Christmas in the Cox Home

The pre-Christmas love...say Kimchi!!!!!!




Christmas Morning...












Our photo seeing the Big Man in Red...




~Jen

Sibling Love

I thought I put up some evidence of some sibling love going on in our home:


Some sisterly love...










And some group sibling hugs!!!








~Jen

Thank you...

To those of you reading this blog...Kamsahamnida!!



I'm so glad that you are enjoying the blog. I was worried when the kids started it that they (and I) would have little to say. But alas with 3 kids now there is never a dull moment around here.



We love you all...

So this is Christmas...

Jeff and I are sending our children a big message starting this year that we hope to build on with each coming year.

Christmas isn't the season of getting but the season of giving. We are remembering those less fortunate than ourselves this holiday season.

We dislike the hustle and bustle of the shoppers and the traffic getting to and from the stores. We don't want to get a gift just for the sake of gift-giving. We want each gift we give to our children to be special. Whether that be something from Korea, something to get them to Korea, or something to remember those less fortunate than ourselves.

You too could probably find in your own home something that you could donate to someplace like Salvation Army for somebody else to use. You could probably find someplace in your hearts to donate time and/or money to various charities in your own backyards. We have our favorite charities here in our household both local, national and in Korea.

We hope that you are staying safe this holiday season and we hope that you will think of others not just during this time of year but all year round.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Bella Has Been here for 30 days...thoughts are in Korea

It's hard to believe that Bella has been home for 30 days already. It seems like only yesterday we were in Korea touring the city of Seoul and seeing the birthplace of our children. It's hard to believe that one little girl was placed into my arms and we were whisked into the van waiting to take us away to the airport. She screamed half the time on our drive to the airport...she pushed me away. She finally cried herself to sleep and woke up at the airport where she screamed some more scanning the crowd for her Omma. She refused to take a bottle from us. She refused to take much more than a ounce from another passenger waiting for the same flight we were.

In flight, we had an offer from a Korean passenger to help us feed her. Boy were we ever grateful for that woman!! She talked to her and sang to her. It calmed Bella's nerves but she wasn't Omma.

Each airport we came to, she scanned the crowd again crying out hoping that Omma would hear and rescue her from us.

Today she is a happy little girl with her moments of tears and fears that we'll leave her. She's had many losses in her life at such a young age...loss of her First Mom, loss of any caregivers at the adoption agency in Korea, and the loss of her Omma. I won't take away what you called her...it's hers and hers alone.

Don't worry little Bella, Momma's here. I'll dry your tears, hug you tight and tell you that I love you very much.

I'm not leaving you...

~Your Mommy

A Visit with Santa

Mommy and Daddy took all of us to see Santa the other night. We dressed up in our Christmas finest and went out to see him. Both Katie and I forgot to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas so we told Mommy as a go-between us and Santa...she'll have to call the North Pole for a direct line to Santa. Both Katie and I were afraid of Santa and didn't want to sit on his lap and Mommy was holding Bella so Daddy got to hold both of us.

Mommy and Daddy haven't uploaded the picture yet but we'll post it here once they do so.

Gotta go since I told Mommy I was playing upstairs!!!

~Ryan

Going to the Museum

We went to the museum today to see the trains. They had lots of trains set up for us to watch go round and round the tracks. We saw passenger trains and freight trains. We saw Mr. and Mrs. Claus on the pumper car and the passenger train that caught up with it pushing them around the track for a little bit.

We also walked around the museum and we played with the magnets and played with a kitchen set they had there.

After all of that we saw the Korean show that was there. After the dance portion of it, Mommy asked Ryan if he could dance like that. Ryan told her "No Mommy" (like what Mom are you kidding me??).

And to top the day off we got to spend it with our friends.

Tonight it's snow snow snow snow snow...

Santa unfortunately can't make it down from the North Pole tomorrow to meet us so hopefully this week we can meet Santa.

~Katie

Korean Celebration at a Local Museum

This afternoon we attended a Korean Celebration at a local museum. The museum had a month long celebration called Festival of Holidays with different cultures. They had a program that was put on by a local Korean church. We watched a film about Koreans celebrating the New Year. They had Korean fashion show with women dressed up in various Hanboks. They also cooked and served up for Beef Bulgogi. We got to listen to a men's choir sing Christmas carols in Korean. We also watched the church's youth group perform as well to modern version of Arirang and they were good. During this performance I got teary-eyed. It brought me back to Korea just hearing the song. I'm really glad that I saw this in the local paper and told Jeff that we should go.

~Jen

1st Meetings

Ryan went out to lunch today and met several people in our neighborhood (sorry I have Sesame Street's song running through my head right now).

First he met 2 Police Officers while we were eating lunch. Here's the conversation between Ryan and I:

myself: Do you want to go say hi?
Ryan: (incredulous that I would even ask a question) What????
myself: Do you want to go say hi to the police officers sitting over there?
Ryan: No (attitude was "no way mom what are you thinking??")

Later on during lunch Ryan is still staring at the officers. I have another conversation with him.

Ryan: are they eating lunch??? (incredulous that this would happen)
myself: yes they eat lunch...they are people just like me or you
Ryan: (still staring)
myself: Ryan, let's go say hi to the police officers, okay?
Ryan: okay (but scared to walk over there so I picked him up)

His conversation with the officers:

myself: Hi...I'm sorry since I know that you guys are eating lunch but my son wanted to say hi to you.
Officer Dave: oh no problem
Ryan: (dead silence and staring)
Officer Dave: so what's your name?
Ryan: (more dead silence and staring)
myself: his name is Ryan
Officer Mike: Hi Ryan. I'm Mike and that's Dave
myself: Ryan, you going to say hello?
Ryan: (dead silence and still staring)
Officer Mike: see Dave, I told you not to scare off the little kids
Officer Dave: we like to talk to the good little boys so be good, okay?
Ryan: (dead silence no head movement and he's still staring)
Officer Mike: (laughs a little since his partner scared Ryan)
myself: Ryan was surprised to see you guys eating lunch
Officer Mike: yeah we get to grab a bite to eat when we can
Ryan: (still staring at the officers)
myself: (slightly embarrassed with the conversation and lack thereof by Ryan) Thank you so much for talking with my son.

We walk back to the table and I have another conversation with Ryan:

Ryan: (after we get to the table) I talked with a police officer
myself: (thinking the following but didn't respond to him about it) YOU??? YOU talked with the police officers???



~Jen

Big Kamsahamnida to Jeff's Co-Workers

We got a surprise baby shower gift from Jeff's co-workers on Monday. And it's something we can definitely use...gift cards to Babies r Us/Toys r Us.

So if any of his co-workers are reading this...

Thank you so much for the gift or Kamsahamnida (thank you in Korean)!!!!!!!

~Jen

Do my kids sleep ever??

Okay I admit that I knew there would come a time when each one of the kids would stop napping and then I would stop getting laundry done during the kids' naptime for awhile. HOWEVER, I didn't think that Bella age nearly 10 months would be surviving on one 20 minute nap during the day like she did today. She was dancing, playing and laughing most of the day. I tried several times to get her to go down for a nap with no luck so I got nothing done. I have two loads of laundry to fold and can't fold them with a 10 month old crawling all over it. So it'll have to wait. I did manage, although I'm really not sure how right now, to get dinner on in the crockpot so it's Spanish Rice for the kiddos tonight--well at least most of us will be eating that.


