December 31, 2012

Happy New Year's Eve!
I can't believe that tomorrow will be a whole new year. Where did this one go? New years always put me in a reflective mood. Did I accomplish what I set out to do this year? Am I ready to close the chapter on 2012? Well, ready or not, here comes 2013!

This has been a great year. So many things have happened. Some highlights I can think of off the top of my head:

• William Crawling
• William's first steps (at 9 months!)
• William starting to talk
• William potty training himself (at 14 months!)
• William turning one year old
• William reading/recognizing his name
• my trip to Scotland and Ireland
• Our month in Korea
• Thanksgiving in Dallas and San Antonio
• Christmas in Brownfield

There are so many more memories, but if I listed them all, this post would never end.  William has changed so much. I can't wait to see how he (and we) change in the coming year.

I have to make this post brief, as my child who only naps ten minutes at a time has decided to make it 5 today. Tonight we are having a couple of friends over tonight to ring in the New Year. We probably won't make it to midnight though. Does that make us old or just responsible? I look forward to seeing each of you in the coming year. May God bless you as you seek him!

Welcome 2013!!!

December 28, 2012

Merry Christmas! I am obviously a little late posting this week, but we have been very busy with travel.

Let's see. Most of last week was spent packing to get ready to leave for Brownfield. I somehow managed to get everything into the car on my own (a miracle in and of itself) and we left for my grandparent's house about 6pm after Francis got off work on Friday. We did this so both William and the dogs would sleep the whole way until we arrived about 12:15 am. Did it work? Sort of. As long as I was driving, we were golden, but when we stopped for gas about 2/3 of the way and switched drivers. Everyone was up until we arrived. It was a long night, but totally worth it. My family (Mom, Dad, Christian, & Danielle) arrived about 45 minutes after we did, and so needless to say we were all tired come Saturday morning. We took it easy on Saturday and after my aunt arrived by plane in the afternoon, we had some wonderful family time with all 9 adults and our most adorable William. William was very good. He only touched a few things that he shouldn't and didn't destroy anything. He mostly left my grandparents' house completely in tact. He's such a good boy.

Sunday, we went to church at First Baptist Brownfield, and then ate lunch in Lubbock. It was delightful. I believe my grandparents enjoyed having us there, and I am so glad William was able to see where I had Christmas growing up. Monday was Christmas Eve. Francis, Danielle, Aunt Camille, my dad and I went out to see my grandparents' land and the oil wells that are being installed on their property. I don't know what I was expecting, but seeing the huge hole in the ground where they are digging was a bit surprising. The ones that were already installed looked like what you always see, but it was nice to hear Pop talk about all they have been doing. You can tell he is really interested in it all. That makes me happy. In the afternoon, Danielle, my mom, Aunt Camille, William and I went and fed the ducks. William really wanted to get up close and touch the ducks and geese, and he kept trying to climb down the embankment to get into the water. Mom or I had to hold onto the hood of his jacket (the wind was chilly) while he dropped the bread down to them. I got some good pictures.

In the evening was all got dressed to go to the Christmas eve service. During family pictures, William was being fussy. Usually a camera is his best friend so I became a bit concerned. He felt warm. We went onto the service anyway and after Children's time where William got a candy cane, he passed out on Francis's lap (also something he never does). When we got home to eat dinner, William wouldn't eat and we put him straight to bed. Poor kiddo slept while the rest of us had dinner, read the Christmas story and opened presents. I got a Roomba vaccum cleaners, 3 watches (4 total for christmas), a purse, and a bunch of wonderful clothing. Francis got clothes too, as well as shoes, video games, gift cards and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't see because he was sitting behind me. It was a good evening minus my sick baby.

Christmas morning we woke up to a light snow all over the ground. A White Christmas! William seemed like he was doing better. He happily opened his presents and his stocking. He got a bunch of toys including a tools set, a motorcycle, a tunnel, a tent, a tractor, books, a number of balls, and legos. He also got clothes, candy and a light saber toothbrush. He hit the mother load! Everyone also got to open their stockings and their presents from him. The ladies got a candle holder with William's finger prints on it and the men got desktop Christmas trees with William's decorations on the pot. It was a lovely morning topped off by a wonderful turkey Christmas lunch. William started to decline again midday, and my dad, Mom Noble, and I took him to the emergency room, where they discovered he had a fever of 103.5 while on fever reducing medication. They gave him a prescription for antibiotics (even though they thought it was a virus) and gave him some hospital grade pain killer. We made it home in time to put him down for a restless night. Even with this sad hole in the middle of our day, it was still a good Christmas. I am glad I had such wonderful support to help me with William while he was sick. I have a great family.

Our drive back from Brownfield took about 8 hours including lunch with my family before they headed on to Dallas while we turned south toward Austin. The only good thing about William being so sick was that he slept much of the way, and was mostly docile, which is very unlike his usual self. The only noteworthy event was a little ways outside Sweetwater. We were following my parents when all of a sudden there are police lights behind us. We pull over and so do my parents. The police car drives around us and pulls up behind my parents. He talks to them a bit and then comes and talks to us. I am wondering what in the world is up since we were going under the speed limit. He takes a look at Francis's license and looks amused and confused as Bella Dog tries to climb out the window and come visit him. I can tell the officer looks a bit disappointed. He says he pulled over dad for following the car in front of him too closely (something you can't ticket for), and that we are free to go. Then it dawns on me that he thought we were drug runners. My dad's SUV had a suspicious looking package on his trailer (the cat's kennel) and the officer wanted to check it out. Imagine his surprise when he is greeted by three dogs and a cat (counting both cars) and a whole family of weary travelers. We were obviously not what he was looking for.

Well, William is all healed now, and we are getting all of our things unpacked and put away. I can't believe the year is almost over. It really flew by. I am amazed at how much William has grown and cannot begin to think how much he will continue to change in 2013. If I haven't told you lately how special each of you is to me, please know you are in my thoughts and prayers. Christmas is about the one who came to save us because he loved us so much. He believes we were worth every bit of the pain he endured. Thank you Jesus! Happy Birthday!

December 19th, 2012

Sorry the post is late this week, but I have been recovering from a rather nasty illness. I will not say I am 100%, but I am doing much better today.

This weekend we celebrated Christmas Part I with the Phillips Family. It was a lot of fun. We drove into Houston Saturday morning (after enjoying our Sunday School Christmas party Friday night) and got in town in time for lunch with everyone at Chick-fil-a. William and Abby played on the playground while the adults talked and finished our meals. After lunch we went back to the house where the kiddos napped (yes, William actually NAPPED!). After naps we opened presents. William got many cool things including a Little People Nativity set, a ride-on toy bulldozer that he can push around, a special hat and a cute activity board. The gift I was most excited about giving was a year long calendar with pictures from the Phillips family for each month. I spent forever working on it and Francis's mom really seemed to like it. That made me feel very good. Francis got many things including shirts, a star Wars video game and Big Bang Season 5. I know what we will be doing for the next few weeks. I got a watch, a luggage scale, a waffle iron, a perfume bottle and much more. It was a lovely afternoon capped off by a lovely dinner provided by Carino's. After dinner we headed to the Houston zoo to see all their beautiful light displays. It was gorgeous! William and Abby really enjoyed it. It was a pretty great day.

Well, as I got back in the car (I had been feeling kind nauseated all day), I knew something was wrong. We got back to the hotel and I lay in bed for a few moments before I started to vomit. After 4 nearly straight hours of this, I knew I needed to seek medical attention. I was super dehydrated. My father-in-law drove me to the emergency room and they filled me full of fluid and anti-nausea medication. I am so thankful to him for giving up his night's sleep to help us out. I won't go into all the details of my struggles the past couple of days, but I am glad to be finally be in the clear. It was supposedly food poisoning. I never want to have that happen again!!!

William has had a growth spurt this week. His legs are getting longer. He can see over the bathroom counter and when on his tiptoes, he can see and reach the kitchen counters. I've had a few rude awakenings with his new reaching ability. He can also climb on the couch with one swing of his leg (no struggling). He's getting so big!

