Lurker or Follower?

It is exciting to see so many people visit our blog..our story...our life, But it would be much more fun for us if we could know who you are.....So if you like to follow our journey I am asking that you sign up on our follower list that is on the right hand side of our blog. It is really simple. If you have already done this ..."Thank you", it truely has been fun getting to know you, and the support from many of you has been amazing. On the other hand, If you are a lurker...then it is time to de-lurk yourself. :-)

Great Link for Tol party ...

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/tol/tol.cfm is a great link to find some of the Korean traditional things that we plan on encorporating into Gracies First Tol Birthday. One week from today my baby will be ONE! That is just amazing to me. I keep trying to hold on to the baby stage as long as I can. I will be meeting with someone this week on getting her cake done. Im trying to figure out what all I want on it. Where is the "CAKE BOSS" when you need him? :-) I can't wait to show you all what it turns out like.

Story Time Friends...

" Humpty dumpty sat on a wall, humpty dumpty had a great fall"

"Cat in the Hat"
Fun day at the Park!!

Holt Family Fun...

Today for the first time we were able to meet some other Holt families. It was fun to make some new friends and spend some time talking about our experiences. It was a short time to visit, but we enjoyed every minute!

Here is a picture of all of our sweet and precious children!

Half have been adopted from S Korea, and the other half from China. One family awaits a referral from Thailand.

In the back ...Kaylee did not want to leave mommy...sooo cute!

(Above) Grace and her new friend Joshua (both from S. Korea) Grace actually gave him a hug!

(Below) is Kaylee with her mommy. You can see she is giving me a smile :-)

These were our 3 littlest ones that recently joined their forever families!

For more information on Holt adoptions.

Visit

http://www.holtinternational.org/

Preparing for the Big Birthday...

We had a ton of fun today shopping for Gracie's first birthday (coming up very soon), and sooper excited to incorporate the Korean traditions for her First Birthday! It is so exciting. Can't wait to see her in her Hanbok that her foster mother gave to her. It is simpley beautiful for sure. We got her some fun gifts...and stopped by the Korean market . It is a very small market place and not much to choose from, but we managed to find some fun things... I will have to put on my creative hat on to figure out some more. There are some very neat traditions that we will be doing for her, you'll have to check back next Tuesday night to get a peek of everything! I can't believe my baby will turn one in a little over a week now. We love her so much and it feels like we have had her more than 3 months. Then again...she was growing in my heart years ago!

I had to post these two pics today, because I'm so proud of myself for getting in another pony tail, and she kept it in! Yeah!

Grace loves to go outside and help water the flowers. She is really walking now. I will try to post another video on Sunday of her walking. It is amazing the change from just the last post. Still not walking Full time, but walking much much further distance! It is way too cute.

Have a Happy Weekend!

Long time friends...

Tonight my long time friend Becky and her sweet (and cute) boys came to visit us and have dinner and just hang out. It was so fun to spend some time with them, and it was so funny because Grace is usually a little hesitant with new faces, and she completely warmed up them them all right away! It was so cute. It is such a great feeling when your friends really care and love your kids! I think Grace got a million kisses, and she loved the attention! The outfit that Grace is wearing is one that Becky bought Grace, so of course we just had to be in it when they showed up tonight. My hubby even watched the kids while her and I went for a walk. It was so great. Becky and I have known each other since the 3rd grade! :-) So it was wonderful for our kids to hang out and play! Wish I would have gotten a pic of all of them...

Photos Monday....

I love taking pictures of the kids outside...This morning I got a few pics of Grace ...she loves the flowers! ...and picking them! The dress is one that my friend Krista bought for Gracie. Isn't it cute.

Is Gracie precious or what!

Crazy pic of B with the kiddos

Happy July birthday Woungbi! B turned 24 on the 11th of the month. You should be getting our package soon B!! We miss him so very much, and wish he were here with us this summer. We enjoy chatting with him on Skype. Amazing now how people can stay in touch with internet. Many have asked me what B is up to now that he is back in Korea....Well I can tell you that he is sooo crazy busy, and I'm very proud of all the things he is pursuing for his future. People in Korea have a high work ethic that is for sure. They work very hard! He will be going to Japan for a few weeks this summer also to do more of his studies. He is a great guy and once he settles down will make a great husband and father some day. We miss you B and can't wait to see you again!

First Steps

Gracie has been taking a couple steps here and there, but today for the first time, she took many many steps to walk from Dadda to Momma! So exciting to see her grow and change. She is a little peanut and it will be so funny to see her walk. My bet is she will totally be walking by her birthday. We'll see....