Ryan, as soon as his clock says that it's after 4 pm, will come with blankie in hand down the stairs very quietly and will not utter a sound until I say "well good afternoon Ryan...how was your nap??". It's then that he'll talk to me.


Katie is fighting me because she doesn't want to take her naps at all but she really needs to take one. When she doesn't nap for me, she is miserable, clingy and crying. When she does nap, she wakes up a good, happy girl.


Of course, I prefer the miserable, clingy, and crying child. Wait, wait, wait, I need to change my mind on that answer...I need the good happy girl answer instead. Can I change my mind on this? Did I mention that I'm sleep deprived?? Can I take that test over again, please????

Okay now I remember when the kids sleep, only at bedtime. Gotta go to get some stuff done...

Wonderings...

Tonight I've been sitting here wondering many things:

(1) Who is reading my kids' blog on here? I know a few of you who are who are lurking and that's fine...I'm just wondering how many.

(2) How are my kids' foster families doing and what they are doing? We love you and miss you deeply.

(3) When can we head back to Korea?

OMG did I just type that in????

That means I got to fly again and after that horrific flight from Incheon to Atlanta you probably thought that I wouldn't do so...but alas no we want to head back to spend more time in warmer weather to see the sights, to visit again with the foster moms, to see more of Korea than what we have seen in a small 1 week trip. We need more time there...we need more time there. God help Jeff before and during the flight however.

(4) When can I head to bed before 1 am??? Looks like not tonight. And I'll be woken up in the girls' room (yes we're still sleeping in there) at 7 am. Until we have a moment to clean off our bed from our trip, we are sleeping in the girls' room on the floor.

(5) When will our kids stop getting colds and passing it on to us?? I'm tired of dealing with runny, stuffy noses.

(6) And Did I mention when can we head back to Korea?????

~Jen

Nicknames

I tend to use nicknames here in our home.

Our Ryan doesn't really have one but he is constantly told that he's a very handsome boy (잘생긴 소년).

Our Katie is 땅콩 (peanut) or 호박 (pumpkin) and now also 작은 엄마 (Little Mommy).

And last but not least, Bella is 공주 (princess).

But with the two girls, they are both our princesses. And my handsome boy is our little prince.

~Jen

Our family...

Here are some more pictures of our family...

Bella and Ryan sacking out with Mommy.

Bella stylin' a drool bib...I bet you wish you had one.

Katie "reading" a story to Bella.

Mommy napping with Bella...both getting some much needed rest.

Ryan stylin' Mommy's baby carrier...he had to have a doll in it to look just like Mommy did at the airport.

Not to be outdone but here's the Little Mommy with "Big Mommy's" baby carrier.

Big brother playing with his little sister showing her "how to play with the toy".

We hope that you've enjoyed looking at these pictures.

~Jen AKA the "Big Mommy"

One jar per meal...

Well Bella's eating is doing much better the past two days. She has been eating one 2.5 ounce jar of baby food per meal mixed directly with 2-3 tablespoons of infant cereal and drinking roughly 4-7 ounces of formula. Now you probably aren't as excited as we are but she is sleeping more through the night than before when she was just on formula.

She is also holding up her own bottle!!! Now you may not be as excited as we are but she wasn't doing this in Korea or when we first came home. I had tried to get her to hold her own bottle but our little princess would flatly drop her hands down absolutely refusing to hold her bottle. Now after some persistence on my part she is holding her bottle all by herself. Now the big question is, when should I switch her over to a sippy cup???

~Jen

Helping Mommy Feed Bella

Today I got to help Mommy feed Bella her Banana Cereal (cereal mixed with banana without any formula for those of you who don't know). She loved it. I liked feeding her as well. She ate pretty well today for Mommy and I and then again for Mommy later...2 tablespoons worth of cereal mixed directly with 2.5 oz of banana.

Unfortunately Bella is miserable on her medicine. She cries and wants to be held and then cries some more. Mommy says that things will be getting better...I hope so since I need my sleep too.

~Katie

Some more pictures as requested

Bella playing with the musical table that our prior two kids loved.
Picture taken on Thanksgiving Day.





A picture of Bella and Mommy taken on Thanksgiving Day




Okay a not so great shot but can you get one Mommy, two toddlers and one infant to look in the same direction at the same time and not have a sad or weird face?? Neither could we!!!

Our Sick Household

Bella was official diagnosed with a probable sinus infection with a croupy cough, one inflammed ear, and a yeast infection today. She is currently on an antibiotic for the infection and a cream for the yeast infection.

Jeff is under the weather...I've got a stuffed up nose. Ryan has been miserable today. Katie complains of a stuffy nose as well.

However Bella's tests that have been run thus far have come back normal.

YIPPEE for small miracles...

Now if I can just get her off of me and get her into the crib to sleep tonight I'll be happy.

Jen

WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!!!!!

We have a name for our baby sister. We like to introduce Isabella Grace Ryanne. We are calling her Bella. We are keeping her Korean name as well.

Mommy and Daddy were trying to decide between two names and finally decided on this one. The middle names were already picked. We like this name over the other name that they were thinking about.

We need to go since Bella is playing with our toys.

~Ryan and Katie

I'm the little Mommy!!!

Hi everyone, Katie here...

I just had to tell you all that I've been the little Mommy at my home. I've been helping Mommy and Daddy out with getting things for Tae Hee. I have been trying to feed Tae Hee her bottle but she cries whenever I touch it. Only our Mommy can touch the bottle. I have been able to give her toys and play with her. At times it's been rough having somebody cry in my room late at night when I'm trying to sleep but I love her very much. What is fun for the two of us is having "parties" in our room.

~Katie

Doctors visits for the Girls yesterday

The two girls had doctors appointments yesterday. For Tae Hee, she had her first doctor's appointment here in the US. She didn't want to let go of me. She didn't want me to lay her down on the table. She cried during some of the appointment...the only time she didn't was when I was holding her. Her doctor ordered up some blood work and stool cultures. So it was off to the hospital lab to get that all done.

Katie had her appointment as well and she did very well during the finger stick lead test until the nurse tried to put on the band-aid. It was then that she cried out. She is still complaining today that her finger hurts and that I had to kiss the boo-boo and rub the kiss in so that it stays.

Tae Hee's visit to the hospital lab for blood work went really well. Much much better than the other two kids. She was bottle feeding when we were called in. She continued to bottle feed only crying out when I had to take the bottle out of her mouth. She bottle fed during the blood draw without any issues. She complained only when the tech tried to put on the band-aid. The tech told me that most kids her age will scream and it requires one tech and one parent to hold the child down. (That was true of my other two kids). Not my little angel baby!!!!

The tech noticed on the lab request paperwork that she was an internationally adopted baby. She said that "we should go straight to Heaven for adopting this baby girl". She alluded to the fact that we "saved" this baby. I told her that we adopted three kids from Korea and that we are blessed...THEY chose US!!

Outside of a nasty chest cold that Tae Hee has and whatever the lab work finds out, she is healthy. We haven't brought her out anywhere except for to the doctors and back. We are heading back there tomorrow to have a test read.