Well, back to work. William sure is a full-time job!

December 11, 2012

William is 16 months old today. The months are flying by almost as fast as I can count them. Someone told me today to write it all down. That's exactly what I intend to do!

William is doing much more repeating. His new favorite word is "hot!" especially when he is receiving food. I do say that word a lot because otherwise he plunges his hand into whatever it is. He also likes the word "fish" which mainly comes out as "ishhhhhh". It's incredibly adorable.

William can read his name. I think I wrote last week about him being able to read "The Little Gym" (pointing to it when I asked), but now he can recognize his name. Sunday he kept digging through the presents under the tree and pulling out ones with his name on it. He would bring them to me and point to his name. His name is only on about 1/4 to 1/3 of the presents so he really did have to look. I am so impressed! I don't know if it is just the "W" he recognizes or the whole thing. While reading our Star Wars ABC book, he always gets excited for the W page, so I know he recognizes that at least. He's such a smart kiddo.

Speaking of smart: He's been in underwear solely for more than three weeks! William is doing great! I'm so proud of him. I added up how munch he is saving us in diapers by being potty trained at 14 months instead of 2 years or 3 years old and the amount is $1000 dollars. Good job, my boy!

William did the cutest thing this morning, he "prayed" for breakfast. When I sat down, he reached for an grabbed my hand. He then bowed his head, said a bunch of stuff and said, "Amen!" and smiled at me. I much be doing something right. My heart is overflowing!

Well, William is awake so I guess I will have to close here. Till next time!

December 3, 2012

Not a whole lot to report, but I did want to get back on schedule. I can't believe it is December! We are all decorated and ready to celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I try to explain as much to William as I can. I know he won't understand it all this year, but he will soon. A woman today asked William if he was ready for santa, and it took everything in me not to tell her that we were not doing Santa at our house. She was trying to be sweet, and there was no reason to stir up an argument in the middle of Walmart. I don't want William to think Jesus is pretend when he finds out Santa is pretend. It just seems like something that confuses, depresses and frustrates children. Plus, St. Nicolas was a great Christian who did many great things. Why can't we honor the person (and the Savior he served) instead of mystifying him into a red-suited being? I am not judging any of you who love and want to do Santa with your children. No one seems severely scarred for life over finding out Santa is not real. I just wanted to explain where I am coming from. On a more selfish level, I want to get credit for the great gifts I get my kiddos. I don't want them leaving Santa cookies, when mommy is the one who did all the work! But I digress...

Saturday I had the opportunity to go with my mother to the Governor's Mansion and attend a Christmas reception. It was a lot of fun and all of the decorations were beautiful! Mom and I stayed back when they opened the doors so we could take a picture on the front lawn when a black lab and dachshund come racing around the corner of the house and who strolls up but Governor Perry! He came straight up and gave me a side hug, saying to my mother, "So Candy, who is this young lady?" EEEE! I was in shock. My mom introduced me to both Gov. Perry and later to his wife. We had our pictures taken with them after taking a tour of the mansion. I will never forget that, you can be sure!

Now, on to wrap a few more things and try and get things done before William awakes. Tata!

November 30th, 2012

No I have not been neglecting my Blog. Francis left the computer in Plano on accident, so I've had no computer to write on until last night when my mother brought it up with her (thanks mom!).

Wednesday before last, we had my birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Francis made it in town (Plano) just in time to join the rest of my family and it was a nice little evening. We had red velvet cake (yum!) and i got to open presents. I got a hair drying, a Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Kinect, a dress, a necklace, a purse, and memory foam for my bed. I love it all!

Thanksgiving was my birthday. It was not a bad day. I got a lot of sweet phone calls from friends and family so I did not feel overlooked. It was a quiet and small Thanksgiving this year at my aunt's house; we only had 28. That may sound like a lot, but it really isn't. William LOVED all the food and snacked on and off throughout the day.

Friday Francis, William and I drove from Plano all the way to San Antonio to meet up with his family and Nana Phillips (Francis's grandmother). We watched the Riverwalk Christmas parade and I got to meet my friend Rachael's new boyfriend. I'm so happy for her! Saturday morning we went to the Children's museum in San Antonio and then Francis, his parents, Nana, William and I drove back to Austin for the night. We all spent Sunday morning putting up Christmas decorations before going to church. William was fascinated by all the pretty things. It is so fun to see him react to the tree and all the lights. It makes my heart happy. Well, after lunch, Francis's family headed on and we put up the outside lights and tried to rest. It was quite a week!!!

This week has been pretty quiet, just Christmas shopping and going to the Little Gym. We are trying to get back into our groove. William has been increasingly talkative and asserting what he wants. This week I asked him where he wanted to go and he responded clear as day, "Downstairs!" and he headed down the stairs. He such a smart kiddo. Oh! And William pulled out an old electronic game of mine two days ago. He tried to turn it on and when he wouldn't work, he flipped it over, popped open the back and pointed to the batteries while yelling at me "Dis!!!". I changed them and the game worked, much to his delight. What I want to know is: HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE KNOW TO DO THAT? Surely someone taught him, but no one will own up to it. Maybe William is just a genius. I'm going to have my hands full when he gets older.

More good news: William has gone TWO WEEKS with no peepee potty accidents. I am so proud! He is in cotton underwear during the day and the only time I've had to change it is when he spilled water on himself. We are still working on the poo situation, but even those accidents are becoming less and less!

My mom came in town yesterday (as I said), for her SREC meeting. She babysat last night so Francis could go shopping and I could attend a women's event at church. Judging by how exhausted William is today, they had a great time!

I can't believe it is almost December. I still have 5 people left on my list, and I have no clue what to get two of them. I guess I better get creative! Tata!!!

November 20, 2012

FIVE DAYS WITH NO ACCIDENTS!!! That's right, William has not had an accident since Thursday afternoon. Well, except for when someone (who shall remain nameless ^_^) babysat him and forgot to take him to the potty. But I am not counting that against William. I will tentatively say William has got this potty training thing down. Now only if he would say "potty" when he needs to go, we'd be in business!

William has been speaking even more this week than last. He has said, "Aunti Chrisss"(Auntie Chrissy), Ice, Banana, phone, what's that? and counteless other phrases. It's been amazing!!! The other night, William was playing with Christian and took her phone. He said "Phone?". Christian said, "Did you just say phone?"and William responded, "Yessss!"It was adorable.

William and I drove up to Plano last Wednesday. We had to attend the funeral of my friend, Brittany's, mother on Thursday.William didn't even make it 5 minutes before my mom had to take him out. The chapel had god accoustics and William like hearing the sound of his own voice. It was a sweet funeral, and my best friend Ashley and I went up to the gravesite afterwards to support Brittany while my mom and William went home. Friday, Mom and I got supplies for Brittany's baby shower. William got a bad rash from something and I had to take him to the doctor. He gave us some ointment and it has since healed.

Saturday, Ashley, a girl named Tiffany, and I threw a baby shower for Brittany. Brittany was in good spirits and got nearly everything she will need for the baby. It was due in large part to the generous gifts and donations of my friends and sisters in Christ. I thank them for blessing her! It was a great shower!

Sunday I got to witness the 35th anniversary of the church in which I grew up and afterward I got to hang out with my inlaws. They are preparing for the arrival of Francis's Grandmother, so it was nice to see them while they took a break! Yesterday and today have been shopping days. Danielle came in last night from school and now the gang is almost all here. I can't wait for Francis to arrve tomorrow night!

I was able to see Ashley's new house last night. It was gorgeous. I'm so proud of her!

Today William got his second haircut. He looks so much more like a little boy and less like a baby. He's growing up too fast. I can't believe it.

That's it for now. I need a nap!

November 14, 2012

"Go, Go!" Those are William's new favorite words. I feel like there is some spiritual application there. ^_^

 As we are about to "go" to Dallas, I will have to make this brief.

William's language has been increasing daily. It's so fun to see. His favorite words (other than mama, dada and hi) are "Go", "Dis" (this), "Dat" (that) and "Yesssss" (Yes). With these in his arsenal, he can communicate almost anything. He's so proud of himself.

