Hannah Happenings

It's a new post title for lots of miscellaneous happenings...Hannah Happenings!

First, Hannah has been into cooking (both real and pretend) so we're working through some recipes that she chooses and helps prepare from her "Picture Me Cooking" cookbook.  It is designed with simple, kid-friendly recipes and a spot for a picture with each one to document some part of the process.  So we've enjoyed 2 dessert recipes and pictures to go with (though there's much eating and fun so in-focus pictures have suffered).

This is Hannah enjoying (though it looks dangerous fromt this angle!) her Chocolate Puddle.  Basically, melted chocolate that I put in a fondue pot and we dipped strawberries, pretzels, bananas and marshmallows.  Super yum! 

This is the pretend cooking.  She gets a bowl and, at first, a few random things from the pantry that were way too expired for me to use!  Now, it's colored water and a few spices.  This will occupy her for 30-45 minutes each time and she loves measuring and stirring.  She calls it her "cake." 

Here she is making Pirate Cannonballs:  Rice Krispies, peanut butter and powdered sugar mixed together and then formed into balls and rolled in more powdered sugar or graham cracker crumbs.  Hannah especially enjoyed eating the crumbs from the mixture but the cannonballs were yummy too! 

 Who knew baseball games could be such fun?  They are when you're a cutie 3 1/2 year old and you have food and outside fun for hours on end!  We've definitely been to more of Tim's games this year than ever before and Hannah really seems to enjoy it.  She's picked up a few baseball terms but really it's still about the food and the chance to run around and see Daddy that she likes most of all.

These last few weeks of school + baseball have been rough and crazy for Tim so we took advantage of some family time and went to the zoo on Sunday (plus the weather is summer-like and it's so exciting!).  Funny because our last zoo pictures had us in hats and gloves but not this time.  Hannah picked to ride the carousel this time and I got to come along!  We love going around and around. 

Eating a snack at the zoo (looks like we're hiking in the woods, doesn't it?)-I think she's saying cheese...at least she isn't covering her face which is her current favorite camera trick. 

Showing off the pajamas that Umma sent us; she wanted to wear them all night but I had to remind her that it's too warm for pants and long sleeves.  But they are super cute-the pink have snowflakes on them and the orange pair were Halloween with pumpkins. 

And here she is eating her first Bomb Pop; surprise, surprise she loves them! Definitely a sweet tooth on this one. We now have a new summer classic; hurray for summer!

And another glimpse of summer fun...running around in the sprinkler!

 This is a wiggling 'waterpillar' courtesy of Uncle Dan at Easter time...and that is an excited and amazed Hannah-face!

 They had some fun getting wet after a hot Wisconsin afternoon!

And, because she truly is growing, bike trike riding is getting a bit easier.  We've been having lots of fun zooming up and down the sidewalk with an assortment of trikes.  That's our big girl!

Musings on Mother's Day

So, there could be some debate about when I actually became a mother..was it when we received that amazing phone call to tell us we had a daughter in Korea?  Was is the first time I held her and looked into her eyes and saw that smile that has already melted so many hearts?  Was it when we walked into our house as a family of 3 and collapsed on the floor in a jet-lagged, sleep-deprived stupor?  Was it the first time she called me MaMa?  Even farther back when God withheld the gift of biological children from me yet created a little baby in another woman's womb that was destined to be the daughter of my heart?

It doesn't really matter to me!  I'm her mom and she's my daughter.  She's also a little sweetie at baseball games too, winning other hearts as well! 

And yet, on this day dedicated to mothers of all kinds, my heart and my prayers are scattered.  Prayers for a Korean mother we may never meet here on earth, that she might have peace and some joy in her heart and she thinks of her daughter, for we are thinking and praying for her.  Prayers for all the moms who are still staring at a picture of their baby and feeling so anxious and wanting to be a hands-on mom on this day.  Prayers of thanks for the amazing moms we have in our families, generations of women who have loved and taught and sacrificed for their children.  And I ask God to give me peace to enjoy this daily gift of motherhood:  smiling or pouting, giggling or whining, chasing or sleeping, hugging or pushing...each day is a blessing. 

And I remember this little face on our first Mother's Day.  Thank you Father for this gift.

Dance class and a great surprise!

So at last week's dance class, I decided to take as many pictures as possible (yup, I was THAT mom!).  Unfortunately, my skills are quite lacking and most were just not in focus but here a few to show what our 'dancer' was up to.

