~Jen
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Pictures of Our Sister and her Tol
Here are a few of the pictures of Bella in her Hanbok on her birthday and of her Tol Celebration:
~Ryan and Katie
~Ryan and Katie
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bella's Tol Party
We had B's Tol Party this past weekend. We had tried dairy with her over a week before her party and she had what we think to be an allergic reaction (just like her big brother) to diary. She had red rosy cheeks for her party. Poor girl!!!!
We were up until 1:15 am Sunday morning cleaning, preparing food, and decorating our home for the party later that day. She loved coming down the stairs and seeing the Hello Kitty Happy Birthday balloon we picked up for her. Her face just lit up and she smiled when she saw that and the Hello Kitty party lanterns we hung up. It was like she recognized it.
We invited family and friends to come celebrate her Tol. I had made Chicken Bulgogi, Ssam (vegetable wrapped rice), and Nokdu Namul (seasoned mung bean sprouts), P'atbap (rice with red beans) for our Korean dishes and the ever staple in a Korean home--Kimchi. We served red and white this year. I found the white one to be more palatable for me and others who aren't into the spiciness of the red one. I always have made Korean foods for the kids' birthdays and birthday parties. I also cooked up a Calico bean recipe in my crockpot and my mom had made potato salad. I had Korean music playing or a Korean children's video playing for the kids.
Due to Bella's reaction to dairy, I had made a special Applesauce Snack Cake that was both dairy-less and egg-less (since one guest is allergic to eggs and Bella hasn't tried them yet) that was topped with a simple glaze. The snack cake was done in the shape of hearts for my B.
For her Toljabee event, she chose rice and the jujube (we used a substitution of a date since we couldn't find anything else suitable). So this girl is growing up rich and will have many descendants!!! She really didn't want to be in her Hanbok again (I had tried on her birthday and it was a struggle to get her into it, leave the hat alone and take pictures!!!
I cried again today both in the morning thinking about the kids' First Mom. I started at night thinking about her Omma and her First Mom again. I thought about all of the other losses she has had...loss of knowing her birthfamily, loss of homeland, language, etc. Then the tears started to flow again. I have been crying on and off since for various reasons but when we left Korea in November, I think I left half my heart there!!
She got many nice gifts from everybody who came so thank you. 감사 합 니다 (in Hangul) Kamsahamnida (in Romanized Korean) or, Thank you (in English)to everyone who came and celebrated B's first birthday with us.
See pictures from her birthday and of the Tol Celebration in my next post!!
~Jen
We were up until 1:15 am Sunday morning cleaning, preparing food, and decorating our home for the party later that day. She loved coming down the stairs and seeing the Hello Kitty Happy Birthday balloon we picked up for her. Her face just lit up and she smiled when she saw that and the Hello Kitty party lanterns we hung up. It was like she recognized it.
We invited family and friends to come celebrate her Tol. I had made Chicken Bulgogi, Ssam (vegetable wrapped rice), and Nokdu Namul (seasoned mung bean sprouts), P'atbap (rice with red beans) for our Korean dishes and the ever staple in a Korean home--Kimchi. We served red and white this year. I found the white one to be more palatable for me and others who aren't into the spiciness of the red one. I always have made Korean foods for the kids' birthdays and birthday parties. I also cooked up a Calico bean recipe in my crockpot and my mom had made potato salad. I had Korean music playing or a Korean children's video playing for the kids.
Due to Bella's reaction to dairy, I had made a special Applesauce Snack Cake that was both dairy-less and egg-less (since one guest is allergic to eggs and Bella hasn't tried them yet) that was topped with a simple glaze. The snack cake was done in the shape of hearts for my B.
For her Toljabee event, she chose rice and the jujube (we used a substitution of a date since we couldn't find anything else suitable). So this girl is growing up rich and will have many descendants!!! She really didn't want to be in her Hanbok again (I had tried on her birthday and it was a struggle to get her into it, leave the hat alone and take pictures!!!
I cried again today both in the morning thinking about the kids' First Mom. I started at night thinking about her Omma and her First Mom again. I thought about all of the other losses she has had...loss of knowing her birthfamily, loss of homeland, language, etc. Then the tears started to flow again. I have been crying on and off since for various reasons but when we left Korea in November, I think I left half my heart there!!
