Easter Sunday

Library Card!

On our trip to CA, lunch in Elk City, OK

Tucumcari, NM

Banderas Volcano

Ice Cave

Petrified wood from Petrified Forest

The saga will continue tomorrow!

Then we had Kathryn P come to visit. She stayed with us last year for the first time. We were so lucky to have her again. She is an awesome teenager (yes, I said that hehe) and we all love having her. I told her she could visit any time she wanted too. Ryan thinks the sun rises and sets on her.

We also had Lian G come from Arkansas to stay for KC.  We had her last year as well and it is so cool to have her come to camp and lend her expertise (teaching). hehe  Both ladies are Korean Adoptees and it’s just awesome having so many Korean faces in the house.  Caroline didn’t like either of them too much at first, but by the time they left, she allowed them to hold her.  She’s such a Momma’s girl.

Korea Camp was an incredible experience this year.  Ryan being a camper for the first time was just amazing.  The teachers were so great this year and the kids had so much fun. Ryan was so happy to have his friend Andrew in his class and he met alot of other new friends.  Ryan’s favorite part of Korea Camp was eating bulgogi. (Which is funny because I DO make it about 1 a month, so it isn’t like he never eats it)

Caroline made some new friends as well. Angie O’s little brother Adam was a VERY big hit. She wanted him to hold her every time we were near him. It was very funny because everyone know’s that she isn’t big on going to people.  Well I guess she just makes exceptions for cute boys

Here are some pics:

Since he still had a fever today and continued complaining of a sore throat, I took him to see the doc. I thought it was going to be Strep, however, he has Hand, Foot and Mouth. The good news is, it is just in his mouth. The bad news is, he won’t eat or drink anything. Or take any medicine to help his throat not hurt. Grrr! He napped all afternoon and then finally after he woke up, he started drinking and took some Motrin.

Tonight Caroline was super whiney and crabby. I checked her throat and she has a few blisters on the roof of her mouth. So hopefully it will stay inside her mouth and not get all over her hands and feet. I figured she’d get it too. Poor things!

So we are quarantined until they are both fever free and over this. I really really hate to be cooped up for so long! However, it’s supposed to be in the high 90’s the rest of this week. If we need to cool off we’ll just go hop in the little wading pool out back!

Some recent pictures, Enjoy

She is at times very sweet and loving. She gives kisses and hugs freely. She loves to snuggle and be held. She has a sense of humor and can tell when you are teasing her. She laughs at herself. With this being said, she is also impatient and demanding and will throw a massive fit if she doesn’t get what she wants. She hits and throws things when she is mad. She LOVES to go places but prefers to be up high so she can see what is going on. This means she is carried alot Her personality is a lot like Ryan’s without the snuggling. Ryan has never been big on hugs and kisses.

Ryan had his Preschool program. It was just precious.

Caroline has been trying to walk for weeks now. She started last week actually trying to walk all the time and this week she is actually walking across the room now. I was hoping she wouldn’t walk so soon because I know what it’s going to be like once she is fully on her feet. Lord help us

She fell in the bathtub on Friday night and bit through her tongue. We spent 2 hours in the ER for the Doctor to tell us they don’t do anything about tongue bites. It is healing nicely and she hasn’t been too upset about it. It was very frightening to see her mouth gushing with blood. Once it stopped bleeding, it was a big gaping hole. Ugh. He said it would heal quickly and it has. It’s healed from the bottom up and is just a small hole now.

I started cloth diapering Caroline about 1 month after she came home. It worked well for a couple of weeks and then she got hives. I wasn’t sure what was causing them, so I stopped everything that might cause them, including the cloth diapers (I was worried about the material on the covers). It turns out my girl is allergic to Peaches and we have since discovered she is allergic to Strawberries as well. So now I am back to cloth diapering again. It’s trial and error trying to figure out the right sizes for the prefolds, but I think we are all set. They are definitely more bulky than Pampers!! So they don’t fit right under all of her clothes, which is a bummer. I know it will save tons of money and if we are home all day it is easy to keep up with. When we go places I’ll keep her in the pampers. I don’t want to carry around a bunch of stinky cloth diapers in this heat!!

Ryan fell down at Mayfest on the concrete and scraped his face. So it looks like we beat our kids. I still haven’t gotten their 1 year and 4 year pictures yet because one or both of them has a bruise/scrape or were sick. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and make an appointment and hope that they are healed.

Here’s a few more pictures.
At Leonardo’s in Enid, Oklahoma:

Ryan’s loot…Caro’s was MUCH smaller

Caroline’s first ride on the Carousel

With Piggies! SO CUTE!

Ryan with his preschool class at the zoo

At Philbrook Museum of Art, here they’ve found the featured art for the My Museum program for kids.

My precious babies!

She picked the thread (same as Ryan!) and the rice/money. My girl is going to LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!

She would NOT let go of the thread. By the time she was done, it was coated in pink icing!

Our Aunts that brought our precious girl home to us! I could never thank them enough, and they are very missed at our house!

Ryan is doing awesome! He has his occasional bad days where he is very demanding and rude. We have discovered that with some quiet time in his room, he discovers ugliness isn’t the way to get attention. For the most part he is a perfect older brother. He gives her things when she cries, he plays with her. In the car, he entertains her, but then she yells at him when he stops hehe

Caroline is adjusting beautifully. She started sleeping in her crib on Thursday afternoon. She doesn’t need to be rocked to sleep anymore. Today I was able to give her a bottle and she got sleepy with it and I just put her in the crib and walked out. She fussed a bit but then fell asleep. I am SO glad we’ve come this far! She is generally a happy baby but when she wants something, you will see her temper if she doesn’t get it!! She is REALLY LOUD too!

Caroline still wants to be held a lot, which is great because Ryan wasn’t a snuggler, but I don’t get anything done with just 1 arm. I have been putting her in the carrier on my back, then I can do dishes and laundry, however, my right shoulder started hurting yesterday and I think the carrier is the problem. I am going to give it a rest and hope that is what caused it.

On a different note: I can’t wait for SPRING!!!! I am SO ready to see some flowers and greenery again! I have noticed I don’t need to wear my house shoes and Linus sweater inside the house much anymore. It is definitely warming up. It’s supposed to be at least 60 today, so I think we need a walk down to the park. Caroline will ride in the stroller now if there aren’t a lot of people around. I need the exercise desperately!!

Here’s some photos of the boys at the zoo on Friday. We told them not to smile!

Enjoying the beautiful weather outside!

Here she is yelling about something.

Getting a special ride from Daddy!

My handsome little man!

I just LOVE these 2 photos. She is SO cute with a bow in her hair!!!

Ryan is very interested in arts and crafts projects now.

1) she knows us better now and we her
2) she is officially on US time and is sleeping all through the night
3) she is starting to nap more (not on my chest) up to 1.5 hours total
4) Ryan is being an awesome big brother and learning how to help Mommy
5) We are getting into a routine
6) I am figuring out what all the noises she makes mean
7) I don’t have to carry her ALL THE TIME

Now Caroline is:

20 1/2 lbs
30 inches tall
A really good eater
Funny
Easy to please (once you figure out what she wants!)
Adores her Oppa (Ryan)
Doesn’t show a preference for doll/girl stuff over boy stuff
Crawling EVERYWHERE
Cruises as much as she can
Holds one finger (of yours) and will walk to what she wants by herself
Stands by herself for longer and longer times after pulling up on something
Tries to push herself to a standing position
Has 6 teeth (and drools a bit but not as much as Ryan)
LOVES to blow raspberries
LOVES the wind blowing in her face (sticks her tongue out)