Snuggles

Shelby Grace loves to be like her brother but until recently she hasn't been the snuggler that Zachary is. She just doesn't sit still. Zachary loves to snuggle with you in chairs or in the bed under a nice warm blanket. Shelby Grace has started to pick up on the snuggling rules. She was sitting next to me watching Elmo the other night and decided that she had to go run and get her blanket so we could snuggle.

I'm so thankful for these little moments and hope they keep coming!

Piano lessons

Zachary seems to have inherited the musical abilities of her parents and most definitely, his father's musical ear. He's been poking around on his little keyboard and learned a few songs that we have taught him. This week, he officially started piano lessons with one of our favorite people at school, Aunty Esther. Last week was supposed to be his first lesson but he inherited his mother's insecurities and fear of trying something for the first time. We kept trying to talk him into it but didn't want to push him so hard that it would become a negative experience. Thanks so to our 7 year old friend Kacy, who is also taking lessons from Aunty Esther, he changed his mind and went from scared to super excited. I don't know what she said to him in their conversation but it worked! He went to watch Kacy have a lesson one day and decided he could do that.
Wednesday morning he barged into the bathroom as I was taking a shower and said, "Mommy! I'm so excited about piano lessons today!" It was all he talked about all day. I hope his excitement keeps up. Right now we don't have a piano in the house just a kid's keyboard but when we move apartments in a month, we will have room to buy one. I am so excited that our house is going to be full of music, even the early learning stages of piano.

Aunty Esther and Zachary, the future concert pianist!

Half way through!

We've now hit the half way mark of this pregnancy. Baby Batman is growing and kicking! It's nice to be in the good feeling stage of pregnancy now. He wouldn't let us see his face at our doctor's visit but his heart was beating strong so we know he's doing well. Patrick has been able to feel Baby Batman kick once which is always exciting. Zachary has tried but oddly this little guy is just like his big brother and the moment someone puts their hand on my belly, he stops kicking. We still don't have a name for this little guy. I am afraid he might really be Batman Pinho if we can't think of something better. We can't wait to meet you little one! It's only downhill from here! :)

Shelby Grace turns TWO!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELBY GRACE!!!

My baby girl is two years old. There are moments when this is really hard for me to comprehend. There are so many thoughts I have about how our lives have changed in the last 3 1/2 years and what used to be 'normal' and 'home' for us, has changed drastically. Despite the fact that we live on the other side of the world now, our world was rocked in a good way when Shelby Grace entered our lives. I don't think either of us expected the roller coaster we would experience over the next two years. She has challenged us, stretched us, frustrated us, entertained us and filled our hearts with so much love and joy all at the same time. It's hard to remember what life was like before she came along but I am so glad that she did. Life just wouldn't be the same without our special gift from God.

Shelby Grace only turned two but it seems like she is going on 20 or 4 like she shows in the picture. :) She is so independent and will try to do anything her brother does, plus some! She talks up a storm these days creating all kinds of sentences. She can put on her Crocs by herself and has even learned how to flip her jacket on this week and can pull up the zipper. She sleeps in a big girl bed now in which she is sleeping so well in and she even climbs up onto the changing table by herself (not necessarily a good thing :) ) when it's time change her diaper. Shelby Grace loves to sing and dance and is addicted to Elmo these days. She knows the words to many songs and her favorite is very appropriate, Happy Birthday :). Shelby Grace can go from throwing an incredible tantrum to being the sweetest girl giving you sweet kisses and snuggles.

As much as mommy tries to dress her up like a girl, she is more boy than anything. She likes her baby dolls but that is about the extent of her girliness. Shelby Grace loves her big brother and wants to do everything he does including dressing up like super heroes, play with cars and balls, jump off the couch or do flips in the grass. She doesn't play dress up with her girly dress up clothes mommy got her but instead with the clothes out of Zachary's drawers. Grandma sent Shelby Grace her own Batman and Spiderman costumes so now she can fight crime with the best of them!

She does loves baby dolls and all things water. The ladies Sunday School class at our church back home who have "adopted" our kids, sent money for her birthday so we got her baby doll with her own bathtub.

This year mommy wasn't up to doing a huge birthday party and since she doesn't really understand the difference right now, we just had a dinner party with our "Korea family." Of course, we still had to have a yummy Elmo cake!

I'm pretty sure Shelby Grace sang long with everyone when we sang happy birthday to her.

She blew out both candles all by herself!

Can you see Grandma in the background on Skype??
I am so thankful that God has provided a family away from family here that we can celebrate our special days with. Shelby Grace probably only needed her little buddy Sara at the party but the rest of our "Korea family" are important too.

Shelby Grace was loved on with more gifts. I had to giggle when she got these two book, one Dora and one Disney princess. She looked at them and put the princess one back in the bag. We really do try it with the girl stuff! If it had been Mario or Lightening MacQueen she probably would have kept it out of the bag. :)

She got some fun "Korean" gifts this year. Another bath baby doll but this one came with the special Korean bath scrubber and head towel for the jimjilbang (bath house). She also got a stuff Mr. Moo. He's a radish that is all over Korean television these days. She wasn't sure about him at first but now loves to hug on him.

My little girl is growing up and I can't seem to stop it but I do love watching her grow and learn each day. I love to hear her little singing voice and collect all her popos (kisses) at night. She amazes me with her determination and is so not like her mother. She definitely gets that from her aunt Sheri. I know she will grow to do great things in life and I can't wait to see what that is for her except I wouldn't mind for life to slow down just a bit so I can enjoy my little girl a little longer.
Happy Birthday Shelby Grace! We love you!

Pride, Purpose, and Passion

TCIS is an International Baccalaureate school in which the curriculum centers around a learner profile with ten characteristics; inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, and reflective. Each month a student is chosen from each class in the elementary school to receive the Pride, Purpose, and Passion award if they have been displaying a characteristic from the learner profile. (Ok from the teacher side of things, teachers have to make sure that every student gets one during the year but one the parent side, it doesn't make you any less proud).

For the month of September the student chosen from Pre-K as the reciepient for the PPP award is......
ZACHARY PINHO

The students are recognized during elementary chapel and receive a certificate and pencil from the principal. Their pictures is on the big screen and a write up is read about their learning skill. The kids even get to stand on stage.

I doubt you can read what is says on the screen so this is what it says.
"Zachary is a super inquirer! He always wants to learn more so he asks lots of questions. What do you call that? What does that say? How do you play that game? What will we do next? Sometimes he finds answers before the teacher gives and answer. That's inquiry in action! Keep up the great learning Zachary!"

This mom couldn't be anymore proud than she was that day! I used to gripe and grown about how long the awards took and were they really useful but as a parent, I see them in a different light. My child lit up that day and so did his parents. Something so small made such a difference. Zachary was so proud of himself and he even understands what it means to be an inquirer since they have been working on it in class.

His teacher, Ms. Sligh, is also a big part of our family. She's Ms. Sligh by day and Ms. Ellen by night. We are so glad that she gets to be a part of Zachary's learning and school career.

On Friday, the students who are chosen to receive the award are given a balloon at lunch and a special treat. They are recognized again for their spectacular learning behavior. This is only the beginning of the long line of awards that I know come along in one's school career but mommy is proud of her boy just the same.

Way to go Zachary! Keep up the great work at school! We love you!

Some cuteness

Zachary found a pair of roller blades that I bought from some friends leaving last year. I thought they would still be too big but they seem to be okay. He insisted on wearing them most of Saturday afternoon. He got pretty good at balancing his way across the apartment. We haven't ventured outside yet because we don't have any elbow pads or knee pads. We just thought he looked so funny playing wii!