If I have a monument in this world, it is my son. Maya Angelou

Why God made Little boys
Author: unknown

God made a world out of his dreams,

Of magic mountains, oceans and streams,

Prairies and plains and wooded land,

Then paused and thought, "I need someone to stand

On top of the mountains, to conquer the seas,

Explore the plains and climb the trees,

Someone to start out small and grow,

Sturdy, strong like a tree" and so...

He created boys, full of spirit and fun,

To explore and conquer, to romp and run,

With dirty faces, banged up chins,

With courageous hearts and boyish grins.

When He had completed the task He'd begun

He surely said, "That's a job well done."

I had to include that poem for a couple reasons. First, we received the monthly newsletter for the Korea program at our agency in St. Paul. They are asking people to please consider adopting a boy since there seems to be so many waiting there. I am frustrated by this. Why aren't more people who are choosing to adopt from Korea wanting to adopt boys? If I had the money, there were would be another little guy at our house. Secondly, our boys...especially Min, have reached a whole new level of energy and busy-ness. It could have something to do with the cold weather (at least for Henry and Charles) and not being able to be outside, or just because this is what happens when they get to be 6, 4, and 1. Who knows....Anyway, there are days when I feel like I like in the zoo. That's somewhat fitting, however, since we've officially made our family slogan, 'Where The Wild Things Are.' I want to put a sign up on the front door with that saying.

Min had turned into a maniac. I'm not sure how many times during the day we say, 'What are we going to do with that Min,' and 'Min. You are dangerous!' He is amazingly curious, like most 1 year olds he's also fearless, and he is far more agile and mobile than most 15 month olds. He's climbing up the stairs for a couple months. Thankfully, he's not interested in coming down. He LOVES to throw things in water. One day, the boys had had baths. They had just gotten out of the tub and I had gone to their room to help them find clothes. Their dirty clothes were still laying on the bathroom floor and the water was still in the tub. Thankfully, I didn't wait too long to go in there because Min was just starting to throw the clothes in the bathtub. He is also climbing the brothers bunkbed ladder. I saw this one morning when I was home with Charles and Min. I was in the bedroom putting away some clothes and the boys were playing in Charles room. Pretty soon, Charles is yelling, 'Mom!! Come quick! Min is doing something dangerous!' I found him halfway up the ladder. He's gotten much better and can now make it all the way up to the bed. Just stuck a few pictures on.

This was outside a few days ago when the weather was MUCH warmer.

Min is always so proud to stand at the top of the stairs.
I was taking the Christmas tree down and he just had to try to crawl under it. He made it under and back again. Speaking of crawling under things, I found all 3 of them under Henry's bed today looking for something. Of course, Min got a little stuck and needed some help getting out.
He didn't really want to be in the highchair. I think he just had to try crawling up on something and standing on it. Yes, it is a little car. Thankfully, it didn't roll away.

All else is well. The boys are relatively healthy with the exception of Min starting a cold. The weather is BEASTLY cold...for here. The folks in Powers Lake might think its balmy : ) We started working in the basement. It is unfinished and we've started putting up a little sheetrock and doing some electrical work. I have seriously considered padding the walls and making the kind of springboard floor that gymnasts use. The boys could really go wild down there!!

Happy Family Day, Henry!!

Today was Henry's Family Day ( actually I'm backposting...today is really Saturday and he came home on the 4th.) I couldn't post until today becaue I didn't have the pictures until today. When Henry came home, we still had a regular film camera. I have been working on getting my negatives put on CD, but didn't get his done until now....thus, the delay. Henry was very excited and brought cookies to school. His teacher said that he told his class that this was the day he came off the airplane to be with his family. One little girl said, "I didn't come off an airplane. I came out of my moms tummy.' Which then led to a big discussion on families. Yes, Henry knows that he wasn't born to an airplane, but actually grew in his Korean moms' tummy and she gave birth to him at a hospital in Korea. As is the tradition in our family, he got to choose where to eat supper. His favorite is the Sky Dragon restaurant. And, then we went home for a movie, popcorn, and nonalcoholic champagne (Henry's choice).



I added some pictures that we took that day. His plane was scheduled to land at 11:15 and we got there an hour early as was requested. His plane landed close to on time, but it took them a long time to go through customs. The Northwest Flight Aides would come back and forth between us and Henry and his escort keeping us updates. We were told, 'Oh, he's so happy and smiley.' We finally got to see him at about 1 p.m. He was very interested in seeing everything. My parents were with so we all had to pass him around to greet the little guy....only he wasn't so little then. He was about 17 pounds at 6 1/2 months! Getting cozy with dad at the airport. This is one of my favorite pictures. I played around with it a little on photoshop, but would like to try some more.
He fell asleep when I was holding him. Wow!! What a way to melt your mom's heart!! He pretty much slept for the next few hours. He hadn't really slept much on the airplane, per his escort, so he was pretty exhausted.
On our way home. (I see that I needed to slide his plastic seatbelt securer thingy up a little more....oops). We drove for a little while, and then I said.... 'Travis. We have a real live baby back here. And, we're supposed to take care of him!' It is interesting to drive to the airport, be given a small baby, and take him home to raise. We have been looking at some pictures of the boys when they were little and I can't get over how chubby they were. Henry's face was just so round, and so was Charles'.



All in all the week was quiet which was good. We needed the time to unpack, resettle, and let everyone recover. Charles has been sick since Christmas Eve. We believe it started with a cold that worsened his asthma. Of course then, everything makes his asthma worse. So, we just finished 5 days of prednisone. Thank heavens its finished because it made him almost bipolar...manic-hmmm....not depressive, just naughty. He would be so wild that all we could do was just watch him. And, he would be laughing and then mad the next instant. Happy and irritable. Last night at supper, he had a coughing spell and then asked me if he was going to be sick forever. He seemed more like his old self today. Still coughing, but in much better spirits. His pediatrician listened to him on Thursday when Min had his 15 month well child check, and said he was fine. Min is fine too. He is ALWAYS moving.At the store, he wants to only walk. Of course, it usually isn't where I want or need to go. He has some new words....'chase,' his favorite game...he loves it when you chase him; 'spit,' and yes he knows how to spit; and, 'George,' from Curious George. The boys will ask him questions and he answers 'yes,' or 'no.' Henry asked him the other day, 'Am I a genius? ' Min, 'No.' Henry, 'Am I funny?' Min, 'Yes.' Of course, it gets to be quite a game because then CHarles joins in with questions, and we all laugh when Min answers. Then HE has to laugh. Still only 4 teeth and drooling like mad.