by hour itinerary. Korea we will not. We only have to be in Korea for 3 days. We will likely spend a few days before our official arrival date sight seeing.
We want to soak up as much as we can while in Korea and the packet gave us some ideas of things to look into. We have lots of things to figure out like will we stay in the guest house or will be stay at a hotel? Are we going to uses taxis or the subway? Will we dare try McDonald's or Baskin Robbins while there or try and eat mostly Korean food? Which to date I haven't yet tried but no worries I will and I am not at all worried about it. I wasn't really with Ethiopian food either. I knew once we decided to adopt from Ethiopia that I needed to jump in and just be adventurous. I am not typically an adventurous eater but that is changing and my dear husband and my children have helped to broaden my food horizons.
Included in the packet was info about how our first meeting with Sweet Baby K and foster mom will go. I got teary eyed just thinking about it. We will be allowed to photograph and video tape the meeting. It will last about an hour. Baby K will go home with her foster mom after that meeting. We likely won't see her again until the day we are to return home. This was hard to read. Really hard. I am not going to want to let her go once I see her and yet I understand that this will be very emotional for her foster mom as well.
At this time in Korea, it will be almost certain that we will never meet Baby K's birth mother. This breaks my heart but culturally it is not deemed okay at this time. There are steps being taken to maybe change this but as of it that isn't the case. This will be tough. One of my most cherished memories will always be the 20 minutes or so that I was able to be in the same room with Zinash. I won't forget a moment of that meeting. It is something so precious that I can share with Kiya. We can travel to Ethiopia and see her again. I won't be able to do this with Baby K. We will have her foster mom. We plan to cherish that relationship and do with it what we can. It is just different.
Ethiopia and Korea are so very different. Our daughter's stories are so very different and yet we are all a family. We have a tie that binds us all together. It's called love.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Baby Sister
Sweet Baby K also known to Kiya as baby sister is now 6 months old. She is 15.1lbs and over 26 inches long. We got new pictures again this month and are just so in love. Her hair is starting to get really curly and man oh man she is adorable.
That said, Kiya keeps talking about her baby sister. She wants to look at her pictures. She wants to take her to the pond. She wants her home. So do we.
So how in the world do you explain to an almost 3 year old that we have to wait to bring home her baby sister? Kiya knows that she lives far away and will tell us that.
It makes me sad. We understand (sort of) why we have to wait but Kiya doesn't. It is so hard. She really wants to play with her baby sister.
We show her the pictures. We talk about her. We tell Kiya that she lives in Korea with her foster mom and that we have to wait awhile to bring her home. Are we doing the wrong thing? Should we have kept baby sister to ourselves for awhile.....
Why oh why does adoption have to be so hard......
That said, Kiya keeps talking about her baby sister. She wants to look at her pictures. She wants to take her to the pond. She wants her home. So do we.
So how in the world do you explain to an almost 3 year old that we have to wait to bring home her baby sister? Kiya knows that she lives far away and will tell us that.
It makes me sad. We understand (sort of) why we have to wait but Kiya doesn't. It is so hard. She really wants to play with her baby sister.
We show her the pictures. We talk about her. We tell Kiya that she lives in Korea with her foster mom and that we have to wait awhile to bring her home. Are we doing the wrong thing? Should we have kept baby sister to ourselves for awhile.....
Why oh why does adoption have to be so hard......
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
We made it
We all survived our vacation. Traveling with an active toddler is no easy feat. I am pleased to report that Kiya was a fantastic traveller. She did really really great. I was so proud of her and so relieved.
We did have one moment where timeout was necessary in the Denver airport. She tried to run off and thought it was super funny even though we had been very clear how far she could roam.
Here's a list of things we learned on vacation:
1) Kiya is very likely allergic to blueberries. We have suspected as much but it was definitely confirmed. No blueberries, no blueberry yogurt :( I feel bad as she loves them but they just don't agree with her.
2) Nap time is not a necessary thing anymore. It is still preferred by mom and dad and teachers but Kiya seems to be the dictator of this one so we shall see.
3) Children's museums with water rooms are Kiya's absolute most favorite things. She has never had so much fun and she didn't even get wet which is a huge bonus with her cast.
4) Sleeping in a hotel room with a toddler makes for early mornings for the whole family.
