Shelby Grace's room

It's finally done! I have finished decorating Shelby Grace's room, at least for now anyways. Having a girl is so much fun!

A friend here helped me paint canvases to hang over her crib. I did the background and she painted the letters.
The crib includes free bedding a very kind friend of a friend of mine. The purple gingham was perfect for what I wanted to do in the room.
A wall hanging from Hong Kong
The finished view from the doorway
Zachary helped me rub on some the flower stickers. What a great big brother!

Life with Zachary (aka Chats with Zach with pictures)

Life with Zachary is an adventure. He is always on the go these. He is all boy who always has his hands into everything. Zachary speaks pretty fluently these days which adds to all the fun. He has a mind of his own. You never know what he is going to do or what he is going to say. Thought we would share a bit of his silliness from the past week. These even include pictures :).

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Zachary had too go to the bathroom during dinner the other night. We took his pants off in the kitchen so he could run to the bathroom. However he enjoys kicking off his pants and underwear sometimes. As you can see, he is pointing to where his underwear landed.

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Zachary has had a fascination with necklaces since he was little. He used to wear them all the time, even three or four different ones at a time. We still have some of the necklaces even thought he doesn't wear them as often. The other day he got them out and was wearing them. He gave one to daddy and asked him to put the necklace on his ears just like him. "Why?" we asked. Zachary replied, "So we can be grandma!"

Of course! It's the chain on grandma's glasses- doesn't everyone know that?!

This one was just too funny not to add :).

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This last story is not behavior that we condone for safety reasons but just thought it was funny once we figured out what he was doing. During dinner tonight, Zachary wouldn't sit still or eat at all. We eventually let him up from the table with him knowing this was dinner and he wouldn't get anything else to eat. So for awhile, he played 'quietly' in Shelby Grace's room while we ate. He kept coming out to show us some things he found, little yellow tassels. We couldn't figure out where he got them from and then we realized they were from a Chinese lantern Patrick had brought back from Hong Kong for Shelby Grace's room.

We went in the room to stop him from pulling the tassels off. It was then we realized that he had gotten the scissors that mommy had been using to decorate Shelby Grace's room with out of the crib and wasn't pulling the tassels off but cutting them! Why was he cutting the tassels off? Not to play with the tassels but to get the little green 'ball' (aka the bead) that was attached to the yellow tassel. We asked him to show us how to get the green balls off and he showed us exactly what he had done with the scissors. Then proceeded to to proudly count the five green balls he had cut off the lantern.

Lessons learned-
1. Don't leave scissors out where a 3 year old can get them.
2. If Zachary is quiet in a room by himself- that is not always a good thing!

Zachary is a good little monkey but always very curious :).

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A couple more silly phrases he has said lately that I just have to add.

1. "I'm cold so I have to go poo poo."
2. When asked to change the DVD chords to the Wii chords on the TV, he gave because he said he couldn't do it even though he has done it many times before. Why? "I can't do it because I don't know my colors now because I'm not tall like Kacy."
3. He told a teacher at school whom he has called his "green friend" since last year because she had on a green shirt one day, "I don't think I can call you my green friend anymore, you are wearing black."
4. While driving home from TGIFridays last night (seriously this was one sentences :) )- "This is the way to grandma's house and we will drive there and we will go to the gas station and get tires because we need gas and then we will drive home and go on an airplane at the airport in our blue car."

Mommy, that's Shelby Grace's song!

Zachary has grown up to be such a musical little boy. I am so excited that he loves to sing and play instruments. For a three year old, he has pretty good rhythm and is able to carry a tune. He has amazed us with his ability. Ever since he was born, I would sing him to sleep at night. Many times when he was an infant, I would be up in the middle of the night singing hymns to him to try and get him to go back to sleep. Over time he seemed to pick one song that he would fall asleep to and to this day asks for at night. I can't sing anything else but "My Jesus I Love Thee" and I wouldn't have it any other way. To know that my son falls asleep to with the thoughts of Jesus dying to save him does my heart good.

