I have to promote his new show coming out soon "The Mind of a Chef" here is a great article recently on the new show! Those of you who follow my blog know my desire for Cy to be a Chef.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Role Models
I will be ever in search of positive role models for my son both Korean and American. What is great is that one of my favorite chefs is both; David Chang - Korean American. As a foodie I have followed him for years and once we found out we were adopting from Korea I followed him even more. I love checking out his recipes as they are so innovative. I made one for our friends Adrienne and Mark when they came over for dinner, probably not as good as David's but none the less not without effort.
I have to promote his new show coming out soon "The Mind of a Chef" here is a great article recently on the new show! Those of you who follow my blog know my desire for Cy to be a Chef.
Here is a little preview to share of his new show. I am so excited to have another chef to follow and can't wait to suck Cy in!
I have to promote his new show coming out soon "The Mind of a Chef" here is a great article recently on the new show! Those of you who follow my blog know my desire for Cy to be a Chef.
Stocking Stuffers
Being our first Christmas with our son and he is a toddler I am so excited to share with him the whole experience that is Christmas/Winter Solstice! I have already started to shop for stocking stuffers and gifts. Every child is different but here are a few ideas.
1. Black Diamond Spot Headlamp
2. Goggles - for swimming
3. Favorite character coloring book - Thomas or Diego
4. Fun socks
5. My son is loves chocolate so something chocolatey.
6. In our family it is tradition to give to charity...so every year Santa donates a toy in Cy's name. He will not understand it now, but the tradition will keep on and he will grow to understand.
7, Kalidiscope
8. Maraca
9. Mini Etch a Sketch
10. Harmonica
11. Start a tradition of a Christmas book
12. Fun bath toy
These are just ideas I have for this year. Obviously they change every year as your child gets older, but I do love these so far!
1. Black Diamond Spot Headlamp
2. Goggles - for swimming
3. Favorite character coloring book - Thomas or Diego
4. Fun socks
5. My son is loves chocolate so something chocolatey.
6. In our family it is tradition to give to charity...so every year Santa donates a toy in Cy's name. He will not understand it now, but the tradition will keep on and he will grow to understand.
7, Kalidiscope
8. Maraca
9. Mini Etch a Sketch
10. Harmonica
11. Start a tradition of a Christmas book
12. Fun bath toy
These are just ideas I have for this year. Obviously they change every year as your child gets older, but I do love these so far!
Jim lives on...
“A friend is someone who gives you total
freedom to be yourself-and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you
happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. That's what real
love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is.”
― Jim Morrison
I found this quote after a week or so of re-connecting with friends. I loved it! I had such great conversations where I just felt like those connections were meant to happen. It is funny how true friends are always there no matter where we live or where we are in our lives it is like picking up as if you were never separated. All of us have taken such very different journeys, becoming these extraordinary women who I can only be so thankful that they are in my life. Our lives can be so crazy and hectic and it is so nice to sit down and laugh and just be with the people that you are so close too. Some of my friends have been with me through so much and I with them and through it all we will always be connected on such a deep level.
A friend of mine I met out here as we were both delegates during the last election with kids and life we had kind of gone our own way and now we are re-connected. She said to me, "I am always here." I loved that because it is so true. No excuses, no pretend...just real.
So this is to all my current friends and my recent conversations these past few weeks with old friends that have brightened up the day. You all along the way have helped to shape me into the woman I am today. I know time, life and distance has separated us and I can only hope that we keep the connections.
Thank you for always loving me as I have always loved you! In the words of Jim Morrison, as my girls from college can appreciate as we wore out our Doors CD's he always had great words.
― Jim Morrison
I found this quote after a week or so of re-connecting with friends. I loved it! I had such great conversations where I just felt like those connections were meant to happen. It is funny how true friends are always there no matter where we live or where we are in our lives it is like picking up as if you were never separated. All of us have taken such very different journeys, becoming these extraordinary women who I can only be so thankful that they are in my life. Our lives can be so crazy and hectic and it is so nice to sit down and laugh and just be with the people that you are so close too. Some of my friends have been with me through so much and I with them and through it all we will always be connected on such a deep level.
