Monday, September 27, 2010

two sides.

OTg*MDEzOTFhYmVmOWY3N2Y*ZjQ4OCZvZj*w.gifpimp myspace

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

badge code.

here is the code for the sealed strength badge.

sorry nic, it wouldn't let me leave it in the comment section!

<**a href="http://www.sealedstrength.org/"><**img src="http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/mvanderc/ssbadge2.jpg" alt="sealed strength" width="200" height="65" /><**/a>
remove all the *

i promise my next post will be about something else. :)

one more.

post about sealed strength. (for now)

i made a badge for blogs that links to the site. see it over there? --->

if you want the code for yours, let me know!

we also now have a donation spot. if you would like to make a monetary donation just click the pay pal button.

thank you for all the encouraging words and support!

we are so excited to see this grow!

email.

if you or someone you know is a military wife needing support through a deployment email me at

shel@sealedstrength.org

we're in this together!

Monday, September 20, 2010

sealed strength.

i have been so blessed here in korea. i have found a friend...a good one. they are hard to come by sometimes!

her and i have so many similar interests and passions.

she dreamed up something big, and we both jumped in head first!

i am so proud to be a part of this. thankful for mallory for including me in this adventure. really thankful to God for bringing us here together.

sealed strength.

(you can also find us on facebook!)

Monday, September 13, 2010

twelve.



things she likes...
making it impossible to get a good picture.
pushing things around the room.
her blanket and bunny.
screaming during diaper changes.
fruit of any kind.
yo gabba gabba. (finally let her watch a bit of tv and this one she's hooked on)
dancing.
crawling around the park.
still growing teeth. (9, 10 and 11 came in without me knowing it, thanks to her amber teething necklace!)
pulling all the books off her shelf.
putting stuff in containers.
showers and baths.
climbing on everything.
getting off the couch face first.
milk. lots of it!
her friend logan.
standing up on her own, but not walking!

busy but fun month! we made some new friends here so eliza and logan have been getting quite a few play dates in. she loves to tease him and steal his blanket, or take his seat. if he sees her she just starts squealing and laughing. such a little girl already! we're no longer nursing. didn't last much longer than 11 months. dropped the night feeding, and then she just stopped asking in the morning. it was so hard for me. definitely growing up! she got 3 more teeth in, but i didn't know she was teething. we tried an amber necklace, a natural pain reliever, and i'd say it works! got a new camera this month, so i was on picture overload! we went down to seoul for labor day and took her to an imax, aquarium, art gallery, wax museum and zoo! she got sick for the first time, had a fever one morning, lots of green snot the last few days. she wasn't into her cake, or any food too much. now we're all sick! she was a pretty happy sick kid though, and she's been extra snuggly! she even slept in my arms a few times! yesterday we celebrated her first birthday with a morning party on oovoo, and a party here that night with our friends. it was a great day! still can't believe she's one!

and all her month pictures. crazy how much they change!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

happy birthday eliza june!

we love you!

we had a great oovoo birthday party this morning, and another one tonight with our friends.

i still have to do her month pictures. they weren't happening today. hopefully i'll post tomorrow! it's been crazy around here!

here are a few shots from our day.

with her picture wall. i had family and friends send us pics and i taped them up to this frame wallpaper.

mama made hat ready for the birthday girl.

officially one!

waiting on the party to start.

party army style. thankful for technology!







her birthday ring that doubles as our advent wreath.




logan has a red chair like this that she always climbs in when we go over there. he got her this one, and she loves it!

what a happy day!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

american mom in korea.

i know i owe you all (whoever still reads this poor excuse for a blog) some korea posts. what our apartment is like, what we've been doing, sites we've seen, food we've eaten, etc. let me know if there is something specific you're interested in.

for now, i'm going to write about what is on my mind most of the time. motherhood.

back in the states i got a few stranger encounters, random pieces of advice and criticism while pregnant and also as a new parent.

nothing compares to here.

i was told that in the korean culture babies are held high. they let children do what they want, and also everyone feels they can take responsibility for them, and take care of them.

we see this a lot! people aren't afraid to take eliza from me. we've joked a couple times about them stealing her. they'll just grab her and walk over to their friends and act like it's no big deal!

there have also been times where people want to feed her. a lady on the train gave her part of her nectarine. this was before she was eating "big people" food. from then on it was like "well, she ate that fine, i suppose she can stop eating baby food!" it was also weird that we didn't really second guess taking food from a stranger.

you can also tell when they don't agree with your parenting. even though there is a language barrier we know they are ridiculing us for...

  • having her out in the rain without an umbrella. (she won't melt)
  • not keeping her shaded from the sun. (she has sunscreen on)
  • keeping her out too late. (she's usually in bed by 7, but some weekends it's later)
  • tickling her. (she was laughing!)
we have had encounters with all of these situations. my friend mallory was being lectured on the street for not having the shade over her son logan's stroller. the ladies stood there with their umbrella covering him while she pulled the diaper bag off and put the shade up.

i once had a group of pre-teen girls pull eliza out of her stroller to wrap her towel around her better. we had just come from the fountain, and i just tossed her hooded towel on her. they had to make sure she was all bundled up!

protecting her head. very important!

just this past weekend while riding the train i was tickling eliza. she was laughing like crazy! the lady next to me started waving her hand. then she grabbed my side, kind of tickled me, then started waving her finger like "no. don't do that!" later i reached over and was rubbing eliza's foot and the lady straightened up and peered over to see what i was doing!

they sure do love kids here. anytime we go out the kids draw so many people in. i know it's partly because we're american and a walking freak show, but also because they are babies.

new exhibit at the zoo. american babies!
it is fun to see the interaction. i know i can't understand them, but i'm guessing eventually eliza will start to. they just talk to her like korean is her language. she'll pick up!


i'm so thankful for these experiences...even if they have caused some awkward moments!

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