5) Baby cereal is GONE! Kiya has now chosen yogurt and fruit for breakfast which is fine with me. She will also eat Total cereal when she feels like it. Next up I might revisit the oatmeal things but for now I am content with her eating yogurt and fruit.
6) Pinkberry=AMAZING
7) We actually found good beer in California. Didn't think it was possible but we did.
8) Kiya loves cheese just not California cheese.
9) We definitely did not have enough time to do all that we wanted to and it may be a few years before we can get back.
10) Family vacation was super fun, tiring and very worthwhile.
We did have one moment where timeout was necessary in the Denver airport. She tried to run off and thought it was super funny even though we had been very clear how far she could roam.
Here's a list of things we learned on vacation:
1) Kiya is very likely allergic to blueberries. We have suspected as much but it was definitely confirmed. No blueberries, no blueberry yogurt :( I feel bad as she loves them but they just don't agree with her.
2) Nap time is not a necessary thing anymore. It is still preferred by mom and dad and teachers but Kiya seems to be the dictator of this one so we shall see.
3) Children's museums with water rooms are Kiya's absolute most favorite things. She has never had so much fun and she didn't even get wet which is a huge bonus with her cast.
4) Sleeping in a hotel room with a toddler makes for early mornings for the whole family.
5) Baby cereal is GONE! Kiya has now chosen yogurt and fruit for breakfast which is fine with me. She will also eat Total cereal when she feels like it. Next up I might revisit the oatmeal things but for now I am content with her eating yogurt and fruit.
6) Pinkberry=AMAZING
7) We actually found good beer in California. Didn't think it was possible but we did.
8) Kiya loves cheese just not California cheese.
9) We definitely did not have enough time to do all that we wanted to and it may be a few years before we can get back.
10) Family vacation was super fun, tiring and very worthwhile.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Vacation check in
So we are few days into our California vacation and so far all is well. Kiya has had some moments but for the most part has been nothing shy of amazing.
She did beyond amazing on both of our flights out here. She was a little loud but at least she was happy loud. She has now had M and M's and she is in love.
She conquered the public restroom with zero issue. She has been stellar in telling us when she has to go potty. Truly amazing really. We haven't attempted airplane bathrooms but we will if need be.
She is sleeping well in her inflatable toddler bed. Naps are mostly in the car but she is doing all right.
We went to the Children's museum today with some old co-workers who have kids Kiya's age and she had so much fun. She was all over the place and the kids were super cute and thanks to a waterproof apron and bib she had an amazing time in the water room and left not wet at all. I was secretly dreading the water room. I read up about it online, I came prepared with her bib. I just wasn't sure if it would work. I looked at the under 4 years old area and said no way. All the kids in that area were soaking wet. Granted they were quite a bit younger than she was but still freaked me out. The older kid area however seemed doable. She had a blast. I am glad I let go a little and let her have fun cast and all. She LOVED it. We have video and the joy was so worth the slight risk of her cast getting wet.
Kiya has been addicted to infant oatmeal/banana cereal. We didn't bring any and nor have we bought any since we have been here. She will willing eat Rice Krispies now. And then there is fruit and her new obsession bread and butter. She can pack that stuff away as we witnessed tonight when she ate almost 3 pieces of sourdough bread with butter. She still ate her fish and even saved room for some vanilla ice cream.
Tomorrow we are heading to the city (San Francisco) for a baseball game and touristy stuff. Another long day so hopefully all will go well.
Three things I am so grateful I bought on amazon that have truly helped make this trip successful are her inflatable toddler bed. It takes a crib sheet, has sides so she won't roll out and came with a pump. Second is the travel bag for her carseat. It fits her Britax seat along with her fuzzy blanket and the toddler travel bed. Lastly, her fold up potty seat. AMAZING. It folds up and fits in a gallon size bag. It has worked in every bathroom from park to restaurant to airport we have tried. It is sturdy, has handles for her to hold on to and would be nearly impossible to pinch her skin and best of all it was less than $10.
I will try and post pics and video soon but that may have to wait until we get back next week. And now back to enjoying my glass of wine while hotel bound with a sound asleep toddler.
She did beyond amazing on both of our flights out here. She was a little loud but at least she was happy loud. She has now had M and M's and she is in love.
She conquered the public restroom with zero issue. She has been stellar in telling us when she has to go potty. Truly amazing really. We haven't attempted airplane bathrooms but we will if need be.
