Lunar New Year Weekend

You know what? Eric and the kids have had five days off, and it's actually been pretty good. We've obviously had some tough moments, and I am coming down of my best-trip-to-Costco-Korea-ever high, but overall, it's been really good. I switched Reece to one mid-day nap to avoid the stress of trying (unsuccessfully) to get him to nap twice with everyone home, and it has worked really well on all counts.

On Saturday, we had a friend over for breakfast, and then the kids spent a couple of hours over at the neighbor's playing with friends. On Sunday, Eric and Cade went to church and did the homeless ministry. Monday morning, we went to church to watch the Super Bowl and have a big Southern breakfast, since everyone had the day off for Lunar New Year. Monday night, friends volunteered to babysit, so Eric and I had dinner and saw a movie on base. It was nice to not have to deal with traffic, crowds, or public transportation on a date, especially considering it was the actual holiday and nothing was going to be open.

Things were a little more eventful on Tuesday afternoon when Kennedy was holding Reece while sitting at the kitchen table, and he managed to wrangle himself out of her arms and hit the floor pretty hard. After giving him some milk and holding him for awhile, I began to get a little concerned that he wasn't quite himself. He wasn't moving much or reacting to anything. He wouldn't even finish his milk. Eventually, he did climb down off my lap to find out what Cade was doing. It wasn't long before he started crying again, and he laid down on Eric's chest. The next we knew, he was throwing up-a lot-and I was worried for real. We hopped in the shower to get him cleaned up, sent the kids back to the neighbor's house, and headed to the ER.

To be honest, they weren't a lot of help. We had to wait for awhile, since it was a long holiday weekend and all of the doctor's offices were closed. At triage, we told the nurse the problem and she checked his temperature and oxygen levels. Then, we were sent back to a bed where a medical student came to tell us that there was less than 1% chance of brain damage, and she seemed to be trying to convince us not to get a CT scan. We were a little irritated, and I asked her if there was something they were going to do to assess him if they wouldn't do a CT. She said no, but asked us to wait. Minutes later, another nurse appeared and brought us to get X-rays. After they took about six scans of his head (which he did not enjoy!), they ushered us out and we stood awkwardly, until yet another nurse told us we could go. The whole thing took less than an hour and only cost $125, but we left with no information and not a lot of reassurance, either. I certainly won't miss the language barrier!

For once, Google was my friend, so we'd read some of the things to watch for. He was able to eat dinner that evening without vomiting. His pupils were even and not dilated. He was responsive to sound and light, and he wasn't even very lethargic after that first hour or two. He stayed up until a reasonable bedtime, and then I woke him every few hours throughout the night. He's been fine so far today, so I don't know that we're necessarily in the clear (all I know about concussions I've learned from Google and coaching), but I'm pretty confident that he's okay.

Aside from his first ER trip, Reece has hit a couple of other milestones this weekend, though walking is not one of them. (He has been taking one step more regularly.) He has figured out how to climb up onto and get down from all of the furniture, so I'm going to have to be watching him a lot more closely. Another major pitfall has been that he can now open all of the doors in our house. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put handles in all Korean apartments, rather than knobs, was wrong, and I'd like to track him down and tell him so!

Our major excitement around here this weekend has been looking toward the future, though. And that's really saying something. This past week, I talked to my dad and updated him on everything that we knew so far. Absolutely nothing! Our one lead had been one of Eric's former principals from Lakewood who thought that he might have a position for Eric in the fall in Edmonds. But, this week we've finally had real contact with hiring principals in Texas and Connecticut and we have interviews tonight and tomorrow. This time next week, we might have an idea where we'll be moving this summer, and that would be very exciting!

At Lindy's, Christmas 2014

It's strange that in spite of shooting every day now, I have no pictures to share aside from those that I share for the 365 posts. Did I have pictures to share before I started this project? Hmmm. Well, I guess I am typically behind in posting pictures, so this just fits right in. Christmas 2014.

I'm ashamed to admit that we're in a bit of a "survival mode" period right now. Our weekend was spent trying to catch up on rest and sleep because Reece slept terribly. The kids' bedroom was covered in puke when we woke up on Sunday morning, thanks to Cade in the top bunk. It required about five loads of laundry and a whole lot of scrubbing (by Eric) to get that mess cleaned up. There were a ridiculous number of tears and a whole lot of fighting. I think we were all relieved for school to start again on Monday.