Today at church I had someone tell me I looked 27 years old. WHew Hoo, that made my Day!! I guess Grace on my hip makes me look young. Later at a store,I had another person say something to the fact of me being a new mommy. (I didn't have the other two with me)...Hummm I guess today was my day of looking young and like a new mom! Very Funny!

3 months home

Today we celebrate Grace being home for 3 months now. What an amazing three months it has been and oh my how time flys by so fast! I see so many more families waiting for their travel calls or updated photos and I remember how very hard that time was to wait, and time seemed to go so slow. Now that she is home with us, time goes so fast I want it to slow down. We are all so in love with our sweet little baby girl. There is not a moment where she is not getting attention from someone. She is such a happy baby, her smile reminds us of "Woungbi". When he was here in the US he did nothing but smile all the time. Grace has such a great personality, she is a goofy little girl. Here she climbed up on the couch and was very proud of herself. ...and yes I got her first pony tail in her hair. YEAH!!

My little sweetie home 3 months, and is 11 1/2 months old now!

For every mommy out there this is something you need to get ...it is called a "Beco Carrier". You can find them on line. Instead of putting all the weight on the shoulders, it puts it more around the waist. Grace will crawl to this and want me to put it on with her. I will say "do you want to cuddle", and she will give me the motion to go up! It is so cute. The past few days since we have been back from our week long trip she has been extremely clingy to me especially...I guess being away that long threw her off a bit. To help her feel more secure and close, I put her in the pack and then I can keep doing things that need to get done. Last night I walked around outside and she fell asleep pretty quickly. The carrier can hold up to 47 pounds, I can put it on without help, and it can be used as a front or back carrier. They are a little spendy , but so worth the money..every mom needs one!

Fun with Friends

It was great to get out and be with friends tonight. We need to do that more often! Our friends Stacey and Corey were great Hosts! The kids all ran around having a blast. Before we headed out, we all tried to get some group photos. We had some difficulty as you see below...but did finally manage to get a few shots! :-)

Here we all are...but missing one hubby..Our dear Hosts are on the far right (Stacey and Corey)

"Almost" all of our kiddos. We were missing a few tonight

They all had a blast playing together and running around outside with all the land and open space!

We had three new babies join us this last year. How fun! This is also our care group that Terry and I lead in the Fall. When all of us are here we had around 18-20 kids. We are all just one big happy family!

Kids make the World A Brighter Place!!

11 months old and milestones....

Grace was 11 months old on the 4th of July. With everything going on I forgot to post it! I can not believe she will be one year old soon. That just blows my mind. She has been home with us now for 3 months. We feel she is well bonded to her family and we've allowed others to hold her. "If she will let them". That is a big IF. It usually takes a while for her to warm up to someone she has not spent much time with. This is a good thing! I'm glad in the beginning, we read up more on bonding with an adopted child, and stuck to our "holding rule". I believe it has helped her tremendously to learn she can trust us and know that we are not going anywhere....that we are mom and dad forever and ever. Although some family members had a very hard time with this "thing" we were doing...as if it was something horrible for them. Sadly,it was just a matter of them being uneducated on this extremely important issue. We did what was best for the health of Grace, and that is something I will never regret, no matter who decided to get offended! This is a site I found very helpful on bonding and attachment.

http://www.a4everfamily.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=90 It was extremely helpful for us putting up some bounderies.

On another note, Grace has adjusted beautifully. She is finally sleeping through the night (if in her own bed). The car rides are getting better, but I can't say they are fun. She is so close to walking. She will take a few steps away from furniture to go to us or a toy then sits down as if she realizes "oh my, I'm standing on my own, I better sit". Her personality is amazing, funny,beautiful, and very charming. She climbs things like no other child I have ever seen before. Maybe she will climb mountains when she is older! She eats anything we give her and loves "big people" food best. She is very ticklish, she babbles all the time now, she says and signs many words, she loves the puppy and kitties. She is very loving and hugs and kisses all the time. She loves to play with her Korean baby doll. She is a baby on the go all the time. We do not know what we did without her, and we are all so happy she is with us now. We are gearing up for her One Year Birthday Celebration! I am doing my homework on putting together a first year Korean Birthday. Any ideas out there would be helpful too :-) Thank you Lord, for blessing us with this sweet precious baby Gracie. Help us and guide us each day, help us to be great mentors for our children, help us to raise them up to know you and have a passionate relationship with you deep in their hearts!

A quick swim and home bound we go....