She is sleeping well in her inflatable toddler bed. Naps are mostly in the car but she is doing all right.
We went to the Children's museum today with some old co-workers who have kids Kiya's age and she had so much fun. She was all over the place and the kids were super cute and thanks to a waterproof apron and bib she had an amazing time in the water room and left not wet at all. I was secretly dreading the water room. I read up about it online, I came prepared with her bib. I just wasn't sure if it would work. I looked at the under 4 years old area and said no way. All the kids in that area were soaking wet. Granted they were quite a bit younger than she was but still freaked me out. The older kid area however seemed doable. She had a blast. I am glad I let go a little and let her have fun cast and all. She LOVED it. We have video and the joy was so worth the slight risk of her cast getting wet.
Kiya has been addicted to infant oatmeal/banana cereal. We didn't bring any and nor have we bought any since we have been here. She will willing eat Rice Krispies now. And then there is fruit and her new obsession bread and butter. She can pack that stuff away as we witnessed tonight when she ate almost 3 pieces of sourdough bread with butter. She still ate her fish and even saved room for some vanilla ice cream.
Tomorrow we are heading to the city (San Francisco) for a baseball game and touristy stuff. Another long day so hopefully all will go well.
Three things I am so grateful I bought on amazon that have truly helped make this trip successful are her inflatable toddler bed. It takes a crib sheet, has sides so she won't roll out and came with a pump. Second is the travel bag for her carseat. It fits her Britax seat along with her fuzzy blanket and the toddler travel bed. Lastly, her fold up potty seat. AMAZING. It folds up and fits in a gallon size bag. It has worked in every bathroom from park to restaurant to airport we have tried. It is sturdy, has handles for her to hold on to and would be nearly impossible to pinch her skin and best of all it was less than $10.
I will try and post pics and video soon but that may have to wait until we get back next week. And now back to enjoying my glass of wine while hotel bound with a sound asleep toddler.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
3 more months
I have 3 months left of having a two year old. I must say time has more than flown by. We started out with this perfect little peanut and now I have a full fledged little girl. She doesn't even look like a baby anymore. Sigh....
We were very lucky. The terrible twos weren't really an issue. We had the occasional meltdown but nothing that didn't pass in a few minutes. We did have to put her in timeout maybe a handful of times and each time she sat quietly waiting for it to be over and then was fine.
As we say goodbye to the two's and hello to the three's a lot of things have changed. Kiya is still sassy and sweet but now has developed the whine. Oh yes, we have a very whiny kid right now. I am hoping it is a phase and it will pass QUICKLY. I mean it is really sweet when she says " Mommy, snuggle. Mommy snuggle." But when she says it while we are driving the car or trying to go grocery shopping it can be a little much. And the drawn out whiny voice...wow. She has mastered it.
She has also become more defiant. No has returned as one of her favorite words and she is becoming sneaky. We have had to do time out a couple of times recently for talking back. She is so full of life and sass...she has her own ideas and those don't always line up with what mommy and daddy need for her to be doing.
We are also proud to say she is daytime potty trained. Sure there is still the occasional accident as in one or two every few weeks but that is age appropriate. She is also getting better about telling us when she has to go and she has been better about telling us she has to poop too. She is such a big girl now.
She is also conquering her cast. She doesn't have the same range of motion or even sight as other kids her age so things like pulling up or pulling down her pants are a tad more challenging. She has now mastered taking off her shorts (and night time pull up) and she is getting better about pulling up her underwear. She is also putting her own sandals on.
She is doing very well in preschool. She knows the days of the week and the months of the year. She is singing all the time and really is quite good at it. We can't wait to sign her up for dance but most places want her to be 3 when she starts the class so we have to wait for the winter/spring sessions. Her teachers are so proud of her and impressed with her singing, writing and more. They say she listens very well and follows directions well. Glad she is going that for them....not so much here sometimes.
Then in January we have to register or at least try for 3 year old preschool at our local private school. They don't take many kids so if that doesn't work out she will stay at her current school and we will try the private school again for 4k.
I am ready and not ready in this weird way for Kiya to grow up. I love seeing her develop and learn and yet part of me misses my little peanut. Nothing I can do to stop or slow time so horrible 3's here we come :) I am slightly terrified to see what she comes up with next.
