HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

This past weekend was my birthday. I was woken up to breakfast in bed and singing from Imants and Livija. I got an Abby Cadabby birthday card, and a rice cooker/poultry and fish steamer. Time to start cooking up some Korean dishes. We went to a Korean market today to get all the necessary ingredients, and then had an authentic Korean dinner at the restaurant next door to the market. It was my first experience with Korean food, and I loved it. Livija was even loving it, much to the surprise of the waitress, who warned us that some might be too spicy for our 3 year old. She tried a little bit of everything, and even leaned over her papa to scoop some up from his plate.
I ordered the bim bim bop, because I had heard of it before (and, I'll admit it, because it's so fun to say). I'll be sure to post an update on how our first "Korean Night" goes. Maybe if it resembles an authentic meal, I'll even include some pictures.
It was a great birthday weekend. Next year's birthday, I may not have both my babies with me, but I should have a picture of the one on the way. This thought gives me some hope.

A MOTHER FOR CHOCO

Many people have asked me if we have told Livija about our adoption plans. I feel she is too young (almost 3 years old) to really understand. So we decided to wait until we have been matched, and we can show Livija a picture so she can have something tangible that represents her baby brother or baby sister. In the meantime, I ask her if she would want a baby brother or sister one day (sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no). We tell her that families are formed in all different ways. Yes, there are the "traditional" famlies, but there are also the "nontraditional" families. I want her to grow up understanding that some families have two parents, some have one, some even have two mommies or two daddies. Some have step parents, or adoptive parents. Some babies are born to us and some babies come to us through fate.

Livija and I went to the library today and found a beautiful book called A Mother for Choco. It reminds me of the children's book, Are You My Mother? But with a twist. Choco is a baby bird looking for a mother. In the end he is surprised to find that the family he finds doesn't look like him at all. His mother is a bear, and his new siblings are an alligator, a hippo and a pig. Choco quickly learns, that families are made up of love, it doesn't matter if you all look differently.

I think it's the perfect way to introduce the idea of adoption to a 3 year old.