this is my life.

Today, Marc is TWO months old!  These past two months have flown by!  It is hard to believe that he is only 3 weeks past his due date - as he has grown and developed so much since the end of February.  

Marc has gained 4 pounds and grown several inches so that he has actually outgrown all of his premie - and most newborn  - clothes!  I remember when it was a lot for Marc to eat 1 ounce at a time, but now he has no problem with 5 ounces.  Now, I am just waiting for - anticipating - his cute little face to look up at me and SMILE a social "I recognize you and am delighted to see you" smile.  I love, love, LOVE Marc's smiles... but so far they have just happened randomly... I keep looking for the one that says "I know who you are"!  In fact... two nights ago, I woke up around 1:30am to a silent house.. and thought, I should just go and peak in on Marc to make sure he is okay, still breathing, sleeping well... it didn't take much to talk myself into getting up out of bed to check on Marc. So I entered his room, dimly lit by a night light, and looked into his bassinet to see little arms flapping around, but no sounds (crying, grunting, etc) were coming from him. Still... not the sight of sweet slumber.  I moved closer and bent over Marc to see what exactly he was doing (it was dark!) and saw his eyes wide open, looking up... and he had a HUGE grin on his face.  YES! I thought to myself, my sweet baby boy is excited to see his mommy and is FINALLY smiling, on purpose, at me! So... impulsively... recklessly... not thinking through the situation or my actions... I was so taken with the moment we were sharing that I SPOKE.  I returned his greeting with an equally large smile and delightedly said, "Hi, Marc!!!"

... and his head turned slightly towards me.   He stopped smiling.  His arms stopped waving around.  And then he started to cry.  Not a scared cry or a hungry cry... the demanding "you are here and I know it, so pick me up or I'll wake up Dad!" cry.   My hopes crashed - he was not smiling at me, in fact he wouldn't even  have known that I was in the room if I hadn't spoken... it was too dark, I guess..  Man.  

So.. I shook my head at myself and picked him up - I owed it to him!... holding on to the hope that someday SOON his little face will light up when he sees his Mommy! :)

 

 Here is Marc on his first day of life.

Marc at 1 month!

 2 months old!!

Really, I have to stop and think where the time has gone.. 2 months seem to have passed by in a blink! Jarrod was home for 2 weeks of paternity leave and 1 week of spring break, my sister came for 1 week, and my mother came for a week and a half (overlapping a little with Jarrod's spring break).  So.. that makes 3 weeks where I have been home alone with Marc.  I thought I was going to have so much time to get projects done, reconnect with relationships... and do some work from home - perhaps prepare some Anatomy lectures.. work on the YISS Health Handbook.. Not so. Embarrassingly enough, it is a special day if I get to take a shower. Feeding Marc around 8 times a day (sometimes that boy could eat.. graze? for an HOUR if I would let him!) - changing many diapers, changing clothes that were peed on during the diaper changes (okay, this doesn't happen every day..), doing laundry that Marc generates from both ends, staring at Marc, playing with Marc, reading to Marc, taking pictures of Marc, talking to family on Skype about how wonderful Marc is, staring at Marc, snuggling with Marc, sleeping... well at short intervals during the day and night, talking to friends with newborn babies (Marc's "friends"), reading about vaccinations to give or not give Marc, staring at Marc... you get the picture!  And then, of course, Jarrod comes home from work, we have dinner, spend some - short but sweet - time together, before I go to sleep for a (very) short while and do it all over again.  And the days run together.. and two months later my little boy continues to captivate me!

This is my life. And I love every minute of it!

hello and goodbye

It is hard to believe that my mother has come and gone already.  Just as Denise's visit was highly anticipated and gone in a flash, Mom became a part of daily life for 9 days... and left a hole when she went back to the U.S. just 2 days ago.  She didn't have a very eventful visit in terms of sight-seeing - as that was not top on her priority list - instead, she spent the days hanging out with me, cooking yummy meals for us, providing nuggets of wisdom throughout our conversations, snuggling with and getting to know her grandson (as much as one can get to know a 6 week old!),  working with me to have Marc sleep in his bed instead of my arms (he is so cute - can you blame me?!), encouraging me to "branch out" and buy Korean groceries, discovering a few new restaurants to have authentic Korean barbecue (Kalbi) and bulgogi, watching Marc grow, playing cards with us, and challenging Jarrod in Wii frisbee golf. :)  I guess we did do a lot!  Mom was even brave enough to venture out by herself - many times to the grocery store and other shops around our neighborhood.. and once she even caught a bus to a larger area to get some souvenirs! All in all, I think we made a good impression on her, because she keeps talking about coming back in the Fall with the rest of her family (perhaps to do more traditional sight-seeing at that time!) I hope they do come!

