For Auld Lang Syne...

I have no idea what it means, but I love that song...it has that perfect bittersweet "remember when..." feeling and is always accompanied by a glass of champagne :)

What a year its been for us! Last year at this time Andy had just learned to walk & I count the number of words he could pronounce on one hand. We were two months into our wait for a referral from Korea and we were hoping that by the end of 2008 we'd be matched w/a baby. Never did we imagine that on this NYE Aidan would be upstairs sleeping in Andy's old room rather than half a world away.

Resolutions never really work out for me (too much pressure), but I my 2009 To Do List includes:

1. Enjoying our family...we've spent the last 4 years worrying about fertility issues and 2 adoption processes. I don't know if we will add more children to our family in the years to come, but for this year, I just want to enjoy the two little boys we have.

2. I don't like the word "diet", so I think I will refer to my exercise and meal plan as a healthy lifestyle renovation. Yes, that makes me think much more of brisk walks w/the children and learning wonderful new recipes and less of carrot sticks, lowfat mayo and the endless monotony of hours on the treadmill.

3. End laundry procrastination...of all the household chores, laundry is the most dreaded. All the sorting and folding and ironing...yuck, I'm exhausted just thinking of it. Which is why I let the laundry pile up until everyone is running out of socks and underwear and I end up riffling through the kids' laundry baskets looking for any pair of pants that aren't obviously stained. This year, I'm going to come up w/a laundry strategy (designate one laundry day per week? do one load each day? hire a laundry person to take care of it? if you have any advice, please share...especially if you know of a laundry person who will work for hugs). Starting tomorrow, I vow never to substitute fabreeze for machine washing clothes again!

4. Learn the words to Auld Lang Syne...and I should probably find out what "auld lang syne" actually means while I'm at it. Of course, I have a lot on my To Do List, so maybe I should save that one for 2010.

Happy New Year!!!

FFF - Christmas Extravaganza

The last two days have been a blur. We had a great time w/friends and family and missed everyone we could not see in person. While Santa and the elves can rest, I will be back to work on Friday and Kristen will be left trying to explain to two exhausted little boys when there aren't a new set of toys under the tree tomorrow morning.

Here's pictures from our holiday celebrations...the boys had so much fun it was a challenge to get either of them to hold still for a photo, but even without a perfect picture, I know we will always remember how much fun we had.

Merry Christmas

Yesterday was a whirlwind of celebrating and present-opening. After another round of presents this morning, we are having a little down time before having Christmas dinner w/family later this afternoon, so I wanted to say a quick Merry Christmas. Chris & I feel so blessed to have both our children home...it is so special to see Christmas through their eyes.

This has always been one of my favorite holiday songs and this year I think it is especially meaningful to our family....

Bless this house, O Lord we pray, Make it safe by night and day . . .
Bless these walls so firm and stout, Keeping want and trouble out . . .
Bless the roof and chimneys tall, Let thy peace lie overall . . .
Bless this door that it may prove, Ever open, To joy and love . . .
Bless these windows shining bright, Letting in God's Heavenly light,
Bless the hearth, ablazing there, With smoke ascending like a prayer!
Bless the people here within, Keep them pure and free from sin . . .
Bless us all that we may be, Fit O Lord to dwell with thee . . .
Bless us all that one day we may dwell, O Lord! With Thee!

I will post pictures from our holiday extravaganza tomorrow!

Favorite Foto Friday - Winter Games

A cold front has moved through the area this week, rendering us housebound. Thank goodness my sister & Addy live just down the street & Aunt Jen is willing to brave the elements to visit us! Even together, it was still challenging to find ways to keep everyone happy.

Here's a video of our newest activity, Christmas races. It started out as Andy & Addy chasing each other around the house and somehow evolved into the 2 of them racing each other while carrying a singing Christmas stuffed animal. Sadly for Aidan, it will be awhile before he can participate in any running races. However, he is practicing his tunnel crawl so that if the Winter Games continue to next week, he has a chance at competing in that contest.

