I'm Going To Korea

I was thrilled and honored when FAC (Family Adoption Consultants) called and asked me to be an escort. I will be leaving on April 21th along with a three social workers from the agency. Together we will be traveling from Cleveland to Seoul, Korea via Tokyo. Once there we will check into our hotel for some rest before heading off to work. We will travel to KSS (Korean Social Services) which is the orphanage Andrew lived in before being placed in foster care. There we will perform update reports on many of the centers babies. These updates & photographs will be sent back to their adoptive parents in the US. When we were waiting for Andrew we received 2 of these updates. I will never forget how exciting it was to open the mailbox and see that little face and report telling of all his progress, milestones and bad habits.

They have also arranged a meeting for me with Andrew’s foster mom. I don’t even know how to begin to thank her for caring for Andrew. I have printed up several pictures and a copy of Andrew’s photo slideshow to give to her.

I am really looking forward to exploring Seoul. Bill (another escort) gave me all the scoop on eating & shopping in the area around our hotel. We are staying at the Hamilton Hotel, which I am told is a very nice hotel. I found their website and read the list of room amenities; hairdryer, cable television, gas mask, internet access. Gas Mask ??? I don’t know if I find that comforting? I guess they are prepared uncase their unfriendly neighbors to the north come calling.

I will miss one big event while I am away. Andrew’s Gotcha Day is April 22nd, the one year anniversary of his arrival in America. I will miss spending that special day with him. Matt has a fun weekend planned for the kids. He is taking them up to Kalahari Indoor Waterpark.

The last part of our trip will be the most exhilarating and difficult. We will be escorting four babies back to US, one for each of us, 3 boys & 1 girl ranging in age from 10 to 15 months old. It’s roughly 24 hours of travel time when you add in the security checkpoints, layovers and customs & immigrations. But, I’m sure the exhaustion disappears when you get those babies all ready for their big appearance. The customs doors slide open and there are the adoptive parents waiting to meet the little ones for the very first time. Then each of us will hand over our baby to it’s forever family. Just like a stork!

Fudge Returns

After 2 weeks on the road my parents dog, Fudge returned today. Late this morning they received a call from the Stark County Dog Warden saying they had a dog similar in description to the one they were looking for. They referred Mom & Dad to Petfinder.com to identify him. There in cage #26 was Fudgie's mug shot(above).

Mom & Dad went down and posted his bail and is now sleeping soundly after a nice dinner. We MapQuested his pick up location and he wandered a little over 4 miles from their home.

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrew

The family came over for lunch today to celebrate Andrew's 2nd birthday!! With Sydney's birthday just around the corner both kids got lots of nice gifts. Andrew joined in the singing of Happy Birthday before blowing out his candles. He enjoyed it so much we had to keep relighting them. Later, we took them to Toys R Us and using the gift cards Grandpa Greg & Grandma Liz provided they each got to pick out their own toy. Sydney chose a veterinary kit & sidewalk chalk and Andrew went with a race track and Thomas Train Musical Caboose.

Andrew's Check Up

Andrew went to see Dr. Lonsdorf today for his 2 year check up. He is now 33 inches high and 25.5 pounds. That puts him in the 50th percentile despite all the food he eats. :) He have a lock on our pantry now to keep the kids from sneaking snacks.
He said his language skills appear to be at his age level too. Good news! I guess he has made up for the late start he got in English. :)

Reunited

Last weekend Andrew was reunited with his foster sister, Rachel. They shared the same foster mom in Korea. Rachel now lives in Stow only 20 minutes north of us. What a small world!

Andrew & Rachel in South Korea

Andrew & Rachel in Canton, Ohio

Going on an egg hunt

The kids went on an Easter egg hunt today at Rivertree. This being Andrew's first time it took him a little while to get the hang of it. Every time he found an egg he replaced it with an egg in his basket. Once I showed him there was candy inside the eggs his strategy changed. He is definitely food motivated. :)

Jungle Terry and all his animals were there too. Sydney placed herself front and center until the alligator & snakes came out then she dove for cover behind her friend.

Fudge

Last Friday night my mom let their dog, Fudge out and he never returned. He has taken overnight adventures before but never this long.