A friend of mine I met out here as we were both delegates during the last election with kids and life we had kind of gone our own way and now we are re-connected. She said to me, "I am always here." I loved that because it is so true. No excuses, no pretend...just real.
So this is to all my current friends and my recent conversations these past few weeks with old friends that have brightened up the day. You all along the way have helped to shape me into the woman I am today. I know time, life and distance has separated us and I can only hope that we keep the connections.
Thank you for always loving me as I have always loved you! In the words of Jim Morrison, as my girls from college can appreciate as we wore out our Doors CD's he always had great words.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sleepless in Fort Collins
Cy has struggled with sleeping through the night since we brought him home. In the 6 months he has maybe slept 3 times through out the night. Currently he wakes up anywhere between 2 to 5 times a night. Sometimes it is only for a few minutes he is just hungry, sometimes they are a wicked fit and sometimes he is just crying. There are a variety of factors involved in his sleep issues: Night Terrors/Nightmares, Learned hunger and probably our night time ritual.
There is a big difference between night terrors and nightmares. Jeremy and I, for obvious reasons, have learned a lot about the differences. Night terrors usually occur 2 to 3 hours after the child has fallen asleep and during Non-REM sleep. What happens is the child moves from deep sleep in the non-REM stage to a lighter REM sleep. During this transition dreams appear, hence causing the night terror. What is the crazy part of the night terror is that the child doesn't know they are asleep. We have been told to stay calm and just be present in case Cy might hurt himself as he can throw himself violently around or cry. We have also been told to never wake him. They say the most common cause is sleep deprivation, but Cy is on a regular routine. He doesn't have them consistently but about once to two times a week. Children do not remember a night terror, but will remember a nightmare. Nightmares usually occur after 1am and Cy will be awake for most of those. Seems more willing to be comforted.
I found this great article on line about the Four Reasons Toddlers Wake Up. What I liked about the article is that is got me thinking on other avenues to do research because since Cy was bottled fed by his foster mother for the first two years of his life AND she fed him 2x in the night he did get use to eating. He also slept next to his foster mother for two years and we are trying to get him to sleep on his own. This transition Jeremy or I will be in the room with him for 15 minutes to an hour some nights putting him to sleep. My reading has led me to believe that our nightly ritual of rubbing his back, singing, etc can effect him when he wakes out of a sleep cycle and we are not there. The suggestion is to just put them to sleep on their own when they are awake, but we haven't even implemented that part of our process. Cy is also a total snorer. We recently took him to the doctor and they detected wheezing in his lungs. He is currently taking being treated for it with a drug to help open his airways, but who knows. So as you can tell we have a ton of factors and a TON of situations that we have experienced at night. The deal is now, how do we fix them so he sleeps through the night.
Once we figure out the key factor and reason for his sleep disturbances we might be able to solve them. I wrote this blog post because after talking with a friend from college it made me realize how common these situations are and how much more informed we can be on a personal level. My goal is to try and journal the next few weeks to keep track of why he is waking up and the reason. Then hopefully be able to track a trend. Jeremy does majority of sleep duty with Cy as once I wake up...I am up til I go to work and after a few days of that I am NO fun to be around. We shared duties for the first 4 months and I have to say I was a bitch! I could barely think and have never felt so tired. So I will update you after our experiment. I will blog each night for the two weeks and see a trend.
Peace and Love and good sleeping!
