Back to School

My little man finally went back to school today. 

He started the day with one of his favorites - chocolate pancakes.
(he was so tired from waking up at 6:30am)

Ready to go off and conquer the 3rd grade.

I can't believe how quickly the years have passed. It made me think back to his other first days of school so I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and share them with you.

Pre-K

Kindergarten

 1st grade

2nd grade 

 

We hope you have a wonderful year Austin!

We love you so much.

One Year Ago...

I saw my daughter's face for the first time.

This is the call that forever changed our family.

I was more than happy to give up my #1 spot on the Holt web forum. :)

So excited to be a big brother.

Here's the blog post I wrote on my old site:

September 8, 2009
After nearly a year absence from Xanga, I am back and for good reason.
At 10:40am I got a call from what my caller id said "Private Caller". It turned out to be our social worker telling us the wonderful news that we had received a referral for a baby girl.

I had planned out our last day before school with a lot of errands. I expected us to be out most of the day and was upstairs on the computer printing out some coupons for a store we were going to (Michael's). Austin and I were dressed and ready to leave and I was printing out my last coupon when the phone rang. The caller id read "PRIVATE CALLER" and I hesitated before I picked up. Thank goodness I answered because it was our social worker calling to tell us that we received a referral for a baby girl! One can only imagine my utter shock and disbelief. I had fully expected to wait quite a bit longer for a referral. She gave me some initial information about her including her name and birth date and told me to check my email for pictures and more information. She also said the agency would be sending me paperwork to complete through email so I was to check for it within the next few minutes. As soon as we hung up I asked Austin to come upstairs and called Sam. My heart was literally pounding with excitement and nervousness as I told both Sam and Austin at the same time. I quickly checked my email but didn't open it. I first forwarded it to Sam because I wanted all three of us to see her for the first time together and for us to read about her together. Sam was on the speaker phone and together we read about our little girl and saw her face for the first time. I could barely contain myself - I was laughing, giggling, repeating every other minute, "Isn't she so cute. I think she's so cute!"  Austin kept repeating "Oh my... oh my... she's so cute." and Sam was mostly silent, quietly processing the entire situation, still in disbelief.

After finally getting off of the phone with Sam, my head was spinning. I quickly determined that my errands could be done some other day and basically spent the better part of the day staring at her picture, reading about her over and over again, and looking over all the paperwork that now needed to be done.

We have waited so long for this day to come (4 years, 5 months, 1 week and 2 days to be exact) and so many times I wondered if it would ever come. Through the ups and downs of our entire adoption process, God has been good and faithful. 

God was good and faithful

• when we made the decision to adopt back in 2004.
• when Korea denied our application due to my health condition.
• when He opened the doors for us to adopt through China.
• when I developed kidney disease and we decided to put our adoption on hold.
• when my kidneys improved over a year later and we were able to return to the China program.
• when we completed all our paperwork and were officially on the China wait list.
• when the wait times for China were doubling and tripling in length and it felt like my heart could take it no longer.
• when we made the difficult decision to exit the China program and reapply to Korea.
• when Korea accepted our application the second time around. 

And now one year later, God continues to show us that He is and always will be a good and faithful God.

Bethany at 17 months

Bethany is now 17 months and has been with us for almost 7 months. She is such a joy and even though adding one more to our family was and continues to be a big transition, we are all so thankful to have Bethany in our lives. I can't imagine our family without her!

My last update was when she was 14 months old and although much remains the same, she's also changed in so many ways. Unfortunately, her adorable happy dance is a thing of the past as I can't even remember the last time she's done it. About a month ago, her well known "ho ho...." stopped altogether and I regret not taking video of it. I knew she wouldn't do these things forever but it's just another reminder of how quickly our children change and grow right before our eyes.

She still loves food and has never refused or disliked anything we've given her. She continues to be a great sleeper and will dole out open mouthed kisses to whomever asks. She's a climber, a laundry messer upper, a singer and a pianist. She's got the juiciest thighs and the softest, plumpest tummy you'll ever see. She loves her baths but isn't quite fond of the pool. She's my litle cuddle bug who likes to flip through books, tear magazines and suck on big brother's nerf darts even though she knows she's not supposed to. She tests her boundaries one minute and is an absolute angel the next.

Much to my delight, Bethany has been making more of an effort to learn to walk. Before when I would try to hold her up to stand, she would immediately plop down and go about crawling. Just within the last two weeks or so, she has let me hold her hands as she wobbles to and fro. Bethany has also become more communicative. Although she's not yet using words, she has a lot to say and communicates with us through her many expressions, sounds, and motions.

When I remember to, I try to speak Korean to Bethany. So far she seems to understand the Korean words for mom, dad, brother, grandmother, kiss, please give it to me, please don't touch, I love you and milk. We're also working on body parts in Korean but nose is the only one she gets consistently right. Since I'm most comfortable speaking English, I naturally end up speaking English most of the time. So far, I know Bethany understands words like night-night, please, gentle, stop, no thank you and all done.

