Snow! Snow! Snow!

It's always newsworthy when we get snow in West Texas! You may remember my post about our Easter snow, well now we are getting snow at Thanksgiving and LOVING it!

Here are some pics of our playtime in the snow!

Mia's 1st Birthday (Tol)!

I can't believe that Mia is already one!?! The first year of your child's life always passes so quickly, but when they've only been with you for six of the twelve months the first birthday comes way too soon.

In Korea a child's first birthday is a very important celebration and is known as Tol. In appreciation and respect of Mia's heritage and her birth and foster families we wanted to put together the best Tol possible. I researched the Internet for information about the Tol celebration, looked at pics of other Tols (held in both Korea and the U.S. and by birth and adoptive families), searched for authentic Korean recipes, purchased Korean ingredients online (I was going for as authentic as possible!), etc.

On the menu was Jap Chae and Bulgogi (two of our favorites), rice, seawood soup, rice cakes, and Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets for the picky eaters. ;o) I love to make our kids' birthday cakes because my mom always did that for us, so I made her cakes and decorated them with sugar cherry blossoms (one of my favorites sights in Korea and also a favorite flower of mine).

Now for some of the Tol traditions.... We did have a Toljabee, which is a little ceremony where the baby predicts his/her future by selecting from a bunch of different items placed in front of him/her. For Mia's Toljabee, we placed some Korean money (wealth), a book (scholar), ruler (talented with their hands), play knife (good cook), and a thread (long life). Mia chose the money and the thread...not too bad. We also served Mia a bowl of Seawood Soup to honor her birthmother and foster mother...this was very special. Mia and I both wore Hanboks...Mia's was given to her by her birth family and Rusty and I purchased mine at the Namdaemun Market in Seoul. For fun, we gave everyone a quick lesson in how to sing Happy Birthday in Korean, so everyone did their best and sang to Mia in Korean. :o)

The food was great, the friends and family were a blessing, it was a wonderful celebration and I hope it would make her birth and foster families proud. I'm including some pictures of Mia's birthday and will add another post with additional pics...I maxed out this post. :o)

More Pics of Mia's Tol

Even More Pics of Mia's Tol (this is it...I promise!)

It's been too long...

It's been too long since I posted last, my apologies. I guess being a mom to two is keeping me pretty busy! :O) No laughing for those of you with more kids than that...I'm learning. ;o) Anyway, Mia is 11 months old now. She has eight teeth, has taken eight steps at one time, cruises EVERYWHERE, and is going to be one on November 9th. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Here are some pictures of our little Red Raiders!
Enjoy!

Mia's 8 months old today!

Today is Mia's 8 month birthday! She started crawling about a week ago and has definately mastered the skill now. She's trying to pull up on furniture around the house but thankfully hasn't mastered that yet. :o)

She has two top teeth coming in...she is going to look SO different with top teeth!?! Mia is eating lots of different foods...there is nothing that she doesn't like...she fits right in around here. She is also saying "mama" which I think is WONDERFUL, of course!

Below are some pictures of her crawling around the house and the last picture shows Mia following Huston around on his tricycle.

We'll post again soon!

Happy 4th of July!

Huston & Mia want to wish you a Happy 4th of July!


Family pic of us after the Children's Parade in downtown Midland


Rusty, Huston, Mia & Uncle Sam during the parade (how do you like my backdrop? it's not very scenic in downtown Midland) ;o)


Mia's all dressed up and ready to celebrate her 1st 4th of July!

More Fun in the Sun!

Just chillin' at the pool



Ready for her close-up!



Look! I can swim (with my swim vest on, of course)!




I'll take that bottle to go, please!

Summer FUN!

A couple of our friends invited Mia, Huston and I to come swimming at their neighborhood pool on Friday. We all had a great time and Mia LOVED her first time in a swimming pool. They were both fast asleep once we got in the car to go home...we may have to do this more often. :o)

Here are some pictures of our fun in the sun!



Here is a picture of Mia sporting her new Gap bikini and matching sunhat...this was a shower gift from a couple of girls from church. TOO cute!



We're having FUN!



That BIG, adorable smile says it all!

An update...FINALLY :o)

What can I say? Being a mommy to two makes updating your blog a little more difficult. :o)

Mia is growing up fast. She is up on hands and knees and rocking away; she just can't figure out how to go anywhere. :o) She'll be crawling before we know it. She has pulled up to standing a couple of times, too. This girl is going to be a handful. :o) Huston was/still is so laid back and little bid timid. Mia is the complete opposite, she's ready to take off.

I had pictures taken of the kids for Rusty's Father's Day present this year so I wanted to post a few of the pictures.

Hopefully, I'll post another update soon...probably with news that Mia is crawling.

Love y'all!

New pics and a little update...

I have an excited mommy story for all the moms reading this as you will understand how this makes you feel. Last night during church was the first time Mia had been away from me for a long period of time (only 2 hours, but long for us). She went with Rusty to class while I sang, etc. After church, she was so excited to see me! If anyone else held Mia, she would look and reach for me. WOO HOO! It was a great mommy moment to see that she really does like me ;o) and she wanted me...it was just the encouragement and reassurance I needed. Bringing home a six month old has been quite a learning experience...someone else has always been there for her, knows what she likes/doesn't like, they have been all she's known (and trust me...her foster family was wonderful, so Mia had it made)...and now she finds herself here with us. Mia's very happy and seems content, but part of me wondered if it was because I was her only option during the day...I'd feed her, hold her, play with her, etc. But last night, when she "picked" me...my heart melted and I knew that I was more to her than just a funny looking "babysitter"....she knows that I'm her MOMMY!

Sorry for the rambling...but I just had to share. Here are some new pics and I'll post another update soon.


Family picture :o)



Wow! I didn't know how challenging it would be to try and get a 3 year old and a 6 month old to just look at the camera at the same time!?! I wish we could've caught a better smile from Mia...but they're both looking the right direction so we'll take it. :o)


Fun in the tub!


More fun in the tub!

Update!

Well, Mia has been home two weeks and one day and celebrated her six month birthday on Wednesday. :o) She is still doing really great and we're having fun getting adjusted to our new family of four.

I just thought I'd post some pics of our little ones for all you blog addicts to enjoy!

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us, thank you for the wonderful meals (what a delicious help they have been), thank you for the visits (we love seeing everyone)!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day from one VERY happy mom to have both of her kids at home!!!!



Huston and Mia lounging around together


So sweet


What a precious face!


I told Huston he could pick out the shirt he wanted to wear on this day and he picked his "big brother shirt"...he is a great big brother, isn't he?


Mia's first baseball game (& a b-day party for one of Huston's friends...note the b-day cone hat on Huston!)