Last night, we had grilled cheese and some random sesame noodles that I threw together because I didn't have all of the ingredients for any one recipe. Thankfully, black beans are in the crock pot and I made it to the grocery store today, so hopefully we can eat a little more normally for the rest of the week.

Temperatures are supposed to get above freezing this week, too, which always makes life a little easier when you live in a place where you can't accomplish much without walking outside a lot. I have to admit that I almost took a picture of our washing machine the other day for the p365 when I realized that if we were still in our old apartment, our washing machine would have been frozen for the past 10 days. I'm so glad that I don't have to worry about that anymore!

It warmed up enough to get some snow today--though just a dusting--and it was pretty to watch it fall over the city out our windows. As we look out the back windows right now, you can see the snow on the Han River where it has frozen. That's how cold it is right now. Sheesh.

We did have fun playing games with the big kids on Friday night. We got out of the house on Saturday afternoon to watch the basketball game, and had a good time chatting with friends while the kids played. And, on Sunday afternoon, Reece showed off his new ability to put together two steps at a time unassisted. By yesterday afternoon, he was up to three. It turns out this kid will walk, eventually. I think I'm finally ready for it. Maybe. Check back with me in a month.

It's hard to believe that 13 months ago, we were in the States celebrating Christmas with family. Reece wasn't even two months old. Kennedy just pulled the hem out of the pajamas that she got from Lidi because they're now too short with it in. Cade is still sports-obsessed and would wear those soccer cleats that he got every day, if he could.

I remember absolutely nothing of what we did in the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, when we left. I remember that Reece nursed successfully all day on Christmas, and that was the end of that. I remember that we had a hard time trying to think of anything feasible to do with a 6 week old and a 9 month old, so maybe we didn't really do anything?

I do remember that we went to the Museum of Flight with Lindy and my brother right before we left. I still have pictures from that day to post (though I'm not sure how I managed to get so many with Reece in the Moby the whole time), and I remember that we made stops to see a lot of Eric's family on the way north to my aunt's house.

I also remember that this little Sorento was loaded to the breaking point nearly every time we got in it for those two weeks, and that the limit for how much we could bring back with us to Korea was not set by the airline but by what we could fit in this mid-size SUV. What fun.

Well, Reece is napping this afternoon (day 3 of 3 and it's only Tuesday!), so I had better take advantage of the quiet to get a head start on dinner so we don't end up with grilled cheese again!

Christmas in WA...2014

(Yup, you read that right.) So...guess what I did the other night? That's right. I did something totally crazy. I edited some pictures from Christmas 2014. It only took me a year. I'm so proud!

It was a little painful for a few reason. First of all, the original reason that I struggled so much with editing these because they were all out of order as far as dates were concerned. I didn't set the date on the camera as I pulled it out of the box because I wasn't sure which time zone I'd wanted to use. This had been a problem previously, and I wasn't sure how to fix it. So, I didn't set the date until I'd had it more than a week.

Secondly, I pulled this thing out of the box no more than a week before Christmas, and though I'd spent all of the early fall learning how to take better pictures (with an actual class this time!), these shots did not reflect that. The struggle was real.

Thirdly, Reece was a newborn. So, I took a lot of pictures of him. At the time, I thought he was the cutest thing ever. But, he wasn't. And, looking through these a year later, it was hard to find cute pictures of him that I actually wanted to edit and post. Don't feel bad, Reece. You're just so much cuter now!

The fact is that I'm caught up on recent pictures I've taken, aside from those I have from my 365, but I'm only six days into that. So, I've got six pictures.

After looking back to the posts from January of 2015, I realize that along with not posting pictures of this trip, I also didn't record the events of the trip. And, since I was heavy into the mom-of-a-newborn fog, I don't remember many of the details at this point.

I do remember that I enjoyed spending an extra week with my dad, brother, and Gretchen before Eric and the kids arrived. It wasn't necessarily all relaxing as I did have shopping to do and a newborn who didn't eat or sleep well, but it was nice to have company during the day and help with all of that fun stuff.

Eric and the kids flew in on the 22nd, I think, so they had a very short overlap with my dad. In that time, we went and cut down a Christmas tree (by request from Cade), celebrated Christmas at my dad's with his family, and did Christmas with Gretchen and her daughters on the 24th. Late that night, we headed south to spend the remainder of our trip with Eric's family. (Don't worry, I have pictures from that part of the trip, as well!)

