Good-Bye, Honeymoon in Korea

A chapter in our lives has ended.  We have left Korea and are back in the U.S., enjoying our house and yard, corn on the cob, online shopping, and finding clothes in our sizes.  So much has changed for us in the past eight months that our lives are almost unrecognizable.  With that in mind, I have decided to retire dear Honeymoon in Korea and start a new blog to describe our new challenges and triumphs.  The new blog is Unique is the New Normal.  I hope you enjoy it and keep following our adventures.

Holidays and Halfways

Happy Holidays, tenacious readers who still check my never-updated blog.  We had a quiet but enjoyable holiday season this year - no traveling and no big family gatherings, but lots of family and friend time.

Christmas was spent with our friends the Allens, beginning with a Christmas Eve party at their house.  We enjoyed incredible food and another night with our closest friends in Korea. Christmas morning we opened presents, Skyped with all the grandparents, and gave Sophie's brand-new tricycle a try.  She was a very happy girl, enjoying all of her new clothes, books, and toys.  Christmas evening was spent at the Allens' again.  We ate beef bourginon (salmon for me) and toasted the holiday.

Opening stocking stuffers with Mommy

Showing Grandma and Grandpa how she can do ballet

Pedalling her new tricycle!

The Friday before New Year's we got a surprise snow storm, and Keegan got to stay home from work. We really enjoyed our long weekend together as a family, an unusual treat.  We celebrated our friend Eli's fourth birthday, went swimming, played at the play cafe, took long naps, and discussed without end our upcoming move.  New Year's Eve saw another decadent dinner with our friends Anthony and Inna and the Allens, and New Year's Day brought a chance to watch the sunrise from our friends' the Jins' house.  Sophie and I enjoyed baked French toast and a glorious pink/orange sun.  Keegan, feeling significantly less pregnant than me and longer-legged than Sophie, enjoyed a hike up the mountain behind our house to watch the sunrise from on high.

Keegan enjoying the first sunrise of the new year 

We are at a halfway point everywhere these days, it seems.  I was halfway through my pregnancy on Christmas Day, so I'm currently at 21 weeks.

The belly....it GROWS!

My belly is noticeable, and the baby's kicking is quite noticeable as well.  I'm hoping I can make it through the next six weeks or so in my extra-long, non-maternity Korean sweaters so that I don't have to buy new maternity clothes that I'll only wear for a few weeks.   I'm feeling well: a little fatigue and discomfort as my belly grows are the only things I can complain about.  I'll have a big ultrasound next week, but we still plan to wait to find out the sex of the baby.  Sophie continues to be excited about her growing companion.  She likes to listen to my belly and then report that the baby is saying "Waaaaaah, I love you, Sophie" in a high-pitched voice.

We are also midway through our preparations for our big move back to Virginia.  I am busily clearing things out of our apartment and trying to organize what's left.  We spend hours looking at real estate listings in Williamsburg, even though there's been NOTHING new on the market for a while.  I often spend my last minutes before falling asleep fretting over the never-shrinking list of details that have to be attended to in the next couple months.  We can't wait to see our friends and family in Virginia, but we are trying hard not to think about leaving our friends here.  

So, Happy New Year, everyone.  My your new year bring as many wonderful things as ours is promising to.

Up to Speed

So, a few things have happened since the last time I posted:

1.  We found out that we are returning to the U.S. so that Keegan can start a new position in Newport News, VA in February.  (Can I still call my blog Honeymoon in Korea when we return to the U.S.?)

2.  I am 14 weeks pregnant with Sophie's little brother or sister!

3.  Sophie has developed a rock-star sense of style, even if she needs a bit of work in the lyrics and melody department.

4.  Sophie learned how to pedal on her friend Eli's bike!  She is hoping that Santa Claus will bring her her own bike to practice on this Christmas.

5.  We took a mini-vacation to Jeju Island - more on that soon.

Jeju Rocks!

It's good to be back!

Imagination

We are back in Korea after a fabulous, refreshing trip to the U.S.  We are all still suffering from jet lag, which is quite unpleasant, but our batteries are recharged and we are happy to be back in our own home and to see our friends here.  Sophie is alternately overjoyed to be back amongst her familiar toys and super-grumpy because she is tired.  Nonetheless, her imaginative side has begun to shine through.  Here are a few recent examples:

Sunday, while eating lunch with her Mickey Mouse fork, she held the fork to her ear like a phone:  "Hello, Mickey Mouse!  I want pizza crust!"

Later during the same lunch:  "I singing the "I Love This" song.  I love thiiiis, I love thiiiis, I so happeeeeeee, I eating my dinner!"

This afternoon, trying to capture Mommy's attention while she is absorbed in a book:  "Mommy, hold me up to see that little girl [in a picture on the wall].  Otherwise, I gon go pee pee on you!"  I did not manage to keep a straight face, although we did later discuss the correct way to request favors and the fact that it is never okay to deliberately pee on your mother, even if she is ignoring you.

Constant Comment

We have decided that if Sophie were a tea, she would be "constant comment."  She talks non-stop these days!  Here are a few of her recent gems:

Sitting on the potty, apropos nothing:  Guess what, Mama!  You a sillypuss!

Riding in her stroller during this afternoon's run (repeatedly, for about 10 minutes):  My put on my running shoes, run all the way to BUDDHA PARK!

In reply to my asking whether she'd like to swim like Mama and Dada when she is older:  When my two, my go swimming!

Discussing Keegan's absence at dinner a few nights ago:
Sophie:  Dada go to work.
Mama:  No, Dada is going to a restaurant.
Sophie:  Dada have meeting.
Mama:  That's right.  Dada is having a meeting at a restaurant.
Sophie:  That really silly, Mama.

Her three current favorite things to talk and wonder about are:

1. When are we going to go to another hotel?  (We stayed in hotels for the past two weekends, and apparently hotels are waaaay better than home.  The chief attraction seems to be that during bathtime at the first hotel, Mama put her feet in the bathtub with Sophie. At Sophie's request, this was repeated at the second hotel, further adding to the hotel magic.)
2. When are we going back to the Rainbow School?  (We visited Sophie's playschool last week, and she loved it!  This is a very good sign, since she'll start two days a week in September.)
3. When is it my birthday? (One week from today!  But it is very hard to explain that concept to a toddler.)