So I know that I have been a terrible blogger lately, but I have several legitamate excuses. 1. Andy went back to work on Wednesday of last week  2. I have taken a lot pictures with my phone (but it is not a smart phone) so I have to figure out the best way to get the photos onto my desktop. 3. We have just been enjoying our little man way too much to worry about blogging during the day. 4. I am really tired at night after he goes to sleep!

So here are some photos from Andy's phone of what we have been up to lately.   There are not the best photos ever taken, but they will have to do.

 

We have been spending a lot of time in the "big pool" with family and friends.  Anderson is such a waterbug.  On our 3rd trip to the pool he was blowing bubbles, and by our 4th trip to the pool he was putting his face in the water.  He is fearless in the pool, and we love it because we are waterbugs ourselves.

Anderson has been spending a lot of time with Pa and Luvie.  They have been reading, playing in the sandbox, playing on the hill, and eating lots of Luvie's good food!  Anderson loves watermelon and green beans!  He can get enough of either one.

This was our first meal out in a public setting.  Anderson is such a go-with-the-flow kid.  He loves grilled nuggets with Polynesian sauce and waffle fries.

A couple things about this photo. 1.  He is still drooling a lot so yes that is a cloth napkin tried around his neck. 2. No, we have not mowed our grass since being home, but that is on the to do list for tomorrow.  3. That firetruck is possessed!  It will light up and make noises at random times even when the switch is turned to off! :/

Anderson now has shoes thanks to StrideRite and NewBalance.  He is a 6 1/2 Extra Wide!  I love his little NewBalance tennis shoes.

But though he loves his new kicks, it is still fun to try on daddy's big shoes.  Fun to try on, but difficult to walk in.

And well, this is just because mommy and daddy can. 

I am going to try to be more regular about posting, but you will just have to bear with me a little bit guys. I am trying to get used to being a stay-at-home mom (until January) but it is a full-time job.  As his sleep schedule becomes more regular, I hope to post more frequently.

Swinging With Daddy

Anderson and I were swinging yesterday and he was going crazy!  It was so funny.

1st Week Home

Here is a collection of photos and videos from our first week home. Enjoy!

 In the Ergobaby with Mommy.

Riding our 1960's vintage elephant.

Pirate in training t-shirt from Grammy and Grandaddy.

I Just Got New Shoes Smile!

Mr Cool Baby

First time in a swimming pool.

Making it home and then some...

 This is the end result of 31 hours of traveling, but trust me, it did not always look so good.  By the time we arrived home we were exhausted.  We had to wake up at 5AM on Friday morning in Seoul (which is 4PM Thursday evening here in Concord).  We had to wake up our little one and drag our luggage to the airport shuttle stop in front of the Renaissance Hotel which was about a 1/4 of mile from the guest house where we were staying.  We had called a taxi to drive us the short trip but he looked at our luggage and said he did not have room.  Uggh.  So I had Anderson on my chest in the ergo baby with his diaper bag while I pulled a suitcase behind me.  And Andy had 2 suitcases, a bookbag, and his backpack with all the electronics in it.  We were a pitiful looking crew.  And wouldn't you know it started raining.  We finally got on the bus and we were about at the airport when Anderson vomited on Andy.  But Andy took it like a champ and we clean them up and Andy put on his extra shirt (only one hour into the trip home.)  The airport was amazingly efficient (like everything else in Korea) so we had over 2 hours to kill in the airport before we boarded our plane.

Here are my two guys just taking it easy before the long plane ride across the Pacific.

 Just chillin'

This picture was taken right before a delightful game of peekaboo between Anderson and me, the after effect was that he came around the chairs and when I held out my arms he walked into my arms and gave me a hug.  It was such a feeling of release that he was going to bond with me and that our family was going to be just fine.

 There was an indoor playground near our gate.  At first Anderson was unsure if he wanted to explore it.  He was content just to sit on Daddy's lap and watch the other kids have fun.