Now that Shelby Grace is here, I've been trying to figure out what her song was going to be. I have been doing a Bible study on the Psalms so two songs have been on my heart and mind lately. I have been singing "I Lift My Eyes Up"taken from Psalm 121 and "He Knows My Name" based on Psalm 139 along with Jeremiah 1:5. As Zachary has heard me singing to Shelby Grace during the first 2 weeks of her life, he has decided that "He Knows My Name", or "I have a Maker" as he calls it, is Shelby Grace's song. I couldn't pick a better message to sing to her and have her be reminded that God has created her exactly as he wanted her to be.

When my parents were here, my mom was laying down with Zachary at bedtime one night and he asked to listen to some music at bedtime. He wanted to listen to "daddy's" music. There was a Six Steps worship CD in the CD player. They laid there for awhile listening to the music and my mom thought Zachary had fallen asleep. Next thing she knew, he pops up because "I have a Maker" came on. "That's baby sister's song, that's baby sister's song!!!" I am so thankful that at 3 years old, Zachary enjoys listening to songs about God, can sing most of the words of songs on his worship CD's and can recognize them when played. What a special blessing! My prayer is that the words of these songs are embedded deep in his heart and he will be able to use the words of the songs as encouragement, guidance, or comfort throughout his life. May the same love of music be instilled in Shelby Grace as well.

May we all be reminded today that there is God up above who loves us, created us just as we are and knows our name. He cares about every part of our lives and is with us wherever we go. May the words of Shelby Grace's song be an encouragement to you today.

He Knows My Name
Words and Music by Tommy Walker
© 1996 Doulos Publishing

Jeremiah 1:5"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee."

I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands

Chorus
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
and He hears me when I call

I have a Father
He calls me His own
He’ll never leave me
No matter where I go

Chorus
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
and He hears me when I call

Zachary's 3rd Birthday (well almost)

We have been telling Zachary for so long now that after baby sister came out of mommy's tummy he would turn three. So naturally one of the first questions he asked after Shelby Grace was born was "Am I 3 now?" We told him his birthday was close but not yet. So just to confuse him more, we had his birthday party a week early while Grandma and Papa were still here visiting. How do you tell a three year old that he is still not three yet after all of that? So for now Zachary is three years old even though his birthday is still 5 days away.

We celebrated Zachary's birthday at school on Monday with a 'ball party.' Zachary has grown up a lot over the last three years but one thing that has never changed is his obsession for balls. Of course, this makes a party theme really easy when you have a large grassy field and a good friend in the PE department who lets you use anything out of the equipment closet. I never thought that 9 days out of major surgery that resulted in a newborn baby, would I be throwing a 3-year old birthday party. Of course it would never have made it if it were not for mom being in Korea and doing most of the prep work. The party was a success. The kids had fun and we weren't too exhausted at the end of the party. I now have a happy 3 year old who has great friends and is so proud to be three.

Happy Birthday Zachary! We love you!

Shelby Grace sleeps through the party Zachary's friends- It's party time!

Searching for ball pictures hidden around the room

Playing outside with all kinds of balls

Ready for some relays

Zachary's ball cake

Make a wish!

opening presents
What's a party without balloons?

Big Brother

Now that Shelby Grace is here, Zachary has turned out to be the best big brother ever. Did you ever think he would be anything but the best big brother? He is so sweet to her and loves to give her hugs and kisses. The first time Zachary got to hold her he was pretty proud but at the same time not so sure. For some reason, Koreans do not give babies a bath right away. So for most of her first day of life, Shelby Grace was pretty dirty and still covered in new baby gunk. Zachary liked holding her but when we asked him to give her a kiss, his comment was, "No, she's dirty." Once she had a bath and kisses and hugs have overflowed from this great big brother.

