Recent Happenings

It's been ages since I've updated even though we had quite a busy and fun packed summer.  Jordan recently turned five.  He had been asking if it was almost his birthday since early June, so it probably felt to him like it took forever to finally arrive!  Just last week he asked how long it was until Christmas.  This boy needs to learn that life isn't just about receiving presents!

 

 Jordan was very excited to receive this flat bed truck with the backhoe loader on it.  He has been asking for this toy for months.  He has been obsessed with trucks since the day we brought him home, and he hasn't waned in his enthusiasm for them!

 Here's my big boy with his birthday cake.  I can't believe he is already five!

 Poor Jordan missed the first day of school due to hand, foot, and mouth disease.  That is a nasty virus that I hope my boys never get again!  Aiden had it way worse than Jordan, but Jordan was sick enough that he had to miss the first day of school.  Here he is on his first day of school.

 Here's Jordan waiting outside his classroom on his first day.  He was pretty nervous to go.  But when I went to visit him at snack he said, "It's really fun, Mommy!"  It's wonderful having Jordan at the same school as me because I can visit him whenever I have a break.

 On Saturday we went to the apple orchard.  The boys had a ball.  They both love apples, tractors, farms, the outside, and everything else that goes along with a visit to the apple orchard.

 While we were picking I looked over at Jordan and realized he was eating two apples at once!

 Do you think we picked enough apples?  We will be eating applesauce all winter long!

 It's really tough to get a picture with Aiden as he is going through a phase where he doesn't want his picture taken.  The lighting on the picture is poor, but Aiden is actually looking at the camera which makes it a great picture!

 Jordan was so excited to go for a hay ride.  In the middle of the ride he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I thought the hayride would be fun but it's even funner than I thought it would be!"  Too cute.

 Here I am with my boys.  I feel so blessed.

 Aiden loved sitting on this little tractor when we took our break for lunch.

 Later in the day we took another hayride with my parents.  We tried to get a family picture, but it is nearly impossible with Aiden's refusal to look at the camera.  This is the best we could get.

 Here are the boys playing with the neighbor boys tonight.  We are so close to our neighbors, but sadly they are moving in about a month.  I don't know what I'm going to do without them next door!

 Here I am with my neighbor, Coleen.  We have spent many hours chatting on this sidewalk while our boys have been playing outside. 

 Luke tried to snap some good pictures of the boys playing tonight, but they were being so silly that they didn't sit still for a second!  They were running around and doing somersaults all over the yard.

Reilly and Aiden are two peas in a pod.  They are both on the move all the time.  They will miss playing together!

Aiden's 3rd birthday

Last week Monday Aiden turned three.  The toddler years sure go fast when you don't have the child until age 22 months!  He's acting more and more like a little boy and less like a toddler every day.  He talks constantly and always has to be part of the action.  He loves to go swimming, ride his trike, and play with his trucks.  And he follows his big brother around everywhere. 

 We went to my parent's house for Aiden's birthday.  He had so much fun opening his presents and was smiling the entire time.  It was so cute.

 My mom recently bought this forklift truck at a garage sale and it has become a hot item!  The boys both love playing it so they' have had to learn to share and take turns- tough lessons for a 3 year old and 4 year old who both LOVE trucks!

 I included this picture because Aiden is obsessed with smelling his feet.  I don't know why but he started doing this on our recent trip to Wisconsin.  He gets upset when they smell stinky and wants them washed right away.

 The perfect birthday cake for a little boy who loves trucks!

 Aiden smiled the whole time we lit the candles and was very eager to blow them out.

 A couple days ago we went to Kids' Day at the Farmer's Market.  There was a tractor pull there that both boys participated in.  It wasn't quite the competitive event we were expecting, but the boys still had fun.  You probably can't tell from the picture, but the man standing next to Aiden gave him a little push every time he got stuck.

One Year Home!

On April 17 we celebrated our first anniversary with Aiden in our family.  It's hard to believe a year has gone by.  One year ago we were really struggling to help him adjust and feel comfortable in our home, and now he is happy and playful most of the time.  We have come so far.  Here are some of the things Aiden is now able to do.

• He speaks in 2-3 words phrases
• He can count to five although he always skips the number 3
• He is trying hard to learn his colors.  Once in awhile he gets them right, but most of the time almost everything is either blue or orange.
• He can throw a ball better than any 2 year old I have ever seen.  We're already counting on a baseball scholarship.  :-)
• He recently learned to ride his trike and now wants to ride it everywhere.
• He to has learned to share!  This was a tough one for him but now he probably shares better than Jordan.
• He has learned to fall asleep on his own without me laying right beside him.  This was also a tough one but now he goes to bed like a champ.

Aiden's foster mother recently sent him a gift.  One thing inside was this Pororo backpack.  Pororo is a well known cartoon in Korea.  Aiden was so excited to have a backpack just like his big brother.

 

 



Chicago Trip

We recently returned from a quick 3 day trip to Chicago.  Because both of the boys love trains (especially Aiden) we decided to take the Amtrak from Holland to Chicago.  The boys were super excited about the trip but grew weary of the traveling about an hour in.  Thankfully they could walk around a bit on the train, they had food to snack on, and we brought movies for them to watch.

