I'm Thinking About Cheating

On the birthday cake, that is! 
Our little guy's first birthday is just around the corner -- July 7th. It breaks my heart to miss the big day in person, so Tony and I plan to have a very small celebration. We will head on over to a local Korean restaurant (King's) and then come back to our place for birthday cake. What I really want is a picture of Tony and I with a "Happy 1st Birthday" cake so we can keep it in his photo album for him to see when he gets older. I want him to know that even from afar we were loving him and thinking about him as he turned one.


Back to the cake. There are 3 problems:

1. There won't be many of us eating this cake, so I don't want something too big and expensive. We aren't hosting a big party, it will just be Tony and I and possibly the in-laws, if they're around (it's a holiday weekend after all). Most bakery cakes are not only expensive but sized for a larger group, which is a waste.
2. I have never actually decorated or written on a cake. I can barely ice a cake without having half of it wind up crumbly (one time I had to bring a "rustic" cake to book club because the frosting and the cake were at war with one another!).  Which means the bakery cake might not be such a bad idea. As much as I wouldn't mind learning how to decorate, this might not be the best time (see #3).
3. We are thinking of going camping for a few days leading up to the celebration (over the 4th), returning late in the afternoon on the day of the celebration. That means I'd only have a couple of hours to unpack/unload, get myself and the house cleaned AND make a cake from scratch.

My cheating options include Mr. Duncan Hines (and maybe some home made frosting and attempt at writing on the cake) or a trip to the local bakery. Either way, I always imagined myself baking birthday cakes from scratch and it is doubtful that will happen this time around. Sadly, I can't blame it on the fact that our lives are so busy with a nearly one-year-old, nor can I say it's because he asked for something specific. Oh well, I suppose lowering my own bar isn't the worst thing in the world. And, at the end of the day, there will be cake! And a one year old!

The Second Care Package

We recently sent our second care package off to the agency. I promise I had a great picture, but in my haste to keep my phone "clean" of extra images I must have inadvertently deleted it. Darn my need for tidiness! You'll have to use a bit of imagination on this one.

For our second package we had one very special item we wanted to include: a family photo album. As with all other adoption "stuff" there are rules to follow: the photos can only include the people living in the home and the home itself. Tony and I also wanted to photoshop in the Korean characters indicating who and what the photo included. Here's a picture of the kid-friendly photo album we used and a description of the pictures we included (and the Korean phrase):

1. Tony and I holding a picture of our little guy (Family) - Cover
2. Tony in Florence (Daddy)
3. Me in Florence (Mommy)
4. The Little Guy (Son)
5. Tony and I in Florence (We Love You)
6. The front of our house (Our Home)
7. Tony and I at the Trevi Fountain (no Korean)




The package also included an indestructible picture book we bought on our trip in Bayfield, WI called "Jungle Rumble" (the inside pages are just drawings of animals, so no language issue!); a disposable camera for the foster family to use to take pictures (hopefully we will get it back later); a Twins t-shirt and, of course, a Happy 1st Birthday card! It's in english but hopefully the basic idea comes through.

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Photo found (several months later!). Here is exactly what we sent:

Doing Our Part

Apparently we are just doing our part as we are contributing to the latest immigration trend here in the good old U.S. of A.  :) 
New Asian immigrants to US now surpass Hispanics
You can read the article by clicking the title above. They included some interesting statistics at the end of it as well. 

A Wonderful Wednesday Surprise

An unexpected surprise came today via email (originals following via USPS; this was on a pdf). I don't know the exact date it was taken, and I can't quite explain the "Merry Christmas" shirt, but I do know that seeing this picture makes me want to scoop him up, snuggle him, kiss him, love him. 

Happy Wednesday!

Melting hearts and bringing smiles worldwide!
(at least in Korea and the U.S.)

A Korean Adoptee's Story

This weekend I had a surprise in my in-box: my father-in-law sent a link to an article...something he's never done before. Of course I was instantly curious and had to check it out right away. 


The article, "A Korean Adoptee Does Her Own Detective Work in a Gamble to Find Her Family," documents a woman's journey to discover her past and, thereby, dramatically changing her future. I know there are many stories and books about people searching for birth families, and many lead to pain or disappointment. This woman's story, however, ends on a positive note. It's an interesting perspective on adoption from Korea in the late 1970s as well. If you have a few minutes, I recommend reading it through. Here's the link: click here

Update and Photos

We just received an update with photos taken on May 23rd (he is 10.5 months old in these pictures). He is sure getting big and looking like a little man! Our social worker also said she thinks he looks a lot like Tony. I don't have any of his baby pictures to double check, but I do some resemblance -- and both are very handsome.
Speaking of getting big, since his 9 month update he hasn't gained any weight but he has grown over an inch. Clearly his hair has been growing too!


We were happy to get this picture:

Package #1 arrived - he is checking us out!

He got our package! What a nice way to start the week. And to think his first birthday is just around the corner (July 7th). Pop over to Our Little Guy to see the other two pictures we received.