There is a big difference between night terrors and nightmares. Jeremy and I, for obvious reasons, have learned a lot about the differences. Night terrors usually occur 2 to 3 hours after the child has fallen asleep and during Non-REM sleep. What happens is the child moves from deep sleep in the non-REM stage to a lighter REM sleep. During this transition dreams appear, hence causing the night terror. What is the crazy part of the night terror is that the child doesn't know they are asleep. We have been told to stay calm and just be present in case Cy might hurt himself as he can throw himself violently around or cry. We have also been told to never wake him. They say the most common cause is sleep deprivation, but Cy is on a regular routine. He doesn't have them consistently but about once to two times a week. Children do not remember a night terror, but will remember a nightmare. Nightmares usually occur after 1am and Cy will be awake for most of those. Seems more willing to be comforted.
I found this great article on line about the Four Reasons Toddlers Wake Up. What I liked about the article is that is got me thinking on other avenues to do research because since Cy was bottled fed by his foster mother for the first two years of his life AND she fed him 2x in the night he did get use to eating. He also slept next to his foster mother for two years and we are trying to get him to sleep on his own. This transition Jeremy or I will be in the room with him for 15 minutes to an hour some nights putting him to sleep. My reading has led me to believe that our nightly ritual of rubbing his back, singing, etc can effect him when he wakes out of a sleep cycle and we are not there. The suggestion is to just put them to sleep on their own when they are awake, but we haven't even implemented that part of our process. Cy is also a total snorer. We recently took him to the doctor and they detected wheezing in his lungs. He is currently taking being treated for it with a drug to help open his airways, but who knows. So as you can tell we have a ton of factors and a TON of situations that we have experienced at night. The deal is now, how do we fix them so he sleeps through the night.
Once we figure out the key factor and reason for his sleep disturbances we might be able to solve them. I wrote this blog post because after talking with a friend from college it made me realize how common these situations are and how much more informed we can be on a personal level. My goal is to try and journal the next few weeks to keep track of why he is waking up and the reason. Then hopefully be able to track a trend. Jeremy does majority of sleep duty with Cy as once I wake up...I am up til I go to work and after a few days of that I am NO fun to be around. We shared duties for the first 4 months and I have to say I was a bitch! I could barely think and have never felt so tired. So I will update you after our experiment. I will blog each night for the two weeks and see a trend.
Peace and Love and good sleeping!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Ode to Glee
I have to say without having TV, I was a little late to Glee...but let me tell you I have caught up! I love the show for so many reasons. I love Broadway and Theater so that is the easy part. I do believe there is always a message and I listen and think it is so fantastic. I love the talent. I love that the show let's kids see it is okay to be themselves, make a mistake or speak out of turn and a true friend will always be there. The message I take away is to always be true to yourself. Accept your mistakes and allow forgiveness. It is okay to say you were wrong, I am sorry, here is how I can make it better. To accept people that are different then you as they just might teach you something about yourself. Call me a dork, but I love this show! So to totally Gleek out as my husband would say...here are just a few...
So I wanted to share a few clips of my favorite scenes and songs!
So I wanted to share a few clips of my favorite scenes and songs!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Adoption Tax Credit
How do you think you would feel if you had to pay full coverage to have your biological child. Adoptive parents are no different then biological, just instead of having their own they made the choice to give an opportunity/family and life to a child that might not of had that option. Adoption is no different then biological and children are raised with the same amount of love, protection, opportunities and care. If I could afford it I would adopt more children then my son. The average domestic adoption ranges from $12K to $25K and the average international adoption ranges from $20 to $35K this is just the cost of adoption.
Attached is the link for Adoptive Families for statistics for Adoption Cost
Some people always ask why some adoptions cost more or take longer...I found this great information on a blog. Why Do Some Adoptions Cost More or Take Longer
Below is just some basic cost information. This does NOT include travel which now for International every country requires you to do.
Domestic Adoption includes, but not limited to: Legal Fee's, Agency Fee's, Foster Care, Home study, FBI screening (basically very extensive background screening), court fees, etc..
