Fall outing

 We often go out to Horsefly in the fall to see the salmon run. 2010 was a good year - seemed like lots of fish. The kids love to be outside, so we spend lots of time there.

Finn is loving his jolly jumper and it keeps him out from under foot when I'm cooking dinner...

Hands...

I signed up for a photography course in the summer of 2010, in addition to signing up for a baby followed by single parenting... Ha! One of the assignments was 'hands' and these are two of my favourites...

Summer baby...

We love the wild woods, so we set off for a hike and had a feast of wild strawberries...

I'm back... I think... sort of...

I've been in baby neverland for nearly six weeks and have finally begun to come up for air. Part of what's kept me in neverland is a serious lack of sleep and time to focus on anything except keeping life afloat. I'm blessed with two very busy little souls, neither of whom believe sleep is actually important. I happen to disagree, which my daughter understands (she drew a picture of each family member doing their favourite thing, and I was in bed, asleep... ha!) but won't cooperate with. Little Finn I think just doesn't want to miss anything...

However... I'm determined to shake off the sandman dust and most mornings I'm way overly optimistic that I'll get more done that I can imagine, including fun stuff for me. Ha again!
I did (optimistically) sign up for a photography e-course this summer (check it out here: http://www.persistingstars.com/) and am so far 2 weeks behind, but it's pushing me to get my camera out and to take photos of things I wouldn't otherwise. Here's a sample, or stop by my flickr stream.

Home and new normal

We're settling into new routines and getting to know each other. We've been nesting for a week, helping Finn get to know us and his new home. We ventured out for a quick playground visit today, which was fun but also seemed to overwhelm him a bit, though he loved the swing. We'll keep him mostly at home for another few days as he's had so much change in his little life and needs to feels secure and stable. He's settling in pretty well I think. He seems to feel comfortable with us and definitely wants me when he's upset and needs soothing. He's exploring the house more vigorously every day. My dad came by today and installed a gate on our stairs so he doesn't take any tumbles.

Finn is a cheerful fellow and loves his sister - pulling hair and squealing. He looks so much like she did as a baby, though his personality is different. He is quite happy playing and exploring on his own, while Amelia really wanted to be with me all the time. He's also not as 'tough' - Amelia has a very high pain tolerance and is too proud to cry in front of anyone but us most of the time. Even as a baby she rolled and bumped her way along without complaining much. If Finn falls from standing and bumps his head he wails and needs cuddles to comfort and settle him down. We're loving getting to know him more each day. We're definitely up for visitors, so those of you who are close enough are welcome to give us a call and stop by to meet the new man.

Heading home with full hearts

Our bags are full to bursting, our kids are worn out, and we're heading home. This has been an amazing trip in so many ways. The Korean people we have met in our travels have been so kind and generous, welcoming us, and have given Amelia a sense of pride in her heritage. There have been many, many gifts, incredible food, and she will come home with so many memories. We spent the day yesterday at the Lotus Lantern festival which was so rich. It is the celebration of the birth of Buddha and Amelia painted and made traditional lantern boxes, saw singing and dancing and traditional costumes. It was wonderful and exhausting and I was overwhelmed by the incredible sense of connection. There are many more stories to tell, but they will have to wait as we fly home in a few hours. When we're home I'll have more time to post photos and stories of the trip. Though I am ready to settle our kids back into a routine, I look so forward to coming back here with them soon to explore this amazing place.

In our arms at last

Finn is here with us and we are so happy to all be together finally. He had one big cry session when we first came back to the apartment but since then has settled in very well. He loves Amelia and wants to be wherever she is. He seems very content and happy and is very big. Between his belly rolls and his leg rolls you can't find his diaper to undo it if he's sitting. Mama's gonna get a workout! When he's squirmy it's all I can do to hang on to him. Amelia has been great with him and only a little jealous at bedtime. We're all tired but happy. The foster mother gave us all his clothes (which is good 'cause I'm pretty sure most of the ones I brought will be too small) so we're off to buy another suitcase to pack them in tomorrow.
We're having a great time here in Seoul - saw the changing of the guard today at a palace (totally by chance) and are hoping to do some sightseeing tomorrow if we can carry Finn that far. We're looking forward to being home and settling in to our routine.