Potty training is going better. William has been going more and more in the potty and less in his diaper/underwear. He is so proud when he goes. He claps and bounces up and down. It's so cute!

Sunday William turned 15 months. I can't believe it! My parents, my sister Christian, our friend Brandon and his mom all came to stay at our house for that night. On Monday we all went to UT for my sister and Brandon to be sworn in as official lawyers. I am so glad I got to be there!

Today we are heading to Dallas to attend the funeral of my friend Brittany's mother tomorrow. Please be in prayer for her family. We still have Brittany's baby shower planned for Saturday, so please pray double hard that we will be able to love on her in the way she most needs!!! William and I  will be staying in Dallas all week until Thanksgiving. It should be a good trip even if it was earlier than we had originally planned.

That's it for now.

November 6, 2012

Election day. My mom is serving as a polling judge (as she does every election) in Collin County. I'm proud that she is able to help keep our nation free and honest. I early voted this past week, so I don't have anything to do today but pray. I am praying for our nation as we watch and await the results.

In our house, it's been nothing but pee and poop, hehe. I am tired of it all, to be honest, mainly because William has been being difficult in every way the past couple of days. I fear the terrible twos (or ones?) are starting, but I am hoping it has just been because he is sick. He's been crying or yelling at me nonstop since monday morning. I need a break! Thank goodness this Friday is Parent's night out at church!!!

William really has been doing ok with potty training. He has pooped in the potty consistently since Thursday. Pee is a different story. He usually does fine for half the day, but we haven't had an accident free day yet. HE gets frustrated when he goes in his pants, so he knows that he shouldn't but I don't think he always knows it is coming. Plus if I ask him if he needs to go, he sometimes runs to the bathroom and accidentally pees on the way. We are still working on things to be sure. We have made the switch to underwear (with a pullup over it when we go out, so he REALLY knows when he is wet. I'll keep you posted as time goes on.

The most interesting development this week is that William has started to take serious notice of environmental print. At The Little Gym yesterday he pointed to the company name as it was printed on one of the mats. I read the words and then pointed and said the letters. He then found the same words on a different mat, pointed and waited for me to read them. He then found them on every mat and pointed them out to me, skipping over other words and pictures that were on the mats of equipment. Today at The Little Gym, he went around and pointed to the "G" in Gym everywhere (not any other letter), and even used both hands to point to two different "G"s at the same time. He thought it was great fun. After her was through with that, he started pointing to words on the wall and wanting me to read them (they are buzz words like flexibility, strength, citizenship, ect.) and skipping over pictures of children doing stunts. When we got home and read books, he started pointing to the words on the page instead of the pictures. Overall, I'm very impressed. I hope this means he will be an early reader!!!

Well, that's it for now. I have quite a few things to do as I have guests coming on Sunday evening. They including my parents, my sister Christian, our friend Brandon and his mom. Christian and Brandon both passed the bar and will be sworn in as Lawyers on Monday morning here in Austin. I am so excited that I will get to witness this momentous event. Now to clean!

October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

I'm a little late posting this week, but I've been feeling a little under the weather and I have been super busy!

The biggest thing is that William has begun potty training. He wants to go in the potty and gets mad when he goes in his diaper. He has only pooped in his diaper once since we started last week, and that happened first thing when he woke up in the morning. I haven't quite gotten on board with this whole thing. William will pull on me to go to the restroom and I will figure out too late when he wants and then he will go in his diaper just before he gets on the potty. Pray for me. I know he is frustrated with me. Just this morning at the little gym, he tried to leave the gym and I didn't let him (the restroom is in the gym, but he doesn't know that). He sat down and cried and then I noticed his diaper was suddenly full. I felt terrible! If I can ever get my act together, I think he will be trained in no time.

This weekend we went to a bunch of parties. First we went to The Little Gym for their Halloween party. William was Luigi, Francis was Mario and I was Princess Peach. I habe a blonde wig and everything. It was cute! We went from there straight to Francis's work party. They had all sorts of inflatables, race cars, ponies, and food galore. I got to take a tour of the museum at Francis's work. Now I actually know what he does! William liked the example air shower. Well, he liked everything he did on Saturday.
Sunday after chruch we had lunch at Rudy's with our Sunday School class. We then went to a Fall Festival with a bunch of other couples including Angel and Austin and Seth and Arlene. William loved the Fall Fest. I can't wait until we go to the one at our church tonight!

 Monday through Wednesday have been a bit of a blur. I've been cleaning, doing chores and going to all sorts of stores. I did make it to Natalie's house to pick up some stuff for a friend, and she gave William a play grill. He loves it! He's been playing with it every chance he gets. Thanks Natalie!

Well, as I said, we are going to Fall Fest at our church tonight and handing out candy when we get home. It should be fun. I hope I start feeling better soon. I am beginning to think it is allergies, which stinks because I probably won't get over it until the weather changes. Bummer.

I'll write again soon!

October 22, 2012

First off, Happy Birthday to my Father-in-Law! He has reached a milestone today and we are so happy that we got to celebrate with him this weekend. Wishing him another blessed year!!!

Francis's birthday was last Tuesday. We had a great time. I made Lasagna and carrot cake (which were both delicious). I even decorated my first round cake. I was so proud of myself! Francis loved the Avengers in 3D bluray and personalized Luggage tags that William decorated. It was a great evening.

Wednesday William and I flew to Dallas to visit my family. When we landed, everyone on the plane commented on how good he was. I told them this was a walk in the park compared to the ride he took a couple of weeks ago. They were very impressed with him! When we got to my parent's house, I almost immediately left to have dinner at Chick-fil-a with Ashley Duran and Kristin Mahurin. It was so great to see them and meet Kristin's son, Connor! After dinner, William and I went to the Cotnoir's house to meet William's great Aunt Andrea and spend time with my in-laws. We had dessert and played for around an hour before we headed back to my parents house. Then Brandon Nine came over so I could meet his girlfriend over Skype. She seems very nice, and we had a good two hour conversation. William didn't end up going to bed until 10pm! He slept just fine, though and was happy the next day so I guess it wasn't too bad. It was just a busy day!

Thursday I got a hair cut (it's short again!) and my mom, William and I went shopping all over town. William is a better shopper than his dad was as a child. He's a good sport and didn't mind all the stops we had to make. We had dinner with my whole family at Taco Bell that night. It was nice to all be back together again!

Friday was a big day. We (my sisters, mom, Kristen Giles, William and I) went to the State Fair of Texas!!! When we entered the park we could see a big cloud of black smoke that kept growing and engulfed much of the fair grounds. After a short time, we found out BIG TEX had burned down!!!! I took a picture as they took away his charred remains. It made me want to cry!!! Our day at the fair was pretty good. We ate all day long, saw the Marionettes and the Birds of Prey shows, played in the petting zoo, and generally enjoyed the  fair festivities. William especially loved the Fireworks show at the end of the night. He clapped all the way through the Proud to Be an American song. It was adorable! Right before we left, some people got stuck on a 200 ft high swing and they had to call in 19 emergency vehicles to get them down. Although we had fun, I think that that date will go down in infamy in Fair history!

Saturday William and I rode down to Houston with Francis's parents to go to Dewberry Farms and see the Pumpkin Patch. We met up with Francis, his sister and her family as well as out friends Gershom and Kristi and their two little girls. It was a fun day, although I got a little sunburned! William loved the pumpkins and spent a long time trying to pick them up. They were just too heavy! We all had dinner together to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday and then we did cake and present's back at Cyndy's house. It was a great ending to a great day!

Sunday we went to church with Cyndy and Chris as well as lunch with the family before heading back home. When we arrived home, William decided to sit on the potty and go peepee! He got an M&M and that made his day. My child is growing up so fast. I'm not ready for him to be potty trained. He's my baby! He thinks he is ready though, so we are going to give it a shot. Prayers are appreciated.

I am very thankful for all my blessings. I know not everyone has all the wonderful friends and family that I have. I am praying constantly for a specific friend who is going through more than I could imagine right now. Time is so precious, and I forget that sometimes. If I haven't told you lately, I love you!!!

