Pumpkin Patch

We took Seoul to a local pumpkin patch with our friend Amy. Seoul wasn't sure what to think about some things like the feel of the hay poking her legs or sitting in a wheelbarrow with a giant pumpkin, but it was clear she wasn't such a fan of the petting zoo or pony ride. Maybe one day :)

We went through a very muddy corn maze and made it to this castle. I've noticed Seoul is adventurous and likes to be up high. To get down we took the slide. Seoul is sticking out her tongue at Dad in the first picture and then clapping to show her excitement in the second.

We had to pose for a picture with the "Asian" pumpkin... those of us with "slanty" eyes :)

It was perfect fall weather and we had a lot of fun! Next year Seoul will really be into the activities.

Trick * or * Treat!

Seoul's first Halloween and she made out like a bandit! Really, who gives a 9-month old candy?? At least Kelley & I appreciate the spoils!

We went to Legacy to trick-or-treat at Kelley's office. Seoul dressed as a pink lady bug, although everyone called her a "love bug" - how much cuter can our girl get?! She would get tired of wearing the hat and pull it off.

Seoul would crawl to the candy, which made the effect of the bug costume even more adorable.

Kelley loves showing off his "love bug" to everyone!



We visited with the cousins a little bit and got some fun Halloween costume pictures. Trevin is a hippy / crazy man... Amanda is a garbage can... and Ella is a bat... very creative costumes!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

We hooked up with our friends the Springers and went out around our neighborhood for a little trick-or-treating on Halloween night. The weather was rather nice. Randy was "Handy Randy" and was super cute in his overalls and boots, complete with a hard hat, tool belt, hammer, and wrench. We didn't get many come to our door and there weren't many in the neighborhood so the kids got handfuls of candy at most houses. Randy kept saying his bag was heavy. Seoul held her bag until it got too many pieces of candy. Lucky parents!

Seoul did get her own little treat that night, though. Daddy bought her some little cookies so she got to chow on one of those.

Halloween Treats

I have to write about the delicious goodness a friend shared with us. Little Halloween ghosts made with Nutter Butter cookies dipped in melted white chocolate or white confectioner's coating. You can use mini chocolate chips for eyes. Oh my, they are quite the treat!

Baby Joo Lin

My dad sent me these baby pictures of me the other day. Adopted when I was 6 months old, there aren't many pictures of me as an infant. Now I can hassle my parents for pictures to compare ages.

I now see the resemblance between Seoul and I. Of course the cleft lip makes a difference and Seoul is much more beautiful, but I get it... finally.

In this picture I was 7 months old. From my position, maybe Seoul got her silly crawl from me.

I'm not sure how old I was in this picture. Am I dancing or going to get to work using the shovel? Hm. I do see also that I can't blame Seoul's hairline entirely on Kelley's genes. We have the same hair (sigh) and I was so hoping it would be more like Kelley's.

Thanks Dad!

Kudos to Kelley

Seoul & I are so proud of Kelley! At work the other day he got a kudos for exceptional customer service. I will brag for him... he has gotten quite a few shout outs. At his year review in August he got rave reviews and the boss said he's a real asset to the company. Funny: the only critique from a peer review was that he wears too much orange :)

It is so wonderful he has a job he loves and he excels with each performance!

Love you!

Last Single Digit Month Birthday

Seoul is 9 months old today! She truly is the light of our lives!

HaPPy BiRtHdAy KeLLeY!!

What a great day! We celebrated Kelley's birthday last Saturday with friends and family. When I first met him he said it was his favorite holiday. That is a lot of pressure to make it fabulous... at least it only comes once a year! I'm so excited to celebrate many more birthdays with him in the coming years!

Classic Kelley expression:




For part of his gift I gave him tickets to the OSU football game against Cincinnati a couple weeks ago. This family picture is from the game... and of course it had to be an orange frame!




Seoul found the perfect card to give him. It says: DAD, I know I can be a stinker... but you gotta admit I'm a lovable stinker! Then she proceeded to eat it as the picture demonstrates. She also found this fabulous baby girl dress that she knew daddy would love:








We celebrated with friends and family at Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center in Wilsonville. ( http://fun-center.com/ ) Totally fun! They have go-karts, mini golf, bumper boats, lazer tag, arcade, and a ton of other stuff. We hit up the mini golf and arcade. Kelley hit the jackpot at some of the arcade games! Our nieces, Amanda & Ella, did amazing on the rock wall!