 But before long he had to join in.  We even climbed up the slide like the other big kids were doing.  I am not sure if this mom was completely prepared for all the energy and curiosity this guy has. 

He will watch you do about anything and then try it himself.  Except walk on grass, which we discovered on Sunday that he does not like and has probable had little experience with.  But we are working on it.

But back to the trip home.  The exhausting, trip home that seemed like it would never end.  Anderson really did amazingly well, but he would only let Andy hold him the entire time we were traveling all 31 hours.  By the time we touched down in Charlotte Andy's arm muscles had completely given out, but he held on trough the pain.  He is such an amazing father.

 Our hearts were crushed when we reached NYC and learned that our flight had been cancelled.  Andy broke down in tears when the agent told him that we would not be getting on a flight home for another 7 hours hours (9PM).  They even had to taxi us to another airport.  We had a momentary breakdown when we talked to family and friends and explained we would be much later arriving that planned.  As our family comforted us and encouraged us we could no longer hold back the tears.  Then we pulled it back together not wanting Anderson to see us so upset and knowing that falling apart was not going to solve anything. 

 Father and Son- such a mutual love

Our first photo together as a family of 3 on US soil.

 

 

 

Our family and friends were there to great us at the airport.  Just seeing their faces and being in a familiar setting was such a relief.  My parents drove us home, but even that was challenging.  Anderson had never been in a carseat before and perhaps never even been restrained in any way so he cried and screamed the moment we strapped him in.  He cried for over 25 minutes non-stop.  I was worried he was going to make himself sick.  Finally, when we reached George Liles Parkway he feel asleep.  We arrived home to a house filled with the smell of a pot roast cooking, a stocked refridgerator and cabinets, flowers in vases and many other details that my family had worked on while we were gone to make our transition into parenthood as smooth as possible.  Andy went to sleep almost immediately and slept until noon.  I always have to unpack and try to settle back in before I can fully unwind.  My mom and I gave Anderson a bath.  As it turns out, in the absence of Andy, he was eager to turn to me for comfort.  It was hard to give that up but I was exhausted as well.  So I handed him over to my mother and crawled in bed.  

The next morning I found the two of them curled up on our front porch swing.

 

I haven't taken many photos in the last 3 1/2  days that we have been home.  I have just been soaking up the joy of having our son home.  I mean look at this bundle of joy.  

Yes, he really does sleep like that on a regular basis.

We have been swinging, strolling, dancing, singing, tickling, bouncing, snuggling, exploring, learning, clapping, stacking, and so by the time the end of the day comes around, I just haven't thought about blogging.

We have also been swimming (in the kiddie pool on our back porch).  It is a refreshing activity after being in the heat of the day.  It is a little cool, but after this face comes the laughter.  He loves playing with the cups that drain.  He also loves drinking the water.  We are trying to break that habit.

 Daddy was practicing spiking my hair. 

 Anderson loves to make mommy and daddy dance to the music.  And we will do just about anything to make me giggle.  Just look at that face, can you blame us?

Initially he danced to the music by tilting my head to the left and right, but after watching mommy and daddy dance around the house, he is starting to add some dance moves of his own.

 Getting to my Tia (Aunt Meg).

So many people have stopped by to visit.  Granny, Aunt Julia, and the boys came over.  Anderson went over to Garrett and gave him a hug.  He liked blowing bubbles with Aunt Julia.  He wanted to blow them himself.  He did a good job sticking the wand in the bubble container, but instead of blowing the bubbles, he put the wand in my mouth.

 I had mentioned "stinky face" in another blog post.  We think this is how he breaks the ice and makes friends with new people.  Well, this is "stinky face" which usually changes to surprised face after a couple seconds, then back and forth.

 I know I look tired in this picture.  After seeing it, I decided to put some make-up on today.  But let's keep it real here people.  We are new parents of a toddler with extreme jet-lag, we are tired.  But we are having fun too.  This proof that mommy and Anderson are bonding fantastically since being home.  I wanted to put this picture us to show that even though we are tired we are having so much fun!  In this picture we are laying on a quilt in the front yard trying to get him used to the grass.

