Bulgogi and Silly Fun

We recently took a trip to New Orleans to eat at the only Korean restaurant in the area and had some good bulgogi and bap and to let Taylor enjoy some birth country cuisine :) It was also our first attempt of dining out since we have been home, and he did pretty well (of course it was slow during lunchtime, and he did spend some time walking back and forth between the table and the fish tank to see the Umma fish, Appa fish, and Taylor Won fish...Appa/Michael introduced the concept of the "Taylor Won fish" lol).

He loved eating the bulgogi, bap, and a delicious soup that I do not know the name of.

Mmmm Mmmmm good! He did have to be a little patient with me as I am surely not as efficient with the chopsticks as his foster family was, but I am getting better.

"I want more of that, Umma." Side note: I sometimes find myself forgetting to offer him the foods I am not particularly fond of...in this case, giant cooked onions...he loved them!

We also spent a little time at the local Learning Express Toys store. Why would you need to buy these toys anyway when you can just visit the store and play with them. Price of that buggy to bring home = $69.99...Cost to play with it in the store before saying "bye bye buggy?" = priceless :) This store really was a lot of fun. They had a train station, grocery section, pretend play section with baby dolls and beds, little pianos, etc.

We couldn't pass up a chance to add a little McDonald's to our day, so Taylor and I went to enjoy a nice cold chocolate shake for dessert after our Korean BBQ lunch while Appa went into a computer store. The idea was to share, with one straw for me and one for him...that grin tells me he thought his plan was better!

Me and my little fella ;-)

Silliness!

And a few shots from another day at the park...

Hydrating with a little H20 while watching the fish...

It's not all fun and games...a little grocery shopping after the park.

We have been home 7 weeks today, and Taylor is really getting into the swing of things. He is mostly sleeping through the night with only an occasional waking up for a little chocolate milk every 3 nights or so. He now likes pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, and brownies (oh yea!). He is getting better with hearing the word "awnyo" (i.e. 'no') but what 2 year old really likes that one anyway. He is saying/signing well over 60 words and understands so much more...such a sponge! He is putting together 3-word phrases and stays with the sitter for 3+ hours at a time. I have one more week off of work and then will be starting back....hopefully easing back in to seeing patients. Not sure I even remember what an occupational therapist does ;-) Grateful for prayers for a smooth transition and wisdom/discernment to balance mommyhood, being a wife, and being an OT. Of course, prayers for Taylor's attachment and for him to relax and enjoy his time with Umma away. Thanks for visiting!

5 Weeks Home

Has it really only been 5 weeks? Time has flown by so quickly these last few weeks. It is hard to believe I have only known this little guy for 6 weeks now and even harder to imagine my life without him. He is such a blessing. He seems to fit into our family so well with his witty and sweet personality. He loves to be outside and is learning that we cannot spend all day in the Louisiana heat. He fights taking a nap but cannot seem to stay awake when taken for a ride in his carseat :) He is getting much better about going to sleep and following our bedtime routine to prepare for settling down in the evenings. He loves his Appa (daddy) and asks about his all day when he is working. His favorite thing to do with Appa is wrestle and practice his Power Ranger moves where he uses his "powers" to make Michael fall on the floor over and over again :) We also spent some time at Michael's parents house a couple of weeks ago where he met his cousin, Lillian, and got a good taste of country living...

Tractor at Pa's (great grandfather) house

Our mode of transportation from Nana's house to Pa's house...

Took him a little time to learn that he cannot ALWAYS be the driver...learning.

Fishing for tadpoles (gross but the kid loves to scoop them up...with his hand...and put them back in the water after we catch them)

We also went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago...loves the tigers and ducks. Does not love so much activity around naptime and fell asleep about 30 minutes into the fun.

Fun at the local splash pad!

Our big boy on his bike wearing his watch like Umma...has not quite gotten the concept of pedels yet, but we are working on it ;-)

Appa and Taylor "fixing things"...darn toys kept "breaking" (as per Taylor) and needed to be fixed with Appa's tools

Cheesin during playtime :-)

Okay, so some of these are sideways because I could not get blogger to post them correctly :/ but wanted to get them on here for those special people half a world away that want to see how their sweet foster child is doing ;-) I was cleaning out his dresser drawers when Taylor spotted a choo choo train t-shirt like Umma's (that I wore during our trip to S Korea) and insisted on putting it on...still a little big, but that did not seem to phase this wild child from running around in it.

Painting on the porch...swiped that brush right across his face when wiping sweat and never knew (until we went to wash hands) that he has war paint on

Kid loves to swim!

Favorite lounging spot at home...his good ole bean bag with his pwee (blanket) to keep him comfy

Mornings with Appa looking for silly objects in his Look and Find book...introducing his "thinking finger" where he taps his lips and says "hmmm" when looking hard for something.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I have 3 more weeks off from work before I have to start back and Taylor starts spending some time with his babysitter. We would appreciate prayers for all (especially sweet Taylor's heart) as we get closer to yet another transition for our little guy. Prayers for a peaceful transition and a little one who knows when Umma leaves Umma ALWAYS comes back and that he has good laid back fun with his wonderful new babysitter and their woof woof and meows. Thanks for following. God bless!