We contacted the pound & human society and found out all their residents are posted on Petfinder.com so we will continue to check it daily. Who knew, now days you can search for your dog from the convenience of your computer. :) Nevertheless, if you are in the Canton area please keep an eye out for Fudge. He is a 10 year old, slightly overweight, chocolate lab with a gray beard. He is also missing the bottom portion of his left ear.

After looking back at all these old photos, I just cannot figure out why he left! :)
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Cleveland Zoo

We took the kids up to the Cleveland Zoo last weekend. Theres nothing like hauling 2 kids bundled up in winter coats, hats & gloves around in the 40 degree weather. But, we all had a good time. Thankfully, many of the animals are housed indoors in the winter so we got to warm up in between. Andrew loved the crocodile and Sydney like the giraffes.

Andrew is really progressing with his verbal skills. I expected more of a delay since he never even heard English for the first year of his life. He is now 23 months old but, right on track saying mama, daddy, thank you, please, nemo, hotdog, fishy, choo choo, no and his favorite, MINE! We put the kids on the scale last night and Sydney is 33 pounds and Andrew is at 25. He is closing in quickly. That boy loves to eat!

Sydney is all registered for kindergarten. I can't beleive she is almost five. She is really looking forward to riding the school bus too. Thankfully, a few other girls from ballet will be on her bus so she will have someone to sit with. I'm sure she will thrive in school. She seems to catch on really quickly and is very social so making friends shouldn't be a problem. I was very pleased with what she has absorbed this year in preschool. She now recognizes & writes all her letters and is putting her name on the back of all her papers. She loves writing it so much its everywhere; in the shower steam, on the side of our dirty car.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Boca Raton

Matt & I had a fabulous time in Boca Raton. Chase really went all out to thank their top performers. We flew first class and spent 3 glorious nights at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. The first night they had a Moroccan themed welcome reception with tons of appetizers, music, activity tables, even a fortune teller. The next day Matt went golfing while I had a manicure & pedicure. That evening was a beach party complete with crab races, hair braiding and shell painting. Mixed between all of these events Matt had to attend meetings but I got to hang out by the pool and get a little sun. I almost didn't know what to do with myself. We have not traveled alone with out the kids, ever! I almost felt naked without a stroller, diaper bag and tons of extra luggage. On Saturday we joined the deep sea fishing excursion. I grew up fishing with my grandpa in the Florida Keys and was really looking forward to getting out on the ocean. Turns out, the only thing we did out there was look at the ocean. We didn't get a single bite. Although our group was highly motivated I cannot say the same for our boat crew. Thankfully, we had the awards dinner & dancing to put a good ending on the trip.

I have to send a huge THANK YOU out to my parents,Matt's dad & Liz. While we were basking in sunshine, my parents were in cold Ohio dealing with our vomiting children. Andrew & Sydney both came down with the 5 day stomach flu. What timing! I felt terrible! But, they we awesome. Spending their weekend, tending, comforting and washing bedding & clothes 24/7. I LOVE YOU GUYS! Another thank you goes out to Greg & Liz who came down on Saturday & Sunday and took Sydney off their hands. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

Weekend Without The Kids

Congratulations to Matthew!! He was selected for the 2007 Manager Incentive Trip. The top 10% of Chase Management earned an all expense paid trip to Boca Raton, Florida. And.... they are paying for the wives to come along too! This will be the first time both of us have left the kids for a long weekend. My parents will have them for 2 days and then Grandpa Greg & Grandma Liz will have them for the last two. Sydney is a bit apprehensive but I'm sure she will do just fine.

Happy Birthday To Me

Today I turned the big 30! It was much harder for my mom than me. I guess I don't think of it as old.??

Matt made the kids & I pancakes for breakfast. I got a nice watch & a new Mickey Mouse diamond necklace. Then we went shopping at Dillards. Matt was one of a handful of lucky Chase Bank employees to earn an all expense paid trip to the Boca Raton Resort and they are paying for the wives to come along too. They are having an awards dinner one evening so Matt took me shopping for a new cocktail dress. I think I tried on 2 dozen or so but found 2 that worked. So we bought them both! :) Then we had lunch at the food court. Not my first pick for a birthday meal but the kids love the Chinese food place in there and ate a ton of fried rice & Lo Mein noodles.

Later, Sydney & Matt went to play basketball while Andrew & I cleaned the house for playgroup tomorrow. He did a great job following me around the house with his lawnmower while I vacuumed.