Jen

Pictures of Korea

Here are just some of our pictures from Korea...most of them are private so we will not be uploading them. They are the kids' photos and our special photos.







from Gyeonghuigung Palace

From Gyeonghuigung Palace







Our Second meeting with Tae Hee




At Itaewon Market...one of the many shops here

Our children's birth hometown...I wanted to capture the narrow city streets here. For reference, you can fit a car/pickup type truck through.

Seoul from our window at Eastern's Guesthouse




Absolutely cool street sign we found near one of the palaces and Seoul Selection store. There was more on the sign however a van was blocking the view.






Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in Seoul...this is the side of the temple.





Time Capsule Park








Namdaemun Gate









Cityscape from Namdaemun Gate









Our photo from the famous Red Chair

We hope that you've enjoyed our pictures from our trip to Korea.

We're Home!!

Annyong Haseyo!!!

We're home!! We had our 4th meeting with Tae Hee an hour before we left for the airport. Due to this meeting going not as well as they had hoped, Tae Hee's social worker wanted us to contact her directly with Tae Hee's update after she landed here in the States. I don't see how her bonding to us and Ryan and Katie's bonding to us being any different due to us going to Korea after doing both escorting and flying over there to pick up our child. It really has to do with personality and age.

Tae Hee screamed after she left her foster mom and everything she knew to be familiar in Korea. She screamed for half of the ride to the airport and finally sacked out in my arms. Jeff took pictures of the trip to the airport. I cried in the van heading there. I didn't want to leave Korea. I wanted to ask my children's foster mothers more information, I wanted to do so much more stuff there as far as sightseeing goes, I wanted to rock and feed the babies in the nursery and so much more.

When we got to Incheon Airport, Tae Hee woke up and screamed several more hours. She scanned all of the Asians there that were close by looking for her foster mom. When she didn't find her, she screamed more to have her come running...of course she never came. It was so sad!!

We knew she was overdue for a feeding and tried to feed her without any luck. One Asian American waiting for the same flight as us offered to help. Tae Hee took a little formula from her but not much. She was still kicking and screaming for her foster mommy to come and scoop her up and feed her and dry those tears. A Korean mother even tried to help us feed her to no avail.

In flight, she refused to take any formula for some of the flight. We were approached by a flight attendant that a Korean mother in the back of the plane was willing to help us out. We had to use her to get Tae Hee to drink her formula since she absolutely refused it from us!!! I hated to do it but had to get her to take her formula since she should have had a 2nd bottle by the time she had finished her 1st one with us. It was absolutely heartwrenching to see her go through all of this. I cried in flight for a part of this flight.

The flight itself from Seoul to Atlanta, Georgia was horrible. The flight attendants were fine but the turbulence was so bad my anti-anxiety med did very little in flight. I needed something much stronger than what I had. We had our seat belt sign on most of the flight. When it was off, the turbulence was there but not as bad. People rushed to get to the bathrooms. Changing Tae Hee in flight wasn't fun either since she was screaming so much. The only time she wasn't upset was when she slept...about 2 hours out of the entire flight. Jeff slept about 3 hours on that flight...I couldn't sleep at all. At one point with the turbulence, we had dropped what Jeff says was probably about 5 feet. I screamed out along with a few other people on the plane. I sat there in my seat shaking uncontrollably for half of the flight in shock.

Any time the flight attendants came around with water, I took some since God only knew the next time they were able to come around. I couldn't eat anything besides crackers or rolls in flight due to the turbulence. I couldn't watch anything on the TV screen in front of me for the same reason. Our landing was horrible. We fishtailed on the landing. While Jeff held Tae Hee, I wondered if we would make it to Atlanta Airport alive after this horrific flight.

We almost didn't make the next flight due to immigration at Atlanta. What a fiasco!!! We waited for over an hour for them to call us up to the desk and say..."I'm sorry you've waited so long, you can now go". We have no idea what was done, who worked on it, or anything. All we knew is that we could go. Our flight was leaving in less than an hour and we still had to go back through security in order to board our flight. We were also sent to the wrong terminal and gate so we had to rush to the correct one all the time Tae Hee who was in the baby carrier, screamed any time we went on an escalator. She hates them!!

We made it to the correct gate where we found that one of our bags didn't fit in the overhead bin so we had to check it in to checked luggage planeside. After boarding we were told that the weather in Albany was bad and there was a chance that we wouldn't fly there that night. They were fogged in. 10 minutes into a 5 minute wait we were cleared for take off but we had to wait since we were 5th in the queue. Our take off was flawless. I had taken another half of anti-anxiety med about a half hour before take off and it was making me sleeping now. Jeff held Tae Hee during the flight from Atlanta to Albany. While she slept I reminensced with Jeff about our trip and cried and smiled and cried some more.

Tae Hee woke up in Albany after a flawless landing screaming some more. Jeff handed her to me and we put her into the baby carrier. He carried the luggage. We had our family and friends (his parents, his brother, and our nephew, along with my parents with Ryan and friends of mine who adopted from Korea years ago with one of their daughters holding Katie) along with a whole bunch of other people there at the airport watching us leave the secured end of the terminal. We were home. I survived all 4 flights and we were home. Tae Hee did alot of crying. I must of looked horrible to everyone since I had formula, tears, snot and God only knows what else on my shirt. My hair was a mess but we were home. My kids were a little tired but were happy to see us.

Ryan, Tae Hee, Jeff and I were up until 2 am when Ryan finally went to bed. Tae Hee was up until 4 am Wednesday morning before she finally fell asleep with us on the floor of the girls' room. She was crying for Omma. She fought sleep. She wanted no part of it since all she wanted to do was cry. After she fell asleep, Jeff and I fell asleep and we all woke up at 12:30 pm.

She hates going to bed. She screams for Omma when it's bedtime. It's very hard watching her go through this. She is physically attached to me all day. It's so bad that I can't even go to the bathroom without having her in the room with me and she is still screaming. While I like the physical attachment, I don't think that she is bonded to me at all. I think it's just because she recognizes me from Korea, from her past. I tried wearing her on my back in the baby carrier like her foster mom did to soothe her and she screams even more.

We delayed going to the pediatrician's office from today (Friday) to Monday. I'm hoping that her need to have a deathgrip on me and my clothing 24/7 will subside somewhat so that she can learn to trust others as well. She screams when I have to give her to Jeff.

I am getting some small bit of respite right now since she is asleep in her crib at the moment...major miracle here but I know that this won't last since she will wake up screaming around 1 or 2 and be up until at least 5 screaming and playing. Meanwhile, I'm doing laundry (5 loads yesterday and another 3 today) and typing this in as fast as I possibly can to update you all.

Ryan and Katie are doing well with her with the occasional "I want Tae Hee to go home now" coming from Ryan. We know that he doesn't mean it but he is still saying it. Both kids are being helpful getting toys, bottles, and diapers for Tae Hee.

We are eternally grateful to my parents for putting on the Thanksgiving Day feast since my mom cooked the turkey and all its trimmings for us at our house. So a big Kamsahamnida to them.

Gotta go since Tae Hee is stirring!!

Jen live from her home back from the trip to Seoul, South Korea

Our Outing Yesterday

Annyong Haseyo!!

We decided to go to Namdaemun Market as well as a Korean folk village who's name escapes me at the moment except for the fact that it's near Namdaemun market and the name is similar. The folk village was neat and we got to see Time Capsule park as well.

