Ho ho ho! Here We Come!

Jude & Eli have sent out their yearly despite-what-you-think-they-are-very-warm-and-personal Costco photo Christmas cards! Jude even helped me seal and stamp the envelopes this year. See? Very personal. And! And... there is even a bonus photo. High five!

It actually does take quite a bit to put these cards together. Mainly because it takes about 100 snaps of the camera to get ONE picture that looks decent enough to have mass produced. And when you're trying to take this picture on your own, well, you might as well tack on another 25 shots. Sure, you have many where one boy is smiling at the camera, but the other boy is interested in looking everywhere else but at the camera. Or you have one boy saying, "Cheese!" while the other is lovingly strangling him. It can be quite comical. The picture, it's such an exact science. I hate love it.

But oh, if I could just paste a bunch of my everyday photos, I would have no problem! When looking back at last year's card, I noticed how much Eli has thinned out (believe it or not). But one thing remains... he still LOVES to eat. In fact, the other day as I was watching the kids play after their bath, I noticed this was Eli's idea of fun:

This afternoon when Jude went down for his nap, he told me he was just looking through his Bible. I looked at the page and said, "Oh, it's Goliath." And he corrected me very sternly, "No, Halmonee (grandma) said it's Goh-lie-EEE." We went back and forth a few times until I finally gave in. As I left he probably mused to himself, "Parents... do I have to teach them everything?"

Fortunately This Is Known As My Favorite Work Week Of The Year

It's been quite a month. I've been in somewhat of a rut lately. A rut that even the anticipation of Oprah's yearly Favorite Things episode can't distract just a little. Fortunately, in the past few weeks Eli has transformed into a more normal, less clingy version of his adorable self. After many months of unrelenting attempts and "tough love" , we are now able to put him in the church nursery AND LEAVE. Actually, I should probably say just Kwang. Eli will still cry if I try to drop him off because, well, he loves me more.  We're told he's happy and easy and even helps clean up the toys. But get this... Eli has been horribly blacklisted from the youngest NLMC Sunday School class even though he loves it! Kwang tried to put him in there so he could attend adult Sunday School (and while I am teaching another class), but we've since been told it is against the rules because the class is for 2 year olds and Eli is only 1 1/2. So sad. I'm being dramatic, of course, because if you haven't noticed I have Crazy Mom Disease and heard Eli absolutely enjoys the activities and songs.

Kwang spent a relaxing (albeit somewhat sleepless) weekend in Las Vegas with his friends, so it was just me and the boys at home. Because I only have sisters, I never knew the wonderful dynamic that could exist between two brothers. Granted my boys are only 3 and 1, but I enjoy watching their relationship grow and evolve. Because they're so different in almost every way, I love that Eli loves his brother. When he is playing downstairs in the morning and hears the slightest shuffle of Jude waking upstairs, he'll run excitedly to the stairs and scream, "Ung-ah!". Every time. "Hyung-ah" refers to one's older brother in korean. For a boy, that is. A girl would use an illogically different term for an older brother. Which is different from the term she would use for her older sister. Which is inanely different from the term a boy would use for an older sister. Don't ask me how I really feel about the korean language.

American Idol... only Christian... and Korean...

I debated whether or not to post this picture that a friend requested, because I was told last week that I’m starting to chub a bit in my face. I do prefer it when my face looks "healthier", but it's still not the easiest thing for a girl to hear. I'm trying to forget the fact that I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring since month ONE when in my other pregnancies I wore it through the entire ten months. Nevertheless, here I am at 5mos with my baby Eli:

I have a similar pic with Jude when I was 7mos pregnant with Eli. Crazy how time flies. Even though I want to be done with pregnancy, I wish every day that time would stand still. I can't get enough of Eli and wish I could hold onto this age for as long as possible. Of course, when charley horses in both legs wake me up every night, that is the last thought on my mind. That's one thing that's been consistent in every pregnancy. Is it sad that I'm so used to the pain that I wake up and immediately know to flex my legs?

Here are the boys singing Jesus Loves Me in korean. Eli doesn't know many words and can't put more than two together, but he somehow already has a repertoire of songs. The first thing I hear in the monitor when he wakes up is Jesus Loves Me. Sometimes in english. Sometimes in korean. Kills me.