Cool Kids in the Tub

Both kiddos are sporting new shades these days and both kiddos are addicted to them. Removing the sunglasses will result in a meltdown....times two! So, because Jeff and I are working to choose our battles with regards to parenting, bathing with sunglasses on doesn't really seem like a big deal. Amelia and Graham were THRILLED to be allowed a few extra minutes with their glasses, and both of them giggled for the entire bath. It almost seemed as though they thought they were getting away with something...like their silly parents didn't even notice the glasses!

Amelia feeling pretty cool! Notice the growing rolls on Amelia's arms? I'll save my commentary on her adult sized appetite for another post. :)

Glasses in the tub is so much fun!

Lots of love! (Please don't let this outpouring of affection fool you....we have very normal kids who spend half the day trying to get at each other out of frustration, a quarter of the day ignoring each other, and the remaining quarter of the day, never all at once though, is spent enjoying the others company!)

Happy Girl

I don't have much to report on today so I'll just share a picture of our happy girl. Amelia was beyond thrilled to finally get her hands onto Graham's toy steering wheel in the car today. No worries, I wasn't multi-tasking with the camera while driving-I was waiting in world's longest line at the Starbucks drive-thru.

A Day of Art....

The above picture gives you a glimpse into what kind of morning we had at our house! I took the blue tummy as a sign that Graham was feeling the need to be artistic and decided that we needed to paint. Of course Amelia would want in on the fun so I had to be creative and come up with an art project that would not only entertain Graham but would also be safe for the Princess who puts EVERYTHING into her mouth. So, finger painting with chocolate pudding it was! As you can tell by the smiles and gigantic mess, the project was a hit with both of the kids!

Just getting started...

What fun!

Amelia loves chocolate!

Beep! Beep!

Much to Graham's dismay, Amelia figured out the logistics of moving her car across the room. As you can tell from the pictures, Graham did his best to get as far away from her as he possibly could, but unfortunately, he came to a wall and Miss Amelia was proudly able to catch up to her big brother! And the best part of all of this-it happened well before 7:30 am this morning. Yes, our house is in full swing bright and early each and every day!

Putting real effort into her mission

Amelia was very proud of herself and continually turned around to make sure I was watching

She did it!

Amelia's biggest accomplishment of the morning??? Walking behind her car! It won't be long before she's able to do this unassisted!

So proud of herself!

Playgroup at the Park

The school year is over for Graham, but that doesn't mean we don't get to see our friends anymore. Many of the children in Graham's class this year were also in his class last year which means they've all known each other since they were just babies. The Mom's have all gotten to know each other as well, and we decided to meet at a different park each Thursday during the summer. What's been really fun about this arrangement, is that most of Graham's friends have siblings all within a few months of age of Amelia! The weather was perfect today and neither Amelia or Graham wasted any time getting dirty in the sand. The amount of sand they brought home in their clothes, shoes, and yes, even hair was almost unbelievable. But, at least they had fun!

This was the first, and last time Graham threw sand at Amelia today. After a quick threat that we'd leave the park if it happened again, he was on his best behavior!

Amelia loved the sand table that was just the perfect height for her!

Sand does NOT taste good!

Two Months

Exactly two months ago, a brave little girl waited at Incheon International Airport to board a plane and fly home. Two months ago, Amelia left behind everything familiar to her and she wasn't even old enough to understand that she was leaving. As we slowly made our way through the jetway and onto the plane, I wondered what Amelia was looking at and would she have any memory of her last few moments in Korea. Sure, she'll be back someday, but never as a Korean citizen and never without the understanding of why she left the country of her birth only to start over with her with her family in the United States. Jeff and I have vowed to be the bridge to Korea for both Amelia and Graham. Years from now, when they're old enough to process the complexities of international adoption, social stigma's that still exist in modern Korean culture, and we as parents are confident that both of them are confident in their own self-worth, we'll be there to take them back to Korea and show them with pride the country that allowed our family to be united.

April 2, 2009 Incheon International Airport

So here we are, two months after Amelia started over, and her adjustment has been nothing short of amazing! Sure, she had some serious sleep issues after coming home, but in the grand scheme of things those few weeks are so minor. We now have an amazingly happy, affectionate, SMILEY girl who loves her big brother Graham, Mommy, Daddy, and even Annie the dog. When Graham first came home I often found myself marveling at the miracle of adoption. It seemed like a true miracle to me that we were united with our son from the other side of the world. Now, after having gone through the process a second time, I am again in awe. Although it's only been two months since Amelia joined our family, it's hard to remember life without her. She acts as if she's been with us forever! We are so lucky to have the privilege to call Amelia our daughter!

June 2, 2009 - HOME!

Amelia and Graham

As I look back on our day, I am so excited to report that I didn't have to break up a single fight! That may not sound like a big deal, but normally by 7 am, our house is in full swing and I'm playing referee between the two little ones. I'm not sure what happened today, but things seemed to click with Amelia and Graham. Not once, did Graham try to ride Amelia like a pony, not once did Amelia try to rip a toy away from Graham, and not once was there a melt down when one child was picked up and the other left on the floor. Wow!

Instead of the usual interactions, I observed Graham holding Amelia's hands and attempting to dance with her (I'm kicking myself for not having a camera for this because it was too cute!), Amelia looking a book that Graham held in his lap (usually books are ripped out of each others hand almost immediately), and in my opinion, the cutest thing ever-Graham and Amelia sharing a kiss. I PROMISE that their little kiss wasn't staged! As you can see in the video, Graham pushed his stool up to Amelia's highchair and started to feed her the last of her lunch. He finished, and only because I had been taping him feeding her, was I ready to capture with the camera him leaning over to kiss her. It's moments like this, that make me forget all about the tears and tantrums that normally go along with having such young siblings only 17 months apart!

This picture melts my heart!

This video is out of order-sorry! We have discovered that Amelia does not like to crawl in the grass. Rough, hot pavement, sure! But grass, no way! Jeff and I get a good laugh out of watching how she 'crawls' when she's outside. Jeff thinks she looks like some sort of dinosaur and I'm just not sure what type of animal she resembles. I've got a feeling Amelia will be walking soon...just so she doesn't have to deal with the grass.

This is the video of Graham feeding Amelia her lunch. Both of them seemed very pleased with this arrangement. Perhaps, I should start enjoying my lunch at a normal pace and let Graham take over for a while!