Family Anniversary Day #2 for Katie

We here would like to say that Katie celebrated her 2nd Family Anniversary Day with us quietly here at home. While we were celebrating, tears also flowed for what this means to her, to her foster mom, and to her First Mom. It's a bittersweet day for us. We told her the story of how she came to us...a story which will be told time and time again to her.

I hope that her foster mom and the foster family were okay today. We extend our love to them since they took care of her when we could not. We extend our wishes of health and happiness always to them as well as our friendship.

~Jen

Sheer Sadness...

While my thoughts have been drifting to Korea during the past several days, my thoughts are also here in the US. There's an extremely sad story coming out of Iowa. A man, a former banker who allegedly embezzled $560,000 from his former employer, apparently took a bat and killed his wife and his 4 children (age 10, 7, 5, and 3). These poor kids were adopted from South Korea. Then he took his own life.

While this is tragic for the extended families involved, it is also tragic in the Iowan town that this occured in, tragic for Iowans as a whole, for anybody who has a wife and/or children, tragic for these particular children's foster mothers who had cared for these children for many months, tragic for the social workers both here in the US and overseas in Korea, tragic for those working at both adoption agencies here in the US and in Korea, tragic for these children's First Moms, and tragic overseas in Korea where it is in the media there as well.

Tragedy in Iowa is in Media Half Way Around the World

Yonhap News Article about Sueppels

I have cried so many tears about this. Even Jeff wanted to know why the senseless action on behalf of the dad.

I pray here for all involved in this senseless act.

~Jen

More letter writing...

Now that the letter to Bella's Foster mom is done and given to our social worker, I can turn some attention to writing up a letter to Ryan and Katie's foster mom. I wanted to do this before the meeting with our social worker today but was playing with the kids instead and preparing for this morning's meeting. I hope to get the letter written to her soon.

Even though we met her in November when we flew to Korea to pick up Bella, I still find myself with so much to tell her. So much to say, so many pictures to choose from and so many of them to send.

My son and my daughter are hers as well...she helped raise them when I wasn't able to be there. She bathed them, clothed them, fed them, she was there to dry the eyes and there to see the smiles. Not to mention the fact that she loved them and still does. Now isn't that what makes a mother a mother??

~Jen

Letter writing and pictures

Jeff and I have been preparing for our social worker to come visit us tomorrow (the 28th) for our 2nd post placement visit. I have completed the post placement form plus attachment. The hardest thing for me is writing the letter to the Foster mom. Please don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to it's more that it's emotional for me.

My thoughts drift far from my work that I need to do. My thoughts are in Korea. I wonder how the foster family is doing. I wonder how the First Mom is doing. Writing the letter is a labor of love. Normally I spend a week doing writing the letter. I write some of it and cry then take a break come back to it and write some more. All of it comes direct from the heart.

Pictures are even harder. How does one select a few from so many? I am always sending a little more than what was suggested just because I can't choose.

I always hope that the foster mom will like the pictures that the letter is understandable.

While tomorrow I'll feel like I'm talking to a long lost friend, tonight is a night of reflection and thoughts which drift to Korea.

~Jen

Activities in Our Home...

Let's start of with the successes here:

Ryan is learning to read and write his letters. He hasn't shown much interest before now but he wants to learn. He has some incentive which is very personal to him so I won't disclose it here.

Katie wore underwear overnight over the weekend and didn't wet them. We are excited that we might be getting out of pull ups for her soon.

Bella is asking to go on the potty by saying poo poo. She is now peeing on it as well. It's not consistent but I know that with a little work on her part and my own maybe just maybe we possibly get her trained by 18 months. I'm not holding my breath but keep your fingers crossed that this will continue.

Now for what we're still working on:

Ryan and Katie are still learning what each letter sounds like.

