Okay it started with me, the youngest one. I started with just a cough. I got a runny stuffy nose. Then my siblings developed their own colds with coughing. Then Daddy got sick and had to stay home from work due to him feeling hot and cold. And now Mommy is sick with a sore throat.
Daddy went back to work yesterday but he still isn't feeling well. We are giving Mommy fits because we don't think that we are still sick even though each of us are coughing and blowing our noses. I think that if we listen to her when she tells us to nap, we just might feel better but we are very reluctant to nap. The best she can do is confine two of us to the couch downstairs and one of us in our room upstairs.
Well I gotta go back to resting but we hope that you are healthy this holiday season.
~Tae Hee
Showing posts with label Update on Our Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Update on Our Family. Show all posts
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Monday, January 12, 2009
Elephants, Counting, Tea Parties, and Music
Elephants
Ask Katie what her favorite animal in the world is and she'll tell you...ELEPHANTS!!!!! We took out books from our public library and she was quite upset when we had to return them. She'll tell you the parts of the elephant (from the tusks to the tail). She'll tell you what the Mommy, Daddy and baby elephants are called. She was absolutely delighted to get elephant stuffed animals and books on elephants for Christmas.
I asked her recently what she wanted to do when she grew up and besides being a Mommy who adopts, she wants to take care of animals and have an elephant as a pet. Boy my girl can dream big here!!!! Jeff and I have tried to tell her that we can't have an elephant as a pet in the home and her response was "okay how about a baby elephant??".
Someday we're going to have to take this girl to go see elephants in person. I can't begin to imagine her reaction to elephants then.
Counting
Ryan is doing really well with counting...especially after I created a little game that just he, Katie and I do right now. Before he could count up to 50 with quite a bit of help. Now he can count up to 100 with some help (mainly the 10's spot).
Tea Parties
Bella loves to host tea parties. She cooks in her little kitchen, pours the tea into tea cups, and hands out the goodies to eat as well. She is a very good hostess most of the time.
Music
All 3 kids love to sing and listen to music. Ryan will sing songs that he has learned from PBS Kids or from his computer along with Katie. Bella loves to sing along to me singing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and so far this is her most requested song. I think that if she could, she would put Mommy on repeat all day long.
Ask Katie what her favorite animal in the world is and she'll tell you...ELEPHANTS!!!!! We took out books from our public library and she was quite upset when we had to return them. She'll tell you the parts of the elephant (from the tusks to the tail). She'll tell you what the Mommy, Daddy and baby elephants are called. She was absolutely delighted to get elephant stuffed animals and books on elephants for Christmas.
I asked her recently what she wanted to do when she grew up and besides being a Mommy who adopts, she wants to take care of animals and have an elephant as a pet. Boy my girl can dream big here!!!! Jeff and I have tried to tell her that we can't have an elephant as a pet in the home and her response was "okay how about a baby elephant??".
Someday we're going to have to take this girl to go see elephants in person. I can't begin to imagine her reaction to elephants then.
Counting
Ryan is doing really well with counting...especially after I created a little game that just he, Katie and I do right now. Before he could count up to 50 with quite a bit of help. Now he can count up to 100 with some help (mainly the 10's spot).
Tea Parties
Bella loves to host tea parties. She cooks in her little kitchen, pours the tea into tea cups, and hands out the goodies to eat as well. She is a very good hostess most of the time.
Music
All 3 kids love to sing and listen to music. Ryan will sing songs that he has learned from PBS Kids or from his computer along with Katie. Bella loves to sing along to me singing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and so far this is her most requested song. I think that if she could, she would put Mommy on repeat all day long.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Dick and Jane Story Collection Volume 1 & My 4 1/2 and 3 Year Olds
Both of my oldest two kids are learning to read. Ryan is on page 114 of 193 . Katie is on page 66 and read 13 pages last night with little problem. It's simply amazing to see something just click like this.
Tonight we're reading Dick and Jane again. Bella wants to read but she is learning her letters, colors and numbers for now.
~Jen
Tonight we're reading Dick and Jane again. Bella wants to read but she is learning her letters, colors and numbers for now.
~Jen
Friday, January 2, 2009
As the sickness goes around the house...
It was either Daddy or Bella who got sick first. Then Katie and then myself. Now Mommy is sick as well. It's a cold but it is wiping people out who get it (well at least Bella and Mommy and Daddy). Katie and I don't think that we're sick at all so we're running and jumping and did I mention running around??
Mommy and Daddy say that we should rest BUT that's no fun to do!!! How else are we supposed to play with our Christmas toys???
Can you say that we are going stir crazy in the house?? So much snow outside and we can't play in it due to it being too cold out and us having colds!!! Definitely not fair!!! However when we get over our colds in this home, we will head outside to play in the snow once again. We're sick of being sick here. We're sick of the runny and stuffy noses. We're sick of having to blow our noses.
