An Adoption Story I'd Encourage You to Read...

This is the adoption story of Steve Morrison who works very hard today to help the children of South Korea find homes in Korea and in the U.S. 
 
Its a beautiful story of how God has adopted us and the awesome blessing adoption is to the child, but also to the Mother and Father.

Click the link below to read................

Welcome to MPAK: The Chosen Son - A True Christmas Story of Steve M...: This is a true Christmas story of my family in December 2004 that actually happened, and you have to read it to the end to understand the s...

Gifts for Korean or Any Adoptive Family or Child

Hi All!  (Heehee, not sure if anyone is out there, but here goes.......)
Thought I'd mention a few cool gifts I've come across now being an "Adoptive Family" that have come to mean a lot to me, and these gifts might be nice for a friend you know who has or is adopting a child.  If you know of other such gifts, PLEASE comment, because I'd love to know!!

 

I Love Etsy!

Here are a couple of my "Favorite Shops"...

Specially For U - Necklaces, Earrings, Keychains, etc. with Korean text
I wear a necklace most days by Specially For U and a gift from my husband, with the Korean word "Child", made by this jewelry artist based in Seoul, South Korea. Two reasons I love it - In this small way, I carry my son with me daily and secondly, it came from Seoul, which is close to baby, and I love that.  Its beautiful too! 

Sakura Princess - Korean Coasters, Korean Children in Hanbok
This etsy shop features coasters with the words "Faith", "Hope", "Love", and "Family" on them, so OF COURSE I snatched them up!  I mailed these as a Christmas gift to our wonderful foster family.  Our little guy will also be receiving the Korean Children Wooden Dolls in their hanbok for Christmas too.  Aren't they cute?!  Hanbok is the traditional Korean clothing worn for a child's dol, for 1st Birthday Celebration.  Sakura Princess makes many other items: wall hangings, bow holders, plaques, etc. Cute stuff!

From Amazon - my other online store of choice -

My son needed a baby book, and I found this one: "My Family, My Journey: A Baby Book for Adoptive Families"
It features sections that seem very relevant and workable for various types of adoptions, "Before You Were Born," "The Story of Your Adoption", "The Match", "Our First Meeting," "All About Your Name", etc. etc. Check it out!

These are Childrens Books which feature and celebrate adoption:
A Blessing From Above (A Golden Book) - by Patti Henderson, Elizabeth Edge
God Found Us You - by Lisa Tawn Bergren, Laura J. Bryant
I Wished For You: an Adoption Story - by Marianne Richmond

These are books by Korean authors:
While You Were Out - by Ho Baek Lee
Bee-bim Bop! - by Linda Sue Park, Ho Baek Lee

This last book came recommended to me from our agency and other adoptive families:
Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft - by Mary Hopkins-Best
(My review: I'm trying enjoying it so far and learning quite a bit! This will be an important resource for us!)

Also for Pororo items - check out EBAY (seller: koreantoyshop) or E-Pororo's shop - http://www.epororo.com/ where I found some cute things featuring Korean cartoon characters such as Pororo and Tayo! Shipping ups the expense of course, but I think its well worth it to have some items your child would, or might already enjoy from their birth country and culture.

I have a few more to post, some ideas I just received from a friend, but alas, its late and child #2 is crying.................gotta run!

Please COMMENT suggested gifts, websites, shops, more books, etc. relevant to any type of adoption!! Thanks!

Nothing like an email update about your son, Let me tell ya!

Here we are in the holiday season and I'm tired. Ha! I am. Already. Too much staying up late to online shop - I'm the type to avoid the malls (for the sanity of myself and my children) and I don't like to wander - I like to have a plan! So I plan and do as much as I can from the computer.

A little surprise came in my email the other day, on my daughter's birthday in fact. An email from our agency with a new photo of our son, and let me tell ya, he is C-U-T-E!  It was especially sweet to see him wearing our first son's first pair of shoes - which we mailed to him - and an outfit on that we mailed him for our first birthday.  Seeing him clothed in attire we provided for him, in a small way, makes us feel like we have a part in caring for him right now, though I don't want to take anything from the incredible woman who loves him and cares for him each day. I pray the Lord will bless her greatly for her care of orphans, for over decade!

We also received a progress report - yay!  The progress report is a 1-page narrative describing our son, which was vast, compared to medical check-ups and photos.  Its wonderful to hear about his personality.  Here's a few highlights for you........

