Vacation...

How sad it is that I haven't posted anything since March!!! We've been busy....I guess too busy to even post what we've been doing. Between my school, Cydney's preschool and soccer, Sean's show, and Ian's learning of words, I just don't know where the time has gone.

We just got back from our family vacation. We had a great time visiting Sean's brother and his girlfriend Katie, and my sister and her girls. We tried our hand at camping in cold weather in Colorado. We made it. With lots of logs on the fire. The kids were troupers. Even with a little bit of sickness during the trip, there were still no melt downs to speak of. Phew!!

Pictures are more fun to look at then reading so here ya go....

Cydney playing her first soccer game.


Ian on his first pony ride.


Sean running the kids around at one of our many rest stops on the trip.


Ian checking out trains with Uncle David.


Cydney and Sean hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.


Ian hiking with Sean (or Gandalf...we weren't sure) in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.


Me and the kiddos...hiking (are you getting the gist of what we enjoyed on the trip??)


Maiya and Maddie helping Ian work on his dinosaur art at the Dino Museum.


Ian building a dinosaur at the Dinosaur Museum (3 heads on a dino are better than one).


A picture of all the kids. Poor Cydney was fading fast in these pictures...great of the rest of them...I may photoshop a smile on her face to make this a perfect picture yet!

We have had a wonderful spring and a great summer so far....Thank you for checking in on us. My goal is to not wait so long to post again. Have a safe and happy summer....hope to see you all soon!!

Yes, Ian DID have a Birthday....

Hello, First of all I apologize for not getting these pictures up sooner. I am now officially on Spring Break and to celebrate I made myself a list of things to do...the first being to post Ian's second birthday!!

Here he is with his basketball cake, or what is supposed to be a basketball cake. He seemed a little sheepish while we sang to him and loved the jello more than the cake, but it is all for the photo right? And what do you do with a cake mold?? Why play with it of course!

Stacy if you're reading this, we DID wash the mold after we had our fun with it. :-)

We have been doing other things before the birthday and cake mold fun. We had a great time celebrating the Korean New Year with many adoptive families from the area. We had a fantastic buffet at a Korean restaurant and then dressed the kids up in their hanboks to "ring" in the new year. Ian loved the soup and had 4 bowls! Which the owner informed us was a good thing, because according to tradition you can't move into the new year until you've eaten your soup. Ian's going to have a very BIG year, I guess.

Now that Ian is 2, I am learning about things that we are not going to be doing with such ease that we did before. Ever since Ian came home I have been cutting his hair (not well, but it got the job done). Now that he's 2 I've learned that you can't cut a 2 year old's hair that DOESN'T WANT his hair cut! I refer you to exhibit "A" below...
I put a hat on him for the rest of the day and we were able to get some professional help that afternoon. Phew!! I think we will be seeking professional help from now on for all his hair needs. :-)

Cydney managed through Ian's birthday fairly gracefully. She did have a little trouble with his gifts. After waiting 10 seconds after he opened his gifts she'd ask, "Ian, are done with that?"
She is doing more and contemplating more everyday. She has big plans for when she's a Mommy. She asked me the other day if I could help pick out a Daddy for her babies and help name him!! I did tell her that they usually come with names. :-)

Ian has the whole town mapped out in relation to the Barnes and Noble where the choo choos are. We were coming out of another store the other day and he whipped around to point in the direction of the book store (that he couldn't see) to ask if we could go. He also watches for it out the window when we're driving. Silly guy.

I hope we can go outside soon and enjoy some nice sunshine. It has been a long winter and we can't wait to start playing in the yard again! Happy soon to be spring!!

We're still here....

We had a very nice Christmas and New Years. It was wonderful getting to see everyone! Here are just a few things we've been up to this month.
One of Cydney's friends had a Fancy Nancy Birthday party. We had a lot of fun getting her dressed up for the party. It was a Fancy Nancy Tea Party...lots of fun.
Here is what happens when you try and use your face as a sled. Sean took the kids sledding while I was off studying. I think they had a good time otherwise. :-)

We're just spending our days trying to keep warm. Hope you are too!

Pictures that WON'T be in your mailbox this Christmas!

It is that time again for getting that perfect Christmas picture. A.K.A. the pictures of torture. I'm still not sure who is tortured more..me or the kids. I quickly found that tickling isn't the answer. We just get a little too silly. Also singing Christmas songs to get their attention didn't work either. Telling jokes doesn't work either. Ian is saying..."Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" (he's seeing if he says it with more emphasis, if I will let them go play). Props and food also didn't work.

We will keep trying. We will have a Merry Christmas despite the fact we don't have a pictures showing the kid's TWO happy and clean faces. We know that those times do occur, we'd just like prove it. :-) We wish all of you a Merry Christmas!!

Gotcha!

It is Ian's gotcha day today! I can't believe that it has been a year already. It has been a year of adjusting, trusting, attaching, and loving. In our parenting classes during our preparation to bring Ian home, they said that it could take a year to form a good attachment to each other. I thought that sounded like a very long time. Yet throughout this year it is just when I think I'm fully attached and I can't possibly love him any more than I do, I'll look back in a month and think... nope, NOW I'm completely attached and I can't possibly love him more. He has been such a joyous addition to our family. We are so blessed to have him and Cydney in our lives. In the adoption world the phrase "You grew in my heart and not my tummy." is used a lot. Before we had Ian I wasn't sure if I would use that phrase or not. Although, now I understand it. My heart is about to burst. Forever a family. :-)

Happy Birthday/Halloween!!

Well we got to start our Halloween early this year. The kids didn't mind. The downtown businesses have their trick or treating early. Our bunny hopped the whole way there and Yoda wouldn't give up his stick for anything. We did shorten his stick right after this picture so that he wouldn't take his eye out.
Cydney celebrated her 4th birthday. She had such a great time. She got to take donuts as her treat to her preschool friends, wear a fancy dress, go shopping with some birthday money, eat pizza and cake for supper and watch a mooooovie! She woke up the next morning asking if her birthday was that day too! Ahhh...if only!
Here she is discovering her birthday present from us. A doll house. The jury is still out if the gift was for her or me. I had just as much fun setting it up for her. Needless to say I didn't see her much the next day.
We also had fun celebrating Chuseok (the Thanksgiving-like Korean holiday)with many other adoption families a few weeks ago. It was wonderful hanging out with them and meeting some new families as well. The food was terrific (thanks Rachel and Chris for hosting).

We took the kids to my 10 year college reunion. It was wonderful playing around on campus and showing the kids all of our memories.
It has been a fun and busy month (and it's not even over yet!) It is hard to believe that a year ago on Tuesday, Sean and I would have been heading to Korea! What a very very fast and Happy year!!

Pumpkin Patch

We wanted to get a camping trip in before the end of the year and thought that perhaps this last weekend might be our only chance. Yes, it was cold but we had a great time. Here are Cydney and Ian "practicing" their camping with their sleeping bags. Cydney helping Daddy set up the tent.
Sometimes help wasn't always the right word. :-)

We visited a pumpkin patch so that the kids could find the pumpkin that is calling their names. "What's that??!?!?" Ian's a little disturbed that pumpkins might be talking to him.... It is his first time in a patch. This pumpkin seemed friendly enough...it will come home with us. :-) We ended with some yummy apple donuts and apple cider. I love fall!!