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| Camping at Yankee Springs |
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| Looking cute at Tunnel Park for college friends get together |
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| 12th Anniversary |
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| Neighborhood water fun |
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| 9 months old |
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| Dutch Village with the Morrisons |
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| Mmm, corn cob |
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| First Day of School |
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| I can stand up! |
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| Old man faces |
The first weekend of August Nate and I went to a Korean adoptee conference. It's called the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network (KAAN) conference. It was in Grand Rapids this year so we could just go for the day. It was interesting to hear from adult Korean adoptees and other Korean adoptive families. One of the pieces of information I took from it was the idea of narrative burden. Basically anytime a child is of a different race than the rest of the family they always walk around with the burden of having to explain themselves. As in, "are you really part of that family, are those really your siblings, where are you really from, etc." To some extent the adoptive parents also have this burden when the family is in public, but the child carries the brunt of it. It is always helpful to gain a better understanding of what Julia will face as she grows up so we can listen and be supportive.
Nate took the older kids camping for a couple nights. They started at a campground near Hastings, but it was a pit. The mosquitoes almost carried them away and the facilities were not cared for. Julia got so many mosquito bites half of her face swelled up. They switched to Yankee Springs campground after the first night. Stephen and I joined them for one night. It was difficult, he was awake alot that night. I then took Julia home with Stephen and I because she wasn't feeling good. Nate and the boys enjoyed relaxing, riding bikes and swimming in Gun Lake.
We also had our annual college get together this month at Tunnel Park. This year it was just us, the Slots, Dave Klamer and kids and Suzanne/Erik. It was small but still fun. Nate and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on August 11. Tim and Jenny watched the kids for us while we went out for dinner. We went to Piper restaurant on the lake. It was good food and good conversation without constant interruptions!
Enadina moved into her long term foster family on the 19th. It was hard to say goodbye to her. She was very sad to leave us as we were the first place she felt safe/comfortable in a long time. She lives about 30 minutes away so hopefully we can stay in touch.
Soccer practices started for Isaac and Caleb. Caleb has it twice a week and Isaac once a week, yep 3 nights a week of having to eat supper early and drive kids around. Nate is coaching Isaac's team which they both enjoy. School started on the 26th! Caleb is in 3rd grade, Isaac kindergarten (full day, 5 days/week), and Julia preschool 3 afternoons/week. My hope is that Stephen will take a good afternoon nap and I will have 3 afternoons a week to hear my own thoughts. Caleb is in a new school building for 3rd-6th graders. On the first day of school his teacher told the class that the 6th graders may call them "terd-graders." I thought Caleb would find that funny because he likes bathroom humor, but apparently he did not. He was very concerned that 6th graders would be picking on him. However, that has not happened and he's had a smooth transition. I was teary the night before Isaac started school. My little boy who liked to cuddle is growing up. He was ready to attend school all day and has adjusted well. Julia has only had one day of preschool, but I think she'll have another great year. After meeting my kids' teachers I came away completely impressed again. I am so thankful our kids can attend a great school and have such passionate, God loving teachers. It truly is a gift that not every child in the world gets.
Stephen gave me a scare this month. I was carrying him in one arm and took a bowl of oatmeal out of the microwave with my other hand. He swiped his hand through the oatmeal and burned his finger, bad. He was screaming for about an hour and it blistered right away. I called the doctor and did what they recommended. Thankfully after he took a nap it didn't bother him anymore. However it took me awhile to not feel like a bad mom after that! Not to be outdone, Isaac also gave me a scare that week. We went to Dutch Village with some friends. Isaac was waiting on a platform for a turn on the zipline. A kid on the ground flung the zipline up and the metal harness hit Isaac on the top of his head. The kid ran and gave Isaac a hug and then Isaac started walking to me holding his head. Blood was pouring everywhere, in his eyes, mouth, etc. I have never seen that much blood before. Thankfully I remembered hearing that head wounds bleed alot so I knew not to freak out. The wound stopped bleeding fairly quickly and I called the doctor to make sure he didn't need to be seen. (Yes, that was 2 times in one week our doctor had reports from my family, CPS will show up at my door, ha!) The cut was under his hair and has healed up. However, Isaac would like to actually see Dutch Village now.
Stephen is 9 months old now. He crawls everywhere and puts everything in his mouth. Which should be motivation to keep my floors clean, but that doesn't always happen! He has also learned to pull himself up which is cute unless it is in his crib. He can stand up, but doesn't know how to get done so he stands there screaming when he should be sleeping. He is also teething like crazy, two top teeth and two more bottom teeth. He grinds them together, a horrible sound. (While camping I also discovered that Isaac grinds his teeth in his sleep, a trait they may or may not have gotten from their mother.) And Stephen has got to be the worst teether ever, not much sleep happening. He is making more sounds and can do pat a cake when told to. He is trying more table food. He loves playing with his siblings and laughing at their antics.
For the last gasp of summer we went camping in Ohio over Labor Day weekend which I will share pictures in my next post.