I enjoy having visitors because they help me "see Korea" again through new eyes.  Denise couldn't get over the traffic and the alleyways around our house (no grass...).  My mom commented on how safe she felt in this city of 12 million, and how orderly it was (in general) for housing 1/5 of Korea's population. What will you think when you come to visit?!  (some wishful thinking... :)

Thanks for great memories and a special visit, Mom! We Miss You!

A "Doctor" Visit

Since moving to Korea last July, Jarrod and I have been hearing rumors of these special doctors to go visit... "Dr. Fish."   Apparently, in Seoul there are special cafes where you can get coffee and desserts.. and then go visit the "doctors" - fish.  What exactly do they do, you are wondering?  How can fish take care of you?  Well, these fish - perhaps cleaner fish? - eat dead skin off of your feet.  Yes, that sounds gross to me, too... but after hearing about it from many of our friends.. I decided to check it out and take my mom there.  This is a big deal because not only was I a little weirded out by the idea, but my feet are quite ticklish! It has taken living here for over 8 and 1/2 months for me to warm up to the idea enough to actually seek out WHERE a Dr. Fish cafe was located... really, I think I wanted to give my mother a unique experience, otherwise I don't know that I would have truly ever sought this out.

So, here are pictures from our "Doctor" Visit!

The "doctors" are In...

As you can see above, there were two "tanks" of fish.  We were initially considering these fish, above, but they were the "big fish" - which kinda scared me.. so we opted for the small fish... but there were so many more small fish.. perhaps a bad idea?

Enjoying our drinks.. and getting ready! Eek!

 True Bravery!                            Not So Brave!  

We survived!.. What an experience... My mom would say "it's not so bad" - but I am not going to rush back for a repeat experience unless I have more guests that travel halfway around the world and want such a unique experience.  Just give me some warning! :)

My Mom is Finally here!

My Mom bought a plane ticket months ago - intending to be here with us just after Marc was born.  Well - we know how that worked out.. but thankfully the time has finally come, and I am delighted to have here here with us!! 

She arrived safely and adjusted to the time here fairly easily.  She was impressed with Asiana airlines - and how well they "took care" of her... and has been enjoying "daily life" in Seoul.  We have done a little bit of shopping and sight-seeing, but Mom has mostly spent her time discovering the grocery store and filling our freezer with meals... that is, of course, when she is not holding Marc!  

I really enjoy having her company during the day, and it is fun to see her adjust so easily to a culture she has never been in.  More to come on her visit soon...

Denise!!!

On March 25th, our FIRST family member to visit us in Korea (AND meet Marc) arrived in Seoul!

My sister, Denise, made plans to come this week thinking that it was before my due date so that she could either enjoy my last stages of pregnancy with me... or meet Marc if he came early... I think she was hoping for both to happen during her week long visit.  :)  As we know, Marc decided to surprise us all and come really early - so "Aunt Neesie" came to meet her nephew, bearing lots of gifts (1 and 1/2 of her two full bags were filled with stuff for Marc!!)  She was all smiles from the moment she was off of the plane, ready to experience life outside of the USA for the first time!  Though most of the time was spent around our apartment and neighborhood, Jarrod and I were able to take her out around Seoul.  She braved the back of Jarrod's motorcycle (he is a safe driver... the driving is a little different in Korea though.. you'll have to ask one of them if you want more details), and joined me in all forms of our public transportation (taxi, bus, and subway) for some sight-seeing, shopping, and Korean food experiences. :)  Here are pictures of us sharing someof my favorite meals with Denise, Kalbi & Mandu! 

We also were able to visit the largest palace in Seoul, Geongbokgung, and see the changing of the guard ceremony (shown above), visit Seoul tower for Denise to get a good view of the never-ending city, and show her around our school!  Below is a picture of  Denise standing in front on the Han River, a river that runs through the middle of Seoul, about a 5 minute walk from our house.

It was great to show her around and let her come to understand more of what it is like for us to live in Korea, but I treasured spending hours together talking, playing games, gleaning her "Mommy wisdom", and watching her love and care for Marc.  He snuggled up to his Aunt Neesie and was quite content to stay there as long as she let him (well.. until he wanted to eat... :)  This was such a unique and special time to share with my sister and I don't think I could say thank-you enough for all that she did!  Denise ensured that I ate three quality meals each day and allowed me and Jarrod to get a lot of rest.  (I had to fight her to get her to go lay down!.. she was always putting us before her own needs.)  It is hard to believe that she has already come and gone - after such anticipation for her arrival.  She is sorely missed, but we look forward to a sweet reunion on her side of the globe this June!

Thank-you  Peter, Stephen & Scott (Denise's husband and two young children) for sacrificing time with your wife and mother to allow her to come to Korea and be with us!  Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, Denise for the incredible help and encouragement you were for both Jarrod and I, for how much you love and support us, and for coming to a new place and culture with open arms and an open heart to see and embrace things that are new and different.  You are a treasure, and I thank God for making you my big sister!

PS. We want a re-match in Bananagrams! :)