 Getting ready for stretches at the beginning of class

 They do a few basic steps with a baton and she loves to recreate it at home since we have the same baton (at first she called it a crouton:))

They were supposed to hold hands and form a circle.  Hannah wandered around till she found the teacher and cut in to hold the teacher's hand!  She is definitely more comfortable around adults than kids... 

Here's a decent action shot of a hop step. 

And I love tip toe moves with spins! 

And this was at the end of class when they were practicing their routine to present this week at the last class.  She was totally zoned out...no idea what was going on!  Finally, a girl near her pulled her up and tried to show her the moves!  I think 5pm is NOT her best time to focus!

And now for our surprise (which we kinda knew was coming)...our social worker arrived today for our homestudy update (we've been waiting 2 years) and she brought with her presents for Hannah from her foster mother in Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was SO EXCITING for us and there was a letter as well telling us a little bit about what she and her family have been doing and thanking us for the pictures we sent.  It is so meaningful to know that she is getting the pictures we send and that she still is thinking about and cares about that tiny baby she loved on for 5 1/2 months.  She would LOVE for us to return to Korea so she could see this big girl for herself.  So, thanks to Umma, here are some Korean treasures for our Korean treasure! 

Hannah posing with the package 

Love that casual stance...gotta look at the camera! 

So, in the package was a new Pororo stuffed animal (In the first two seasons he's dressed like our guy and then he adds some new clothes and a hat like the new one so now Hannah wants to add some new DVDs to her collection to see this 'new' Pororo.) 

Here's somewhat of a smile!  She also received two pairs of pjs (hopefully we'll do a try-on session soon), some super fun twistable crayons and a giant drawing pad.  It seemed like her foster mother was thinking about what we've told her Hannah has enjoyed doing (art projects, hangin' out in pjs...) and sent gifts accordingly which is even more special!  How thankful we are to be able to maintain this special connection with Hannah's life in Korea and yes, we pray that we're able to get together again and she can see how that baby girl has blossomed!

3 Years Home-Happy Adoption Day!

Yes, it's been 3 years since we left Korea/arrived home/became a family!  And, as with all things at this age it seems, Hannah is starting to remember and grasp certain concepts better.  So when she woke up this morning and we reminded her what day it was, she asked "When are my presents coming?  How will they get here?"  We told her that, among the 'celebrations', was a present that we bought while in Korea that we'd been saving to give her.

 Here she is sporting the new headband .  This year's gift was an assortment of hair accessories which are fun and plentiful in Korea, especially in the markets where we primarily shopped.  The headband we bought when we bought her hanbok and I think it's still a little big for her head.  The others are 'bedazzled' rubber bands with beads and sparkly hearts... unlike the one she's wearing in the following picture

of this day (sort of) 3 years ago.  Her foster mother sent her home with this orange flowered rubber band and a pink heart one.  They're quite large but if tiny baby Hannah hair can wear it, then so can big girl haircut Hannah!

Isn't that smile precious?  I could gaze at it all night.  We had a fun day, lots of play time and a special Korean short ribs dinner with a dessert that Hannah made from a special kid's cookbook.  All day long I was awed and amazed at this gift that arrived in our lives, truly straight from God's hand, 3 years ago.  It does go so quickly and I can't wait to have another little person to hold and snuggle but it sure is fabulous each and every day to be holding and snuggling our Hannah Yu-ri!

Little People in PJs

Is there anything cuter than a little person in pjs?  I took this picture of Hannah a few weeks ago and it made me think about other cute pics with her in pjs.  Does it get any sweeter?

Hannah Hodge-Podge

I'm bringing back a favorite post title to summarize what Hannah (and our family) have been up to!  

It's spring and baseball season is in full swing.  Hannah says she loves going to Daddy's games (perhaps she just likes being able to run around outside and eat for two hours...).  Daddy likes to rub her head 'for luck' before each inning!  Together they're a great pair!



For Easter, Hannah received tickets to see Veggie Tales Live.  Here she is before the concert sporting her new shirt and stylish new haircut.  We visited HMart (a Korean grocery store) in IL during spring break to pick up some snacks and other yummy foods/cooking ingredients.  While we were there we stopped at a Korean beauty salon and asked the stylist to cut Hannah's hair.  The woman suggested bangs (we were hesitant) but she snip, snipped REALLY quickly and we saw this cute and sassy style emerge.  It was seriously 10 minutes and then some styling with a hairdryer, brush and a little gel.  I haven't tried the styling part myself but the cut itself offers enough style, I think.  Awww, does she look older?

We went all out before the concert with a dinner out AND ice cream stop.  It was a great way to wrap up Easter vacation.  And a little sweet-toothed someone thought it was a super idea!

