Starting off Summer

Last week we got Reid a water table.  He loves the water and can't get enough of it.  He's out there splashing everyday.  This weekend we took a trip to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.  Reid LOVED the zoo!  He was amazed by everything he saw.  He would point and scream and just had a good time.  He calls every animal he see's an "Eddie"....b/c our dog is named Eddie.  lol!  His favorite thing at the zoo was the Great Barrier Reef aquarium.  He went crazy for the fish.  And Ava's favorite thing to do at the zoo is brush the goats.  That just makes her day!  Reid wasn't afraid of the goats, even though they were eating his shirt, as long as I was nearby.

Ava's preschool graduation

Ava's preschool graduation ceremony was tonight at her school, Ossian Presbyterian Church.  She attended this school for 2 years and had the same teachers both times.  Miss Laurie and Miss Jacque.  Great teachers!  We will miss them.  Ava walked down the aisle by herself, stood up in the front of the church and recieved her diploma.  The class also sung several songs they have been working on for several weeks, like "If I were a butterly" and "My God is so Big".  In two more years, Reid will go to this school and have these teachers!

Reid's 1st Birthday

Reid's birthday was kept simple.  I only made one dol tower.  I went to an Korean market and got a couple kinds of Korean candy (that was very good) and some Korean moon pies.  That was all the more adventerous I could go with Korean treats for family members!  Reid's hanbok was big on him.  He wore the top and the hat.  The pants don't even fit my 5 year old, so it will be awhile before he can wear them!  Out of the doljabi items we had Reid choose from, he chose a ball....this is supposed to mean that Reid has a future in sports.  Reid was a little slow at wanting to get his hands in his birthday cake, so I pushed his hand in for him.  Once he tasted the frosting, it was all over.  Reid has a major sweet tooth.  He loved frosting!  He had frosting in his ears and nose too.  Daddy hosed him off in the tub!

Birthday Pictures

Reid turns "1" on May 24th.  Wow.  He's been home for only 6 weeks.  So glad we get to celebrate this special moment with him!  Ava turns "5" on June 23rd.  Her birthday is a sad one for me.  We accepted Ava's referral before she was even born and she didn't come home until she was 22 months old.  And now all the sudden she's 5!  What?  I tell Ava almost every single day to stop growing, but she doesn't listen to me!

Ava's news

Ava has started swimming lessons. She goes 2 times a week for the month of May. She has so much more confidence this year. Last year she would panic if her feet didn't touch the bottom of my aunt's pond. But this year, she jumps into the pool to her instructor. She trusts herself and the instructor enough now to float on her back and float on her stomach. She slipped off of a pool noodle in the deep end of the pool, which was 12'. She didn't freak!! I could see her trying to get to the surface of water. I bet she was under for 5 seconds before her instructor saw her and helped her up. When she surfaced, she was laughing! OMG!

And Ava got glasses. This came as a total shock. She went to get her free kindergarten eye screening, and the doctor said her eyes were bad! She has 'severe' astigmatisms on both eyes, and she is far-sighted. Poor kid, no wonder she had trouble writing and why she always sat 3' away from the tv. She loves her glasses and that she can SEE now. She's doing great with them!

Paper lanterns at last!

Well, 5 weeks after coming home from Korea, I finally found the time to hang up Reid's paper lanterns.  This is one of the things I've wanted to do the most in his room.  Now he has something to gaze at when he's on the changing table.  ha!  4 teeth so far, but very soon there is another tooth on the bottom going to pop through!

Life at home

We have been home from Seoul for 3 weeks now.  Reid screamed since the minute we got to see him at the foster mom's apartment.  He wanted nothing to do with us.  I was okay with it, but it was really sad to see him grieving for a couple weeks.  After 2 weeks home, that was the turning point.  Reid realized that we were his mommy and daddy and his grieving seemed to stop.  He would wake up around 5 times a night, and get a bottle for 1 of those times.  But now that we're into our 3rd week home, he's doing so well.  He sleeps a lot better.  On average he only wakes up 2 times a night.  He loves our puppy dogs and his big sister.  He can't get enough of her!  He's turned into such a mellow, happy little guy.  He is so content most of the time to just play with his toys.  His favorite thing right now is the Little People Barn.  He does NOT want held or carried unless he is having a bottle.  He's just too busy to be held.  Yeah for my back!!  Life is good!  Here are a couple pictures from Korea and a couple from home.

We are home!

From leaving the hotel in Seoul to pulling into our driveway, we were in transit for 31 hours!  That was a lot to handle.  I have never gotten the feeling of having motion sickness until now...until the long flight over the Pacific!  Ugh.  Seoul was cold, and I didn't have my winter coat.  I didn't care for the food and lost weight.  Starbucks just wasn't enough to keep the pounds packed on.  lol!

From the moment we got Reid, he has been screaming.  He screams nearly 20 hours a day.  He has been good about eating for us.  He likes strawberries, kiwi, and banannas for fruit and he's tried a jar of turkey and rice and cinnamon granola.  I've started switching his formula over from the SWS formula to Similac.  For this week, he gets just 1 scoop of Similac.  Will increase it each week.  Reid only wants my husband to hold him.  He is the only one who can somewhat passify him.

We are not sure what name the foster mom called him.  Reid does NOT respond at all to his Korean name of Insung Lee.

So, so glad we were in Seoul and the same hotel as our new friends...Daniel and Elisabeth.  We have NO idea what we would have done without them.  Seoul would not have been enjoyable.  So happy to have people to talk to, to eat meals with and to sight see with.  What a blessing!

Couple items of advice for upcoming people going to Seoul:
-check the weather very good before you leave...so see if you need warmer clothes like gloves or a coat
-take lots and lots of snacks with you...there are no chips of any kind there that resemble chips from the U.S.
-do not travel to Seoul Tower at night by Taxi without knowing how to get back to your hotel
-do not mention to any Korean people, other than the hotel, that you are adopting.  They are very ashamed that we are 'taking' their babies...I got some weird looks and silence
-be prepared to have Koreans cut in line in front of you, push you, and pretty much anything else they want to do...the younger generation is more mannerly, but the elders think they have the right of way in every situation.  I was holding Reid, who had a very dirty diaper, waiting in line to use the bathroom on the airplane and this old Korean lady tries to go in ahead of me.  She came out of no where.  She was no waiting in line.  After a week of dealing with rude people (mostly on the subway), I was at my limit.  So I pushed her aside and went in!
-you do not have to dress as formal as your agency makes it appear when you have to go to SWS and FF house.  Dockers are fine!

Travel Call!!!!!!!

We got our travel call today.  Late today.  My agency was supposed to CALL my social worker when the travel notice came in.  My social worker had her phone glued to her all day.  And then she thought she'd better check her email.  And there it was...our travel notice!  UGH.  When you say you're going to call, then you'd better call!

We are leaving Indy tomorrow morning at 7 am!  We are taking United Airlines for part of the flight and then taking Asiana for the 2nd half of the flight.  We are staying at a Ramada in Central Seoul.  This was an amazing feat as all hotels are sold out in this area!  We are staying 1 week.

Reid, here we come!

Ugh.

No travel call, no response from our agency, and can't get ahold of the Dept. of State.    Blah!!