Happy Year of the Snake!

Winter @ the Beach 2

This is my favorite time of the year in Texas. The weather can be cold, rainy, or absolutely perfect!!!

Winter @ the Beach

Happy New Year!

It has been ages since I have posted...

Trying to balance the holidays, teaching, and motherhood was definitely a challenge! We survived and are looking forward to spending 2013 with our guy!

Gavin is doing great! His language has really taken off. He repeats words and enjoys listening to stories. He is definitely expressive even if he can't find the words.

He enjoys going to school. I was lucky to be able to see him in his Christmas performance. Talk about major HAM! From someone who has been teaching for over a decade I think we could be in trouble, lol! ;-)

Gavin is a tad overwhelmed in certain situations. He's a very social little boy, but crowds and new situations still test him.

We hope you and your family have a wonderful start to the year!

Finally Final

November 15, 2012

Gavin officially became Gavin Minseo Parker!!!

We were happy that my parents and Matt's parents were there for this special day.

...some words to describe this moment...

anticipation...waiting...and waiting...full court docket...no nap...

...the adoption process was a rollercoaster ride to the very end... 

Thank you to a Kim, a very special friend, who was able to get some photos for us.

We appreciate her patience and for hanging around with us for around 2 hours.

Happy Birthday!

Last night I dreamt of Seoul. 

I'm  fairly sure that it was because of my birthday.

Each birthday is a unique, but this one really is different.

Having a birthday with Gavin is fun. I really like seeing him get excited about candles and cake. I can say with certainty that kids make a lot of things in life, more fun. 

And...this birthday is different because I actually know things about my birthday.

I was born at 11:40 am @ Lee, Jungja Marternity home in Bong Cheon-dong, Kwanak-Gu, Seoul, in America that would have been at 9:40 pm on November 1st. 

While in Korea my family shared bits of what they remember...

My mother says that she wasn't able to look at me, but she prayed to Buddha every day for me and tried to live a good life in hopes that by her actions, I would be taken care of. She also said she wanted me back, but the agency said I had already left for America. 

My father says I had a very loud cry. He named me Hyeon Rae. Adding Rae in hopes that one day I would return to Korea. He says that he did look at me. 

My 1st sister says she had always known that she had one more sister.

My brother says he remembers peeking in a room and seeing a baby and later on wondering what happened to the baby. It didn't make sense to him.

My 3rd sister says she remembers watching a television show about adoptees, looking for me. 

.............

I have to admit I was just like a kid, I was plagued with the thought would my family in Korea remember my birthday? They did not disappoint. 

.............

One more thing...the other day I went to the Texas Med Clinic...and for the first time ever I was able to check off yes or no in the family medical history portion. It's the little things.

Happy Halloween...a day late.

Ok...so, I saw this costume in the PBK catalog and "I" loved it, so I bought it... some friends helped encourage me by saying this would be the only year I could choose his costume, LOL.

My very talented friend at ARG Photographs took the pictures in the collage. She was  so patient with him...She captured Gavin perfectly. This is him. I do wish I could just ask him to sit and smile, but he definitely had some other plans on his agenda.



The big night arrived. I really did wonder what was going to happen.

It was pretty hot last night and this costume is definitely not light weight, but I'm happy to say that he kept the hat/hood on for quite awhile. 

We met at a friends house and  Gavin really understood the in's and out's of Halloween very quickly. He knew to get candy he needed to follow the kids, go up to complete strangers, and although he did not say trick or treat he would raise his pumpkin to them. I am happy to say that he would say thank you as he left each house.

He had a "death grip" on that pumpkin handle. I thought after awhile that it might be too heavy, but he walked/ran the whole route holding onto his stash.

...and seeing him running and laughing with his bucket made Halloween so much more fun!