That's it for now. Till next time!

October 16th, 2012

First off, I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the love of my life, my sweet Francis. He turns 26 today. It feels so old and so young at the same time. We've come so far babe, and I can't wait to see what's ahead. I love you!!!

Last Wednesday I headed to Abilene with William (no Francis) to see my family and enjoy Hardin-Simmons University Homecoming. It was a blast! Wednesday was my mom's birthday, so we went out to dinner at Red Lobster where we had an adventure unlike any I've had before. I won't go into it, but it ended in William wearing a paper towel loin cloth out of the restaurant...yeah.  Thursday, my sister Danielle was crowned one of the Princesses of the Homecoming court. She looked amazing! She had the best dress by far. William kept wanting to get on stage with her and as soon as the ceremony was over, he climbed right up and gave her a big hug. It was adorable! Thursday my parents and I took William to Frontier Texas, a museum about the taming of the Wilds of West Texas. It was a lot of fun and William really enjoyed getting to walk around and experience cowboys and Indians. Thursday night we went out with my parents, Danielle, my grandparents and my Aunt Cheryl for a second birthday dinner for my mom (complete with cake) at Carino's. The cake was from McKay's and it was delicious!!!

Friday, I got to have lunch with my friend Rebecca, where we were able to catch up and spend some time together. I miss her! Friday night, Rebecca babysat so I could attend SING and see Danielle perform in the ITs. Her group won the most creative award! I am so proud of her and all she is doing.

Saturday was a big day. After running into a couple we know from College Station, I got to see a bunch of people I know including Rebecca, Crystal, Haley, Kristen and another Melissa. After attending the Education breakfast, where apparently at least a couple of my (awesome) former professors read this blog, I was able to take William to the Kid's Posse Roundup. William got to play in a ball pit, jump in a bounce house, ride a horse and put his hand print on a sign for the football team. We got caught in the rain at the end, but it was still a great time! We had a BBQ lunch and then headed with my parents and sister to the HSU football game. Danielle was introduced at half time, after which William and I decided to head home. We had a delicious dinner waiting at home made by Francis. Overall, it was a pretty perfect day. The icing on the cake? William said "sweetie!" to my mom. That's her grandma name. She's so happy!

Sunday, we went to church and we had Francis's birthday dinner at Roadhouse Steakhouse. He wouldn't let me tell them it was his birthday. Lol, he didn't want to have to sit on the sawhorse while they sang to him!

I have spent yesterday and today packing (I leave for Plano tomorrow) and preparing for Francis's birthday. I made a round carrot cake and decorated it for the first time. It turned out pretty good! And I think it will taste delicious. I am going to start making Lasagna soon. That should also be yummy! I hope Francis likes his gift!

In other news, William has decided it is time to start potty training. I'm not sure I'm ready, lol. He brought me an infant toilet seat yesterday (which I bought on a whim the other day because it's cute), and when I sat him on it, he pooped! He's so smart! I'll let you know what happens on that front, but with all the traveling we are doing, I'm not going to push it right now.

I suppose that's it for now. Time to get back to work!

October 8, 2012

I wish I could say things are getting back to normal, but with the holiday season fast approaching, nothing is further from the truth. I am finally over being sick and William actually slept through the night (6:40-400am) last nigh for the first time since we've been home. Those are the big pieces of news.

We stayed in most of last week except Friday when we went to Baby Story time with Heidi and her daughter Lillian. It was so great to catch up. Saturday, Francis slept in until 11am and then we all went to lunch and bought our Halloween costumes. I won't tell you what we bought, but I am excited. William has four different costume events this year, so I figured he probably needed a costume, hehe. It should be fun!

Sunday was restorative to my spirit. Being back at church was amazing. I am not even talking about the fact that everyone said they missed us and wanted to know all about our trip (though that was nice), there was just something about being in the house of God that really lifted me up in a way I sorely needed. I had women all day long encourage me. From Sunday school to lunch with friends to a recipe party and ladies night out, God surrounded me with amazing Godly ladies who truly blessed me. I hope someday I can do the same for them!

I have met three neighbors in the past week (two of them today). This made me notice something about myself. I have much more confidence to step out of my comfort zone since my trip. What's the worst that can happen if I try to talk to someone? They can ignore me. There are worst things in life. Anyway, I actually walked down the street to introduce myself (something I never would have done before) and found out our new neighbors have a 17 month old little boy named Oliver! The couple is so sweet and William and I got invited to a playdate!!! This morning I met a lady with a 4 year old who was riding his new big boy bike for the first time. It was so cute. But the biggest thing I did was introduce myself to the woman on the corner who I find very intimidating. She always wears black, has extremely liberal stickers on her car, and walks around with two German shepherds generally avoiding eye contact. But I happened to pass her house as she was coming out to get the mail, and I swallowed my fear and spoke to her. You know what? She smiled really big and was very nice! My preconceptions were incorrect. Our conversation was short, but I think that getting to know her might be a good opportunity to be show Jesus's love. All that to say, I am finally beginning to feel like I live in a neighborhood and not just a conglomeration of houses. Our street has finally finished building and everyone is moved in. Now let the community building begin!

Korea Week 4

Home again; home again. Jiggidy Jig.

I am late writing this week, but to be fair I am both very sick and very tired. William has not adjusted to the time zone yet and I have strep. I will make this as brief as I can so that I can get in a much needed nap.

After I wrote last, Francis, William and I boarded the train in Busan (after taking the free hotel shuttle to the station) and after 2 hours and 45 minutes, we arrived in Seoul. Because we were at both the starting and ending point of the train, we had no issues getting our luggage on because we had plenty of time each place. After finding a cab who creatively fit all of our luggage in his car, we made it to our hotel in the bustling quater of Myeong-dong in Seoul. I saw more English than Korean in this area and heard nearly as much. Our hotel room was nice though extremely small, and they did not have a crib so we all had to sleep in a bed somewhere between a double and a queen size. I got no sleep, but it was not the end of the world.

Our first night we headed down to Itaewon to do some shopping. Again I heard and saw more English than Korean and after 3 1/2 weeks, it was slightly unnerving to understand all that was going around me and not to have to rely on gestures and broken Korean to get around. I know I am odd.

Wednesday, we decided to take a bus tour of the city. Leaving the subway, Francis fell down part of the stairs while holding William and screwed up his good ankle. He limped the whole day, but is fine now. After catching a bus, we stopped at Doeksugung Palace. While touring it alone (since Francis was in so much pain and needed to sit), I fell up a set of stairs while holding William (who survived both falls without a scratch) and embedded a bunch of gravel in my shins in knees. It was not fun, but I decided if Francis could carry on, so could I. The rest of our day trip included the Yongsan Electronic Mall, The national Museum of Korea, The Korean Wat Memorial Hall, and  Daehakro, Changgyeonggung, Chandoekgung, and Gwangwamun Palaces. It was a VERY busy day. The Electronic Mall was so bright inside that I thought I would go blind. When we finally went outside, it felt dark even though it was midday. The National Museum of Korea is one of the Largest Museums in the world. We only did one small wing and the Children's section because there were just so many people! It was gorgeous though. Speaking of gorgeous, one of the prettiest things we saw all day was the Korean War Memorial Hall which honored every war and event in which Korean men have fought. Francis drooled over all the antique planes, tanks, missile launchers and boats, but the actual memorial was beyond what I can describe. It was indoors and when you looked up, it looked like the pointed cieling never ended. In the center was a round pond/fountain with a single light in the middle. It was so simplistic yet so powerful. They museum had relics from every war in which Koreans have fought with particular attention to the Korean war. It was fascinating. As for the palaces, they all look the same. Open air with similar pagoda designs. I couldn't tell them apart if I tried.

Thursday morning Francis, William and I went down to Gangnam in Seoul because of the song that is so popular right now. It is a ritzy place! I would equate it to Beverly Hills. To get back to our side of the River Han, we took a river cruise which showed us the beautiful city scape. We worked our way back to Itaewon in time to finish shopping and finished up our night with a trip to the top of Seoul tower. We were told it would be at least a 2 hour wait by some of Francis's coworkers, but we went straight in and up! It was an amazing view! I wouldn't have traded that chance for anything. Such a great day!