So, this picture is meant to illustrate how Hannah enjoyed the concert.  Basically, she spent the 90 minutes or so dancing in the aisles (as did most of the kids) while we parents sang along.  I could NOT get a picture of her smiling and not moving and I'm okay with that because she had such a fabulous time.  We agreed it was well worth it, even the late bedtime!  Her only hesitation was that the Veggies were really big (think TV screen and then people-sized costumes on stage, a little different).  But she suspended her disbelief/confusion enough to thoroughly enjoy the songs and dancing!

-Hannah attended her first birthday party today (Happy Bday A!) and I was very impressed with her behavior.  She clearly understood that the presents were not for her (she has not shown such self-control with other presents in other situations!) and seemed pretty at ease with lots of people around that she didn't know.  She even played 'with' a few other kids, or at least near them with mom getting some adult talking time in so that was great too!

-Do they make shoes size 5 3/4 because that's what she needs!  She's definitely growing (up to 34 inches now!) and the size 5 1/2 shoes we have are a bit too snug.  Plus she's been complaining about hot and sweaty feet (not just one of those pretend booboos either, her feet get really sweaty and stinky!) so we're trying a pair of size 6 shoes, a little big, that are a cross between a tennis shoe and a sandal.  The mom worrier in me is worried her toes will be cold with no socks but so far she's been really happy.  Ah, the little things!

-Dance class has been gradually getting better, as in she listens and pays attention a bit more and loves to come home and play dance class with her cars!  We like to sit on pillows and do stretches together (in class they sit on little rubber circles so we improvised!).  Her favorite move, though, has been galloping.  One hand on hip, the other parallel to the ground and off you go!  I don't believe it's a formal ballet 'step' but we've even galloped through the Target parking lot!

-She could eat plain rice every day, every meal...great forkfuls shoveled into her mouth with both hands!  She loves the crust of bread, absolutely no peel showing on any piece of fruit, orange juice for every meal would be divine (she told her teacher that it helps her wake up in the morning!) and she's very particular about fruit snacks.  And as I mentioned before, baseball games must be accompanied by at least 5 different food items to choose from and graze on; what habit have I started here?!

-We're loving 3 1/2 but she's begun to talk about what she'd like to do when she's 4:  swim class, have a big bed, cook dinner, be a big sister, go potty without mommy nearby, go to preschool, have a birthday party...the list goes on.  No, no I say, let's just enjoy being 3 1/2 because it's the perfect age for you right now! And that's the Hannah Hodge-Podge!

A Blessed Easter

Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed!
What a blessed Easter we enjoyed here-full of food, family and fun traditions both new and old. And first, what's Easter without a little egg dyeing? Actually, this was our third round of egg dyeing since Hannah has decided she needs at least an egg a day so we've been boiling and coloring for the last few weeks. But this time we made more eggs and took more time with the colors.

Of course she's the picture of concentration and focus!

Attempting a smile-at least Daddy can grin for the camera!


I suppose maybe it's not as special a tradition of we do it regularly, but really, what's not to love about eggs and color experimentation? I think she's found a favorite pasttime!

So here's us on Easter morning (sorry I'm not an editing guru to eliminate the weird sunlight)! I happen to love a sunny Easter morning!

Here's our girl in her pretty yellow Easter dress. She even left the tights on through the whole church service (she does NOT like tights!). She knew she looked great! Her favorite thing is to go show Daddy right after she puts a cute outfit or dress on and wait for his reaction...he never disappoints and is always appropriately excited about how wonderful she looks!

I think she knew that cute smiles would bring out even more candy today!

Displaying her egg-finding skills with Grammy's hard-boiled ones.

Behold the newest toy and a super duper fun one...a fire truck with a siren and a real hose that squirts water! Thanks to Gramma and Grampa our van got a great squirting as Hannah enjoyed a lot of fire-putting-out time at their house on Easter Saturday. She's been really into fire trucks and this one is perfect for lots of fun and pretend fire-fighting!

From our own egg hunt, Daddy was a bit generous with the jelly beans so she couldn't even eat them as she found them! She even admitted later that she had had "too much candy today."

We did have to keep her motivated to find all the eggs...always lots of fun distractions to be found! Her main present was tickets to see Veggie Tales Live next week in the area. We are all excited about her first concert!

But truly the most special moment came for me during Easter morning church when Hannah leaned over to me and pointed to the picture of the empty tomb in the church bulletin. She said, "Look mom. Jesus isn't there!" So I asked "Where is He?" She answered in perfect simplicity "He's alive!" And that's the beautiful truth about Easter. He died. He rose. We gain heaven. Thanks be to God!