Before Shelby Grace was born, Zachary had been sleeping with a blanket that was bought for her. We had been telling him that when she arrived, he had to give the blanket back. He is such a thoughtful boy that when Grandpa brought Zachary to the hospital the day after she was born, he brought the blanket to her on his own. No one prompted him or asked him to do it. Since then, he is making sure she always has the purple blanket with him. I think Shelby Grace is going to be well looked after. :)

Here are some pictures of the wonderful big brother in action.

Mommy and her two wonderful children

The Sassy Big Brother

( I just had to add this picture. It's just too funny to me :) )

I think I have the handsomest little boy and the prettiest little girl. What do you think?
Zachary wanted to be swaddled just like baby sister. His blanket was a little bit bigger than hers but I think he is pretty cozy.
Carrying a present home that someone brought baby sister. It his "backpack."
Welcome Home Shelby Grace!
Let me open the door for you, baby sister.

This is your crib and your room, baby sister.

I love my baby sister!

Shelby Grace Makana Pinho

God has given us our second greatest gift~

Shelby Grace Makana Pinho

October 4, 2008 8:44am

8 lbs 6 oz, 20 in

Belly update

Just thought I would post a new belly picture. The picture is already 3 weeks old. It's amazing how much bigger I am even since then.

16 weeks (top)

35 weeks (below)

Chats with Zach- Episode #5

Zachary has become quite the verbal little boy these days and we have full conversations with him now. He is quite the humorous one. Some of our favorite conversations are the ones in which he really tries to use big words correctly but doesn't quite understand how to use them. One of his favorite words to use is "because." Here is an example of how he uses it.

"Mommy I'm cold because I'm tired."

He uses it all the time and sadly I can't remember more right now. Blame it on the pregnancy brain. Hopefully I will remember more later.

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Last Saturday while Patrick was at school working in his classroom, Zachary and I were watching his Dora movie where she goes to the beach. He reminisces often of our trip to the beach with my family this summer and asks to go back to the beach house. Well, this time he worked really hard to try and go back.

Zachary- Mommy, I want to go to the beach right now.

Mommy- We can't go to the beach honey. It's too far away.

Zachary- But I want to go to the bus station to go on a bus and go to the beach.

Mommy- We don't' have any bus tickets.

Zachary- But we can buy some and go on a bus to the beach.

Mommy- No sweetie, we can't buy and bus tickets and go to the beach. It's too far away. Why don't you just pretend to go to the beach.

Zachary- No I want to go to the real beach and I want you to come with me.

At this point, he walks over to the door, puts on his Lightening MacQueen shoes and tries to go out the door wearing only his shoes and his underwear. (It was a bumming Saturday, what can I say?)

Mommy- Zachary, where do you think you are going?

Zachary- I'm go to go to the beach and I want you to come with me because I don't know which way to go.

Mommy- I don't know which way to go either. Besides, what are you wearing?

Zachary- My shoes, I want to go to the beach.

Mommy- What else are you wearing?

Zachary- My underwear.

Mommy- You can't go out in just your shoes and underwear.

Zachary- Oh.

At this point he starts taking off his underwear.

Mommy- Zachary why are you taking off your underwear? You need more clothes on.

Zachary- Because I want to put on my swimsuit and go to the beach and I want you to go with me so I do which way to go.

Mommy- (trying very hard to laugh at him) OK, go get your swimsuit but we still can't go to the beach.

Zachary- OK (and he runs to get his swimsuit out the drawer)

Zachary brings back his swimsuit and we put it on.

Mommy- How about we pretend to go to the beach and go swimming in the bathtub WITH your swimsuit on.

Zachary- Yeah!

So mommy fills the bathtub and Zachary spent over an hour at the beach in the bathtub.