We were very lucky. The terrible twos weren't really an issue. We had the occasional meltdown but nothing that didn't pass in a few minutes. We did have to put her in timeout maybe a handful of times and each time she sat quietly waiting for it to be over and then was fine.
As we say goodbye to the two's and hello to the three's a lot of things have changed. Kiya is still sassy and sweet but now has developed the whine. Oh yes, we have a very whiny kid right now. I am hoping it is a phase and it will pass QUICKLY. I mean it is really sweet when she says " Mommy, snuggle. Mommy snuggle." But when she says it while we are driving the car or trying to go grocery shopping it can be a little much. And the drawn out whiny voice...wow. She has mastered it.
She has also become more defiant. No has returned as one of her favorite words and she is becoming sneaky. We have had to do time out a couple of times recently for talking back. She is so full of life and sass...she has her own ideas and those don't always line up with what mommy and daddy need for her to be doing.
We are also proud to say she is daytime potty trained. Sure there is still the occasional accident as in one or two every few weeks but that is age appropriate. She is also getting better about telling us when she has to go and she has been better about telling us she has to poop too. She is such a big girl now.
She is also conquering her cast. She doesn't have the same range of motion or even sight as other kids her age so things like pulling up or pulling down her pants are a tad more challenging. She has now mastered taking off her shorts (and night time pull up) and she is getting better about pulling up her underwear. She is also putting her own sandals on.
She is doing very well in preschool. She knows the days of the week and the months of the year. She is singing all the time and really is quite good at it. We can't wait to sign her up for dance but most places want her to be 3 when she starts the class so we have to wait for the winter/spring sessions. Her teachers are so proud of her and impressed with her singing, writing and more. They say she listens very well and follows directions well. Glad she is going that for them....not so much here sometimes.
Then in January we have to register or at least try for 3 year old preschool at our local private school. They don't take many kids so if that doesn't work out she will stay at her current school and we will try the private school again for 4k.
I am ready and not ready in this weird way for Kiya to grow up. I love seeing her develop and learn and yet part of me misses my little peanut. Nothing I can do to stop or slow time so horrible 3's here we come :) I am slightly terrified to see what she comes up with next.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Fearless
I always had a feeling that Kiya was fearless. This kid doesn't seem to be afraid of much. She LOVES to climb and LOVES to rough house with Daddy. Nothing stops this kid. Not big dogs, not heights, not her casts, nothing.
So today we went to a festival in our town. It is kind of a big deal around here. Kiya had had a bad night. She was SUPER constipated (over share I know but true). We opted for no nap since she slept in past 9am.
We ate some sweet corn and I do mean all of us. Miss Kiya shared my corn on the cob with me. It was so cute and messy.
We then decided to take her over to the little carnival section. We asked her if she wanted to go on a ride and she said yes. So I went and bought some tickets. $13 bucks worth thinking we may give some tickets to others. We went on this bumblebee ride first. It reminded me of the Dumbo ride at Disneyland. She got a little nervous when the bee jerked before the ride started but once we started it was all smiles and laughs.
The kid was hooked. Next we went on the swing ride. She really LOVED that one. We quickly blew through the tickets. She was tall enough to go on some rides by herself but given it was her first time I went with her. I had fun too so it was a win win. She only had to be 36 inches tall to ride some rides by herself. We stood her up next to the chart and she was a tad over 38 inches.
After we realized just how much fun she was having, we just had to buy more tickets. And thus we did. The joy on her face was priceless. She did think though that we were at the park. She kept saying "I like this park. This park is so fun. I come back on Monday." When we were flying high in the air she kept saying, "I go up high. I like to go up high. Weeeeee"
I have had so many fabulous memories with my fearless Kiya that I will cherish and today goes down as another great memory. We had a great time as a family. If I could hit the repeat button on today, I totally would. I so completely love being Kiya's mom. She is nothing shy of amazing and I am so proud of her.
So today we went to a festival in our town. It is kind of a big deal around here. Kiya had had a bad night. She was SUPER constipated (over share I know but true). We opted for no nap since she slept in past 9am.
We ate some sweet corn and I do mean all of us. Miss Kiya shared my corn on the cob with me. It was so cute and messy.
We then decided to take her over to the little carnival section. We asked her if she wanted to go on a ride and she said yes. So I went and bought some tickets. $13 bucks worth thinking we may give some tickets to others. We went on this bumblebee ride first. It reminded me of the Dumbo ride at Disneyland. She got a little nervous when the bee jerked before the ride started but once we started it was all smiles and laughs.