Friday was our last day in Korea and we decided (because we are crazy), to take a DMZ tour. I will never be the same. We visited the third tunnel that the South Koreans found that was dug by their neighbors to the north. That was eye opening. We also heard about many of the precautionary measures the South Koreans take in case of an attack. I am so glad we did this last, or I would have been very paranoid! We visited an abandoned train station and observation deck where we could see over the border and look at a couple of villages, but the rain at this point was so think we could hardly see a thing. Finally we visited another train station that the furthest north in South Korea. The tracks used to connect through to the north, but they have been shut down for many years now. The South Koreans desperately want to reconnect with their counterpart, but from the looks of things, that time is still far away.

We had a safe trip home with very little stress. After all the traveling, I guess William was used to it because he was an angel on the plane. Everyone around us complimented him on his behavior. We saw my parents at DFW and then my in-laws spent the night at our house on their way back from Bastrop in order to watch William for the night. They are SO sweet to have helped us out.

Our whole trip was a resounding success and I am so glad you took the time to read about our adventures. I know we were crazy to take a 1 year old halfway across the world, but if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing!

The past couple of days have been an adjustment period. William has grown so much! He can now climb out of his crib as well as climb on the beds and couches. Toys that use to be too heavy for him are now easily moved and manipulated. He can walk up the stairs using only his legs and feet now instead of having to crawl up. His 2T clothing is starting to fit rather well and his larger 18 month clothing no longer fits. He is filling out his crib when he sleeps a lot more. He can use a fork and spoon with minimal trouble. He can now run after and catch the dogs with no trouble. He can even do the shape ball puzzle on his own!!! I can't believe how much he has grown!!! 

Ok, I seriously need to go to bed. William and I went to the doctor yesterday. William has a staff infection on a cut on his left pinky and I have strep. Hopefully we will both heal quickly and be back to normal in no time!!!

Korea Week 3

And another busy week! We have moved on to Busan and VACATION. We're having a blast!

Tuesday the rain from the Typhoon abated and we went with Joann to a nearby outlet mall. They had a mechanical playground where everything spun, rocked or blew wind and objects around. William had a blast. They have some really cool playgrounds here, I must say.Wednesday Joann, William and I went to a mountain park where we saw a statue of a famous general, hiked up the mountainside and watched a huge musical fountain. It was perfect weather, but it was exhausting!

Thursday (the day Joann left) and Friday, William and I checked out the Gyeonggi Children's Museum as well as the Gyeonggi Provencial Museum (which was right next door). The Children's museum was so fun that we couldn't fit it all into one day and had to come back for more! It had a play farm area, a science area, a water area, a construction area, a parts of the body area, a fantasy area and a community/town area. The first day we were there I realized everyone was speaking English and that their were a bunch of white women ushering around a bunch of Asian children. Turns out they were part of a teaching English group that was out for a field trip. It was weird and good to hear English again! Friday evening we had Korean BBQ on the rooftop of our hotel with all of Francis's coworkers. It was nice to get to talk to some of them and hear about their experiences.

Saturday morning we left with all six bags and headed for the train station. The hotel staff were sad to see us go and all offered William hugs and "byebye"s. It was sweet. Well, we took a taxi to the train station only to find that the elevator was blocked from the main part of the station for some reason and we had to take the stairs. Fortunately some men took pity on us and helped us get our luggage up to the top. I think Francis and I would have died from exhaustion otherwise. Well, we hurried to the terminal and tried to figure out exactly where our train can would end up so that we could line up all our stuff. We were completely wrong...I dragged two suitcases and the stroller as far as I could, but my bags tipped over and I lost sight of Francis. Everyone was rushing onto the train and it was about to leave so I got onto the nearest car after explaining through a translator that my husband had our tickets. The porter did not want to let us on, but finally he did. I quickly realized the aisle was too narrow to get both the luggage and stroller through, so I left the luggage with the porter and struggled through 11 train cars (with the help of a kind English speaking Korean woman) until I finally caught sight of Francis, who looked as relieved as I. Francis went after the luggage (and showed the porter our tickets) and we finally settled in for our train ride. I cried quite a bit, but only after I knew everything was ok. Francis had apparently gone around a huge pillar to get on the right car and never saw me fall. He was as worried as I was. But we are all ok now. The train ride itself was amazing and smooth. We got to see so much countryside and go through mountain tunnels. William loved it!

When we arrived Saturday at the train station, we had to take two (yes two) taxis to our hotel. Then we headed up to Yongdusan Park and Busan Tower to see the city view. William got his first Subway ride and we ended up having a spectacular view of the sunset over the city. We had dinner at Lotte Department store and watched the World's largest indoor audiovisual fountain do a couple of shows. It was very impressive as was the mall itself. 

Sunday we took a bus tour around the city. We found more people speak English here, to say the least. We visited the Busan Museum of History, where William got to experience a traditional wedding ceremony for himself. It was very cute. The relics they have at the museum are impressive and the museum went all the way up to modern day. The most interesting thing to me though was that final sentence on the final placard, "Indeed the [Korean] war is not over, as evidenced by the DMZ zone and still separated families". We don't think about that very much here, but it is evident that they still do. We also visited Gwangalli  and Haeundae beaches, where William got to swim in the Sea of Japan. We would have all swam if we knew the water was so pleasant, but everyone said it would be too cold. Oh well! Shinsegae department store, the biggest mall in the world, was our next stop. I enjoyed Cartier, but Francis wouldn't let me get anything...not sure why! We passed over Gwangan Bridge which provided a spectacular view and concluded our journey at the UN Memorial cemetery for the Korean War. Our last stop was certainly the most special and memorable. They could not have made a more beautiful cemetery. We watched them lower the flag and I cried. I don't even have words for this time. I will leave it by saying I will never forget it. 

Monday we went shopping a bit, but gave up because we know we will shop in Seoul. We ended up walking to Children's Grand Park where we hiked a mountain and saw Beomeosa Temple. We hiked in order to see the view, but all we could ever see was trees! It was a fun day, but my legs are tired!!!

In Busan, the gifts for William continue and are still mostly food. One shopkeeper yesterday gave him an entire bag of rice cakes! A knew thing has occurred though, people now want their picture taken with William. It's so odd, but more than 20 people have posed with him over the last 48 hours. One man walking along the beach, scooped him up, posed for the camera, put him down and kept walking. To his credit, he had seen someone else pose with him a little while before, but he still didn't ask! It's so crazy! Every one calls out to him no matter how far away he is. There is a distinct "I've just seen William" face that comes over people of all ages. When I can't find William and Francis, I just follow the faces back to them (seriously!). There is also a sigh/gasp/cry that all women seem to make when they see him. I kind of delighted "ah!". William is going to miss all this attention when we get home. 

Well, I need to go. We board the train for Seoul in a couple of hours. Wish us luck!  We will need it.

Korea Week 2

I can't believe we are already halfway through our trip. It seems like we've been here forever, but at the same time, I feel like we've only just arrived. I don't even know where to begin with all we've done this week.

Tuesday we went to the Suwon Hwaseong Museum to see how they built (and rebuilt) Hwaseong fortress. It was very interesting, and William enjoyed the Children's area. Something I am noticing about Suwon is that every museum and big store has a nursing area, baby services area and a children's area. They are very kid friendly here!!! Wednesday William and I went by the Suwon Museum of History, Calligraphy and Lee Jong Hak Archives. On the way there, William and I toured the outside of the Suwon World Cup Stadium. It was very fun! I ended up having to take a cab to the museum though and I am glad I did because nothing on the outside was in English! I would never have found it. The museum itself was fascinating. They gave me a PDA which translated everything into English when I clicked on the corresponding pictures. This museum was the most interactive I've ever seen. Everything was motion activated, including a room which played a movie before letting you into the next chamber, and a city that came to life when you walked into the room. William had a blast in the kid's area here. Never a dull moment with this kiddo! Wednesday night I got to meet and have dinner with the wife of one of Francis's coworkers. Her name is Leann.