Yum! Cake!




Seoul can't wait until her 1st birthday for some of that delicious goodness!




Loves from his sweet mom and baby girl...




Seoul got in some loves from the grandparents during the day:

Seoul & I are so lucky we have Kelley! He is compassionate, loving, intelligent, funny, and handsome! It's such a blessing to have him as the head of our family. Love you Kelley!

there's no stopping her now!

Seoul is on the move! A few weeks ago she decided she would try this crawling business. Picture it: she's up on her hands and knees. Good start. Then, instead of the typical crawling with both knees, the left is bent under her body like she is sitting. The right is bent with the foot at an odd angle on the floor. She pushes off with her right foot, pulling/dragging the left leg underneath her. It causes her to push off to the side rather than a straight line. Kelley calls it the "dead man's crawl" and it's adorable. Really. She has become quite adept at this motion, though, and shows no sign of the classic crawling motions. (no great pics of this crawling, sorry!)

One day I went to get her from her nap and she was STANDING in the corner of her crib with the expression "oops - you caught me!" She had not rolled from back to front yet so it was a total surprise. Since then it is exciting to see her little head poke over the top of the rail with a big smile knowing I'm going to pick her up. Of course we moved the crib to the lowest setting. The only downside is that she doesn't go down for naps as easily. It might coincide with her trying to drop out the 3rd nap of the day, though. She's down to two and most of the time she still lays down to sleep easily. Just every once in a while now she just stands at the side and cries. It breaks my heart.

These days she is all over the place and it's so FUN!! I love all these milestones. She has been pulling herself up on furniture for months so now she enjoys crawling to each piece of furniture or toy. She's super quick at pulling herself up, and she balances more often without holding onto anything. Her new favorite trick is to pick things up while she's standing. Yay for mobile babies! Love it!

happy 8 months!

college football love

The season has begun... the love/hate relationship that inevitably comes at this time of year. In our family we have two teams to cheer on, although the OSU Beaver spirit dominates due to Kelley's passion. I do give a shout out to the BYU Cougars even if it was a disappointing game Saturday. We were feeling slightly let down by both our teams!

The happiness of Saturday was the big event... drumroll please... Seoul's first OSU Football game! Of course she had to sport the BYU bow to show some Cougar pride... (and prove she is a girl!)

She was such a good girl! She just enjoyed watching all the people and activity. It did surprise me that she seemed to track the football flying through the air before the game started. During the game she was a little insecure with Kelley's yelling so she would cuddle with me. She even took a nap for an hour through all the noise & excitement!

I love time as a family! There will be more fun things to come!

Finally domestic?

My mom should be proud. Growing up she urged me to help her cook, can, and learn useful skills. I resisted for so long. I think the time has come... I've given in...

I believe I can cook a good meal when I choose to; the other night I did stuffed meat & cheese manicotti - yum! Unfortunately for Kelley I am not a fan of cooking meals but he is supportive and doesn't mind Taco Bell every once in a while. Fortunately for Kelley, though, I do enjoy baking & desserts!

This year I even canned fruits. I did pears with my mom. Kelley and I tackled the peaches in our own little adventure!

I am even contemplating asking for canning equipment for Christmas! It was a great feeling to see the end product and add it to our food storage.

There may be hope for me yet!

Seoul looks like Kelley!

I can interpret the results of the poll how I choose since I am the one posting - ha!

Thanks to those who voted in the poll! I admit I was hoping for DETAILS in the comments but that's ok. I hear often that Seoul looks like both of us, which thrills me since I was adopted and don't look like my parents. It's exciting to share physical traits with my baby!

She is beautiful either way but I truly have difficulty seeing physical resemblances between me and her. Really. I think people are thrown off by her brown eyes and the fact that she has hair on her head - of course that would make her most like me!

I see Kelley in the shape of her face, the shape of her eyes, her eyelashes, her mouth, and her dimples... you have to admit that is the majority of her face. I love it all... every scrumptious little part of her!

Just clowning around

Who Does Seoul Resemble Most?

I'm curious... vote on the sidebar...

Here's Seoul:




Here's Daddy: (to be fair, this is an older picture, but one of the few of Kelley face-on)




Here's Mommy:

This is Seoul's attitude (that I believe she inherited from DAD!)