Gracie in her cute little sun hat! Isn't she totally cute as ever?! Today we enjoyed a little bit more pool time at my moms house (nanna's). ...later in the afternoon we were home bound...Grace traveled pretty well considering we have put alot of miles on and have seen many new faces! It was a blast showing her off, and she did great with people, but also let them know she would not go to anyone she did not know very well at all.

From Left to Right My aunt Sandy, Aunt Jeanie, and my mom. What a crew of sisters!

Amanda thinking about breaking the swimming pool rule.....

Ooops...I didn't see that! Did anyone els?

more pics of the week ..

Gracie got to see her Great Grandma tonight. Don't they look so very sweet!

more at the zoo a couple days ago..

Swimming at Nanna's Pool today was so fun

more miles down the road....

After my shoulder surgery, we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's in Minnesota for a few days. Grace did really well on our first really long road trip. It took 7 hours of driving to get there. She did great other than night time rountines. But I think she just wanted mommy to hold her and I couldn't hold and feed her the bottle with my arm in the sling. Thank Goodness I only have to wear it for a couple days. This was only the second time that Grace has seen her G and G, so they really loved being able to see her.

She loved playing in the box!

Bay caught a snake! YUK!

We visited the zoo....Grace loved the animals....here she wanted to climb in with them! She is a mother hen, loves animals, and babies of all kinds and wants to always hug them and cuddle animals. IT was such a joy to see the expressions of excitement on her face.

Then we traveled 4 more hours to nanna's house (my mom)...spent some time with family and time in nanna's swimming pool! It has been fun to see everyone , but it will be great to get home and get us all back in our own beds and routines. Grace has done better now at nighttime since I have the sling off and can rock her and give her her bottle. ...but I think she is ready to get back home in her own crib too! All in all she has done great with all the traveling. She has been a gem to be around and everyone comments about how great of a baby she is! Yes we are blessed, and we know it! We will have another 4 more hours to get us back home. For me...with going to get the surgery done I will have traveled 20 hours total in the week....more pics to come!

Shoulder Surgery Success!

Today after many hours of driving I was finally at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Mn. to get a surgery that was well over due. For many years I have had shoulder problems. With being a dance teacher and mommy to a little one this has been very hard to live a normal life with this amount of pain. Last season I really got through the season with the cortisone shots they would inject into my shoulder. This year I knew I would not be able to teach with this kind of condition. My doctor thankfully referred me to the best doctor who does a new procedure ...less invasive than opening the whole shoulder up....to get the calcification out. Turns out I qualified and it was a great success. They got most all of it out today. I have to keep my arm in a sling for a few days, not lift anything for about 2 weeks, and then begin physical therapy. It will be a challenge to figure things out with caring for our baby, but It will all work out. I am already use to carrying Grace on the opposite side anyway because I have always been in such a high amount of pain, so here I am as she is checking me out. I think she knows or feels mommy has an ouchy. I give Thanks to God today that I was able to get this done, and that the doctor feels it will be successful!

We are also visiting and saying with family, and Today was the first day my baby girl had to be away from me while I got my surgery done. Terry stayed back with her while my father in law took me to the Mayo. He was wonderful to do this for me and it all worked out great. When we got back from the Mayo Gracie was attached to me like GLUE!!

I'm able to type still... I stand up and my arm is in the sling....I told you I will manage! :-)....Now the recovery and healing takes place. Please send a few prayers up for speedy recovery! and Thanks so much to my friends who I know were praying during this procedure today.

Happy 4th Of July

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours!

Our grandparents (the kids great grandparents) and my aunt came to visit for the 4th of July
We have had such a great time with them. It has been a while since they have last been out so it was great for them to get out of town and just relax a little bit!

Grace had fun at her first parade, she loved the horses that came through. She saw her first horse!Plus we finally met some friends that also adopted about the same time we did from Korea, then our girls were able to hang out and play a little. It was great to see eachother in person verses email or phone.....and talk about our adoption experiences!

Above is our friends Barb and her daughter Kaylee. This was our first time we met! It was a blessing things worked out like they did for us to be able to meet up together. I think it will be great for the girls to know eachother.

Grace and Kaylee trying to figure eachother out...

Missing Gramps...

One year ago today our grandpa went to be with the Lord. ..and with his son who he has dearly missed for many many years(my dad). Im sure today the two of them are fishing in Heaven with Jesus, probebly catching the "biggest" fish ever! Last year for Bays birthday we got to see grandma and grandpa and I remember he was so happy that day and looked great. Grandpa always had a kiss for everyone he saw! One week later he went to be with the Lord. We miss him so much and I know that today is especially hard on my very sweet Grandma!

Our last visit with Grandpa