I remember feeling like the time was oh-so-short but being so grateful to spend the holidays with friends and family in Washington for the first time in four years!

And, since I left you with Reece's sleep pitfalls, I will say that today he took a two hour nap for the first time this winter break, and he's been sleeping better at night, too. We still have a ways to go, but I'll take what I can get. Of course, we're all getting colds again, though, so this may be the end of our forward progress in terms of sleep. Erg.

2015 in Review and Looking Forward to 2016

So, before I get into the I'm-a-good-mom-I-promise stuff, can I just be honest for a minute? This winter break has not been what I expected. Yes, it's wonderful to spend time with my whole family. Yes, we're making memories, and we're all learning new things every day. But this year, it's been hard. I no longer have the I'm-so-excited-for-a-few-weeks-off thing. Instead, I have the it's-so-much-more-work-to-have-all-3-kids-home thing.

Reece has been a completely different child. First, he had four teeth come in. Then, he had a cold. Then, he had the flu. Then, everyone was home all day every day. Now, he doesn't eat. He doesn't nap. And, he doesn't go to bed or sleep well. We've had nights where he's been up every two hours like a newborn. We've had nights where it takes him an hour or more to fall asleep and he's crying the whole time. And, we've had nights where he was awake for HOURS seemingly possessed by a demon who wouldn't allow us to hold him, rock him, or comfort him in any way. Just screaming. Lots and lots of screaming.

So, to say that I've been looking forward to bedtime every night would be an understatement (and by bedtime, I mean after everyone is asleep). And I'm also looking forward to the troops heading back to school. For someone who says she doesn't like repetition, I am most certainly looking forward to getting back to the normal routine (and praying that naps come with it!!)

Nonetheless, we let the kids stay up "late" on New Year's Eve (9:30, pathetic, I know, but I was ready for bed at 9!), and so I asked them some questions to review the year...

What was the most memorable thing that you learned this year?

Kennedy: how to write a letter and how to make breakfast (she's been making scrambled eggs and working on pancakes!)
Cade: how to ride a bike on two wheels. This was a big accomplishment for him this summer! A game changer for our family!

What is your favorite memory from 2015?

Kennedy: snorkeling in Cebu!
Cade: spring break at Crimson Resort in Cebu
Me: our bathroom "date" while staying in Jeju--it epitomizes our year. Trying to sneak in a few quiet minutes alone wherever and whenever we can was our challenge in 2015!
Eric: biking to Seoul Forest as a family for the first time. Eric was so excited that our whole family can finally do something physical.together.outside.

What was the hardest part of 2015?

Kennedy: feeling homesick while in the States and sharing a room with Cade
Cade: learning to ride a bike

What do you want to learn in 2016?

Kennedy: the Pledge of Allegiance
Cade: the Pledge of Allegiance

What do you want to improve upon in 2016?

Kennedy: living in America
Cade: living in America

What are you most looking forward to in 2016?

Kennedy: my end-of-the-year party at school
Cade: moving to America

What is one goal you have for 2016?

Kennedy: fighting with Cade less
Cade: eating less junk food (he's off to a good start with this one...not!)

As you can see, much of their thinking revolves around our near-future move, yet we rang in the new year with New Zealand. Did you know that there aren't many countries that ring in the new year before we do in South Korea? I didn't either, until I was trying to find a video to watch and there weren't any until about 9pm!

I hope you enjoyed the truly random photos in this post, brought to you by inspiration from the class I took the week before Christmas, which was titled "Beautiful Honest Families." It may not all be beautiful, but it is honest!

Happy New Year! and our final Christmas in Korea

What better way to welcome 2016 than by re-living Christmas Day? That's what I'm thinking, anyway. While the big kids play their thousandth round of Pay Day, Reece naps, and Eric is pricing his wish/want/need list, I figured I should get some pictures edited.

We like to keep things pretty casual on Christmas day, regardless of where we are in the world, and we've had some pretty great Christmases. This is our third Christmas spent in Korea, but we spent a fair amount of time in the days leading up to Christmas re-living past Christmases.

The kids and I looked back at Snapfish albums of Christmases spent in our home in Stanwood (as we think about parting with our current Christmas decorations, they wanted to see what our tree and stockings in the States looked like). We talked about the Christmas spent in Thailand when my dad dressed up as Santa. We remembered the Christmas that my brother was here to play Legos all day long. We talked about the craziness that was last Christmas, with Eric and the kids flying in just days before and of course, life with a newborn (largely undocumented as a result of said newborn). And we made some new memories on this, our last Christmas in Korea.