Namdaemun Market...I can't use one word to describe it. It's a very busy market place where I think you can find just about anything you need to wear or eat and more. We found a place similar to a Staples but had other stuff in it too called Alpha. I picked up two things there. We also just people watched and store/stand watched. It was interesting to see all of the stuff for sale...particularly at the food stands.

We are sad to be leaving here today but we know that we'll come back for a visit...to see more of the sites, to visit with the kids' foster mothers, and so much more.

We are eternally grateful to Eastern Social Welfare Society for all they have done for us...from taking care of our children, getting matched up with Ryan at the begining of our adoption journey, organizing our visit here, and so much more.

Kamsahamida to our Eastern family and to the wonderful families we have met here!!

Annyong from Seoul, South Korea as this will be my last post from here this year!!

Jen reporting live for the last time from Seoul, South Korea

3rd Meeting with Tae Hee

Annyong Haseyo!!

We had our meeting with the two Dr. Kims and having Bibimbap with them. Our meeting with the two Dr. Kims was enlightening. We learned about Eastern and it's facilities. We also received gifts from them as well. And we gave ours out to them.
The Bibimbap was good and did I forget to mention that I think that I had Octopus with it??? At least that's what Jeff identified it as...so please feel free to blame him if it wasn't.

Immediately following lunch we met with Tae Hee for our third time. She is having a hard time with separation anxiety and stranger anxiety. Any time the foster mom is outside of her sight she start crying. We had her for 20 minutes by ourselves just walking her around with her in the baby carrier on me today. She wanted nothing to do with me and kicked and screamed. The only time she didn't scream was to catch her breath to scream some more.

Her social worker scheduled yet another meeting before we fly tomorrow. Both her social worker and us think that she cry most of the flight. If we are extremely lucky she will fall asleep during this flight. I can completely see me having to stay completely at home for awhile like I did with her big brother just so she gets used to us.

We got two photo albums from the foster mom today. We learned through the photos and from the foster mom that she loves puppies!!! She had two of them in the home so better watch out Maggie cause Tae Hee's coming!!!!

Please wish us good luck with her for the flight. We're going to need it!!!

Annyong!!!

Jen reporting live on her last night from Seoul, South Korea

Today's Outings and Thoughts about Korea

Annyong Haseyo!!!

We visited a palace this morning in the brutally cold weather. The one we visited was Gyeongbokgung Palace (the Palace of Shining Happiness). The place was absolutely beautiful and breath taking. We got to see the changing of the guard when we arrived. What perfect timing!!! It was 6,000 Won (the currency of Korea to get in). I took video of the changing of the guard ceremony and many still shots.

After that we went to Jogyesa Buddhist Temple which is close by. It is very peaceful here. We saw a Buddhist monk outside with no hat, gloves, coat or scarf on. Wow!!! After the emotions that we have been dealing with this week, we needed something so peaceful.

It's hard to believe that our stay here is almost done. We have one more full day left and then after that it's a partial day on Tuesday before our 6:30 PM flight out of Incheon Airport.

Part of my heart will always be here in Korea with my children's foster moms and their families, with their birthmom, and in the place my children were born. I know that all be coming back to Korea with my children to visit their homeland with them and show them the sights, sounds and smells of Korea that we have seen, heard, and smelled ourselves with this trip.

I hope that those of you reading this can make sense of what I'm saying in my blog here and can picture some of the sights we've seen. This country (what little we've seen of it) is amazing, the people are amazing.

For the first time in my entire life, I am the outsider, I am the minority. I needed to experience that. Going to KAAN earlier this summer helped me to decide about traveling here to this country. I needed the connection to my children's birthplace. I needed to see for myself what life is like here. I needed to spend some time here (as much as finances and my Mom and Dad would allow since they are watching our other two kids).

From what I've seen of this country, it's my 2nd homeland. So if you visit my home, please consider it to be a Korean home and take off your shoes at my door. And perhaps I'll even greet you with an 'Annyong Haseyo' as well.

Jen reporting Live from Seoul, South Korea

Baby it's Cold Outside...

Do you know the song that has the line "baby it's cold outside"?? Well it's brutal here. Here are the actual highs and lows for Seoul since we arrived:

Tuesday November 13th High 56 Low 41 precipitation .01 inch
Wednesday November 14th High 57 Low 47 precipitation N/A
Thursday November 15th High 52 Low 43 precipitation N/A
Friday November 16th High 48 Low 35 precipitation .08 inch
Saturday November 17th High 49 Low 35 precipitation N/A
Sunday November 18th High 33 Low to be determined precipitation to be determined winds gusts of 18 mph as of 11 am

The temperature at 11 am was 30 degrees F. Using Weather Channel/NOAA's wind chill calculator this means that it felt like it was 18 degrees F.

We thought Troy was cold...this puts Troy's cold winters to shame. (Troy is where Jeff went to college for those of you reading don't know).

Of course the day we're leaving they are predicting high of 38 degrees and chance of snow.

Well tomorrow we see the two Dr. Kims and have lunch with them. We are also meeting up with Tae Hee tomorrow as well. If I'm not too busy tomorrow night, I'll let you all know how to the meeting goes. I just hope that we aren't venturing with her outside...brrrrr.

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Sights of Seoul in November

Annyong Haseyo!!

When we arrived here in Seoul, it was in the mid 50s with very little wind during the day. Now we're in the low to mid 40s with wind. Let me tell you it's cold out there. I'm so glad to have brought my winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves.

It's amazing what Koreans are wearing in this type of weather. I'm seeing mini skirts with knee highs and shoes with a thin coat. I'm seeing men with business suits on and no coat over the top of it. I even saw one woman with shorts and a tee-shirt on!! Jeff and I are wondering how can they venture outside with no coats on?? They are definitely daring!!! However we are also seeing folks in winter coats just like us as well.

It hasn't snowed here yet but it feels like it will soon. There are still green leaves on some of the trees. We've seen beautiful yellow and red leaves as well.

When you step into one of the open air type market places it's amazing. The hustle and bustle of the shop keepers and buyers. We've seen plenty of places to buy veggies and fruits along with several butchers, and fish markets as well. There are things for sale in the food part of these markets that we can't even identify. Some of them alive still but most are dead. You might see somebody taking live seafood and eating it raw.

We found kids running through the markets and laughing. They were playing various games. We found some people who wanted to try out their English on us as well. The most we get from them is the occasion 'hi' or 'hello'. We found that to be true mainly with the younger crowd (under 30 years old).

Like any major city, there's the general hustle and bustle to get from Point A to Point B. If you're not careful you'll get hit by the many scooters and motorcycles in the city that don't have the need to obey the traffic laws like nearly everyone else driving. People will honk their horns to get through an intersection even though the light is red. We saw police driving around with their lights on all over the city.

We've walked on many streets in the city. Not once did I feel like we weren't safe at all. We've walked down Wedding street (where you can get your wedding gown, tux, and get your hair done for your wedding) and we've walked down Furniture street (as the name suggests you can get furniture at the multitude of stores here).

It's been hazy here nearly every day. It's only rained once while we were out and that was yesterday. And I think we've seen the sun twice for a little while since we've been here. Some of the people here (old and young alike) wear masks. Seoul is a polluted city (hence the haze we have here).