Oh Anderson, we have known you for 9 days now.  And in those 9 days you have already brought us so much love and joy.  You are a blessing to us.  We are so lucky that you are our son.

Home Sweet Home

We finally made it home after 31 hours of travel with no sleep, 16 hours in the air a flight cancellation, a cab ride across NYC, and lost luggage.  We were so happy to be greeted by family friends at the airport we both started crying, but we had both been crying quite a bit during the trip.  I was doing ok until our flight out of NY got cancelled.  After that I had a hard time holding it together.  It's amazing what lack of sleep will do to you.  We'll post more later, but for now we are home!!!!

~Andy

Figuring each other out

Thursday, July 19, 2012

While yesterday went amazingly well, we did spend about 4 hours out on the street just walking around trying to keep him distracted.   We were worried that walking around would not be a luxury we available to us due to the prediction of lots of rain.  We were anxious about trying to entertain our little man for 14 hours in our little apartment guest room with limited toys and his tendency to cry when we in the room.  Well, we have been pleasantly surprised on both accounts.  First of all, the rain was heavy through the night and early morning, but now the skies are blue (perhaps the prettiest day here yet).  We did take about an hour-long walk after lunch to try to keep things fresh and interesting so that he wouldn’t become restless.  Second, Anderson has done so well indoors today.  We are amazed at how much more of his personality has been revealed to us as each hour passes and how much more comfortable he grows just being around us. 

As you saw in today’s earlier video post, we have broken the laughter barrier.  He smiles and laughs quite a bit now.  And I already mentioned the funny faces in yesterday’s blog.  Our caseworker told us he likes to be the center of attention and we are starting to see that come out.  Looks like I now have two comedians in the house. He is really good at mimicking as well.  We have played telephone a lot today.  He is so smart.  He works hard to figure out new toys.  He is so observant that once he has seen you do something several times; he can do it as well.  We are starting to introduce a little baby sign language.  And he has already used the “more” hand signal 3 times!  (And no it wasn’t for food; it was for water.)  Can you tell I am one proud mommy?

He is very physical with daddy.  He wants Andy to be the one to hold him (which means Andy is the one to put him down to sleep) and he always sits on Andy’s lap when we are playing together.  But don’t worry about me.  He is not pushing me away.  We play a lot, and touch a lot, and I am doing a lot of the feeding.  Also, the time he and I are spending together when I have on the baby carrier are great for bonding.  Of course, I want him to reach for me and snuggle in my arms, but I know that time is on the horizon.  Look how far we have come as a family of three in only 26 hours. 

And now he is resting for his 2^nd nap of the day!  Looks like we have a good sleeper on our hands.  He slept for 11 hours last night (straight through the night- not a peep out of him).  He took a 45 minute nap at 11AM.  And now he is napping again.  According to the schedule his foster mom gave us- he usually sleeps for 2 hours during this nap.  We’ll have to wait and see.  But for now I am counting my blessings.  He is so beautiful when he is sleeping!  Well he just woke up so it turns out it was a 1 hours nap today.  Still, I’ll take it!

So what is in between us and Concord you ask?

The rest of the afternoon/evening here (it is currently 5pm), a night’s sleep (finger’s crossed), a early wake up, we have to catch the 5:57 bus to the airport for a nearby hotel, getting to and through Seoul’s airport, waiting for our 10:40 AM KoreanAir flight to get there (we were told to be there 3 hours early!  Awesome!), a layover in NYC, a flight from NYC to NC, and then through the Charlotte airport. 

So this is probably going to be my last post until we are home.  Our bags are mostly packed.  I told Andy today that I don’t think I have ever been so eager to get home or so dreading a flight there.  Please keep the prayers coming our way because they are working. 

Love to you all!

His laugh is so cute you will cry! :)