-"T-J goes around every corner of the house and makes a mess."  (Ah children.  He will fit quite nicely in our home.)
-"Claps hands and smiles to the music of Pororo program on TV." (Precious to picture. He will LOVE his Christmas gifts then......... we "pororoed" it up for him!  Don't tell.  If you don't know what Pororo is, its a Korean cartoon for preschool age children. Pororo is an adorable blue penguin - here's a link to get a glimps Pororo song on youtube in Korean-its on there in Korean and in English.  Chances are we'll be watching quite a bit of Pororo on the flight home to keep little guy happy!)
-"Takes 2 tablespoons of rice in egg soup, seaweed soup, beef soup and in bean paste soup, and eats with laver, steamed egg, bean curd, greens, and bulgogi for side dishes." (Guess who needs a Korean cookbook?! Moi! Because frankly, driving to Latham to the one local Korean restaurant isn't really an option daily - too far, so I must learn and I've tried bulgogi - yummm. Thankfully he also likes fruits, yogury, steamed sweet potatos, etc. and I'm sure he'll enjoy American food too. All will be well!  AB, our daughter, is most looking forward to feeding him Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.


This is the blankie we mailed that he cuddles with - yay!

-"He wraps around quilt sent by adoptive parents and falls asleep on his blanket after rolling over." (Warms my heart. This is the blankie we sent him in our first package. Love. Yeah, "warms my heart" pretty much sums it up. Good for a momma to hear.)
-"We hope paperwork will be expedited so he can join the warm bosom of his adoptive family..." (Don't you just love translation?  Its so sweet really.)

There's more, he sleeps well at night, 10 hours, and take 2 naps a day.  He loves his foster family very much, and they love him.  He doesn't love the bath, but enjoys splashing in the water.  He towers blocks, climbs on the furniture, yabbers away, says a few words, has 3 upper teeth, 4 lower, enjoys his "peers" and well, he sounds absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to love on him!

His photos came on a day we were busy. This is ironic because usually I'm an email addict hoping for an update or photo, and on the day it came, we were busy busy celebrating AB's 5th birthday.  So that's how its goes.  Blessings sometimes come when you least expect it or aren't looking for it, I suppose.  Thank you Lord!

So as the New Year approaches, the long anticipated 2013 (as we were told in August, "there will be no more EPs until the new year"), we wonder at how fast it all will move along...and its starting to feel like, wow, he really WILL come home.  At dinner now, I just picture him there, sitting with us, three children screaming through dinner (yes they do, they think its funny), and my heart leaps with joy.  I really get to be his mommy!  Because honestly this all seems VERY surreal sometimes, kinda like, "Will this REALLY happen?"  Also how I felt when I was 9 days "overdue" with my daughter, "Will she ever come out?"  Yes, it will happen. He is ours.  Many people ask that, "Is this a sure thing?"  Yes, it is.  He is our son and apart of our family and even on the crazy, busy days that are full and go-go-go, he is a part of it all, a part of our thoughts, our hearts, our prayers, our schedule, our shopping list, our dreams, our conversations, and on that day, we had just gotten home from Build-a-Bear Workshop (a first, very cute), where Annabelle and Oliver stood in the bathroom making a (loud) recording of "I love you T-J" which was inserted into an adorable bear that my hubby picked out - another Christmas present, but this one from his siblings (don't tell....you're finding out all of our Christmas secrets).  He may be across the world, but he's already part of our home and everyday.

Love you Buddy.




p.s. Now I feel better. Blogging is soooo therapuetic- just had to stop online shopping. Much better now!  Sometimes we just gotta step away from the busy busy, and reflect and sort out our hearts, and count our blessings, instead of looking for more.  Wishing everyone a beautiful, sacred, and special holiday season, celebrating our Lord's birth, a day that changed everything for us!

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Korea - for the government, for the agencies there, and for those working to implement the new laws.  There are potential hold-ups in the new year for EPs, due to working out the new laws.  I want to believe there are many working hard to sort out the glitches.  Please pray that the adoption process in Korean will get smoother and faster and more predictable, more systematic really, and that those who work to implement laws and the process would work well together for the good of the children.  Thank you!

 Gotta give a shout out - Happy 5th Birthday to our sweet girl! I love you and everything about you!  You add sparkle, smiles, giggles, belly laughs, sunshine, and music to our days. God has an awesome plan for your life and its a joy to love you everyday Annabelle!