Oh I should mentioned some of the differences in food here. Chicken sandwich here isn't like getting a chicken sandwich in the US. Here it includes the skin on the thin piece of chicken that they serve you. Also when you order up a lemonade it is either served hot when you order it up with no ice or served carbonated (which may sound weird to most but it isn't that bad and it doesn't taste like Slice, 7Up, or Sprite...it's better than those).

That's about it for now.

Annyong!!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Yesterday's Outing

Annyong Haseyo!!

We went out to the birthplace of our children. I'm not saying much about it or posting pictures here. It's my children's information. It's their story. I will say this...it was very emotional just being there.

We went to Lotte afterward as well. Remind me never to eat at Lotteria again. It's like a McDonald's or a Burger King kind of place. YUCK!!! I guess I'm too used to American food. I ordered a chicken sandwich and what I got was unedible. So I ended up sharing Jeff's chicken filets and they were spicy...too much for me.

Lotte is a hotel, supermarket, mall, indoor amusement park, cinema, bowling alley, ice skating rink, and department store all wrapped up into one building. We just went into the mall portion of it looking for a doll for Katie. We found a baby carrier that is perfect for her since she likes to carry her dolls on her in her shirt of all places.

After that we went to Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral. While I hoped to get inside to take pictures of it, there was a wedding going on and we couldn't go in. I did take some pictures outside though of the grounds.

We are heading out to the Palace of Shining Happiness today and we're also heading to Jogyesa Buddhist temple. I'm not sure what else we'll end up squeezing into our schedule...perhaps a shopping trip to Namdaemun market???

Annyong!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Today's outings

We were invited by another couple who arrived here at the Guest House last night from Australia to come to their first meeting with their son and take photos and video. We did so gladly.

After that we went to Itaewon and got a bunch of things for the kids. Shhh don't tell them but here's what we got them:

~ we got each a name chop (a name stamp with their Korean name in the hangul)
~ Tae Hee got a jewelry box as well as Korean mask set, a norigae, and a Korean doll
~ Ryan got a norigae with a big Korean drum on it, and special video but we're not saying what it is because it will ruin the surprise
~ Katie got her cookies but we are still looking for a doll for her...we hope to find one that she'll like

I didn't pick up anything for ourselves since just being here and experiencing everything is absolutely priceless.

Oh dear brother if you're reading this I found something for you. I hope you'll like it.

Mom, sorry no necklaces like you wanted. We tried.

We hope to visit our children's birthplace this weekend and take some photos of that area before we have our meetings on Monday. And on Tuesday we're leaving. Seems like such a short time that we have been here. Gosh there are so many things I want to do here...National Museum of Korea, see Seoul Tower, go to Namdaemun market, see the DMZ (no I haven't done that due to all of the other emotions I have been having here and how much time you need to devout to it), and so much more.

With everything here in Seoul, you can spend a lifetime here and not see everything there is to see here. Angie, if you're reading this I think you would love it here.

Annyong!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

2nd Meeting with Tae Hee

Annyong haseyo!!!

Our 2nd meeting with Tae Hee was yesterday. She looks like her older sister but seems to have some of the personality of her older brother. We had her alone for 30 minutes and more than half of that time she cried. We took her upstairs to our room for a bit and then back downstairs for a stroller walk outside. She calmed down a bit in the stroller but still wasn't happy.

Due to the difficulty of this meeting for her, we have another meeting scheduled on Monday afternoon. We are hoping that this goes better than the first two.

Annyong

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Meeting with Seong Tae's & Eun Seong's Foster Mom

Annyong haseyo!!

That's the romanization of hangul for 'hello'.

Yesterday we met with Seong Tae's (Ryan) and Eun Seong's (Katie) foster mom. I won't say much about it since most of the information is private and it is the kids information. If they want to share it with all of you when they are older, they can however I will say this...I KNOW the kids were very much loved by the entire family and by others as well. I am so grateful to their foster family for taking care of both kids.

KAMSA HAMNIDA!!!!

That's the romanization of the hangul to say 'thank you' to the foster family for taking such good care of Seong Tae and Eun Seong.

WE LOVE THEM VERY MUCH!!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Met with Tae Hee this Morning

We met Tae Hee this morning after finishing up the business stuff here.

Tae Hee cried alot but was happy with her foster mom who loved seeing pictures of Ryan and Katie. Tae Hee is a normally happy smiling baby. But we're new so it's not too surprising. She loves music just like her brother and sister.

The foster mom and social worker left her in the room with Jeff and I for about 15 minutes. She cried so much. I tried feeding her the bottle but Tae Hee wanted no part of it. We tried to get her involved with the mural on the wall but no luck again.

Due to her strong reaction, we (the social worker, foster mom, and us) decided on meeting again tomorrow afternoon. I didn't expect the first meeting to go smoothly. After our meeting, Tae Hee had a checkup and we got to see where the newborn babies are.

After all of our meetings we walked around Seoul and stumbled upon one of the palaces.

Well I'm exhausted so I'm heading to bed.

~Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Can't Sleep Anymore!!!

Well we went crashed at 8 pm last night and I woke up for the day at 4:30 this morning. I have never slept that long in a very long time. And it's not due to the excitement of meeting Tae Hee today either. It's more due to my body just staying "okay you've slept enough now WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!!!!!".

The room at Eastern's Guest House is your basic room. We have 2 twin beds, a TV with cable, and our own private bathroom. We can use the kitchen on our floor as well. Not too bad all things considered. We checked out a little of the building last night as well to see where we would be meeting today. I don't know if we are the only families in the building or not. Our room is on the 6th floor and the computer room is on the 2nd. The 6th floor only has a few rooms for the adoptive families and we haven't heard any other signs of life or seen anybody yet.

The computer room here is pretty cool. The keyboards are in hangul and English and I keep telling Jeff that I want one. So that when I learn hangul I'm all set with my keyboard!!

It's a good thing that I've brought over extra gifts since we are meeting a woman today who isn't on my list. Thanks Mom for making and giving me all of the scarves you knitted!!!!

Gotta go for now

~Jen reporting to you live from Seoul, South Korea

HELLO FROM SOUTH KOREA!!!

We landed at Incheon International Airport just fine this afternoon. If you tracked our flight, we went from Atlanta, Georgia up into Canadian, around Alaska, through Russia and finally to South Korea. We rode on a 777...huge aircraft by the way. I was so nervous that they would only feed us the one meal...boy was I ever wrong. I think we had 3 meals on the flight (none of them breakfast) and the last one was right before we were getting ready to land. I slept maybe 2-3 hours total of the flight and didn't sleep a wink on the flight to Atlanta.

We flew Delta Airlines and we were treated well by them. Let's hope the return trip is just as good.

We did have to call Eastern up to check on the driver situation. He was running late so we just hung out at the airport until he arrived. We didn't feel out of place at the airport...I'm not sure if it was just the lack of sleep or since we're around our kids so much that we didn't seem out of place in their world.

We learned this evening that we are meeting tomorrow morning at 9:50 and then meeting with Tae Hee later. I wasn't expecting this meeting so soon. OMG I get to see her tomorrow!!!!!!

Well I need to sign off since I'm tired out and I did promise two kids at home e-mails from Mommy and Daddy from Korea.