She got many nice gifts from everybody who came so thank you. 감사 합 니다 (in Hangul) Kamsahamnida (in Romanized Korean) or, Thank you (in English)to everyone who came and celebrated B's first birthday with us.
See pictures from her birthday and of the Tol Celebration in my next post!!
~Jen
Thursday, February 14, 2008
We now have a one year old in our home!!
Our little Valentine turned one today!!
I'm dealing with very mixed emotions today. I'm happy to have her here with her brother and sister but so sad about all of her losses. She is just one of my princesses here in our home. She loves to dance to music. She loves to give hugs (or as I like to call them "loves"). She loves her siblings and her puppy (Maggie). She loves it when we play Korean music or our Korean DVDs She smiles when I sing to her in Korean (let me just state here that I know right now one song in Korean and that is London Bridges--I'm hoping to learn more).
As I have done with the other kids, they got dressed up in their Hanboks for me to take pictures. I always take pictures of the kids in their Hanboks on their birthdays (of course it's done outside since the other two kids have their birthdays in Spring and Summer months). Today being that it was 25 degrees outside with several inches of snow and ice on the ground, we did it indoors.
I'll post pictures from today after her party this weekend.
So today I'm crying both happy and sad tears for my little one year old Valentine in our home. To me, she will forever be my Princess Valentine!!!!
~Jen
I'm dealing with very mixed emotions today. I'm happy to have her here with her brother and sister but so sad about all of her losses. She is just one of my princesses here in our home. She loves to dance to music. She loves to give hugs (or as I like to call them "loves"). She loves her siblings and her puppy (Maggie). She loves it when we play Korean music or our Korean DVDs She smiles when I sing to her in Korean (let me just state here that I know right now one song in Korean and that is London Bridges--I'm hoping to learn more).
As I have done with the other kids, they got dressed up in their Hanboks for me to take pictures. I always take pictures of the kids in their Hanboks on their birthdays (of course it's done outside since the other two kids have their birthdays in Spring and Summer months). Today being that it was 25 degrees outside with several inches of snow and ice on the ground, we did it indoors.
I'll post pictures from today after her party this weekend.
So today I'm crying both happy and sad tears for my little one year old Valentine in our home. To me, she will forever be my Princess Valentine!!!!
~Jen
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) Gate fire
It is with a heavy heart that I type this in. Korea lost it's number one cultural treasure that dated back to 1398. It was the oldest wooden building in Seoul, South Korea.
Jeff and I visited this beautiful building the night before we left Korea to come back to the States. My pictures don't do this building justice.
Taken from across the street from the Gate.
Taken from inside the Gate looking up at the beautiful painting on the ceiling. This is in the bottom structure of the Gate.
Taken from the grounds of the Gate.
To read more about the loss of this Treasure, please read Third Mom's Blog on the Namdaemun Fire where she gives you links to read.
We here in our household are very saddened by this news especially since this comes right after Seol-nal (the Lunar New Year) in South Korea.
~Jen
Jeff and I visited this beautiful building the night before we left Korea to come back to the States. My pictures don't do this building justice.
Taken from across the street from the Gate.
Taken from inside the Gate looking up at the beautiful painting on the ceiling. This is in the bottom structure of the Gate.
Taken from the grounds of the Gate.
To read more about the loss of this Treasure, please read Third Mom's Blog on the Namdaemun Fire where she gives you links to read.
We here in our household are very saddened by this news especially since this comes right after Seol-nal (the Lunar New Year) in South Korea.
~Jen
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Racist Superbowl Ads??
I thought I take a moment to chat about some Superbowl ads. First go to FamiLee Life. The ads in question are listed on that webpage under February 6th date. Let me know what you think of them. I'm so glad that I didn't watch the Superbowl...so glad my kids didn't see and hear that crap either.
~Jen
~Jen
Sick again?????
Okay I have been sick for going almost 2 weeks now and it shows no sign of stopping. Katie is sick again with sneezing and a runny nose. Ryan isn't over his sickness yet either but he isn't resting. How does one stop a near 4 year old since a cold hasn't??? Onto Bella, she is getting over one ailment only to have what looks like a cold now. But DH is fine.
I'm tired of telling each child to blow their noses, use the nasal aspirators on them and more. Hopefully they will be over their sicknesses soon!!!!
