Captain America

We're looking forward to a fun, relaxing Memorial Day weekend!  The kids' new pool is already up and we'll be swimming after lunch.  It's supposed to be hot today, 94ish, so I'm sure Blake and I will be enjoying the water, too.  Grilling is on the agenda this weekend, also.  I love summer food!  So fresh and yummy.  Yay for three day weekends!

Ok, enough rambling.  Griffin pics!

Catching Up

Usually I would take this opportunity to have a Wordless Wednesday post, but considering I've been a big time blogging slacker, I think I can fill you in on what's been going on around here.

First of all, how cute is this guy?!!

We call him The Destroyer!  This kid is IN TO EVERYTHING!  And I mean EVERYTHING!  This is just another example of how different Kinley and Griffin are.  I didn't have to baby proof the house when Kinley was a baby.  When she would get into the cabinet under the sink (where all my cleaning supplies still are because there was no need to move them) I would just tell her "no" and that was that.  I might have to tell her twice, but she would listen.  Once again, she's a rule follower.  Although, this is changing a bit right now....but that's for another post.  Not Griffin!  He is the most persistent one year old I know.  He gets into the cabinet, I carry him back to the living room, he crawls right back to the kitchen.  We do this over and over and over before he gets mad and I finally just take him to his room where I distract him with a new toy.  Persistent.  Stubborn.  The Destroyer.  Here are a couple examples.

Now, this may not look like too much of a mess, but it was bad enough that Kinley was going behind The Destroyer and picking up after him.  Kinley and I don't make, so this is new for us.  I'm going to move on before I start twitching.

We finally planted our garden for the summer!  We usually plant in late April or early May but we were kinda busy with our little Korea trip.  We kept it small this year since we'll be super busy this summer.  Just green bell peppers, okra, and some cilantro. 

Kinley looks so big in this picture.

The Destroyer loves to eat dirt.

And remember, he's stubborn.

Both my kids love to be outside and they LOVE water. We've been spending a lot of time at the water table. Something they can agree on! Yay!

This is Kinley "shaking it."  You go girl!

And finally....if we didn't call him The Destroyer his name would be THE APPETITE!  This tiny little Korean can eat!  And he loves everything which makes my life super easy.  I just have to make sure he can't choke on it and then put it in front of him. 





How's It Going?

Everyone keeps asking how it's going for us...it's great, actually!  Griffin has adjusted better than I could have imagined.  I know we still have a lot of work with attachment and sleeping arrangements, but so far so good.  I have so much to say...here are some thoughts.

Griffin started saying "dadadadada" yesterday, May 15.  Blake is a proud papa!

Kinley will one day be an amazing big sister.  Right now things are rough, but they've already hugged and kissed so I think we're doing pretty good.

My little boy can eat!  He will eat anything and everything!  Makes my life so much easier.  I already have one picky eater.  I don't need another.

My little boy can make a mess.  Wow.  Kinley was not a mess maker.  She didn't get into cabinets and she didn't scatter stuff from one room to the next.  Griffin is a little tornado.  For reals!  I have seen Kinley clean up after him several times.

I love my little man so much, already.  And I know my love will grow stronger every day. 

I'm pretty sure I will never have time to workout again.

I love sleeping on the mattress on the floor of Griffin's room with him.  I NEVER saw myself as a co-sleeper.  Um, no.  I don't even like Blake's leg touching me in our king size bed.  I also never thought it was healthy to have a baby in bed with you.  My mind has changed, a little.  I love his snuggles.  He'll roll over with his back to me and throw his arm back to check and see if I'm there.  He's a crazy sleeper, but I'm getting used to it.  I'm hoping to make the transition to his crib...but I'm in no hurry.

Griffin loves his bath!  And he's so fun and wild in the bath tub, he's already busted his lip open. 

He's stubborn.

He's very affectionate.