The kid was hooked. Next we went on the swing ride. She really LOVED that one. We quickly blew through the tickets. She was tall enough to go on some rides by herself but given it was her first time I went with her. I had fun too so it was a win win. She only had to be 36 inches tall to ride some rides by herself. We stood her up next to the chart and she was a tad over 38 inches.
After we realized just how much fun she was having, we just had to buy more tickets. And thus we did. The joy on her face was priceless. She did think though that we were at the park. She kept saying "I like this park. This park is so fun. I come back on Monday." When we were flying high in the air she kept saying, "I go up high. I like to go up high. Weeeeee"
I have had so many fabulous memories with my fearless Kiya that I will cherish and today goes down as another great memory. We had a great time as a family. If I could hit the repeat button on today, I totally would. I so completely love being Kiya's mom. She is nothing shy of amazing and I am so proud of her.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Baby K and other updates
Sweet Baby K is now 5 months old and just as cute as ever. We just got new pictures and measurements. She is just too adorable for words really. I can't wait to share her pictures.
She currently weighs about 14.5lbs (28th percentile) and is about 25 1/4 inches (55th percentile) and her head circumference is in the 22nd percentile per CDC growth charts anyway.
I wasn't expecting the new pictures so soon but it was a nice surprise. It has been one month since we first saw her face and now I have 7 fabulous pictures to stare at.
We also finished being fingerprinted by USCIS. We have our I171h already. We still aren't really sure what the next steps are but we know we anxious to get the ball rolling. I know time will fly and our house is so not ready physically for a second child. We need to remodel the basement, get new carpets, paint and I could go on.
In other crazy news, instead of quitting my job which I still will when Baby K comes home, for now I applied for a promotion. It gets me out of the day to day bank sales and more into management. We shall see if I get it or not. I have the peer support. I hope I do. The extra money would be nice especially with all the home projects.
We are also preparing for a vacation. We haven't been to California in 2 years and decided why not take Kiya back to California. I am a little nervous about traveling with a potty trained/training toddler. We have been telling her we are going on an airplane and that she has to sit in her seat and be quiet. We also let her pick out a special travel bag which mommy will fill with special surprises. She picked a little Dora back pack on wheels. So far there is a my little pony in it. There will be a magna doodle, some paper markers, snacks, and other little things she loves including beads and rubber spiders and snakes. Yeah I know. My girlie girl LOVES rubber insects and reptiles and yet also LOVES all things pink and loves to wear beads. We just roll with it. Doesn't bother me in the slightest though the rubber insects are kind of gross.
These next few weeks will be busy as I should find out if I get the promotion at work and we have to get ready for vacation. Fun stuff.
She currently weighs about 14.5lbs (28th percentile) and is about 25 1/4 inches (55th percentile) and her head circumference is in the 22nd percentile per CDC growth charts anyway.
I wasn't expecting the new pictures so soon but it was a nice surprise. It has been one month since we first saw her face and now I have 7 fabulous pictures to stare at.
We also finished being fingerprinted by USCIS. We have our I171h already. We still aren't really sure what the next steps are but we know we anxious to get the ball rolling. I know time will fly and our house is so not ready physically for a second child. We need to remodel the basement, get new carpets, paint and I could go on.
In other crazy news, instead of quitting my job which I still will when Baby K comes home, for now I applied for a promotion. It gets me out of the day to day bank sales and more into management. We shall see if I get it or not. I have the peer support. I hope I do. The extra money would be nice especially with all the home projects.
We are also preparing for a vacation. We haven't been to California in 2 years and decided why not take Kiya back to California. I am a little nervous about traveling with a potty trained/training toddler. We have been telling her we are going on an airplane and that she has to sit in her seat and be quiet. We also let her pick out a special travel bag which mommy will fill with special surprises. She picked a little Dora back pack on wheels. So far there is a my little pony in it. There will be a magna doodle, some paper markers, snacks, and other little things she loves including beads and rubber spiders and snakes. Yeah I know. My girlie girl LOVES rubber insects and reptiles and yet also LOVES all things pink and loves to wear beads. We just roll with it. Doesn't bother me in the slightest though the rubber insects are kind of gross.
These next few weeks will be busy as I should find out if I get the promotion at work and we have to get ready for vacation. Fun stuff.
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