Meet Our Daughter: Lauren MeeHyeon

Approximately 1 month old

Approximately 5 months old

Approximately 5 months old being held by foster mother

After 12 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days, we finally got the call we had been waiting for and our lives will forever be changed for the better. Thursday, December 10th brought to us an early Christmas miracle...our daughter Mee Hyeon Kim. Mee Hyeon was born in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do in South Korea on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 9:12 AM. She came into this world at 6.72 lbs and 18.9 inches. Her birth parents named her Mee, meaning "beautiful" and Hyeon, meaning "brilliant". This was their hope for their daughter. We will be forever grateful for their choice to give Mee Hyeon life and make an adoption plan for her.

We have chosen to give her the name Lauren MeeHyeon. We have a very long time until we can travel to bring Lauren home to us. Travel normally comes between 6 to 10 months after acceptance goes to Korea (edit to add Acceptance to Korea was December 17th) with our agency CHSFS. It will be a long, hard wait, but in the end all the waiting will be worth it and she will be our daughter forever. In the meantime, Lauren is being cared for by the most loving and selfless foster family. She has a foster mother and foster father, and even a foster sister and brother - both of whom are in their early 20s.

Here is a little about Lauren that we learned in a report prepared by Eastern Social Welfare Society: She...

• Drinks 5.4 oz of lukewarm formula every three hours. She loves to hold the bottle with two hands.
• Goes to sleep around 10 PM and wakes once for a bottle around 2 or 3 AM and returns to sleep until 6 or 7 AM. She often gets cranky before going to sleep, so the foster mother wears her on her back until she falls asleep. She takes an hour nap in the afternoon, then plays for three hours, then naps again around 4 PM.
• Takes two baths a day and loves the water.
• Whines when wet and turns happier after being changed.
• Babbles when her foster mother talks to her. She laughs out loud when in a good mood.
• Raises her top half of her body to look around in a prone position.
• Sometimes rolls over.
• Has started to crawl on her tummy.
• Dislikes lying down.
• Can bear weight on her legs when made to stand and loves to move to desired places in her walker.
• Shows severe stranger anxiety and bursts into crying when in new places. Once she starts crying, she will cry for 30 to 40 minutes.

We love you baby girl, and can't wait for you to be home with us. We have added the third star in our constellation.

Turkey, T-Rex, and Trains

So November was surprising quiet for us. We had a couple of visits to the dentist for cleanings plus some work done. Cameron had to have 5 cavities filled. His mouth is not able to get rid of those "bugs" that cause cavities. So now we are all trying a new technique that the dentist recommended to halt the cavities. After every meal we are chewing gum or sucking on mints that contain Xylitol. Please work!!!

Both boys were able to get their first dose of the H1N1 vaccine. Mommy had to look long and hard to get these. Now they just need another dose around Christmas and we hope that mommy and daddy will eventually qualify to receive them.

Cameron had over a week off of school for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Thanksgiving day we all headed to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Al's house for a few days away. We enjoyed a really yummy meal at Great Grandma Betty's house and got caught up with some members of the Sand family. Grandma and Grandpa now have a Wii and we all enjoyed playing it especially Cameron. On Friday, November 27th we went to the Stearns County History Museum to see the special exhibit "A T-Rex Named Sue". It was on loan from Chicago. She was a really huge dino.

We headed back home on November 28th and had a really busy day. We did some baking, decorated the house and tree, attended the Minneapolis Holidazzle parade and topped off the night by watching Its A Wonderful Life.

On Sunday, December 6th we went to Choo Choo Bob's train store in St. Paul to play with and watch all the great trains. Santa and Mrs Claus were there and the boys were able sit on Santa's lap and tell him their Christmas wishes. Kyle asked for trains and Cameron requested legos. Mrs. Claus gave each of them a Christmas activity book. Such a fun evening.