~Jen
I'm tired of telling each child to blow their noses, use the nasal aspirators on them and more. Hopefully they will be over their sicknesses soon!!!!
~Jen
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Sorrows this Lunar New Year...
We are listening to traditional Korean lullabyes and other Korean music while I'm sitting here typing this in. I read something this morning that set me thinking.
It's from Touched by Adoption 2008 Calendar and it talked about infinite are the losses and the joys in adoption. I pondered how many losses each one of the children in my household have had.
Here's something for you all to ponder about: While I've been celebrating Seol-nal otherwise known as Korean Lunar New Year (or trying to in our sick household but I'll update you all in about that in another post), my thoughts are in Korea. My children's First Mom (and her family) won't see them dressed up in their Hanboks, see them bow to each of their ancestors, touch them and hold them, smile upon them and so much more. What makes me so sad this year is that my little Bella is celebrating her Tol next week with family and friends here. I know that both on her birthday and the day of her birthday party, I'll end up crying. It may not be with family and friends present but I will be crying for Bella's inifite losses, her First Mom's infinite losses, and her Foster Mom's infinite losses as well. There is another loss that I can't even begin to explain here but it's a loss of hers just the same.
Bella will be turning one and she has had more losses in her young life than I had by age 10!!!
How many losses have you had in the first year of your life? Did you lose your First Mom? Did you lose your homeland? Did you lose your culture and heritage? Did you lose your language of your homeland? Did you lose your First Mom's family along with your First Dad's? Did you lose the relationship with familiar faces that you knew in your homeland? Did you lose your ability to talk to your First Mom in her native tongue?
What losses have you endured in the first year after your birth? I bet to most of you reading, you haven't had the losses my kids have had unless you were adopted or are a First Mom. Hence the reason why I cry on my kids birthdays, on their arrival days, on their referral days, on the anniversaries of their family days, on Mother's Day and Father's Day and days like Seol-nal when they would be honoring their ancestors.
I can imagine that some of you reading this won't understand this but I can't be called Omma (the Korean word for Mommy). Omma isn't me...it's the Foster moms for my kids. They are Omma, not me. Nor will I wear an Omma pendant. I have no right. If my girls want to wear one, it's up to them. They have an Omma...I don't. And I can see the other see the other side of the story where people would say that I'm honoring their Omma. Unfortunately I don't see it that way after what I went through with Ryan's sheer sadness for 3 months after his arrival. I would rather wear a necklace with a heart on it that I picked up from Korea to honor their First mom and pick a special pendant out to honor their Omma and design a pendant with my children's names in Hangul.
On this Seol-nal holiday, we are hoping that their First Mom is healthy and we wish her a long beautiful life. We are just hoping that Ryan and Katie's Omma loved the 5 photo albums that we gave her in November when we were there. We hope that she is looking at the pictures of our kids that she has on her cell phone every day. We hope that she is well. We also hope with Bella's Omma that her tears of sorrow on the day that Bella left aren't as numerous and that she is healthy and has a long life.
We are lighting a candle this Seol-nal to remind us of the losses and of the hope to have a continuing relationship with their Ommas always, the chance to see Korea once again, and special prayers for their First Mom.
For more information about Seol-nal see Seol-nal Korean Lunar New Year.
With many sorrows and hopes on this Seol-nal holiday,
~Jen
It's from Touched by Adoption 2008 Calendar and it talked about infinite are the losses and the joys in adoption. I pondered how many losses each one of the children in my household have had.
Here's something for you all to ponder about: While I've been celebrating Seol-nal otherwise known as Korean Lunar New Year (or trying to in our sick household but I'll update you all in about that in another post), my thoughts are in Korea. My children's First Mom (and her family) won't see them dressed up in their Hanboks, see them bow to each of their ancestors, touch them and hold them, smile upon them and so much more. What makes me so sad this year is that my little Bella is celebrating her Tol next week with family and friends here. I know that both on her birthday and the day of her birthday party, I'll end up crying. It may not be with family and friends present but I will be crying for Bella's inifite losses, her First Mom's infinite losses, and her Foster Mom's infinite losses as well. There is another loss that I can't even begin to explain here but it's a loss of hers just the same.