Bella--well let's just say that mealtime can be messy if she self feeds. We've tried Butternut squash and now we're trying corn. So far so good with the lack of reactions (the only exception being her reaction to dairy). We haven't tried tomato product yet with her along with a few other things like zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower, and meats like ham and fish. We don't eat beef here for various reasons so none of the kids have tried it or tofu.

She still prefers the bottle from time to time so we are working on it. She doesn't like the original organic enriched rice milk so when we are done with the one we are working on, we are switching her over to the vanilla flavored organic enriched rice milk. Perhaps it'll be a flavor she likes.

Well today I going to make jook and make a chicken dish in the crockpot.

Back to working on writing letters on our doodle pros and potty training!!

~Jen

KAAN Conference 2008

Geesh when did the kids get on here????

Anyway I wanted to post to you all that have adopted kids from Korea that the KAAN Conference 2008 looks like it will be wonderful this year. I know...I'm doing another shameless plug for another excellent organization!! I would advise anybody reading this that was thinking of attending to sign up and attend. You will not regret it!!!

Jeff and I went last year to the one in Boston. It was our first conference and I know it won't be our last. We were able to chat with adult adoptees, social workers, parents to adult adoptees, parents to young adoptees, and if I remember right even grandparents. We learned SO much from this conference.

This year's conference is in Chicago. KAAN 2008 Conference Schedule looks like it's a good one. For those of you attending, I would recommend the More Than Just Love - A Dad's Transcultural Adoption Story and An Interactive Discussion Among Adult Adoptees and Parents. Both of these were very good last year and I learned alot from them. I also attended every session I could on First Moms and learned so much from Claud who spoke at last year's KAAN conference.

From this year's conference, I would recommend the session on Adoption Ethics and Social Justice - The Need to Mobilize our Community into Action (goes along with the posting from Third Mom) and the session on Meeting a Korean Birthmother. Both look to be excellent sessions.

So please consider attending the conference. It is a life changing experience.

~Jen

Camp Mujigae 2008

Mommy just got word that the camp registration is now up at their website (see Camp Mujigae). She has already printed out the paperwork and started filling it out. We are heading to camp this year with Mommy volunteering with the Rising Stars group. She is singing a Korean song or two to the campers.

We're not sure if only one of us will be with her in the Rising Stars group or if there will be two joining her. Unfortunately she won't have both of her singers with her for the song or songs.

If you have adopted from Korea, please consider bringing your kids to a Korean cultural camp. It'll do them the world of good to learn about their culture, to eat Korean food, to make Korean friends, and for them to learn that you love them enough to care.

~Ryan, Katie and Bella

Changes...

Sometimes change is for the good. Sometimes it's for the bad. And then there are other times when you're in the middle of it that you just don't know which one it is. There are many changes happening here in our home. Some of them are for the good...Bella going on the potty, Katie working on overnight potty training, Ryan and Katie singing London Bridges in Korean here at home to my parents, and more. Some of them aren't so good...Bella trying to feed herself (messy messy messy), Katie trying to carry Bella off of a toddler chair, and Ryan learning that he can ask Mommy the question why when I ask him to pick up his toys or that he can't have snack so close to dinner time and more.

As for those that you aren't sure if it's good or bad...we haven't come across those yet however Ryan did ask me why I didn't know how to sing more Korean songs to him and his sisters...all I could tell him was that I'm learning as fast as I can.

So for those of you reading this who have the romanized lyrics to Korean children's songs, send them my way. I'm trying to learn as many as I can.

~Jen

Our Bella is Growing Up!!

Bella yesterday morning went on the big kids potty!!! Our little girl, who is 13 months old, is already going on the potty. We did the happy potty dance here in our home yesterday morning. Okay we're silly but hey it made Bella really happy to see us dancing around and clapping and cheering for her.

Am I happy that we might be on our way to getting rid of the diapers and diaper changing here?? I miss having my little boy and my little girls but I'm so glad NOT about the prospect about not having to change another diaper again too!!

~Jen