When Blake walks away from him and Griffin wants him to come back, he will scream at Blake.  I mean SCREAM.  Clinch his fists and let him have it!  I think it's hilarious.

Totally still a daddy's boy.  I'm not worried.  He'll be a momma's boy soon enough.

He was scared of our dogs at first, but he's warming up to them now.

I have always kept a journal for Kinley, but I'm not sure I'll be able to for Griffin.  I'm sorry, buddy.  It's a second child thing.  I promise to try...

A friend came over to meet Griffin (the only person we've let come visit) and Griffin waved bye bye to him when he was leaving.  First bye bye ever (May 12)!  Even on his well baby checks it never said he waved.  Yay for firsts!!!

He's not walking yet, and I don't see it happening for a few more months.  Totally fine with that!

After a few bad nights, he is officially sleeping through the night.  We put him to bed about 9 and he will wake a few times crying between then and about 11 or 12.  But once I get in bed with him he sleeps all night.  I'm pretty sure he's grieving.

And my favorite pics from the last week...

Baby Girl

My sweet Kinley is really struggling with the changes that our family is experiencing right now.  She is the sweetest, most laid back child I know.  We have never had discipline problems with her.  Time out works really well for Kinley and it's just her personality to be obedient and orderly.  Very type A.  Griffin joining our family has rocked her world and honestly, I'm more concerned about her transition than Griffin's.

Tonight, she asked to paint and initially I said no.  It was almost bath time, and how am I going to let her paint with Griffin nearby?!  I immediately changed my mind, though.  My sweet girl deserves to do something fun and just for her.  She said, "Baby paint."  And I kept telling her that the painting was just for her because she's so special. 

I was sitting at the table talking to her and watching her paint and she asked me to paint.  She started telling me what color to use and what to paint.  Circle, dots, square.  I loved letting her have the control, since recently she has totally lost control of her little world.  And then I decided I wanted to do anything to see my girl smile and hear her giggle.  So I started dotting my face with paint!  Kinley giggled and then mimicked me.  We kept doing it until we had paint all over our faces!  We laughed so hard at each other.  It was the best moment I have had with Kinley since we've been home from Korea.

I love my baby girl and will do anything to help her get through this difficult time.  She's such a special little girl, and I want her old personality back.  Tonight, I saw a little sneak peek.

Shopping in Seoul

I had so much fun shopping in Seoul.  As I said before, I did more looking than buying and I'm pretty sure I could have looked for weeks.  Insadong was my favorite place to browse.  I didn't get to buy as much stuff as I wanted to for a couple reasons.  First, we ran out of time.  We got Griffin earlier in our trip than I thought we would, and it was super exhausting shopping with a baby on your back.  And, really, we needed to be at the hotel working on our relationship with Griffin.  Second, I ran out of room in our suitcases.  And we took 4 big suitcases.  Wow.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite things...

This is the lantern I bought for Kinley, and I LOVE it!  Each side is a season.  Spring, summer, fall, and winter.  When I saw the lanterns in Seoul I thought of how much Kinley loves the movie Tangled right now, and I had to get one for her.  She loves it, too.

Wedding ducks.  This is me and Blake's set of wedding ducks, and I also bought two other sets for when Kinley and Griffin get married.  Their sets are painted and more colorful and beautifully wrapped which is why there is no picture.  I wanted our set to be more simple.  I can't wait to give the kids their ducks. 

Oh, wait. 

Yes, I can.

This is my celadon tea set.  I love the simplicity of it.  I bought my mom a BEAUTIFUL set.  Tea sets like this one were everywhere in Seoul.  They're not just for pretties in Korea.  Mine is going on my buffet.

This is a set of prince and princess figurines that I picked up at the Folk Museum near one of the palaces we visited.  They had all different sets from lots of different time periods and dynasties.  I thought this set was appropriate since I have my own prince and princess.

And the famous name chops.  I plan on doing a separate post about name chops. 

They are my favorite thing from Seoul. 

 Except Griffin, of course!