Thursday Leann and I took a Taxi and toured Home Plus and the Galleria Mall while the rain streamed down outside. I didn't realize how many people there are in Suwon until it started raining and everyone was forced inside. The mall was packed. We had to wait over and over for countless elevators (since I had the stroller) and were on the point of tears from frustrated laughter by the time we finally got out. It was a good bonding experience. Friday Leann, William and I visited Hyowon park. It was beautiful with its traditional Chinese Garden. I took a ton of photos. William especially liked the Koi pond. He tried to climb in more than once! We also found yet another playground. This one was shaped like an airplane. It was very fun!

Saturday Francis was off work and we took full advantage by taking the bus out to Everland Theme Park. On the Bus William spoke Korean to someone! They said Hello to him in Korean and he responded "Ahn ya" (Hi) back!!!! I couldn't believe it. My baby knows Korean!! We got to the park and I couldn't believe it. It is huge! I don't think we could have done everything even if we had taken two days. As it was we toured the zoo where William had fun playing with the monkeys from the other side of the glass. When we finally got to ride our first ride (other than the sky tram down into the park), William had fallen asleep. We got in a circular boat, they strapped us in and we rode the raging rapids. William slept through it all. I guess he just thought it was a particularly wet and bumpy stroller ride. I don't know. William woke up in time for lunch after which we rode the carousel, elephant ride, train, and a really really long version of the "It's a Small World After All" ride from Disneyworld. Oh, and there was a kid area with a bunch of fountains where we let William play for a while. He drew a huge crowd of people taking pictures of him. This happens everywhere we go, but this was the biggest crowd yet. After we picked him up to dry him, people followed us and continued to take pictures. It was crazy! William and I also got to play in this awesome ball pit ride which shot out foam balls in every direction and let you play with them in every sort of imaginable way. So fun! Towards the evening we rode a safari ride in which we got to see real white tigers and bears up close and personal. One bear would not leave our bus alone and kept doing tricks so the bus driver would give him treats. He was HUGE! At night we watched the light parade and a spectacular display of pyrotechnics and fireworks. They passed out hat/face shields before the show which seemed sort of silly at the time, but by the end of the show we were covered in ash from the fireworks. Even with the mask, some got in my eye!. William LOVED it though and laughed and pointed at each successive explosion. He is his daddy's son!!!

Sunday we went to King Jeongjo's grave as well as his father's and mother's. It is situated in a beautiful national park with rolling hills and lush landscape. After this we went to Yongjusa temple. We only saw one Buddist Monk among all the finery, but plenty of people were worshiping. This made me sad for two reasons: that they are doing so much work bowing and saying all the "right words" to an idol that can't help them and that we don't spend more time truly worshiping the Living God with such fervor. It made me a bit contemplative to say the least.

Today we are weathering the edge of Typhoon Sanba. We are mostly getting rain and medium winds (40 mph). I don't think it will flood or do any damage so that is good. William is going a bit stir crazy though. He is so used to going outside that he keeps trying to escape the room. I hope this storm clears soon!

That's it for now!

Korea Week 1

So much to write. I will try not to turn this into a novel, but no guarantees!

First of all, William makes friends wherever he goes, and we have been a bunch of places. People keep kissing on him and giving him gifts. Mostly he gets food (sweets and candy), but he has also gotten a key chain and a fan. People even take pictures of him like he's a tourist attraction. Does my son mind? Nope. He eats it up. He waves when he sees someone coming and chases after them if they don't stop and talk. I've found Korean children are also fond of my little guy. Older Children come up and want to play with him. Younger children smile and wave back. I maintain that he will be sad when we go home and is "normal" again.

I was a bit worried about making the trek across the world and having to travel around by myself, but I actually feel very safe here. The streets are clean and I can always see at least three people when I walk down the street, but it's never so crowded that I feel overwhelmed. Everyone is friendly. When William and I got caught in the rain, two different ladies (one coming and one going back), held their umbrellas over us and walked us to our destination. I can't imagine anyone doing that at home. It's been great. I have learned the value of the completely clueless face and have gotten good at it when I need help. I've yet to see another white woman (or man) outside of the two tourist sites we visited this weekend. In the shops around here people are beginning to know me and William and smile and wave as we pass. Mostly, I think I feel the safest knowing that if anyone tried to hurt us, about a million little old ladies would attack them with a passion. And those little old ladies are spry; I wouldn't want to mess with them.

William and I have been walking everywhere. We have to pad in time to stop and talk to all the Korean women we pass, but we eventually get where we are going. Francis thought I was kidding when I told him that, but he found out this weekend exactly what I meant, hehe. There is a park behind our hotel and a playground down a street nearby. We have frequented both on our daily outings. I've also walked to a "mall" (basically a big Dillards) and the Home Plus store (kind of like Walmart on steroids) where I bought William a book that is in both Korean and English. I've decided that my new thing for a while: buying children's books for William from where we travel. I got him a counting book from Ireland and he loves it. Anyway, back to walking. I've been walking 5 or more miles a day. I'm so glad I have good shoes, or it would be torture!

Francis had off Saturday and Sunday so we made the most of it. Saturday we went to the Traditional Korean Fold Village. It was so fun! It was supposed to rain, but we went anyway, and you know what? It didn't rain and it was a beautiful day. I guess everyone was scared off by the forecast because no one was there (Francis has been there before when it was packed). We saw all kinds of traditional Korean houses including peasants, scholars, farmers, and noblemen. We saw wood working, silk spinning (which was fascinating!), carving, and harvesting. Most notably, we saw a traditional Korean wedding. A real one. It was in the program, but when we arrived we noticed some people were dressed like tourists while others were wearing suits. After talking to some, we found the wedding was legit! The bride was American and the groom was Korean so it was an interesting mix of people. The ceremony included two chickens (thrown into the air), some food (that was eaten), drink, and a LOT of bowing (mostly to the parents of the bride and groom). The strangest thing to me was that the bride and groom had a large table between them and they never touched.

Sunday we went to Suwon Fortress and the Temporary Palace. Suwon was originally a walled city built by a King to honor his dead Father in 1795. All of the buildings have been restored after they were destroyed when the Japanese invaded. It was amazing site. We walked about halfway around the wall, after which we were so tired that we took the “dragon train” the rest of the way around. The palace itself was impressive and large, with 33 buildings in total. The nice thing about old Korean buildings is their open floor plan. You can see everything from the outside. I especially enjoyed the changing of the guards ceremony. It was full of colorful costumes, an appearance by the (ancient) king and archery and gunfire. Overall a winner. Oh! And we wandered into a special area on accident where we were offered tea, taught how to wrap and store traditional herbal medicine, and given a traditional medical exam. The treatment for Francis’s back was herbal tea and acupuncture! He said it didn’t hurt though. He would do it again.

You may be wondering how we like the Korean food. Well, to be honest I hadn’t much cared for it until last night and William had been flat out refusing to eat it. He’s not a huge fan of rice or noodles, so I wasn’t too shocked. Last night, though, we had a meal that was amazing. It was SUPER SPICY chicken with  a bunch of trimmings. I think there may be a permanent hole in my stomach, but it was worth it. They also served a huge egg dish which William ate almost all of (which is saying something since he ate before we went out!). Today I went out on a limb and bought these fish shaped waffles on a stick that have bean curd in them as well as some colored cakes. Both are delicious and William really likes them. Hopefully he (and I) will come to really enjoy more Korean food very soon!

Well, got to go. My typing keeps waking up William. Till next time!

September 3, 2012

Hello from the other side of the world!
Yes, it is Monday afternoon here so I am going to go ahead and post while I have time.
First off, last Wednesday, Francis received word through a coworker that his 6 week trip to Korea would be cut to three weeks. Upon talking to his boss (who had not heard this), they discovered that this was indeed true. So we spent the better part of our week adjusting flights and generally deciding our course of action. We will now be in Korea from September 1-29. But wait, you may say, that is four weeks, and you are correct. We decided to take a week for vacation. Despite all the stress the change caused, I think it worked out for the best. I will now be back to Texas in time for The State Fair and HSU homecoming, as well as my mom's birthday: all things I always look forward to.

