Thank you Omma!

We received your gift.  Rai opened it today and loves the nori (seaweed), clothes, and the cards.  In fact, he LOVES the card that plays "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  And thank you for our lovely cards.  We will translate them and give them to our parents as well.  You are so kind and thoughtful.  Thank you!  We will post pictures soon!

Pictures of Omma's Package

Package from Omma! (Rai's Foster Mother)

After a few days of confusion with our post office, we finally received Rai's birthday package Omma sent. Rai received several Korean books and flashcards, a Pororo doodle pad, and many of his favorite snacks. (I will post pictures soon.) Thank you Omma and Appa!

Birthday Celebration!

(My apologies in advance for this quickly written blog entry. As you can tell, I'm behind on posting updates and pictures, but you can expect slightly more polished entries in the next week after the birthday pictures are uploaded and these major assignments are complete.)

Rai's birthday is Tuesday, November 23rd. It is certainly a bitter sweet day when we remember:

- Rai's birth mother who made such a difficult decision and plan for her mere 2 pound son.
- Rai's foster family (Omma, Appa, and their son and daughter) who were such a vital part of the first 17 months of Rai's life and continue to be such a wonderful part of our extended family.
- All of the wonderful moments that have happened since Rai's last birthday, such as potty training, first successful ride on a tricycle, first plane ride since coming home from Korea, etc.

Earlier this month, we prepared a small mailing of pictures and a card to send to Rai's birth mother as well as Omma and Appa. It was a bit rushed, but I wouldn't have missed this for anything. Last year, Aaron and I attended a Korean birth mother workshop and heard from two birth mothers first-hand how difficult birthdays are and how wonderful it is to go to their son/daughter's file on his/her birthday and see the updates. Although there is no way to know if Rai's birth mother has viewed his file and received the stacks of pictures we've sent, I can only hope she'll see these pictures this year and realize that no matter what happens, Rai is happy and loved ... and he will always remember her.

Rai's omma and appa have been on our minds as well. During our trip to San Antonio in September, our reunion with Zoey and her family brought back so many wonderful memories of our trip to Korea. It's important to us that Rai is constantly reminded of Omma and Appa and remember not only what they look like but what life was like with them. It has certainly been fun to go through these photo albums that Omma gave us with Rai and have him point out everyone. He is also starting to ask me to take pictures of certain moments or make videos to send to Omma and Appa. So, here is the first of many more to come:




Birthday Celebrations!
Last week, I went to Los Angeles for a conference and managed to spend some time with one of my roommates from college, Katie. The first day I arrived, we went to a huge shopping center in Koreatown and found several Pororo toys, movies, and books. It couldn't have been a better timed shopping trip. Needless to say, Rai received a Pororo toy from Katie for his birthday this year, and I picked a few Pororo toys and movie for him as well.



Yesterday, we had Rai's birthday party at a local play place (with bounce houses and slides) and invited his friends from preschool as well as some friends of ours. The party was a bit smaller than expected, but Rai still had a great time and slept really well on the way home. I will post pictures soon!

National Adoption Month

I wanted to take a moment to recognize an incredible adoptive and adoptee mom and her work. Thank you Kim for putting together this beautiful video, including Rai, and for your friendship.



For more information, you can find her blog here.

Halloween

It was certainly a busy Halloween this year!

Trunk or Treat at UTD
My university has a fun trick-or-treating event for children of the faculty and staff in the parking lot of the residence hall every year.  Rai went last year and had more fun there than he did trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, so I took him again this year.




Pictures (and Trick-or-Treating) at the Arboretum
The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so I took advantage of the Arboretum Halloween event by bringing a few changes of clothes and taking Rai's nice pictures there.  He wasn't as excited about the big attractions (i.e. the pumpkin village) but he did enjoy having all of those pictures taken ... and, of course, the candy.


























Trick or Treating at the Zoo
Since we finally became members of the zoo this year, I thought it was worth the drive to the zoo trick or treating event.  After all, they promised we could see the nocturnal animals.  Well, it wasn't as animal oriented,  but Rai did have a great time seeing a few animals, getting yet more candy, and running through the bounce maze/slide.

Happy Halloween!

A Very Busy September!

Now that the vacation picture are finally posted, I realize how quickly September passed. It seems like just yesterday we:

- had 100 degree weather and found all the covered playgrounds in the area!







(Rai tries to catch me coming down the slide. Good luck!)

(little climber)


-went to Chuck E Cheese (again)



-went to the State Fair of Texas





(Rai enjoyed every second of this very fast roller coaster!)







(Rai certainly enjoyed watching the trains.)








-spent the day at the Akimatsuri (Japanese Fall Festival) with my parents







(Rai colored his first Daruma doll but didn't realize you are only supposed to color one eye in until your wish comes true. That's okay. My mom, Obaachan, made one for him with only one eye colored in.)





-discovered the park 1/2 a block away with over 100 ducks!







(We now buy a loaf of bread for every day we can go to the park.)




(And a goose!)






(And a heron)

(And a playground!)




- made Rai's first Build-A-Bear doll: A Kitty-chan (Hello Kitty) doll with my voice


- celebrated my birthday


(Thank you Aaron and Rai for the fun cake!)

- started making cards for everyone's birthdays, anniversaries, etc.



- went to the zoo (again)





(The new "Wilds of Africa" section of the zoo is incredible! The restaurant has an up-close view of the lions that Rai loves.)