~Ryan
Mommy and Daddy say that we should rest BUT that's no fun to do!!! How else are we supposed to play with our Christmas toys???
Can you say that we are going stir crazy in the house?? So much snow outside and we can't play in it due to it being too cold out and us having colds!!! Definitely not fair!!! However when we get over our colds in this home, we will head outside to play in the snow once again. We're sick of being sick here. We're sick of the runny and stuffy noses. We're sick of having to blow our noses.
~Ryan
Monday, August 18, 2008
It's Official...Bella is ours and we are hers
Mommy and Daddy woke us up at 7 am this morning to eat breakfast and get dressed to go to court. Mommy mentioned to us repeatedly that we would be seeing the judge dressed up in his robes and that we had to be extra good in court today.
Daddy had to wake up Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Doug, and Tommy since they stayed over from Katie's birthday party yesterday to go to court today. Mommy, Daddy, and us kids were the only ones to eat breakfast this morning. Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Doug and Tommy didn't have breakfast this morning until after court. Our appointment was at 8:45 at court...we arrived before that to meet with the lawyer.
When we arrived in court we walked through a gate that beeped that had a guard at it. Mommy, Daddy and everyone else carrying a bag, phone, or had keys needed to put them through a tunnel and then collect them when they came out. I put my toy camera up on it to send it through. The guard looked at our water cups that came through in our cooler bag as well.
We waited for a little while in the waiting area before our lawyer came in. He went upstairs to check on things then called us upstairs to wait up there. While we were up there waiting, Daddy and Mommy were talking to another adoptive parent who adopted through the same agency they used 20+ years ago and also adopted an 8 year old girl from the Phillipines about 15 years ago. Small world huh??
We were then directed down the hall and into the courtroom...it was the same judge who did my finalization and Katie's finalization and the same courtroom. We all walked in there and Katie and I could sit in the front. The judge shook Daddy and Mommy's hand and went to shake mine but I didn't want him to. The judge talked to Mommy and Daddy and so did our lawyer as well (just like Mommy said would happen). Mommy and Daddy had to sign their names to one piece of paper. After a little while, the judge shook their hands and said "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Cox".
After that we had pictures taken with the judge...lots and lots of pictures. Then it was over. We all left the courthouse building and came home for more pictures of us at home by Bella's homecoming flag. So Papa took some pictures at Mommy's request.
We went out to eat at a local restaurant. I ate all of my chicken fingers and my fries as well. Everyone commented on how good their food was. From there Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Doug and Tommy went home to Massachusetts. Uncle Kevin went home to Pennsylvania. And we went to our home as well.
If you're lucky, maybe Mommy will put up one or two.
Today we are officially a family...
~Ryan
Daddy had to wake up Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Doug, and Tommy since they stayed over from Katie's birthday party yesterday to go to court today. Mommy, Daddy, and us kids were the only ones to eat breakfast this morning. Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Doug and Tommy didn't have breakfast this morning until after court. Our appointment was at 8:45 at court...we arrived before that to meet with the lawyer.
When we arrived in court we walked through a gate that beeped that had a guard at it. Mommy, Daddy and everyone else carrying a bag, phone, or had keys needed to put them through a tunnel and then collect them when they came out. I put my toy camera up on it to send it through. The guard looked at our water cups that came through in our cooler bag as well.
We waited for a little while in the waiting area before our lawyer came in. He went upstairs to check on things then called us upstairs to wait up there. While we were up there waiting, Daddy and Mommy were talking to another adoptive parent who adopted through the same agency they used 20+ years ago and also adopted an 8 year old girl from the Phillipines about 15 years ago. Small world huh??
We were then directed down the hall and into the courtroom...it was the same judge who did my finalization and Katie's finalization and the same courtroom. We all walked in there and Katie and I could sit in the front. The judge shook Daddy and Mommy's hand and went to shake mine but I didn't want him to. The judge talked to Mommy and Daddy and so did our lawyer as well (just like Mommy said would happen). Mommy and Daddy had to sign their names to one piece of paper. After a little while, the judge shook their hands and said "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Cox".
After that we had pictures taken with the judge...lots and lots of pictures. Then it was over. We all left the courthouse building and came home for more pictures of us at home by Bella's homecoming flag. So Papa took some pictures at Mommy's request.
We went out to eat at a local restaurant. I ate all of my chicken fingers and my fries as well. Everyone commented on how good their food was. From there Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Doug and Tommy went home to Massachusetts. Uncle Kevin went home to Pennsylvania. And we went to our home as well.
If you're lucky, maybe Mommy will put up one or two.
Today we are officially a family...
~Ryan
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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
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
Friday, November 23, 2007
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
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
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