Category: E.

E and Buddha = Besties

Well, we’re home (more or less). E came down with a cold the last few days we were in Korea and while he was super good on the flight home he threw up when we landed and hasn’t been feeling well since. Last night was rough because in addition having trouble sleeping due to jet lag and being sick there was a crazy loud rainstorm that kept E (and us) up for half the night.

And then this morning E threw up a few more times and I woke up having caught E’s cold. So yeah, we’re home but not quite up to speed yet.

But…um…PICTURES! There are numerous Buddhist temples around Pusan and we managed to cram in visits to four of them while we were there. These are from our visit to Beomeosa.

There was a festival going on while we were there and the courtyard was full of people praying with the monks and writing down the scripture. The monks would chant a syllable, bow, and then write it down and the worshipers would follow along with every step.

E decided to get in on the chanting/bowing action. He was actually following along and saying the chant which was pretty cute. A bunch of Korean tourists took his picture.

E’s favorite part of every temple visit was seeing Buddha. He loved peeking inside the temple at the statues.

E and Dylan befriended a puppy.

Some of the many statues.

Wandering the grounds.

I really enjoyed visiting the temples. They each had a different feel to them: some were bustling, some were serene but all of them were gorgeous.

Photographic Evidence

So…I still haven’t found a card reader that will let me download photos from my camera but I have a few pictures N took on his phone.

The first morning we were here E excitedly tore around the house exploring and chasing his cousin Dylan and ran smack into the corner of a table which left the lovely mark you can see on his cheek. It’s healed over now but for a few days everywhere we went concerned ajummas would worriedly point it out to us in case we hadn’t noticed it before. You know, because they’re helpful like that.

These photos were from the Jagalchi fish market which is always an amazing place to wander–so amazing in fact that when my camera was acting up and refusing to work the first time we visited I wheedled N into stopping by yesterday so I could take some photos myself.

It’s about 10am here and we’re getting ready for a car expedition to one of the local Buddhist temples. I love meandering around temple grounds and snapping photos of E so it should be fun.

Going on a Train Ride

I’ve had a vague urge to cram in some fun outings for E before the weather turns cold and we’re stuck inside for months. Hence visiting the state fair two weeks ago and taking a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad this last Saturday.

We went on the 90-minute ride and E loved it. It was a lot more crowded than last time we went and we couldn’t get seats in the open car. So we sat in one of the restored cars and E had a blast craning his head out the window like a dog in a pickup truck. (We insisted on keeping a firm grip on his pants which annoyed him to no end.)

The whole outing was a bit of a production (it takes almost an hour to drive up the canyon to the train station and then home again) but it was fun. I don’t know if we’ll go again next year since since you have to buy 3 year-olds their own tickets and the cost adds up quickly.

N and I haven’t been out on a date in a while so that evening we got a sitter and went to dinner and to see The Town. I was pretty wiped out from our train adventure and was worried I’d fall asleep during the movie but once it started I forgot how tired I was. It was well-paced and in general the cast was very good.

State Fair

I took a stab at freshening up my template over the weekend. I mostly wanted the main column to be a bit wider for posting photos. I’m still tinkering, but we’ll see.

N and I took E to the state fair on Saturday. We crammed in all the hits: petting livestock, looking at folk art, going on rides, and eating fair food (a Navajo taco, a smoked turkey leg, fresh cut french fries, and Hawaiian pulled pork).

E’s favorite part were the rides. He especially loved the Ferris wheel. We were only there for about two hours but by the end he was pooped. He fell asleep within minutes of being buckled in his car seat.

Ultrasound today!

My 20-week ultrasound is later today. I’m pretty excited. So excited in fact that when I woke up today at 6 am having to go to the bathroom I couldn’t get back to sleep and spent an hour tossing and turning and listening to N breathe.

I’ve been fairly nonchalant about this pregnancy in large part because after my miscarriage in December I thought I might lose it at any time. But for the last couple of weeks I’ve been feeling the baby move around and it seems much more real. I’m excited to find out if we’re having a girl or boy.

I’d honestly be thrilled with either. It would be great to have another little boy close to E’s age so they’re pals (and I already have all the boy stuff I need) and. Plus we already have our favorite boy names narrowed down to two. I would like to have a little girl at some point but we’re planning on having a few more kids (including adopting) so it’s not like this is our last chance at that. And regarding girls’ names the field is wide open (and might require a few rounds of negotiations).