In other news, on Friday, William pooped on the potty for the first time. It was a fluke because I was changing his diaper, he started to push and so I stuck him on the potty to avoid another diaper change. He was so proud of himself when he got to flush the potty. We may have to start potty training soon if he gets that excited!

Saturday morning we left our house at 6:30 (after a taxi mix up) and started our 20+ hour trip to Suwon, South Korea. All told we had a taxi ride, two plane rides and a bus ride to get here. It was exhausting. On the plus side we got to see my parents and my in-laws in DFW airport between flights and say goodbye. When we got back through security, they were calling William's name over the loudspeaker. Turns out we had never entered his passport info for Korean Air so they needed to see it before we boarded. Not a big deal, but boy did it get our adrenaline pumping as we raced across the terminal!

The plane ride to Korea was less than what was desired. It was no fault of Korean Air, William just didn't want to sleep. Despite the lights being low or off, William wanted to visit with every passenger on the plane. He was pretty good for the first 8 hours (of 14), but eventually he really needed to get and stay in his seat. This is when he started to scream both from exhaustion and frustration until we landed in Incheon. It was downright unpleasant. Then at the hotel during the night, he screamed and cried all night because he wanted to play and explore...Not surprisingly after a huge breakfast, he passed out for 3 hours. I hope he sleeps better tonight, because Francis and I need the rest!!!

Our hotel is beautiful. The room is large and has plenty of space for our 6 suitcases and other junk. So far I am very impressed.

I am super proud of myself as I made my first adventure out into Korea by myself with William. Where did I go? McDonald's. Hey, give me some credit. I was trying to get William fed and go to a place where I was pretty sure I could read the menu. It was a 20 minute walk from the hotel (and it is a bit hot outside). I kept thinking I had gone the wrong way (one of the spots I went down looked like an alleyway), but just as I was going to turn back in despair, I saw it!!! After pantomiming with the cashier, William and I ate while everyone in the place stared at William and his blonde hair. We're not in Kansas anymore! I was warned this might happen, though, so it didn't phase me. After lunch we walked back (I didn't get lost), and I found a store near our hotel where I bought some breakfast items and a hairbrush to replace the one I forgot. The lady rattled off something in Korean which I quickly realized meant that they don't provide bags, so I had to carry all my stuff back to the Hotel. Glad it wasn't far because I looked like a fool!

Here are the things I've learned in the past 6 hours about Korea:
1. Korean is written in syllables with each symbol being a combo of vowels and consonants.
2. With the right amount of hand gestures and head nods, you can get fed, even if it isn't exactly what you thought you wanted.
3. Everyone here has flip covers for their cell phones like we have for our tablets and e-readers. So they flip it open to answer, close it to talk, and flip it open to hang up. Interesting.
4. Only special Korean cell phones work in Korea (they use a different cell system). To get my phone to make calls, I will have to rent a different one or buy a pay as you go phone.
5. There are no high chairs for babies (at least there was not as McDonald's). People use their strollers or sit the baby in their lap.
6. Sidewalks are not really for pedestrians. Cars and carts can park there and Scooters or Three wheelers can drive there. The curb is just a figment of your imagination. Good news is that the sidewalks are super wide so you can move out of the way as long as there isn't too much foot traffic.
7. No one here seems to carry plastic bags. After my experience at the super market, I looked around. Not a single one could I find.
8. You separate your food, your paper goods and your plastic even at fast food restaurants. That was new for me. So glad they had pictures!
9. The term fast food does not mean the same thing here as it does at home. I passed a Pizza Hut, a bunch of quick sandwich shops and some pizzarias, as well as some quick Korean BBQ on the way to the "closest" fast food place (McDonald's). The only fast food places listed in Suwon are McDonald's, Burger King and Popeye's. Rather limiting, if you ask me. 
10. They must purposefully hide the buttons for the cross walks so that I can't find them. I had to j-walk a bunch today unless a local was there to press some obscure spot to make the light turn. I still haven't figured out what they did!
11. Everyone LOVES William's blonde hair. More than one little old lady kissed their hand and touched his head. A bunch of other women stopped and said "Hello!" in English to him and then smiled and said something pleasant sounding to me in Korean. I can't complain though, because he loves the attention.

I know I learned more, but I will have to leave it for another day. I am going to try to nap before William wakes up. One last thing before I go. I let William turn out the light in the bathroom a minute ago. I celebrated by saying, "Good job! You did it!" Clear as a bell he responded, "I did it!" It made me so happy to hear that!!! His first three word phrase! He's growing up so fast!

August 27, 2012

Well, it was a stressful week last week, and I can't say I'm sad to see it over. Why? A number of things, not the least of which was our microwave going out and needing to be fixed to the tune of $400. Yeah, I could have gotten a new microwave if I had known so much would go wrong. Turns out our magnetron broke and split peices of metal our into the microwave behind the protective plate and that is why it was sparking. The magnetron broke because it was getting at least three times as much current as it needed from the power box, which we also found had been sending current through the back metal panel of our microwave for who knows how long. The only thing keeping our house from catching fire was the tile backsplash that was absorbing both the heat and blocking the current. Thank God for his protection!!!!!

Ok, onto happier things. I keep forgetting to write that William cut four teeth the day before his birthday two weeks ago which means he now has 16 teeth. He is just 4 shy of getting all his baby teeth and he "shouldn't" get his last 4 until at least 18 months-2 years...we'll see about that.

William got his first Haircut last Tuesday. It was more stressful for me than for him. He was able to watch TV and play in this cool car while they did it. I just asked her to trim the ears and the neck, but then she took out the razor and zip!, there was no turning back. He now has a big boy haircut and looks like a toddler and not a baby. It's crazy how such a simple change can make such a difference. I only cried a little. He's just growing up so fast!

Oh, and my little man is communicating so much more. The other day in the tub, Francis got home and peeked his head in the bathroom to say hello. When he left, William pointed at the door, said "Dada?" and proceeded to climb out of the tub to find him. He really like pointing at things now and letting me label them. He also enjoys the "where's the ____" game.

William finally had his 1 year check up on Wednesday. We had some trouble getting in because of back to school kiddos. William now weighs 23lbs, 30 1/2 inches and his head is 49 cm. He's getting so big!!!!! He took his immunizations like a trooper and we should be good for South Korea now.

While packing for South Korea last night (we leave Saturday), William looked over at Francis, waved and said "Hi Dada!" I couldn't believe it. It was William's first two word utterance! A little while later he came up, kissed me, waved, and said, "Hi mama!" It made my heart melt. Today he has been saying "Hi, Doggie!" to Bella and Lucy. They don't seem as excited as I was. Not sure why, hehe.

Well, that's it for now. I got to go shopping for some last things for our trip. Please pray for our 18 hour journey. It will be both exciting and trying. Thanks!

August 20, 2012

Honey, I'm home!

It's so good to be back in the states. I had an amazing trip. Edinburgh was beautiful. From the castles to the scenery and the people, I could not have asked for anything more lovely. I am so proud of my sister Dani, who preformed in The Fringe in Edinburgh. Her show got 4 stars and her name was mentioned for her amazing costumes. She's just plain awesome!

Ireland was also nice. The weather was not as kind to us as Edinburgh and we got drenched a couple of times. When we went to the cliffs of Moher, though, the sky was clear and we could see for miles. Our guide said that only happens maybe 4 times a year. The view was spectacular. The countryside of Ireland was even better than I had pictured. I even saw the faint outline of a rainbow! In Dublin we took in all the sights: the National Museum of Ireland, Trinity College and the Book of Kells (both very impressive, I might add), St. Stephen's Green, Dublin castle, and many old cathedrals. We also got to shop! One of my favorite experiences was eating in Dublin's oldest pub and listening to Food, Folklore and Faeries. I was enthralled my the storytellers histories, myths and music. I could have listened to him all night. Overall, I had a marvelous time with my sisters and mother. It was the experience of a lifetime and I am so thankful to have it! Thank you for inviting me to come along!