~Jen reporting to you live from Seoul, South Korea

We're Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

OMG THIS IS IT!!!! We are leaving around 3 am early Monday morning to head to the airport. I'm freaking out but excited. We're flying to Atlanta and then catching a flight direct to Seoul from there. The weather there looks like it'll be between 30 and 40 degrees during the day and dropping from 40 degrees to the upper teens the night before we're going to leave. We might have a couple of days where the temp is in the mid 50s but either way it's winter jacket, gloves and a hat weather.

And okay if you ever saw me with chopsticks, I'm pretty bad. Most of you haven't just because I know that I'm that bad and didn't want to embarrass myself in front of you. I was thinking of taking the kids training chopsticks with me at one point this weekend if that gives you any indication on how nervous I am to use my chopstick skills in Korea. I have decided that I am going to embarrass myself in Korea but I will use regular adult chopsticks. I'm hoping that I'm too horrible in Korea and who knows maybe I'll get some pointers as to how to use them properly.

The kids are excited to see their new sister and can't wait to get e-mail from us from Korea. Ryan is scared since he "doesn't know what Tae Hee looks like". I keep telling him "yes you do...you have pictures of her". Then he gets a big smile on his face. The kids are going to have a grand time with Nana and Papa (my parents) and perhaps even have a scheduled playdate or two with friends.

The bags are packed (God I hope that I'm not missing anything important!!!). My parents have everything they're going to need (I hope). The dog has her food. Our kids hopefully will behave themselves for Nana and Papa while we're gone.

Next time I post, we'll be in Korea!!!

~Jen

Our Sister is Coming Home!!!!

Mommy got the phone call from our adoption agency's social worker. She called late in the afternoon yesterday to say that Tae Hee was ready to come home. Daddy was home from work early and was doing yardwork outside at the time of the phone call. Mommy saw him in the backyard and started waving frantically to him outside. Mommy had already put on Thomas & Friends for me to watch while Katie was upstairs still taking her nap. Daddy noticed Mommy frantically waving and came up to the back door.

Mommy told Daddy that we got Tae Hee's travel call. Mommy called up Nana and Papa while Daddy called up Grandma and Grandpa.

We don't know when Mommy and Daddy are traveling yet but hopefully soon. YEAH OUR SISTER IS COMING HOME SOON!!!!!

~Ryan

Family

We buried my father's Mother, my Grandmother, and my children's Great Grandmother today. The sun was shining today but tears of sorrow and grief were shed by many family members...from my grandmother's sons to her grandchildren to her niece and others. My thoughts were of the loss of my grandma and of her sons trying to pick up the pieces.

At the church when we were giving the Gift of Peace, I gave it to everyone in the pew with me...my husband, my kids, my parents, my brother, my aunt, my cousins and my uncle. My uncle and I hugged for a bit since I was crying quite a bit. He had his daughter on one side and myself on the other.

This is the time to surround yourself with family members, to lean on each other, to tell stories of your life with that loved one, and so much more. I have shed tears since finding out about my Grandmother's passing on Friday morning. I have reunited with my cousins that I felt were "lost" to me...that I fell out of touch with. I'm glad that I have my family to lean upon, to shed tears of joy and tears of sorrow with, to talk about the past and talk about the future as well.

Talk to your family today...write them a letter and drop it in the mail, send them an e-mail, or give them a call.

On the Death of a Loved One

From the title you probably already know that it's the kids' Mommy again posting. My last living grandparent died late Thursday night. It was my paternal grandmother.

I am taking this hard as my maternal grandmother died on this date about 2 decades ago. As weird as that may sound to most of you, I am mourning my maternal grandmother's death just as if it just happened as well as my paternal grandmother's death.

I helped my Dad in a very smallish way, create a collage of pictures of my paternal grandmother's life by sending him a few of ones that we had of her from our wedding a little over 13 years ago. He also included pictures of our soon to be 3 kids. All of these pictures of my paternal grandmother's life is going to be presented in a CD slideshow of sorts at the funeral home during the wake.

My paternal grandmother's obituary is up at the funeral home's website and the great grandchildren (at least for our side) are listed properly.

What hurts the most is that my maternal grandparents and paternal grandfather never got to know that I got married, never got to know that Jeff and I were adopting, never got to know that we have 2 beautiful kids with us with a third on the way. Jeff's paternal grandfather never knew that he graduated from college, never knew that he was getting married, never knew that we were adopting, and never knew that we would have 2 kids with a 3rd on the way. While I believe in Heaven, I believe that we also have Guardian Angels that surround us. My Guardian Angels are my grandparents.

In my grandmother's obituary, memorial contributions are to be made to the Endometriosis Research Center. Endometriosis is a disease that I suffer from so I am grateful that something good might come out of her tragic death.

When my grandmother was younger, she was known as "Dancing Helen". She loved to polka and played Polish music in her house since she was Polish. She loved Ryan since he won her heart when he was dancing while watching a polka band play on her TV. It was a really cute scene seeing him dance while watching the Polka bands play on TV.

While I should be lying in bed with Jeff sleeping away, I can't with tears streaming down my face. I so much want to just snuggle up with one of the kids right now and fall asleep but with my tears and sobs I know that I'll wake them up. So here I sit and blog to my readers. When I get the chance, I'll have to look up what death means to Koreans and learn something new. Or if you know something about this, please share it with me.

With much sadness and sorrow,

~Jen

Does My Children's First Mom (Birth Mom) Remember Their Birthdate?

Hi all,

I'm sorry but I had to blog on this. This struck a nerve Wednesday night with me while watching Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN. Wednesday night's show was on Guatemala adoptions. Okay now you're wondering why I watch it and why I am blogging on it. You're probably saying it's Guatemala afterall...you adopted your children from Korea. But if I'm a good enough blogger, you'll understand why in a moment so bear with me for now.

I was watching AC 360 on CNN Wednesday night since they were doing a segment/investigation on Guatemala adoptions. They have been having difficulty there...whether First Moms are giving up their children voluntarily, whether the agency is counseling the First Moms so that they understand what will happen, whether the First Moms are giving birth just so that they can get paid alot of money (side note: they mentioned in the report on AC 360 that Guatemala adoptions cost $30,000) and more. One particular agency was mentioned in this report, Casa Quivira, located in Guatemala.

Anderson Cooper had asked the question that the alleged mother wasn't sure of the month her daughter was born. Casa Quivira's director, Clifford Phillips answered that it is very common that a birthmother forgets the date and time.

Anderson Cooper had asked the question that the alleged mother wasn't sure of the month her daughter was born. Casa Quivira's director, Clifford Phillips answered that it is very common that a birthmother forgets the date and time.

Yes I've written that in twice for a very important reason...to emphasize what this director said. Yes folks you've read that right...a mother who has given birth forgets the date and time of her baby's birth. I wanted to emphasize the fact that birth moms (my mom, your mom, perhaps even you, and my children's First Mom) don't remember the date or time of their children's birth.

But please don't take my word for what was said. Read it for yourself at Anderson Cooper 360 Transcript

When I saw this video on Anderson Cooper with Clifford Phillips, I started shouting out...that's just BS...there is no way that a woman who has given birth forgets when she gave birth!!! My mom certainly hasn't and I'm in my mid 30s. For those of you who have living mothers, go ahead and ask them if they remember your birth date or time. Go ahead and ask them questions about their labor and delivery if you really want to see how much they remember of your birth. I seriously doubt that these birth mothers forget!!!