The day ended on a sweet note when Sydney surprised me with a DQ ice cream cake. There was no doubt she picked it out, it was pink and decorated with Disney Princesses.

Family Weekend

What a busy weekend! On Tuesday we held a small memorial service for Grandma Lisic. Despite the terrible weather, the entire family was able to make it. Since almost everyone lives out of state we arranged a weekend full of events to keep everyone entertained. We visited the London’s Chocolate Factory, went ice skating, sledding & bowling. Sydney loved having Cousin Sydnee to play with.

Explaining Death

The subject of death was not a topic I was looking forward to discussing with my 4 year old. We sat her down and Matt explained how sometimes when people get very old and sick like great grandma was they go to live in heaven where they will not hurt anymore. She just sat there with a confused look on her face. I didn't want to use the "D" word but with that look of confusion it might be the only way she would clearly understand what we were saying. I said "Honey, Great Grandma died". She burst into tears. It was a terrible sight but there was also some sense of relief that she understood what we were trying to say. That was until she said "I don't want to get old" , "I don't want to live in heaven". Poor thing! She hasn't really developed a sense of time. She doesn't understand turning 5 years old is much different than turning 90. After trying to explain we decided to let things settle for a few days.

Today Sydney asked to go visit Mary (great grandma's roommate in the nursing home). I surprised but pleased, she understood that great grandma no longer lived there. I told her that she and Grandma Franny are going to bake cookies and take them to Mary very soon. She replied "Maybe we can mail some to Great Grandma". :) Trying to think quickly I said "I don't think we can". "Why" she asked. "Well, I don't think they have a post office in heaven". She was content with that answer, what a sweetheart!

Quick trip to Florida

Since Matt was heading to Vegas on business, I packed up the kids and headed to Florida for a few days. We only got as far as the Orlando Airport when Angie called telling us of Grandma Lisic's death. Grandma was 90 years old and recently fell and broke her hip & arm for the 2nd time. The doctors didn't feel she was strong enough for surgery so they put her on bedrest and ordered comfort care. She had her good days and bad but, only ate a few bites of food at each meal so we knew it was only a matter of time.
Since our family is spread across the US, Mom & her brothers decided to set up a service in early February so everyone could attend.
With Sydney being so close with great grandma I knew she would not take the news very well. Since Matt was not with us I decided to wait until we returned home to tell her. But, I am glad we were able to spend time with my mom during this difficult time.
During our stay we ventured over to Sea World Orlando where we met Grandma Pam. I miss having Sea World up here in Ohio. My mom always took us and I hoped do the same with Sydney. Oh Well!!! We all had a great time.

In Memory

In memory of Anne J. Lisic who passed away on January 24, 2007 at age 90. We love you grandma!

Sleeping

One of the few quiet moments!

Disney On Ice

Andrew had a fun afternoon with Grandpa Greg & Grandma Liz today while we took Sydney out for a special day. Disney on Ice, Princess Wishes! Needless to say she was very excited, wish I could say the same for Matt! But our seats made up for it. Right down on the ice!


The costumes & scenery were spectacular. But, the most memorable part of the evening was Sydney's "light bulb" moment. She was watching the Little Mermaid portion of the show when Flounder skates by. For those who don't know Flounder is a fish. In the show the skater is wearing a large cosutme in perfect likeness to the real Flounder except for the fact that his legs are sticking out the bottom to allow him to skate. I took a picture but you cannot see the legs too clearly. Anyway, Sydney looks at Flounder and turns to me and says "Flounder doesn't have legs!" Not sure what to say, I reply "he has to have legs to skate". Sydney says "you mean there's a people in there?". I felt sorry for her as a little of the magic faded away.

OSU

We all dressed up in our red & grey last night. A player on Matt's 30+ soccer league threw a big OSU Party! Matt would have won the best dressed award for his Jim Tressel costume. Too bad our excitiment was quickly dashed by the chomping Gators! R.I.P. Our beloved OSU Buckeyes!

Ring in the New Year

This year we rang in the New Year with our friends The Pester's & Eshler's. We had the kids take a long nap in the afternoon so they would be pleasant by midnight. The party started around 7:00 PM with lots of drinks & snacks. The kids kept busy with hide & go seek and wrestling with Kamrin. Sydney was thrilled to be invited out to the barn to feed the horses. She is a real farm girl at heart. Soon it was midnight and we all toasted with champane and a kiss. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!