Caribbean Bay... World's largest water park adventure

Yesterday's adventure was a trip to Caribbean Bay water park - the largest in the world. Getting there involved a subway ride (with a transfer) and a connection to a bus to another town. A bit of a challenge since all the road signs, etc. are in Hangul. It makes it hard to figure out which way to walk down the street. We were very proud of ourselves to figure it all out, get on the right bus going the right direction and make it to our destination and home again with no mix ups - we're ready for the Amazing Race! Here's Amelia showing off the entrance way! It really was an amazing place - waterslides, pools, hot springs, a 'miracle spa', a winding river to float from pool to hot tub. We spent almost 5 hours in the water and Amelia was in heaven. Her favourite part was a huge waterslide that we rode a raft up a conveyer belt and then hurtled down a dark chute. It was super fun! Second highlight was the spray park with a giant skull that filled with water and then dumped on everyone below. Spectacular but a bit chilly....

There was hardly anyone there so we had no line ups or waits for anything. We could easily go back for a second day, but there is so much else to see that we likely won't make it on this trip.

Meeting Duk-Kyun/Finn... and more...

How to describe the moment when you first lay eyes on your child? It's indescribable really - a moment that is forever in my memory. The elevator door opened and... there he is! Looking at me expectantly as though waiting to see how I might respond. I want to wrap my arms around hime, but he's just over 8 months, so I know reaching for him may provoke fright more than anything, so I wait while we go inside. We exchange polite greetings with his foster mother and foster father, who are very sweet and incredibly gracious hosts. They obviously care for him very much and I can see that this will be a difficult time for them to let him go. Eventually he crawls over to explore Amelia and she squirms with a combination of excitement and overwhelm at being the first to have contact with him. It is all I can do to resist picking him up, but he does crawl up to say hello then off to play. My patience is finally rewarded as he lets me pick him up and hold him, play with him and feed him a bit of banana. He's a good eater - and it shows.... he's BIG... at least 25 pounds already! He seems calm, solid, matter of fact about the things around him. He's not wary, just independent.

The foster father conducts a symphony of photos in various combinations. He thanks us for giving Duk-Kyun a good family and home, for being his parents. We thank them for taking care of him for us, and give them some gifts as a token. They pore over the photo book of Williams Lake and insist we sign it for them. They urge us to eat from the table laden with treats. We eat a little to be polite, but we're so absorbed with this moment it's hard to focus on the food, though it is expected. It's a strange moment, to be meeting our son for the first time and all the emotions that flood us all... while also being in the home of a Korean family who are gracious but very formal (the foster father is in a suit) and who we are trying to be very polite and respectful of their home and their role as Finn's caregivers.

Tomorrow he will join us, finally. It will be a momentous day and will change all our lives forever. This too feels strange - to be in one moment a family of three as we have been for the past 6 years and to know that in a few hours we will be four. We are ready!

Here he is!

More tomorrow when the jet lag and exhaustion is slept away...

Seoul night

It's 5:30 am here, and Amelia has been up since 2. We've taken shifts to try to get a bit of sleep so we aren't completely haggard when we go to meet Finn later today. Amelia is too excited to sleep - she wants to go meet him NOW. She travelled really well but has only slept a about an hour on the plane and a bit on the bus ride into Seoul. She's sitting here with me and wants me to be sure to tell you she was airsick and threw up just as we landed. She was exhausted and crashed about 7 pm but was up and hungry at 2 and has been going strong ever since. We expect another crash anytime - hopefully not in the middle of the visit.

It's an incredibly long journey to get here (3 hrs. advance at the airport, 11.5 hr flight, customs, baggage, 1 hr. bus ride and finally a very long 3 block hike up to the guesthouse), but it felt great to arrive in the daylight and feel like we knew where we were going. The adoption agency here has a guesthouse that we are staying in. It's on a quiet back street in an unassuming building. We were met by the doorman, Mr. Lee who was expecting us and who we remember from our last visit. Our room is small, but at least has a little kitchen and two tiny bedrooms so we can close doors and some of us can sleep :-) Plus this computer so we can stay in touch. Last visit, we were in a tiny single room with two twin beds and nothing else - it was 5 days of intensity with baby Amelia Soo Bin with nowhere to wash bottles, heat water for formula, etc. This is MUCH better.

We've only seen a little from the bus and our epic 3 block hike with our suitcases, but Seoul is just as busy of course, and there seems to be more shops nearby and more english signs than before. People are very friendly and helpful and cope well with our non-existent Korean skills. We're looking forward to exploring the city a bit more. I definitely feel like we are more prepared this trip and not as overwhelmed with becoming parents along with all the cultural differences of being in Asia. Definitely is different when all the signs are in Hangul so you can't tell what what they say - makes it hard to know whether the store you're entering sells groceries or electronics...

We are off to the agency this morning at 9:30 - hopefully to meet Finn then but certainly later today! What an adventure!

It's been some time...