 

 We arrived at the train station in Holland with plenty of time to spare.  The boys eagerly watched out the window for the train to arrive.

 They both loved looking out the window, especially when there were construction trucks to look at.

 

 When we arrived in Chicago we had a few hours to kill before we could get into our hotel.  We went to the Shedd Aquarium.  The boys were fairly unimpressed and frequently asked when they could go back to the hotel and go swimming.  We did manage to take this great family picture before we left the aquarium to go back to the hotel.

 We forgot their puddle jumpers but the boys still managed to have fun in the pool.  Jordan was proud of the fact that he could touch in the shallowest part of the pool. 

 Just because we were on vacation didn't mean that the boys wanted to take a break from driving trucks.  Aiden and Jordan quickly discovered that this spot by the window in the hotel room made a perfect place for driving their cars and trucks.

 

 On Thursday we drove out to the suburbs to visit Legoland.  Legoland was a huge hit with Jordan.  Aiden enjoyed parts of it as well, but there were moments when he was quite scared and unsure.  All the huge people and animals made out of Legos were so impressive, but they made Aiden very scared.  I think he thought they were real.

 While at Legoland we watched a short 4D lego movie.  Jordan loved it and tried to figure out how the glasses worked.  Aiden was totally freaked out.  He wanted to wear his glasses but then became so scared when he had them on.  He spent most of the movie with his head buried in my shoulder saying, "Done, done."  I felt so badly for him.  At least the movie was only 12 minutes long.

 Luke and Jordan spent a long time building a lego car to race down the ramp.  Jordan thought this was serious business.

 On Thursday afternoon we went out to my friend's house to spend the night.  Here are the boys hanging out on her deck.

Of course we had to stop at White Castle before heading back to the train station.  Luke and I thought this was a precious picture of the boys sharing a drink at lunch.

Monster Truck Show

Last week Saturday we all went to the Monster Truck show in Grand Rapids.  This was totally and completely just for the boys.   Neither Luke or I are interested in this type of thing, but both our boys just love trucks.  

 

 Jordan has very sensitive ears, so we weren't sure how this experience was going to go.  In fact, Jordan went back and forth between wanting to go and not wanting to go.  When the day finally came he was very excited and was dressed and ready way before we needed to leave. 

 Both Jordan and Aiden were prepared for the loud trucks with these earmuffs.  They also wear these when they are outside while Luke is mowing the lawn or blowing out the driveway.  Aiden isn't nearly as bothered by loud noises, but he always has to do whatever Jordan does.

 Luke bought Jordan this monster truck hat.  He loved it; especially because it had the name of a real monster truck on the hat- Grave Digger.  I knew nothing about monster trucks before the boys came along, but now I can name several different monster trucks.

 I was able to take a couple pictures of the trucks before our prediction about Jordan came true.  After watching a bit of the show, he said it was too loud and he didn't want to watch it anymore.  Aiden seemed completely unfazed by the noise and stayed to watch most of it with Daddy while Jordan and I walked around by all the vendors.  For the next few days Jordan brought up the monster truck show at bedtime and always said he was never going to go to another one again.  Aiden also brought up the show a lot in the days following.  But he would always say, "mon trucks".  Then he would say "more, please?"  Those boys are opposite in so many ways!

I had to include this picture of Aiden screaming one night after dinner.  My rule has always been that Jordan may have a treat after dinner if he eats his veggies.  We've been pretty lenient with Aiden on this rule because of his difficult adjustment to the family.  However, I feel like he is fully adjusted now and needs to be held to some of the family rules.  He did not give into this rule without a fight as you can clearly see.  I was even very accommodating and some nights offered fruit instead or only made him eat corn and peas which I know he likes.  But he would always scream and scream and refuse to eat the healthy food.  But Aiden didn't realize that he has a Mommy that is just as stubborn as him.  Finally, after many nights of crying he finally gave in.  Now he stuffs those veggies in his mouth so fast because he can't wait for his treat!

Visiting Jordan's Preschool

 

A few weeks ago I visited Jordan's preschool to teach the kids some info. about Korea.  My assistant principal offered to sub for me for part of the morning so that I could do this.  It was so fun to see Jordan at preschool as I never get to bring him or pick him up from school.  The kids were quite an awe of my hanbok.  One little girl in particular couldn't take her eyes off me when I was wearing it.  All the kids tried a bite of the seaweed I brought in, although only one child actually ate the whole sheet.  Aiden and Jordan finished everyone else's seaweed for them.  

 My mom came along to help me out, so Aiden was there as well.  He sat right in the middle of the class like he was part of the group.  But as you can see, he wasn't nearly as attentive.  When I was telling the kids how both Aiden and Jordan were born in Korea, Aiden stood up and started hugging Jordan.  It was so sweet.

 After their snack of rice, seaweed, and dumplings the kids had the choice of coloring a sheet I had brought in or looking at books.  Jordan, of course, opted to look at books.  He is not big into coloring but never seems to get tired of reading books.

I tried to convince the boys to wear their hanboks as well, but they wouldn't oblige me.  We did manage to take a pretty adorable picture.