You may be asking about how Francis and William fared while I was gone. Francis took off the week from work so he could be a stay-at-home dad for the week. It was a bit of an eye opener for him, to say the least. Everyone survived and I think we are all the better for it. Francis did great. He took William to the Little Gym, the store and even a fun trip to the pool! My dad came up for a couple days and my neighbor brought them some food midweek, but other than that Francis was on his own. He seems to have a new respect for what I do, which I really appreciate. He also feels like a more competent father, which I love! I am so proud of him!!!

Did I miss my Francis and William? Yes! But I was able to Skype them everyday whenever I needed to and that REALLY helped. I got to see William everyday and talk to him. I thought he would be mad that I left and became anxious when I spied them upon my return at the airport. My fears, however, were for naught. William saw me and smiled, hugging tight to Francis with excitement. After a moment of hugging both Francis and William together, William let me hold him and he melted in my arms. It made my heart happy. All in all,  I think everything went as well as it possibly could. My husband and son are both troopers and I am so grateful they allowed me to have this little adventure. I sorely needed it!

Finally, we leave for South Korea in less than two weeks. Please pray we get everything worked out and packed before we leave. I'll keep you updated on our progress!

William's First Birthday

Well, it's official. I've cried, laughed, and celebrated. William is one year old today. I can't believe how fast it went. A year ago right now I was transferred into the postpartum room and was getting to hold William in my arms. Where did the time go? It was well spent. William learned to smile, laugh, crawl, stand, walk, eat, communicate, speak, sign, play...and so much more. I am so proud of him.

This week we did William's 12 month photos. They turned out great. Most people's favorite is William sitting on a mini John Deere tractor. It cracks me up because we did those shots on a whim. He really wanted it to move. When we were done I did push him around on it so he was happy. I also got some priceless ones with the chair that my great grandfather made. So fun!

William has been watching the Olympics with me. He thinks it's very fun! On Wednesday, he and his friend Lilly tried their luck on the rings at the Little Gym. They were pretty good! Olympics 2028 better watch out!

Yesterday after a few attempts after the past couple of weeks, William stood up without holding onto anything. He did it over and over again. He stopped crawling entirely yesterday because now if he falls, he can stand right back up. It's crazy! William also started to sign "more" yesterday. Now he signs it all the time. At lunch today they brought him some birthday ice cream and he would sign more after every single bite!

Also at lunch today, William drew deliberately with crayons for the first time. I've tried many times to get him to color, but today it finally clicked. He loved it and it made it way easier for us to wait for our food.

This morning when William woke up and walked out of his bedroom, he found an Endless Adventures climbing wall and slide with a big red bow waiting for him in the playroom. His eyes lit up and he immediately started climbing. What a way to start off your birthday! Then after breakfast we went for a family walk with the dogs and William in his new car. It was so fun. For lunch we went to Carino's where William was treated to coloring, a panini and ice cream. After all that sugar he crashed and is still sleeping. We will do cake when he wakes up and then I have to head to the airport.

I leave for Scotland this evening. Because of the trip, today was the last day of William nursing. He is such a big boy! He is still taking bottles (as well as straw cups), but pretty soon it will be cups only! Crazy!!!

In closing I want to thank everyone who made this such a great week, both near and far. Thank you to those who sent gifts even though they couldn't attend William's party. Thank you to those for all the sweet birthday wishes. Thank you to everyone who is supporting us as we raise our little boy. We couldn't do it without you!!!

August 6th, 2012

What a week! We finally got William applied for a passport. It took two tries because Monday we went in and got to the front of the line when they decided they weren't going to do anymore that day. Wednesday we had an appointment elsewhere and applied with minimal trouble. We should be getting it this week or next. We bought our tickets to Korea on Wednesday! I can't believe it. It is going to be quite an adventure.

I spent more of last week getting ready for William's party. I decorated the house so cute with streamers, and signs and little and big 1s everywhere. When talking about William's upcoming party this past week, two different women (with young children) asked if William was turning 2. I guess he is just that big. He is wearing 2T now, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

My in-laws came in Friday night and helped as get set up on Saturday morning for the party. My parents and sister also came up early to help. Cyndy and Chris arrived with Abby right about lunch time and shortly afterward, Cyndy photographed William's cake smash. It was adorable and the picture I have seen thus far is super cute. I can't wait to see the rest!

The party itself started at 2 and was a huge success!!! Francis made a movie of all the pictures of William and we played them on the TV during the party. It was fun for everyone to see pictures of themself with William and to watch him grow up in photos. We had 31 people! Luckily everyone fit and we had enough food. The cake was awesome! The people of Walmart did an amazing job making the cake look exactly like the napkin I gave them. When William got a slice of it, he dug in! It tasted yummy! William got a ton of awesome presents including a chair that was made by my great grandfather for my dad, a little tikes car, a recordable book read to him by his great grandmother, and R2D2 chair and a hand carved tuck with payload. He also got a bunch of books (which he loves!), some clothes and a lot of other fun toys. Thank you to everyone who attended and loved on William! I got a photo from William's Nana celebrating in Canada as well as a photo of my friend Rachael celebrating William's birthday in Japan. My sister Danielle celebrated in Scotland. His party was truly an international affair!!!

William tried to assemble his little tikes car by himself on Sunday because his daddy wasn't doing it fast enough. When Francis finally got it all assembled, he and William spent the evening racing down the driveway. William was squealing with delight and did not want to leave his car to got o bed. I already knew he was a daredevil; this just confirms it!

I am doing ok about William turning 1 because I am still in a bit of denial. He doesn't officially turn one until Saturday, so we had his party early. Makes me feel better about it all. Saturday evening I leave for Scotland, so I am hoping by the time I return I will have come to terms with the fact that my little baby is becoming a little boy. We'll see.

I am spending this week packing and preparing Francis and William for my week away. Please pray for all of us as this will be my first time away from William. That's all for now!

July 30, 2012

And the countdown begins...for a lot of things. But I am getting ahead of myself.

William is walking so much more! He learned to spread his legs while walking on Tuesday so now he is able to stop in the middle of walking. He now has two speeds: speedy and normal. William has also started to carry around objects when he walks. It's super cute to see how proud he is! It is making him look so much more like a little boy and less like a baby. He still hasn't stood up from the floor without holding onto anything though. I don't think it is that he can't. I know he would be able, he just hasn't tried.

Friday Francis, William and I joined all of my family in Waco for Christian's birthday. My sisters, parents, grandparents, Francis, William and some of Christian's friends all had Steak and cake. Saturday in Waco, Christian graduated from Baylor Law School. I am so proud of her. William didn't make it through the ceremony, but Francis was kind enough to watch him so I could see her graduate. We all (friends and family included) had lunch at Rudy's afterward to celebrate her achievement. It was so fun and William had a blast hanging out with all the "big kids" (college students and recent grads).

This week will be spent cleaning the house like crazy...not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to William's party on Saturday. I had three different people stop me at church on Sunday and tell me how excited they were for this coming Saturday. It's gonna be great!

Ok, now for the big news...well two pieces of big news. I am going to be going to Scotland and Ireland for a week with my sisters and mother. I leave in 2 weeks. It is the first time I will be leaving William, but Francis has taken the week off to stay with him so I know he is in good hands. Danielle will be performing in Scotland. I have such accomplished sisters!!!

And now for the BIG news. Francis, William and I will be relocating to South Korea for 6 weeks starting on September 1st. We found out on Friday that Francis was going and the idea of us being away from his so long was not one we wanted to consider. Francis's boss's wife and young son will also be going with her husband for the full time, so I will at least have one companion while Francis is at work. I am both excited and scared. If you all would pray for us as we make preparations for this adventure, we would surely appreciate it! We are going to apply for William's passport today and expedite it. Please pray it gets here speedily so we can continue plan without worrying that it will arrive in time. We would be gone September 1st through October 13th.

So as I said, the countdown begins to William turning one, to going to Scotland/Ireland and to living in Korea for 6 weeks. It's going to be an exciting ride!