Dear Sleep Fairy

Dear Sleep Fairy,

I am writing you today to kindly request (okay, beg) that you give my children their naps back. For 2 weeks I have had two excellent nappers and suddenly we have had two days of no naps. I have not changed their sleeping arrangements, naptime routine or even the thermostat, so that leads me to believe that we have somehow fallen out of favor with you. If we have offended you in any way or if we have taken you for granted, I offer my sincerest of apologies. Please do not make me go through an entire week of being home alone w/two sleep deprived little boys who can't even leave the house b/c its so cold out (I realize you can't help the weather, I'll be taking that up w/Mother Nature next).

Yours Truly,
Kristen

PS. Even if we can't have naps back, can you at least make sure the children continue to sleep through the night? That is the only thing keeping us sane. Thank you.

Favorite Foto Friday - The Big Boy & The Baby Boy

We're more than halfway through our 2nd week since Aidan came home & everyone is doing great. Aidan continues to sleep and eat well, which I've decided is the key to a happy home. All the little dramas that break out during the day are so much easier to handle when everyone (especially Mommy) is well rested. Chris has been back at work full time since last Thursday and other than nap time, which can be a little "dicey", I haven't had too much trouble adjusting to taking care of two kids all day.

One side effect of having a second child is realizing how grown-up your first one has become. Until Aidan came home, I definitely still thought of Andy as my "baby". Its truly amazing to see just how much he has developed since we brought him home. Here's some pictures of him participating in some definite non-baby activities. We continue to be impressed by how nice he is to Aidan & how well he's adjusted to sharing us w/"the newcomer".

Helping Mommy vaccuum. Caught in the middle of an unauthorized climb on top of our ordament box.

Hanging an ordament on the Christmas tree all by himself.

And the biggest "big boy" moment of the week, playing air hockey w/Papa all by himself!

As much fun as it is to see how far Andy has come, it is so nice to have a baby in the house again. Aidan is such a sweetheart & is so easygoing. Basically as long as we are not trying to change his diaper or get him dressed, he is content to do whatever we are doing. Here's some pictures of what he's been up to this week.

Assisting w/decorating the tree. Working on walking w/his future Godmother Kathy.

Playing peek-a-boo w/our family room curtains.

FFF - First Snow

**Due to an internet outage during the day & the arrival of new netflix movies in the evening, I was unable to post this yesterday**

We had our 1st real snow fall, the kind that actually requires shoveling, earlier this week. Chris was still home from work, so we were able to all bundle up and head outside to play....there's no way I could've gotten both the boys into snow gear alone! I can tell Chris & I have become experienced in the art (and it is an art) of dressing uncooperative children, b/c it only took us about 15 mins to get everyone ready to go. Unlike last year, Andy will actually walk w/his boots on (previously, he would just go limp and refuse to move). Now if only we could get him to keep mittens on his hands! Aidan was fine w/the clothes, but I had to bring him in after a few minutes b/c he was upset he couldn't get down and crawl...he and I then moved to observing the action from the family room window. Since I was trying to keep Aidan from escaping my grasp, I didn't get many pictures, but here's a few cute ones:

Chris gave Andy a small shovel and he got to help shovel the driveway...since the arrival of his little brother, he's very into being a big boy and was thrilled to be helping Daddy...Daddy was thrilled for the help and anxiously looks forward to the day he can pass the shoveling job off to the kids.

Prior to retiring to the warmth of the family room, Aidan & I supervised the snow removal. We got more snow last night, so this afternoon the Dads will be taking Andy & Addy sledding in our backyard for the 1st time this winter...check back soon to see the pics!

Mr. Personality

Well, we are finally starting to see who Aidan really is and let me tell you, he is one happy little boy! I've never seen a child so quick to laugh and smile. Here's some great pictures of him doing just that!

Also, I think the responsibility of being Aidan's Big Brother is starting to weigh on Andy...just this morning I caught him reading the Business section.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are feeling very thankful this morning!