I still don't know if anyone really reads the musings here, but some encouraging words from a friend prompted me to get my fingers moving. It's been a bit of a wild ride these past weeks and I'm just starting to catch my breath. January was a blur - I thought I was really prepared for G to be away again, but my optimism proved to be wildly misleading and so the first month was a slog. It seemed I couldn't get ahead of life enough to look up and see what was coming next. Then in mid-February, just as we were adjusting to him being home again for a few weeks, we got news of a new addition to our family. The 'telling' suddenly seemed like an overwhelming prospect. Adoption is like that I suppose... every milestone is met with anticipation and excitement, but also the prospect of responding to dozens of well-meaning questions about the whole process. We were also really aware of wanting to share the news with Amelia in a way that supported her processing it before SHE had to respond to a dozen well-meaning questions. And she HAD to be the first one to know. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, my dear dad chose that day to buy Am a new horse... so she got a new horse and a new brother on the same day. Guess which was more exciting? Yup. The horse won the coveted spot at grade one show and tell day. Brother? Oh yeah, and a brother...
Four days later, a new baby arrived in my brother's family as well - a sister for his sweet four year old daughter M. So now Am has a boy (with a PEN#S!!!) and her best friend, cousin and sometimes rival M has a sister. Harumph. Luckily actually meeting the new arrival in person was quite a different story and now everybody is happy and loving all this new baby excitement (except for that p#nis part, which is still an adjustment... )
My, my, it's been quite a month, and me thinks the fun is just beginning....

Happy New Year!

As usual, December was frantic so Christmas cards weren’t in the ... never mind. I’m justifying it as our attempt to be more eco-friendly. The attached photo isn't very wintery, I know, but it's virtually the only one of us all together. It’s a representation of the last few months, as much as a fact that we never seem to remember how to set the timer on the camera so one of us can run around front to get in the photo. Despite our lack of documentation, it's been a pretty good year.

Glen enjoyed being home with Amelia for the spring and summer and spent lots of time volunteering in her Kindergarten class at Kwaleen Traditional Elementary School. He also did some substitute teaching in a variety of schools and volunteered in a few different classes to get a feel for the education system. In September he headed off to Prince George to fulfill his long-time dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. He spends Sunday through Thursday in classes and has been coming home every weekend, for which we were all grateful. He’s off to PG again in January but will be home for three weeks in Feb/March to do a practicum placement. He’s been very lucky to be able to live at his sister’s house.

I have continued working full-time for the City and am very much enjoying the work there. It is both challenging and rewarding and the City is a very supportive and family friendly work environment. I have also been teaching some weekend courses for the UNBC Social Work program, which has been a real challenge, but a great learning experience as well. Between that and being a single parent during the week, I’m pretty much maxed out. I won’t be teaching in January, so I’m looking forward to a little slower pace. We also battled through bouts and various combinations of bronchitis/pneumonia/H1N1/stomach flu so we’re hoping that we’ve made it through the worst of flu season.

Glen’s mom moved out of our suite in the spring as she wanted to be in a place that was a bit more accessible so she could be more independent. She’s very happy in an apartment across the lane from the Seniors Centre. She and Amelia don’t get to see each other as much, but we still visit often. Amelia is in grade one full time and is loving school. She is reading like crazy and spends much of her time spelling new words while we’re out and about. She’s still playing the violin and although she is getting quite good, she was too shy to play in the Christmas recital. That hasn’t stopped her from deciding she wants to be in a play, so she’s talked her way into the high school performance of Alice in Wonderland. Auditions started before Christmas and she’s loving being a flower. I have no idea whether she really grasps the performance in front of an audience part of the equation, but she’s an adventurer so we’ll take that when it comes. She continues to be feisty and lives on the edge constantly. It is often trying for Mom, but I’m learning to support her risk taking so that when I need to set limits I’m not just being a scrooge. I think she has at least 5X my level of tolerance for adrenaline rushes.

Christmas was quiet with my parents away in New Mexico and my brother and his family up north with his in-laws. It’s wintery here, so we’ve been out cross-country skiing a few times, as well as sledding, etc. It feels great to have a couple of weeks off.

Our big excitement for 2010 we hope will be a new baby. We have applied to adopt again from Korea, and though adoption timelines are always a guessing game, we’re hoping to have some news in spring and with any luck a new addition to our family by early summer. Part of the commitment to this process is a donation to an orphanage in Korea, so we’re getting busy trying to be creative about raising the funds for that. The year ahead looks bright indeed!
We wish all of you the very best in the New Year. May it be filled with happiness, adventure, love, and great times with family and friends.