Punkin' Pumpkin

Last night Sheref asked me gently if I knew that "Pumpkin Patch" was spelled P-U-M-P-K-I-N and not P-U-N-K-I-N.

Umm, yes, I know that. I am the girl who gets upset when people mix up "their," "there," and "they're."

For the record, Sheref, I spelled "punkin" that way on purpose. Just in case anyone was wondering...

Punkin Patch

This picture cracks me up. Little Charlie, admiring the big red tractor, with giant Daddy shadow looming above!

Driving rocks.

Daddy, yeah, I know I'm cute, but put that camera away!!

I want that one!

Happy (Almost) Birthday, Twinkie-Dinks!!

Six years ago today, I had been on bedrest for several weeks, with crappy blood pressures and crappy fetal growth. Nonetheless, Sheref and I were thrilled because I was 33 weeks pregnant with a twin pregnancy that I as an obstetrician, knowing what I know with the obstetric issues that I have, expected to carry ~28 weeks.

Anyways, those beautiful twins arrived 6 years ago next Sunday. We have many more birthday celebrations planned, but last night was their birthday sleepover. Their very first sleepover. We invited just 3 of their sweet friends. All 5 of them, and Ella too, had a blast. They were loud, but sweet, and (did I already say this?) really really shockingly loud. Sweet, well-behaved, but still, L.O.U.D. Yeah, super loud.

I have many more pictures than this, but posting pics of their friends on a public blog -- yeah, probably not cool.

I put up streamers throughout the house. Rose & Lucy were thrilled!

Yeah, I know. I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- this kid cannot NOT pose. Even with cake in her hair!

Sweet, icing-faced Rosie!

And their cake. One of their friends, EK, has multiple, very bad food allergies. I asked her mom where I could get an "EK-safe" cake, and her mom offered to make the cake. I'm not embarrassed to say I took her up on that offer. The cake was cute, and delicious!

Milestone

Several days ago marked the point in time at which Charlie Jin-yeong had been with us longer than he was in Korea. I've heard many parents of older adopted babies comment that this was a turning point for them and for their child, the point at which their relationship climbed to a new level. I can't say that I've noticed anything that dramatic, nor did I realistically expect to or even want to. Still, it means something. And not all happy. I honestly find it slightly sad that he has now been outside his country of birth, his culture, outside the continent of his race, longer than he was in it. That said, there was a point for each of my children (Rose and Lucy at the same time!) where it just was impossible to imagine life before them. I don't remember exactly when that was for Ella or Rose & Lucy, but I know it happened. I know that, at first, it seemed strange to have a baby, to have tiny twins, but then at some point, I couldn't remember when we didn't have them. I also don't remember exactly when this happened for Charlie, but it did. I remember when he first came home, thinking how sweet, yet how foreign to me, he seemed. Now, and for a long time before now, he is just Charlie, our son. He just is part of our family, and I don't remember him not being part of us.

I remember taking this photograph. He had been home only a few days. I thought he was sweet, and beautiful, but still somewhat foreign to me. I felt like he wasn't quite mine. This is not because he is adopted. I felt that way about the girls also, at first.

Now, this kid is ours. As I said above, I don't remember when that happened, but it did. It happened at some point a long time ago. And I now can't remember when we didn't have this loud, hungry, demanding, sweet, mohawked, all-boy little guy.

Fine Line

Sheref sent me this photo yesterday from a kids' clothing store while I was on call at the hospital.

Sheref: What do you think? Should I buy this?

Me: It's awfully cute, but don't you think he looks just a bit like a North Korean soldier?

Sheref: It's a fine line between cute and junior Communist party member.

(He ended up buying the outfit)

The Best Night Ever!!

Our Lucy is a bit dramatic. She frequently makes comments such as "this is the worst day ever!!" Happily, when things are going her way, she is equally theatrical. Tonight, in Lucy's opinion, was the "best night ever."

After a very hot and humid summer, the past few days have been relatively cool in South Carolina [Cool is a relative term, of course]. Cool enough that it occurred to us to use the firepit in our backyard.

As an aside, our backyard is generally a place I refer to as "Snakeville." South Carolina is full of slithery poisonous creatures, and once I heard people talk in all seriousness about the "snakeboots" they wear to mow their lawn, I decided our backyard is off limits. Tonight, though, with our beautiful cooler weather, the backyard looked particularly appealing.

So we made a little fire, ordered some pizza, grabbed a growler from our favorite (and the only) brewery in town, and had a little backyard party.

Lucy (if my camera were just a tad bit faster,

I would have captured natural Lucy, instead of Poser Lucy)

Rosie, who CANNOT pose if she tries...

Sweet Ella-bella

And Chuckles...cinnamon graham crackers are awesome...

and he also liked the pizza, if you can't tell by his stained face...

...and completely obtunded from gluttony

Trip to "The Beach"

One of our office's (awesome) ultrasonographers told me this week that she always finds it odd that patients from Myrtle Beach, when asked where they are from, always just say "from the beach." Which is funny because our city (to which they come for tertiary medical care) also has a beach. In fact, multiple beaches. As does, in fact, any coastal city. When our ultrasonographer said this, it made me remember how my grandmother, who used to live very close to Myrtle Beach, always referred to it the same way, as "The Beach."

Anyways, last Sunday we took a trip to The Beach. Our city has tons to do, lots of culture, aquarium, kids' activities, and (yes) even beaches. However, Myrtle Beach has what we do not: lots of cheap cheesy mini-golf, fried seafood, waterslides and amusement parks. So we took off after church and drove the 2 hours to Myrtle Beach. The drive is beautiful, and it's really quite an easy trip.

We took a small detour to the Anthropologie store in a ritzy outdoor mall (yeah, that was for me...obviously). Then we ate (you guessed it) fried seafood and finally hit up a pretty cool amusement park/boardwalk/cheesy family entertainment outdoor wonderland. We're generally pretty cheap, but we splurged for the "all you can ride" bracelets for Rose & Lucy, and Sheref took Ella on a 90 minute (and $50!!) Magic Quest thing. Apparently this Magic Quest is all the rage among 5th graders. So Ella had a unicorn magic adventure (or something like that...it involved a $20 magic wand...that's all I really understood), while Charlie and I followed the twins around while they rode ride after ride after ride. It was 100 degrees, so I was pretty impressed with my parental patience for 2 hours of rides (if you know me in person, this is quite a feat).

The kids had a great time, and frankly so did the adults.

3 cuties

Airplane ride

Merry-go-round

A ride the twins called the "Cupcake Ride"

"What about me?"

Chuckles in the cheap-o quarter bus ride...which he LOVED