P.S. Dear Foster Mom, Thank you so much for nurturing and loving this precious boy. He is doing so well and has such a happy and carefree personality. He is also super smart and knows 45+ English words. He still says the Korean words for 'no', 'do not', 'blanket', 'ouch', 'big', 'yes', 'it's okay', etc. He also still loves to watch Pororo, Tayo, and Chiro on the computer and phone. He is beginning to eat many different American foods but still loves our Korean food nights where he eats lots of noodles and meats. We have your picture from his Tol up in our living area, and talk about you often. He still knows you are his first Appa and Umma and obviously loves you dearly. We will continue to talk to him about his first years in Korea and how he was so very loved from the beginning. We hope you are doing well and settling in with your new addition. Blessings for the U.S.!

Photo Update

I have no idea how those super mamas come home with their kiddos and have time to keep their blogs so beautifully updated...I obviously do not! I figured I would post a few pictures of our first 2.5 weeks. I cannot believe it has only been two weeks. We have a long way to go to get into a new "normal" swing of things but have come so far these past 17 days.

He loves to go outside our apartment and feed the ducks, turtles, and fish every day (usually multiple times each day). He yells at them to come so that he can throw some bread in the water to them.

He also loves playing outside, kicking his ball (sometimes into the lake...oops) and swinging on the playground.

Baths are all fun and games...until I try to get the shampoo out of his hair :-)

Just some typical Taylor silliness and activity.

Cuddling is a must after getting out of the bath because, as he says it, it's coooold!

Chillin with Aunt Savannah in my new shades that make me cool like Appa :-)

Veggietales Singsong

http://vimeo.com/42029322 Password is taylorboy :-)

On American Soil

Exhausted but thought I would write a few sentences...Thanks for prayers. No more seizures since that one episode. Spending the night in San Fran b/c of flight delays with plans to leave for home near NOLA where we can be joined as a family of three. So ready to see my husband again...no more trips around the world without him if I can help it! I am so grateful for your prayers, knowing God hears them and answers. Taylor did great on the plane and slept for 8 of the 10.5 hours. He is sleeping well beside me now with his sweet little hand on my back. Getting up in just over 4 hours to get ready for the next take off...more prayers needed to carry us home. 

Guess Who's in America?!

SWEET TAYLOR!!!  

... and those two barely-hanging-in-there women who are traveling with him!! :D

{Brooke updating again.}

Honestly though, our flight was really as good as you could have asked for.  I mean, yes, there was insane turbulence 75% of the flight and, yes, Amanda did get fussed out by the flight attendants a few times for sleeping in the floor with Taylor, but hey?  It's not like we're ever going to see those same flight attendants again.... or at least not for quite some time.

We have made it to our hotel in San Fran, ordered some take out that included pasta alfredo, philly cheese steak and a patti melt with REAL lemonade, coke, and apple juice.  Amanda and I thought it was delicious.  Taylor Won... not so much a fan.  He snacked on cheerios and some yummy bread the diner sent over, all while jugging some apple juice.  

We have also all finally showered and don't smell like travel anymore, thank heavens, and we're all piled onto the beds playing and resting and getting psyched up about tomorrow's travel plans.  Ok, so I'm trying to put on my "game face" here.  

We are SO close to home and SUPER excited about it.  Amanda has already made Tay an appointment with his pediatrician for Monday and is eager to get him all the medical attention he might need.  She has truly been super-mom.  I am SO proud of her and excited that Tay has found his forever Mommy and Daddy, who can't wait to take care of him and love him like crazy.  

I'm really going to be sad to have to split from them in the airport tomorrow.  I hope we don't get too many stares as we say our good-byes... though it couldn't be any more than the stares we got while eating Burger King on the floor in the que lines in Seoul.... we waited in line to check our bags for TWO hours and were STARVING!!  (They were rescheduling everyone's flights.  It was a small disaster.)

Anyway, I suppose my next update will be from HOME!!!  :D  Eeeeek!  And also, I'll definitely be filling everyone in on the "missing" days in Seoul.  I've got lots of photos I'm eager to share!

xoxo-

Us

Prayers Needed, Please

Hi everyone!

This is Brooke updating.  Amanda is currently walking sweet Taylor around the airport getting him to sleep.

We've had some issues today that we'd really appreciate your prayers about.  The morning started normally, with sweet Taylor giggling and playing, then all of the sudden, he fell into a seizure (of which he has no history of) that lasted about 6 1/2 minutes.  It was incredibly scary, but we immediately called emergency assistance and were rushed in an ambulance to the emergency room in Seoul.  We then spent the next two hours or so speaking to several different doctors (Seoul and US) to come up with the best plan of action.  The consensus seemed to be to get on a plane and get to the US as soon as possible so that Tay could be seen by his pediatrician.

We arrived back at the hotel just in time to throw everything into our suitcases and get to the airport on time- only to find out that our flight has been delayed for FIVE hours.  Which greatly frustrates us because it in turn messes up our connecting flights, causing us to have to spend an extra night in San Francisco, California.  This means, we will arrive at our final destinations approx 6:00pm on Saturday night, Alabama and Louisiana time.

We are both incredibly nervous, exhausted, and just SO ready to be home.  We humbly covet your prayers for travel mercies and a happy, healthy Taylor as we travel back into familiar territory.

xoxo
Us