The kids were up ridiculously early. That picture above of Kennedy and Reece in front of the tree? That was Christmas morning. Still dark, and yet. there they are, waiting impatiently to get at those stockings and presents.

While we were blessed to have presents sent from family, these kids still managed to plow through all of their presents in record time. It's always a little crazy how fast that happens, though, I guess. After weeks of preparation, shopping, and wrapping, it's suddenly over.

They received lots of the things that were on their lists: a watch for Kennedy, Legos for Cade, and books for all, among the highlights. We were all excited that the kids got some much-needed new clothes (their growth spurts have been crazy this year, and I've been caught unprepared; I'm so excited to live in a country where I can shop if I need to--at reasonable prices!).

Reece obviously enjoyed this Christmas infinitely more than last. He got some new, more age-appropriate toys, and all of the kids have enjoyed them! I think his favorite part of the morning was all of the tangerines that were in the stockings. The big kids, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed caramel rolls!

We spent the rest of the day eating snacks, putting together the new puzzle the kids got, reading new books and magazines, relaxing and enjoying each other's company. It was a good way to spend our last Christmas in Korea. We can hardly wait to see what Christmas 2016 brings, though!

In fact, we've spent much of the past week doing the same. Aside from going bowling on base, a trip to the Embassy to renew the kids' passports, and a stop at City Hall for ice skating, we've spent the past week relaxed, playing endless games, and reading. I certainly wouldn't complain if 2016 brought a little more of that!

My goal for 2016 is to try to document the transitions and life changes that are coming a bit better than I have been the past couple of years. As we go through some of these big "lasts" (like our last Christmas in Korea), I hope to capture what our lives are like in this stage for the kids to be able to look back on. So, I'm going to attempt another 365 project (or at least half of one, anyway)...wish me luck!

Leading up to Christmas

Well, I hadn't necessarily planned on that last post being the last one before Christmas, but I'm okay with it. I'm assuming that all of you were just as busy as we were the last couple of weeks! On top of all of the regular getting-ready-for-Christmas and the my-kids-are-home-from-school stuff, I also took a little photography class, which ate up any free time that I would have had. So, there's that.

So, aside from sickness, we spent the week leading up to Christmas taking fun pictures, going to the staff Christmas party on base, and baking Christmas goodies.

I was trying so hard to get the perfect kids-reading-in-front-of-the-tree picture, but it just didn't work out the way I had planned. 

Oh well. These will have to do. Thankfully, you guys don't know what I was picturing, so you don't know what these are missing. I suppose it's good to know that I still have some goals to work toward for next year.

It's always fun to look back on how things have changed over the years, too. At least I'm not still posting blurry pictures anymore, like I was that first year.

I've also been working on getting in the picture a little more often again, so the tripod has found a new home in our living room, right on the edge of the kitchen. 

Our cooking baking and decorating didn't work out as originally planned with the stomach bug running rampant through our house.

Three of us were sick the first day I was planning on making them. Then, we finally got the dough done and sick kids prevented us from cutting and baking.

Then, Eric and Kennedy got sick, so the decorating was delayed. By the time we finally got around to finishing them, it was the 23rd and Cade had a stomachache, so Kennedy and I ended up doing them by ourselves. We had to get them finished, though! 

The kids passed out plates to all of our neighbors and the security guards in our complex when they were finally complete. We still have plenty of cookies, though! Even after passing out a couple of dozen to friends, so that they could decorate with their kids. 

Christmas Eve, I spent the day preparing my mom's caramel rolls and the strata for breakfast the next morning. Honestly, I don't think there was much of our Christmas Eve that we will want documented from this year. The kids were not particularly well-behaved and by the time we were ready to leave for church, there was valid concern that our Christmas morning might not look like what the kids were hoping for. A reminder of the true reason for this season was definitely what we needed at that point.

Thankfully, everything worked out, after the kids wrote long and detailed letters to "Santa" about how they intended to change their behavior. We were all in much better moods after the candlelight service and chatting with friends at church (as well as eating!). So, Eric and I spent the late evening wrapping presents while watching Home Alone (because, it's a classic, of course) and playing Santa.

And finally, after all of the preparations, all that was left was a few hours of sleep before the much-anticipated day was finally here!