This summer I was able to get out to Boston with my husband for the KAAN Conference. KAAN stands for Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network. It was held in Boston this year so it was just a short drive for us. At this conference, Jeff and I attended one particular memorable seminar entitled "Universal Motherhood, Universal Loss". It was on one particular birthmother (see Claudia's Birthmother blog) loss when she relinquished her child and her experiences since then.

During Claudia's talk, she had us close our eyes during part of it. During this part, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. She described what she goes at night. The cry, the silent screams into a pillow, the fetal position, the shaking, and so much more. It was heartwrenching to hear but it had to be said just the same. To educate others about what birthmothers must go through.

THE BIRTHMOMS NEVER FORGET THE DAY OF THEIR CHILD(REN)'S BIRTH!!!!

I'm sure that if you asked her or any other birthmom who gave up/relinquished/made adoption plans for their child(ren), they would tell you that they remember...

THEY NEVER FORGET!!!.

So while I'm watching this director of the adoption agency in Guatemala say that it's not uncommon for birthmoms to forget the date and time of their child's birth, I'm thinking of Claudia, my children's First Mom, and all of the other birthmoms out there and scream out in anger "That's simply not true...for our children's First Mom she must be grieving tremendously!!!". Mind you that I'm in bed and hitting the bed with my fists. I'm furious with the statement.

These birthmoms (or as we in our household refer to our children's birthmom as First Mom) DO remember...they DO know exactly what date their child was born.

Doesn't your mom remember what day you were born on? Doesn't she celebrate your birthday by calling you up for those of you with living mothers? Please don't try telling this adoptive mother that my children's First Mom doesn't remember giving birth to her beautiful children and what day it was. Please don't try telling this adoptive mother that my children's First Mom is not grieving for her loss either. She may not outwardly show it but in the inside while in front of others and while she is alone she most certainly does remember the date of her children's birth.

~Jen

As Our Mommy Promised...

Here are some pictures of Katie on her birthday and at her parties. Enjoy!!!





Katie in her Hanbok that her Foster Mommy gave her. Mommy told her to smile and this is what she got. Behind Katie is the national flower of Korea... the Mugunghwa . The Mugunghwa is also known as the Rose of Sharon and we just happen to have several of them growing in our yard thanks to our Grandma and Grandpa.




Katie and Ryan touching the flowers of the Mugunghwa that we have. It's our little piece of Korea growing in our own yard.

~Jen

Siblings....

We are happy to have each other here to interact with, to play with, to talk to and more. We are generally happy that Mommy and Daddy adopted both of us.

Some days we can be difficult and gang up on Mommy and then Daddy when he comes home from work. But at the end of the day, we are happy to have each other. We are very helpful and love to play with each other and with Mommy and Daddy. We are happy to be a family.

We look forward to meeting our sister and to helping her out. We are already fighting over who is getting the blankie or the toy or who is going to feed her or get a diaper for Mommy or Daddy.

And for those of you see us and ask our Mommy and Daddy if we are a family: YES WE ARE A FAMILY

Do You like Yankee Candles and Candle Accessories???

It's Jen again. I'm not too sure if any of you know but I have endometriosis (endo for short). It's often a debilitating painful disease for which there isn't a cure. I have been participating in the Semi-annual Yankee Candle fundraiser done by the Endometriosis Research Center (ERC for short) since being surgically diagnosed with endo back in January of 2000 except for one that ERC had canceled due to hurricane damage they had sustained.

Please consider helping ERC out with their fundraiser. You don't even have to purchase a candle or candle accessory...just consider a straight donation to them and they will be most appreciative for whatever you can give.

Please feel free to pass this along to your friends and family members.

~Jen
EndoCenter of Upstate New York Support Group co-leader

Do you like candles, candle accessories? Now through September 21, 2007, the ERC is holding its semi-annual Yankee Candle fundraiser, and we need your support!

This is the perfect opportunity to start your holiday shopping or purchase something special for yourself. For more information, please visit: http://www.endocenter.org/yankeecandle.htm

For this fundraiser, one catalog is offered that features over 125 items. Please visit the ERC's website and check out the catalog, today! An order form is also available. Please consider sending an email to your entire email address book informing your friends and family about the ERC's Yankee Candle Fundraiser. You can include a link to the web page where visitors can browse the candle items and print out an order form. This way of communication is great because you can send an email, and if the receiver is interested, they will visit the Candle Fundraiser website. If they are not interested, they can delete the email. It's as easy as that!

If you wish to receive the catalog by US Mail, please email us at AskERC@aol.com, and write "Candle Fundraiser" in the subject heading. In the body of your email, please include your name, complete mailing address, phone number and email address.

We greatly appreciate your support in making this fundraiser a success!

DISCLAIMER:

The Endometriosis Research Center does not endorse or recommend any specific products or corporations. The annual Yankee Candle fundraiser is an independant fundraiser hosted by the Yankee Candle Company in order to benefit our mission and is not affiliated with the ERC in any way.

The Yankee Candle Company has a long and proud tradition of corporate citizenship in supporting specific organizations and focused areas of charitable giving, primarily in the areas of health, education, social services and public safety.

There has been some concern over the last few years regarding potential pollutants in certain candles. While the ERC does not endorse or recommend any products, we feel it is important to inform our fundraiser participants that the Yankee Candle Company has been producing its scented candles following stringent specifications since 1969. Every Yankee Candle is made here in the USA, using exclusive fragrance oils and only the highest quality materials: pure cotton wicks, fine glassware, and premium-grade, highly refined paraffin waxes specially blended foroptimum burning and fragrancing performance. There is absolutely no leadin Yankee’s wicks; in fact, Yankee is a signing member of the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission’s “no-lead wick pledge.”

Yankee Candle is proud to use only the finest quality ingredients and materials in their candles; however, it is still important that you use your candles responsibly to ensure their safe use. Please follow these guidelines from the Yankee Candle Co. to keep your candles a bright and beautiful part of your life:

- Remove all packaging before lighting.

- Place on a protected, heat-resistant, dry surface, away from anything that can catch fire, and out of reach of children and pets. Use holders designed for the particular candle style.

- Trim wick(s) to 1/8" before lighting.

- If smoking occurs, blow candle out. Trim wick(s), remove trimmings, and relight.

- Keep the wax pool free of wick trimmings, matches, or any combustible material. - -

- Keep the wick centered. Avoid drafts.

- Keep burning candles within sight at all times.
- Keep all matches and lighters out of the reach of children.

- Teach everyone in the family the rules of safe candle use.
Jars:
- Handle with care; glass containers are fragile. Avoid glass-to-glass contact when removing or replacing the lid. Do not use if the jar is cracked, chipped or scratched. - — Do not refill with wax.

- Do not allow the flame to touch the side of the jar. The jar may become hot. Handle carefully.

- To minimize wax left on the sides of the jar, burn 3 hours at a time; it is normal for some wax to be left. The amount will vary per color, fragrance and burning conditions.

- Prevent possible heat damage to the counter/surface by discontinuing use when 1/2" of wax remains.
- Extinguish carefully before replacing the lid.

Pillars

- When wax pool reaches the candle’s edge, extinguish flame and allow candle to harden before relighting. This will prevent dripping.
Tapers

- To prevent possible dripping: avoid drafts, excessive vibrations or nearby heat sources.

- Candle (hurricane) lamps may cause dripping due to the build up of heat. We suggest using bobeche, decorative accessories designed to catch dripping wax.

