Tis the Season

Can you make out the name on the heart? It says Julia. This is the name we chose for our daughter who was born on Nov 29,1999 and passed that very same night. This is the day in which we begin our Christmas decorating every year in honor of our little angel who was born too soon and changed our lives forever. Yes, it has been 11 years but as many of you out there unfortunately know, a loss such as this doesn't ever just go away, no matter how many subsequent children you may have or how many years pass by. It's always a missing piece of your family...always a hole in your heart.
So once again we dedicate our tree to our little messenger. Without you, our family would never be what it is today. Fly high little one and thank you for choosing me to be your mom. With this our season begins...

Ornaments, some old some new...




We took our gingerbread houses very seriously...







How beautiful is this? My friend Maggie made 2 for us...


An anniversary gift from Mom and Dad. Dec 5 was 12 years for us!


The National Christmas Tree. Not quite Rockefeller Center but when in Rome...



Hope everyone is enjoying the joy of the season so far!!

Holy Crap!

CRAP is what I woke up to find all over the kitchen table today...yes that's mini frozen pizza Lily decided to eat for a before breakfast snack.


CRAP is what we found on the floor when we thought it was ok to keep Lily out of a diaper on Saturday...toilet training is up and down these days. Happy to say it was on the hardwood.



CRAP is a word my 9 yr old just loves to use these days..."Ah crap I forgot my book," or "Ah crap, I don't want to go to bed." I am not loving it.


CRAP is what I find all over if I even turn my head for a second...Lily has learned that the safety cabinet locks come off if they aren't tight enough...Great!

CRAP it's a good thing they are cute!!

Adoption Bill

This may be of interest to many...
International Adoption Simplification Act to be signed into law

Photo Friday

Wow I have been a bad blogger!! With Halloween, field trips, parent teacher conferences, music and Luca having his tonsills removed, the days have been just flying by. Here are just a few pics from the last 2 weeks...

A Laugh Every Time

Go ahead make one....who doesn't love these?

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Home For Christmas

This is the precious face of Baby Anthony. Soon to be home with his parents, my cousins who have been waiting for years to fulfill their dream of becoming parents. After countless roadblocks, health issues and adoption nightmares, the dream is about to become reality. The travel call came today for them, that call that you wait for every single minute when you are nearing the end of the adoption process. It's the call or maybe email that you never forget..the day, the time, the way your heart just pounds out of your chest and you are overcome with relief, excitement and fear all at the same time.
It has been difficult since Laurie and Mike have already met their son on the first trip to Taiwan and have been waiting on final court procedures with fear that something would go wrong. Now they will travel in a few weeks and be reunited with this little bundle of joy for Thanksgiving. The fact that this little boy will be home for Christmas is just icing on the cake...how cool!!! We couldn't be happier!

That Not So Fall Feeling

Fall is my favorite. The reds and yellows, the crisp air, the pumpkin pancakes. The settling in to the back to school routine and let's not forget the apple picking. Last week I took all 3 kids to the apple orchard hoping to get just full of that fall feeling. It was great until the temperature rose to an annoying 89 degrees, Lily was constantly tripping over apples that had fallen already and Luca and Lance basically fighting over the apple picker which can seriously take someones head off. Oh yea and there were bees everywhere. We did manage to come away with a pretty large bag of apples, a big pumpkin and some fresh apple cider. Hope everyone is having a great fall so far!

More Hoops to Jump Through

This is just a big rant about the endless paper jungle you have to weave your way through with adoption. I have to say that for the most part, our paper dance went really smoothly. That is until now. I was under the impression that when you legally finalize your adoption with the courts, and you proceed with a name change, everything is taken care of. Not so.
I took all of Lily's documents, every single paper, down to the Social Security office to apply for a card. I presented everything to a not so pleasant woman and she informed me I would be hearing from them in a few weeks. Well, it turns out we were denied a number due to a problem with USCIS. When I contacted them, they said there was no problem and to go back to the SS office. Time went by and one day I received a letter stating that Lily's Permanent Residence Card was still in her Korean name and that was the reason for the hold up. At least someone was actually working on the case. Then I immediately download the papers for a name change, got the supporting documents and a check of course and sent them out. This took pretty much an entire day. We were sent a date to get Lily's new fingerprints which we did this morning. Now we wait. We wait for the new card, which then has to go to Social Security to then wait again for a number.
Why the push for the SS number? Well we travel in late January and we need a US passport for Lily. Just to exaust you further, I called the passport agency to see if they would accept things other than a SS number. Oh sure they would, however, if it's anything in Korean, it would have to be translated by an authority figure. They won't accept a Certificate of Foreign Birth (which we have) because it is issued after the child is 1 yr old. I was informed though that we could "try" to apply with what we have and it "might" work. I guess it depends on who opens the mail that day and if they have had their coffee. AGHHHH!

Happy Referral day!

It was 2 years ago today that we got the news. Our number had finally come up! It was around 8:00 pm when Rick came running upstairs asking me if I had checked my email. I knew it was important since it got my husband off his bike that he religiously trained on every night. The message from our social worker read something like "I have exciting news and call as soon as possible." Holy crap this was it! With my heart beating out of my chest, I called and sure enough it was news of our referral. Rick waited as the photos and medical history came through.




This was the first glimpse of our daughter. Cheers to all of you who are awaiting referrals of your own. Hope they come quickly!

Korea in New York

1. During fashion week in NYC, Carolina Herrara revealed beautiful pieces that were inspired by traditional clothes from Korea!




STUNNING!

View the whole collection

2. The NYC Korean Day Parade with outdoor market and activities for kids will be on Saturday Oct 2. For details, contact tgentzel@alsoknownas.org. You can follow "Also Known As" on Facebook.

Catching the Light

So I have been following some pro photography blogs and I recently read a good tip. They were talking about lighting and how you should first get your subject in a spot where their eyes will reflect the light. I decided to give this a try and practice on Lily...

First we had this..


Which turned into this...




Then finally these...





and my favorite...



Just a lttle fun photo shoot on a Saturday afternoon.

Asian Pacific American Film Event

If anyone is located in or around the metro DC area, check out this link for the
APA Film Festival. One of the events is called "Korean Adoption, Birth Search and Reunion, A Mother's Perspective." It's a set of documentary films followed by a panel discussion. One of the social workers on the panel used to be with our agency CHSFS.

Birthday Wish

This weekend we surprised Lance with an entire weekend dedicated to his turning 9. A trip to Kings Dominon and Great Wolf Lodge! My birthday happens to be the next day. He was so sweet when he told me he actually he felt bad that he was getting all the birthday attention and not me! LOL. I assured him it was quite alright and that I have had plenty of birthdays (42 to be exact YIKES!) I will post photos but for now check out how grown up Lily is...

Chuseok

Chuseok Holiday in Modern Korea

Image Inspiration

Travel photography is a passion of mine. Maybe it's yours too?
Here is photography inspiration for those going to Seoul. Hope those travel calls come soon!

They're Back!

I cried. I cried with that ugly face you get, so much that my 5 yr old who was starting a full day of school with a new uniform, new schedule, new teacher, gave me this look as if to say "Mom, what's wrong with you?" Now don't get me wrong, I was more than ready to see them off to begin the new school year but it's just something about that transition from the summer to a new chapter in their lives. Gets me every time.




Kindergarten and 4th grade...how did that happen???