Aidan is doing great! We actually can't believe how well he is taking everything. He is definitely still getting used to everyone & prefers to be held most of the time, but gradually is willing to explore on his own a bit. He has mastered crawling & can already pull himself up and take a few steps on his own. I think as soon as he feels comfortable w/his new home he'll be walking. He is starting to lose that "deer in the highlights" look and we are slowly getting to see his personality...peek-a-boo is guaranteed to bring smile, as is blowing raspberries and gently tickling him under his chin. He LOVES to eat and has already devoured two entire cans of Gerber Puffs. Surprisingly he has already adjusted to the time change and is sleeping at appropriate times. In fact, both nights he has slept over 13 hours! Of course, we know he may just be exhausted from all the changes he is experiencing and that this "honeymoon" period of good sleep may not last, but for now its pretty nice.

Andy is doing very well in his new role as the big brother. He has his moments of jealousy, but overall has been good. He constantly wants to be near Aidan and loves to make him smile. He brings him toys, gives him kisses & feeds him Puffs. He gets very upset when Aidan cries...the 1st night, Aidan cried for about 15 mins when Chris was putting him to bed and Andy was very worried and kept saying "Aidan sad, Andy sad". In the morning, when Aidan wakes up, Andy runs into our room screaming "Aidan, Aidan, Aidan...Hello Brother!!!"....how sweet is that???

Here are some of the best pictures from our 1st days home. I probably only have about 10 mins left with both kids napping, so I think I'll take a shower instead of writing comments for each one...I think by all the smiles you'll get the idea that the general feeling in the Gorski house is happy and thankful!

Its Official - We are a Family of Four

Aidan is home and is just adorable...we are busy getting to know each other, but I couldn't resist posting a few of our 1st pics together. I'll write more about Aidan once we are settled!

Meeting Aidan

Today was the day I had been waiting for since Kristen & I received our referral. I met Aidan for the first time. We were only together for an hour, but I had a great time with him. He is smiling, crawling, able to stand on his own. He will be back for good tomorrow morning for our flight to his new home. I can't wait for him to meet Kristen and Andy!

I'm keeping this short as it has been a long day and we have an even longer plane ride in the morning. However I did want to make sure I could post pictures as soon as possible, so here they are:

Seoul Day 1 - Sightseeing

We just finished an exhaustive day of touring Seoul by bus, subway and foot. Here is a pictoral breakdown of the day:

Our morning didn't get off to a "Korean" start...I was caught sneaking into my favorite coffee establishment in Itaewon.

We hopped on the Subway at the local station. The city of the Chicago could learn a lot from the Seoul subway system.

We headed to the top of Seoul Tower. Facing Chicago, I waved to Mommy & Andy.

Next, we took a walking tour of Changdeokgung Palace

While at Changdeokgung, we toured the palace's Secret Gardens. Despite my best effort, I could not find Bruce Springsteen or Jerry McGuire.




We spent the rest of the day walking around different Korean markets. We saw all different clothes, toys, jewelry and food (And no Nancy I did not eat anything with it's tail still attached)

By the time the day was over, we were exhausted. Tomorrow, we will be heading over to the guest house at the Eastern Agency for our meeting with Aidan. I will post lots of pictures!

Arrived in Seoul!

Well after a long 14 hr flight we arrived safely in Seoul, Korea. Due to the 15 hr time difference, my editor is fast asleep (hopefully because that mean Andy is sleeping as well) and I will be publishing unsupervised.

The flight was uneventful and consisted of several iterations of eating, watching movies, and sleeping. Finally we arrived in Seoul. We went through immigration, customs and headed to the currency exchange. At 1500 won per US dollar, I felt like a rich man leaving with a roll of 10,000 won bills. We hopped on the bus to take us to our hotel and then had a quick bite to eat. We will spend Sunday sightseeing and Monday we will finally get to meet with Aidan!

Here are a couple pictures (better than nothing...)

Our First Picture in Korea

Landing at Incheon Airport

Waiting for the Bus Leaving the Airport

(Honestly this is the best picture of the trip so far...

I will try to do better tomorrow...

I just need sleep)