- Be sure tapers are straight, and set them firmly in their holders.

- Trim the taper’s wick to 1/8" before lighting.

Scented Tea Lights

- Do not burn in an enclosed space like a potpourri pot. For this purpose use Yankee® Tart® Warmers (unscented tea lights), and be sure the burner is well-ventilated.

- If wick smokes or builds up carbon, extinguish flame and remove the carbon before relighting.

Samplers

- Burn only in an appropriate holder. Do not burn freestanding.

Wax Potpourri Tarts®

- Place one or more Tarts in a dry potpourri pot, and light the unscented tea light candle beneath. We recommend using Tart Warmers, which burn with a low, controlled flame, ideal for potpourri pots. When melted, the Tart® will release its wonderful fragrance.

- To change fragrances, use a potholder to pick up the potpourri pot and pour the liquid wax into a lined wastebasket. Or, you may harden the wax in a freezer, and pop it out into the palm of your hand.

- Electric potpourri pots may overheat the wax, and are not recommended. Use a well-ventilated, candlelit potpourri pot, without a lid. The pot should have at least a 2-1/2" top opening.

Mommy again!!!!

Okay you're probably pretty bored with me taking over the kids blog however, we've had a pretty big day today.

We had a wonderful birthday party with some friends of ours and my family. Korean dishes were on the menu including chicken mandu, chicken bulgogi, pan fried summer squash, seasoned mung bean sprouts, spicy cucumbers, and more. We had chopsticks to eat our lunches with. We also had cake and mango ice cream (along with some other kinds for the non-adventuresome folks. The kids played in the house while the adults chatted. Thomas was the big hit of the afternoon.

Now for the other big news of the day: I got my passport today. We just handed in our applications for them on August 11th. I'm in shock that it was so quick.

Bye for now

~Jen

Post from Mommy again!!! We got Legals!!!

Sorry folks Mommy had to take over again. We got some news from our adoption agency yesterday in the form of a mailing. We got our daughter's legals.

For those of you who don't know what legals are, these are documents from Korea that we need in order to submit our I-600 form with USCIS (used to be called INS). We had several steps to complete on our end while Korea is completing steps on their end. We are one step closer to getting our daughter!!! I'll be posting more after we get our I-600 approval.

~Jen

Some thoughts about my children's First Mom

Sorry it's the kids Mommy at this point in time...

I have been thinking about my kids First Mom alot today. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl today. And made adoption plans for her just like she did for her son. I have been emotional today thinking about lots of things surrounding her. She is my kids birthmom, their First Mom. She conceived them when I couldn't. She gave them love well before I knew about their existence. I have cried for what she has loss. And at the same time I have wondered about her.

What does she look like? Does she have my kids nose? Their infectious laughter? Their smile??

More importantly these questions also rise to the surface. How much has she cried today? Did she wonder about her little baby born today?? Does she even know that she has a girl that was born today? Does she know that we are adopting all three of her precious kids? What does she know? Is she getting any help? What does she think about me?

Sure it's a Happy 2nd Birthday to our daughter, Katie, and we celebrated it here at home and this weekend it'll be a party with family but are you considering what the First Mom must be experiencing today??

Take a moment to think about my kids' First Mom for a minute:

Today is the day that she gave birth to a child and made adoption plans for her. Today is the day that she'll be grieving for the rest of her life. Today is the day that she'll be reliving for the rest of her life.

So while I'm happy that my little girl Katie is growing up and is now two years old, I'm very much saddened with the thoughts of what the First Mom must be experiencing today and pray that she is getting the help and support that she needs.

~Jen

Happy Birthday Katie!!!!

Did you know that today is Katie's 2nd birthday???? We took pictures outside that Mommy will have to upload to the computer and post on here.

Katie and I dressed up in the Hanboks that our Foster Mommy gave to us. Mommy helped us get dressed. We wear them on special occasions like our birthdays and we don't play in them. Mommy cries a little when she sees us all dressed up in them and says how handsome I look and how beautiful Katie looks.

Well I gotta go to play with Katie,

~Ryan

A Post from Our Mommy-AMSA fundraiser

I got a new link to a fundraiser for a Korean orphanage. If you're interested in participating, please visit AMSA Fundraiser .

~Jen

Our Trip Today...

After Daddy's haircut this morning, we went to the Post Office. Well they haven't told too many people yet so I'll tell all of you: Mommy and Daddy need Passports to fly to Korea to pick up our sister. After that we had lunch at IHOP and we were playing with a few older kids there while waiting to be seated. We had to eat lunch before we went shopping at one of the Asian Food Market near us. Part of the time that we were shopping there Mommy and Daddy were the minority.

While we were there, the owner came up to Daddy, Katie and I and said "hello" in Korean. Katie and I played shy and stuck to Daddy. Mommy was shopping in another aisle otherwise I bet she would have said something. We went there to check it out and get some Korean goodies for us to eat. Some of which we will eat a Katie's 2nd birthday party on the 25th!! Oh we can't wait!!! Almost all of it is Korean food.

We need to pick up a few more things for the dinner party. We're having 8 other people over for dinner. Four other Korean adoptees are coming. Two are kids just about Katie's and mine age and the other two are adult adoptees.

Next weekend is Katie's party with our family. We are having a more American meal for that one but Mommy is making her famous Chicken Bulgogi as well as putting out Kimchi for all to try.

Well I need to get to bed since it's late and I don't want Mommy and Daddy catching me online!!

~Ryan

An Important Message from Our Mommy

From the Anti-Racist Parent blog

From the Anti-Racist Parent Meme


1. I am:
Polish, German, and a whole host of others

2. My kids are:
my children are Korean
husband is French Canadian, Native American, English, and more.

3. I first started thinking more about race, culture, and identity when:
When I was young and my beloved extended family members started to die. I wondered
more about my culture and my identity than my actual race back then. It really wasn't until
high school that I was exposed to foreign exchange students that my best friend's family
hosted that I was exposed more to race and cultural differences and likenesses.

4. People think my name is:
Unknown...Nobody has really come up to me and asked. However they do get the spelling of
my married name wrong all the time. So I'm forever known as Jennifer C-O-X.

5. The family tradition I most want to pass on is:
Being close to my sibling. My brother and I were very close growing up. I hope that my
kids are the same way.



6. The family tradition I least want to pass on is:
Not sure.

7. My child’s first word in English was:
Both my son and daughter said "dada".

8. My child’s first non-English word was:
"Omma" by my son and daughter. My son can sing London Bridges Falling Down in Korean
now along with Mommy.

9. The non-English word/phrase most used in my home is:
Saranghae...Korean for I love you.

10. One thing I love about being a parent is:
Becoming a kid all over again--learning all sorts of things through my children.

11. One thing I hate about being a parent is:
Trying to potty train two kids at once...sorry I have toddlers here and I know that right now
this is the thing that I hate about being a parent. Ask me this same question in 5, 10, 15 or
20 years from now and I'll have a different answer.

12. To me, being an anti-racist parent means:
Understanding that I have to be there for my children, to protect them from others who are
racist, to educate others about racist language or action that they might be using, to
understand that I have become a little Korean and my kids have become a little Caucasian, to
learn more about my own culture as well as my children's culture as well as other cultures, and
to try to find situations in which I can become the minority just to experience it.

~Jen