I don’t have a feeling either way, so it’s going to be a surprise. With E I was sure it was a boy before we went to the ultrasound. I had been wanting a girl but felt kind of wretched about it since we had been wanting a baby for so long. I felt guilty and selfish and didn’t want to bring any negative feelings to the situation when I had so much to feel thankful for. So I spent some time praying, expressing my gratitude and asking for maturity and peace. And a few weeks before my ultrasound with E I suddenly knew it was a boy. I was thinking on things and suddenly in my mind’s eye I saw a little boy (with E’s old mushroom haircut) wearing a striped shirt and jean shorts standing in our backyard. And very matter-of-factly I thought: “Hey, that’s our little boy. And he’s AWESOME.” So the ultrasound wasn’t a surprise and when I saw E’s face for the first time it seemed very familiar and it was simply like: “Oh, hello again.”

Besides hoping this baby is healthy I don’t have any reservations and I’m excited for the surprise. But I’ll always be thankful for a Heavenly Father who cared enough about a silly young me to reassure me that no matter what being a parent would be better than I could imagine.

Fare thee well, Prince Valiant Hair

This week has totally kicked my butt. Labor day was nice but something about having a 4-day week made for some extra craziness. Yesterday was picture day at E’s preschool and it seemed as good of a time as ever to get him a haircut. I thought his long hair was really cute and it was reminiscent of the mushroom haircut I myself had as a toddler but it seemed like it was time for a change. (By the way, my mom recently told me my stylin’ toddler haircut was due to her admiration for the lovely Dorothy Hamill.)

But since E’s hair is so fine having it in a shag meant that it would get tangled and limp when he ran around to play and sometimes after his nap it would be kind of matted. It was becoming kind of high maintenance and so as in most instances, my sense of laziness won out over my sense of style. So I got his hair cut and he somehow aged several months in an instant.


I keep vacillating between missing his old hair and liking this new cut. He just seems so much older.

Marination

I hope you guys aren’t too sick of my vacation posts yet. Don’t worry, this is the last of them.

One day when I was in WA I took E and we drove up to Seattle to hang out with my sister-in-law Mindy and my brother-in-law Ken, two of my favorite people. They know how much I like Korean food and how I adore street food so we headed downtown to catch the Marination Mobile, a food truck that specializes in Korean/Hawaiian fusion food. It was AWESOME.

I had a kimchi quesadilla, a SPAM slider, AND a kalbi taco. (Hey, I’m pregnant–so not a word!) Ken and Mindy tried the pork sliders which are also in the above picture. The quesadilla was incredibly (and surprisingly) delicious and the slider was super tasty (Yum, SPAM!) but I thought the kalbi taco was a little too salty.

We took our food and walked down to the sculpture park and then down to a little beach where the kids had fun throwing rocks and sticks in the water.

E gets his sunglasses at the same place Bono does.


It was a lot of fun. I had a great time chatting with Mindy and Ken and E had fun with his cousins. One of the worst things about living in Utah is that we only get to see these guys a few times a year. (And that there are no awesome Korean fusion food trucks.)

At the beach, WA-style

My sister and her boys came up to WA to visit while E and I were there. As usual, E got a kick out of following his cousins around. One day we all decided to drive out to the coast but unfortunately we also all neglected to check the weather at the coast. It was 80 degrees+ in Olympia but at the shore the temperature dropped to 50-something degrees with a biting wind.

But after two hours of being stuck in the car the boys were not to be denied so they played in the sand using the van as a wind break.




Even with the uncooperative weather it was still fun.

Home Again

I love visiting my family in WA but home is where N is and it’s really lovely to be home. Never mind that it’s already after noon and I still haven’t showered and I have a pile of laundry to do and a kitchen in sore need of restocking. E and I had a lazy morning but now we’ve got to going.

When I was in Olympia my mom and I took E to a local playground. It’s in a great park and we like to go every time we’re in town. E remembered it from last time and immediately ran to the swings, his favorite. He had a blast.



Well, this weekend will probably be pretty low-key for us which sounds wonderful right now. We’ll be playing a bit of catch-up around the house and enjoying being together as a family again (and watching a bunch of shows saved on our DVR). After a busy week it sounds heavenly.

I hope you have a great weekend!