At home Bethany is playful and all smiles but she tends to be more reserved and serious when we are out. Friends have jokingly asked if she makes any noise at all (hence the video below). She is still very easy going and sweet natured, but like any other child, she's not without her challenges. As I shared with my flock group girls this past Wednesday, my sweet Bethany definitely has another side to her. Her other side is the willful and stubborn Bethany who wants what she wants exactly when and how she wants it. If she doesn't get her way, she'll burst into tears and will want nothing more to do with you or whatever else she was asking for in the first place. This other side of Bethany makes me laugh and cringe all at the same time. Oh how I love her! :)

As I sit here typing, I can see Bethany on our video monitor sound asleep in her crib. She's been home for 7 months now and sometimes I still can't believe she's actually mine. I love her so much and I am so thankful to God for such a dear and precious gift. I truly feel so blessed to be her mother. 

Top 10 Korean-American Children's Books

I found this list of  "Top 10 Korean-American Children's Books" on the blog Pragmatic Mom and thought some of you might be interested in it as well.

Honorable Mentions

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi 

When Unhei moves from Korea to the United States, she is a little embarrassed by her name so she tells her new classmates that she doesn’t have one.  They all help to choose a new one for her by putting choices into a jar but in the end, Unhei decides that her Korean name is just perfect.  This is the perfect book for anyone with an “ethic first or middle name” that they are a little embarrassed about.  [picture book, ages 5-9]

 

F is for Fabuloso by Marie G. Lee

I happened upon this Korea-American author for grades 4-6th and wanted to share it because it’s a fabuloso book!  It’s unclear why her book didn’t make a bigger splash when it came out about 10 years ago.  She’s a really vibrant voice for Asian American children’s literature so I wanted to let you know about her.  The author is a second generation Korean American and grew up in Minnesota much like her lead character, Jin-Ha, in F is for Fabuloso.   It’s a tender and gentle story about straddling two worlds especially as the go-between for her mother who is shy to speak English.  [chapter book, ages 8-12]

If It Hadn’t Been for Yoon Jun is another book that I was trying to locate at the library which I wasn’t able to find yet, but I suspect it is also very good.  I will find it and update you!

 

Top 10

10. Sumi’s First Day of School Ever by Soyung Pak
Sumi doesn’t speak English and today is her very first day of school ever.  Will it go well?  [picture book for ages 2-7]


9. Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park
A light-hearted rhyming picture book on a favorite Korean national dish.  It’s popular in restaurants but it evolved as a way to use up all the leftovers.  In this book, a family spends all day preparing this little girl’s favorite meal.  With a recipe at the end!  [picture book for ages 2-5]


8. Where on Earth is My Bagel? by Frances and Ginger Park
A whimsical story about a little Korean boy who dreams of a New York bagel and, with the help of his friends, is able to make one.  [picture book for ages 3-7]


7. Halmoni and the Picnic by Sook Nyul Choi
An advanced picture book about a girl and her Korean grandmother and how they both learn to bridge the cultural gap with food.   [picture book for ages 5-8]


6. Yunmi and Halmoni’s Trip by Sook Nyul Choi
Halmoni takes her granddaughter on a trip back to Korea to meet the family, but Yunmi worries that her grandmother might not want to come back.  [picture book for ages 5-8]


5. Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent
14-year-old Joseph Caldararo has a loving family and is a well-adjusted popular kid at school.  But when his social studies teacher assigns a paper on Your Cultural heritage, his world gets turned upside down.  He knows he’s adopted from Korea when he was just an infant and it’s never really bothered him before, but now it does.  It doesn’t help that the new dry cleaners are taken over by a Korean family who are off-out by his adoption.  And it makes his parents upset when he wants to learn more about his own cultural heritage. His best friend assists him in conducting an internet search to try to trace his parents but that’s a long shot at best!  But what to write for this paper?  His confusion about who he is leads him down a path of deceit and now everything is a mess.  On top of this, he’s trying to get a date for the school dance.  Whoever said that middle school is tough is right!  [chapter book, ages 9-12]


4. The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi
A haunting but ultimately uplifting story of author Sook Nyul Choi’s experience living in war-torn North Korea.  [chapter book for middle schoolers]


3. The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
Set in 15th century Korea, Korea’s Golden Age, two brothers — one  skilled in kite making and the other skilled in  kite flying — combine their skills to compete in a kite flying contest on behalf of the king.  [ages 7-12]


2. Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park
A glimpse into the lives of the  nobility during the Golden Age of Korea and the restrictions placed on women.  [chapter book for ages 8-12]



1. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Newbery award winning book about a famous potter during the Golden Age of Korea.  [chapter book for ages 8-12]