Baby Karis is here!

It's been a very long time since we've updated this blog. I'm not sure if anyone's still reading it, but we're still here! Last wed., april 30th, 2008 at 8:31 AM, Karis Hye-Jin Kim made her grand entrance into our world. She was 6 lbs and 19 in long. Karis is very healthy and happy. She is so lovely! We can hardly keep our eyes off of her. She's so precious to us. It was a different experience to have a healthy baby that wasn't in the NICU. She stayed in the room with me and instead of sleeping, I would hold her and watch her. We're breastfeeding-which is alot easier to do with a baby that's not hooked up to oxygen or an apnea monitor-and it's going very well. She's already grown so much and each day we can see new changes. I just wish her umbilical stump would hurry up and fall off-it makes me queasy! I'm afraid to touch it. Speaking of queasy-many of you know that I (Grace) am an extremely squeamish little girl when it comes to the slicing and cutting open of human bodies. I get weak in the knees if i get a paper cut! It was all I could do to keep myself from having a nervous breakdown on the operating table. I'm healing well, as far as I can tell, but do my best to ignore the c-section incision. It does still hurt a little, but is not unbearable. I can get around the house alright, but Joshua keeps chastising me for doing too much.

Josiah is a wonderful big brother and loves Karis very much. He looks out for his little sister and is concerned very much that we share our mango sorbet and other treats with her. He's not quite understanding the whole breastfeeding thing. Josiah's 6th birthday was last thursday, the day after Karis' birth and we're throwing him a little birthday party tomorrow. He is such a special boy and we treasure his sweet spirit.

Joshua is doing well. He is in love with his new baby girl and is doing his best to take care of all of us. He was able to take a week off from church and take care of me after I came home from the hospital. He's been having quite a time trying to keep me from doing too much! As you very well may know, I find it extremely difficult to not DO SOMETHING. Ah well. My parents came up the first weekend after Karis' birth and will be coming to take care of us next week. I'm sure my mom has some Korean mother's recovery plan ready for me. Seaweed soup and all!

We've got lots of changes coming up in our lives! Joshua is switching to Air Force Reserves, we're moving to Connecticut, AND we're having a baby! Very exciting. We look forward to reconnecting with many of our metro NY area friends. Please keep us in your prayers!

Love,
Grace

So long...

All my neighbors are moving out!!! It's so deserted on Hercules Dr. I'm so sad, one of my closest friends, Sophie, has just left, and now every time I take a sip of coffee, I miss her! I don't think I ever made a pot of coffee without her to drink it with. :-( I am so sad. Such is military life! We were able to spend 3 years together. I thank God for bringing such a wonderful friend into my life. We know that goodbyes are only temporary, but I still miss being able to walk 3 doors down to say "hi" at any time! She is the best non-evil Belgian that I have ever met. :-)

Joshua has just left for a 9 day trip to Korea (without us. :( We are sad). The Korean government is sponsoring Korean adoptees who are black belts in taekwondo to go sightseeing and such for a week. Isn't that crazy? What a great opportunity! My grandmaster (Myung Sook Mayes) is the one who told us about it, even though Joshua hasn't been able to train much due to his busy schedule and back issues. We're so thankful for her! So, he's off on a 24-hr (give or take) trip to the motherland. Lucky him. Josiah and I are doing well. We'll be busy enough, I'm sure. When Joshua gets back, we'll all be piling into our little red camry, along with Kyung-A and Sang-A, and driving the 10 hours to mom and dad's house in Fort Lee, NJ for a week and a half. *sigh* I can't wait to be home! if you're around and would like to go hangout in NYC or in Jersey together, give us a call and we'll tell you where we'll be! It will be quite an entourage, as our good friends, the Gentrys, will also be visiting with us. :-)

Last Christmas...

Christmas PJs by moi.
Originally uploaded by gracekim123

I was looking for a good family photo and came across this one. :-) It was taken last Christmas when my family came down from NJ to visit. Note the PJs: My first ever, big girl, sewing project! :-) We're going to go visit NY/NJ next month, and I'm SO VERY EXCITED to be up north. We'll only be there for a week or so, though, so it will be a short trip. Our friends, the Gentrys are also coming up with us. Lots of fun! And Kyung-A and Sang-A, the girls I tutor and would adopt as my own if I could, are coming too. Yay!!!

Hello Friends!

We are back on blogger and hope that you guys can find us!!! We've been having some major website issues, so we are sorry (especially to Umma) for the delay in updates and such. :-) But here we are! Also check out our Myspace profile at: myspace.com/hotmamagrace

So, let us see...we just got home from 2 weeks in FL. week 1 was the CMA General Council, where we reconnected with ATS friends and had a blast worshipping together. Josiah even got to have 2 sleepovers with his girlfriend Jada (the lucky boy!) while we hung out with some really great friends. Joshua and I almost quit the military chaplaincy to climb aboard the missionary candidate wagon again. ALMOST. It's not God's time, we know that, but MAN, we would love to go! I saw a Christian counselor and discovered what many of you must already know...I've got issues. :-) I guess I was hesitant at first, but the free price tag made it seem silly not to take advantage of it. It was a great experience and really opened my eyes to alot of stuff that I've avoided thinking about. ANYWAY, that was Council. Week 2 was spent at the military resort on Disney property called Shades of Green. SO NICE!!! Instead of the long, hot, nasty ghetto-bus ride that we had to take last year, we were RIGHT there. There were shuttle buses running at convenient and reliable times and you could always drive. Or even walk if so led. :-) It was a great time. We serendipitously met up with our good friends and neighbors while we were there, which was a total fluke, and had a great time running around the magical kingdom with them. Mel and I went on Expedition Everest 3 times, it was GREAT!!! Josiah was as cautious as ever, but we did get him to go on SOME rides. Dumbo, Aladdin, the Carousel (5 times. my goodness), etc., our son is definitely a "safety first!" kind of kid. We had a blast at the shows and such. They really know how to do it up at Disney!

My friend Kristen and I started our own online store at www.crispcollective.etsy.com We're really excited about it...we feel like entrepreneurs! :-) So far our stock is just sitting in a pile in my office/craft room, but it's a start! :-) My prob is that I never want to part with the "good stuff" so, I make things and then give them to loved ones, or keep them for my own. It's silly, I know. I'll get over it soon. Like I said, I have issues, people!!!

We're back home now, but we're finding it humorously hard to get back into the swing of things. Josiah wants to sleep anywhere but in his bed, Joshua gets up in the mornings for work and keeps returning home for little things that he's forgotten, and I'm just keeping house and working out so far. No tutoring and not much TKD this week. Next week, Council and Disney will seem like a distant memory...ah well. :-) Where would YOU like to go for a vacation?