Bella will be turning one and she has had more losses in her young life than I had by age 10!!!
How many losses have you had in the first year of your life? Did you lose your First Mom? Did you lose your homeland? Did you lose your culture and heritage? Did you lose your language of your homeland? Did you lose your First Mom's family along with your First Dad's? Did you lose the relationship with familiar faces that you knew in your homeland? Did you lose your ability to talk to your First Mom in her native tongue?
What losses have you endured in the first year after your birth? I bet to most of you reading, you haven't had the losses my kids have had unless you were adopted or are a First Mom. Hence the reason why I cry on my kids birthdays, on their arrival days, on their referral days, on the anniversaries of their family days, on Mother's Day and Father's Day and days like Seol-nal when they would be honoring their ancestors.
I can imagine that some of you reading this won't understand this but I can't be called Omma (the Korean word for Mommy). Omma isn't me...it's the Foster moms for my kids. They are Omma, not me. Nor will I wear an Omma pendant. I have no right. If my girls want to wear one, it's up to them. They have an Omma...I don't. And I can see the other see the other side of the story where people would say that I'm honoring their Omma. Unfortunately I don't see it that way after what I went through with Ryan's sheer sadness for 3 months after his arrival. I would rather wear a necklace with a heart on it that I picked up from Korea to honor their First mom and pick a special pendant out to honor their Omma and design a pendant with my children's names in Hangul.
On this Seol-nal holiday, we are hoping that their First Mom is healthy and we wish her a long beautiful life. We are just hoping that Ryan and Katie's Omma loved the 5 photo albums that we gave her in November when we were there. We hope that she is looking at the pictures of our kids that she has on her cell phone every day. We hope that she is well. We also hope with Bella's Omma that her tears of sorrow on the day that Bella left aren't as numerous and that she is healthy and has a long life.
We are lighting a candle this Seol-nal to remind us of the losses and of the hope to have a continuing relationship with their Ommas always, the chance to see Korea once again, and special prayers for their First Mom.
For more information about Seol-nal see Seol-nal Korean Lunar New Year.
With many sorrows and hopes on this Seol-nal holiday,
~Jen
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Sick household...
We've all been sick here...Katie came down with a cold right before she was supposed to go spend the night at Nana and Papa's. Then Mommy came down with it. I ran around the house Monday and Tuesday much to Mommy's dismay and got sick as well. Daddy was home sick Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I think it was Thursday that Bella finally got sick.
Mommy is finally on the mend although tired out from remaking the beds, helping us to blow our noses, getting up in the middle of the night to take our temperatures, making Jello for us and more.
Daddy is heading back to work tomorrow morning. He's feeling better as well.
Bella has had a temperature both Friday and Saturday night but so far no temperature today. YIPEE!!!! She is still miserable at times but Mommy or Daddy don't constantly have to hold her. She still is coughing some and has a runny nose but is doing better.
Katie is slowly getting over this cold. She still has a cough and runny nose along with myself. I think we're beginning to understand why Mommy and Daddy told us to stop running around the house while we're sick and to nap.
We are just hoping that we're well enough to celebrate Seol-nal (Lunar New Year) with some friends of ours this weekend. Mommy needs to go grocery shopping and pick up some chicken for Chicken Bulgogi and mung bean sprouts as well.
Well I gotta go rest since I'm supposed to be sleeping
~Ryan
Mommy is finally on the mend although tired out from remaking the beds, helping us to blow our noses, getting up in the middle of the night to take our temperatures, making Jello for us and more.
Daddy is heading back to work tomorrow morning. He's feeling better as well.
Bella has had a temperature both Friday and Saturday night but so far no temperature today. YIPEE!!!! She is still miserable at times but Mommy or Daddy don't constantly have to hold her. She still is coughing some and has a runny nose but is doing better.
Katie is slowly getting over this cold. She still has a cough and runny nose along with myself. I think we're beginning to understand why Mommy and Daddy told us to stop running around the house while we're sick and to nap.
We are just hoping that we're well enough to celebrate Seol-nal (Lunar New Year) with some friends of ours this weekend. Mommy needs to go grocery shopping and pick up some chicken for Chicken Bulgogi and mung bean sprouts as well.
Well I gotta go rest since I'm supposed to be sleeping
~Ryan
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