International Adoption, Costs for personnel, administrative overhead, training, education, legal services and communications, working with government and agency authorities, legal fees, and passport and U.S. visa fees in the child's country. The fees also cover costs related to the care of your child prior to adoption, including -- but not limited to -- costs for food, clothing, shelter, medical care, foster care, orphanage care, and any other services provided directly to your child. It also includes any mandatory donations required by child welfare authorities. This fee may also cover child welfare projects in your child's country of origin.
Help make Adoption Affordable and give another child a home.
Support HR 4373 and S 3616
Attached is the link for Adoptive Families for statistics for Adoption Cost
Some people always ask why some adoptions cost more or take longer...I found this great information on a blog. Why Do Some Adoptions Cost More or Take Longer
Below is just some basic cost information. This does NOT include travel which now for International every country requires you to do.
Domestic Adoption includes, but not limited to: Legal Fee's, Agency Fee's, Foster Care, Home study, FBI screening (basically very extensive background screening), court fees, etc..
International Adoption, Costs for personnel, administrative overhead, training, education, legal services and communications, working with government and agency authorities, legal fees, and passport and U.S. visa fees in the child's country. The fees also cover costs related to the care of your child prior to adoption, including -- but not limited to -- costs for food, clothing, shelter, medical care, foster care, orphanage care, and any other services provided directly to your child. It also includes any mandatory donations required by child welfare authorities. This fee may also cover child welfare projects in your child's country of origin.
Help make Adoption Affordable and give another child a home.
Support HR 4373 and S 3616
Six Months
I am a little late but we celebrated Cy's six months home on October 13th. It truly feels like yesterday that we stepped off the plane. It has been such an emotional roller coaster with the past month, finally coming to a halt. My husband is of the most patient people and we were reflecting with some friends about how far we have come and how hard it was in the beginning. For my husband to feel it was hard you can only imagine the difficulty. When people adopt every story is different. We had a group of 6 people in our training and every single one of us has had a completely different experience, both personally and with our children. Each story and experience is a notch in our journey. I have to thank so many people that were so supportive during this whole process and I am writing notes now. I have learned a lot about myself and feel that I have grown as a person, wife and mother. I am probably a little different then the person I was six months ago...but still the same.
I have enjoyed the new friends having a child has brought us. I swear neighbors have come out of the wood word to hang out with us. It is amazing how children can bring people together. Cy is talking so much right now. He is trying sooo hard to form sentences. He can say 3 word sentences. School is teaching him potty training so that is going well. His motor skills are great! He can run and walk so much better then even 3 months ago. He is starting to gain weight...he has gained 2.5lbs in 3 months (considering he went down to 24lbs after growing 3 inches). He is wearing his glasses all the time. He is just really thriving in all environments. Now we just have to worry about normal toddler stuff.
I am counting the days down to Friday, November 16th as it will be a huge function at the courthouse for National Adoption Day! Our friends go right before us to welcome Colton as a US citizen and it really is so great to share this experience with them. It is such a important day for me, not because I haven't felt like Cy is my son from day one but because I am so excited that it is official.
Right now I am just enjoying the time I get to spend with Cy, but who knows if there will be a brother or sister for Cy....
I have enjoyed the new friends having a child has brought us. I swear neighbors have come out of the wood word to hang out with us. It is amazing how children can bring people together. Cy is talking so much right now. He is trying sooo hard to form sentences. He can say 3 word sentences. School is teaching him potty training so that is going well. His motor skills are great! He can run and walk so much better then even 3 months ago. He is starting to gain weight...he has gained 2.5lbs in 3 months (considering he went down to 24lbs after growing 3 inches). He is wearing his glasses all the time. He is just really thriving in all environments. Now we just have to worry about normal toddler stuff.
I am counting the days down to Friday, November 16th as it will be a huge function at the courthouse for National Adoption Day! Our friends go right before us to welcome Colton as a US citizen and it really is so great to share this experience with them. It is such a important day for me, not because I haven't felt like Cy is my son from day one but because I am so excited that it is official.
Right now I am just enjoying the time I get to spend with Cy, but who knows if there will be a brother or sister for Cy....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)