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Zachary is very excited about baby sister coming and surprisingly has a pretty good understanding of baby sister in mommy's tummy. He loves to talk to her, kiss mommy's belly and feel baby sister kick. The other day he was playing with a new basket we had bought for her room in which he had put his balls in it and wanted to carry it to school. He had the basket ready to go and then came up to me and looked right at my belly and said;

"Baby sister, I put my ball in your basket and I am going to borrow it and take it to school."

I told Zachary that the ball and basket had to stay home so he runs and puts it back in her room. Then he runs back to by belly and says;

"Baby sister, I put your basket back in your room" then proceeds to give my belly a kiss.

What a sweet big brother! I love hearing him have conversations with my belly. :)

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Zachary is so excited that Grandma and Papa are coming to visit. He knows that once they arrive, baby sister will come and then he gets to turn three. They are still a week away in arriving. So many things to look forward to! This morning he came and woke me up around 6:00 and said in his soft little whisper,

"Mommy! Mommy! I am going to lay down and when I wake up I want to go to the airport to get Grandma and Papa." Think he's ready?

Since Zachary is a normal 2 year old boy who like to run around with no pants on, we have been trying to teach him that he has to have pants on when friends come. Last week, once I told him that it would be 2 weeks and Grandma and Papa would be here, he woke up the next morning and after being pant less for a little while said, "I need my pants on before Grandma and Papa get here!"

On the Road Again!

We have now moved back into the driving world! OK so Jennifer has, Patrick still doesn't have his Korean licence but we do have our OWN CAR! With Sugar Bean #2 coming along, we were ready to be mobile on our own again. We got a 2003 Hyundai Trajet. It sits 9 people so we have plenty of room to bring you along with us for a ride!


Our cars is souped up with a sunroof, GPS system, and a TV in the dashboard that will play DVDs as well as pick up Korean television.

I need to take a picture of the stickers on our car. Apparently it was a car for a business so it has words on the back window that apparently a Korean tried to write in English. It makes absolutely no sense. It's quite comical actually. Next week, we are having the stickers removed.

Our car buying experience has been quite interesting. We are very blessed and spoiled to work for a school that helps us out with these things. Mr. Koo, who is in charge of transportation at our school and our headmaster's personal driver, helped us look for a car and I am pretty sure he bargained well for us. He would go out and look for cars and have his friend look for what we wanted and then bring it to us at school. We went out to the huge car lot one day which is probably the only place in Korea where you can find cars parked in a large flat area and not a parking deck. There were thousands of cars in one place that belonged to a variety of car dealers. You just walked around the lot, looked at the cars from the outside and then called the dealer if you wanted to look inside one. Most of the dealers just walked around smoking and we even saw one man who was helping someone use the bathroom right there on the lot! Gotta love Korea!

Once he found a good car for us, he processed all our paper work, filed for our insurance and tags. I had to go with him to the registration office but I spent the time observing everything from my chair while he and the dealer did all the work. Every now and then he would come over to tell me something or have me sign a paper. In the end, we had a new car but I had no idea how it had happened!

Come on over and we would be glad to take you for a spin in our new wheels! :)

Baby Silas is Here!

I'm an aunt again! Silas Donald MacLean is here!

Born September 8, 2008

8lbs 15 oz~ 22 inches long
6:40 pm

Big brothers Dawson (3) and Kenan (1.5)

We all wish we could get on a plane to go meet Baby Silas. We love you Silas! Welcome to our family!

Sad, sad, sad

So I haven't blogged since July! What has the world come to? September is right around the corner and I never posted anything about the beach, preparing for leaving NC, pictures with the family, selling our house last minute, moving back to Korea, our plane ride with lots of Zacharyisms that I will soon forget if I don't write them down, our first week back that included a sprained ankle, and just life in general again. I guess it goes to show how busy we have been over the past few months. We thought life in Korea would be a little more relaxing. Ha! At least we have a constant routine but relaxing it's not so far. Ok so yes I fall asleep in the recliner almost every night after Zachary goes to bed but the sleep must be pretty important for this pregnant body. I guess life is never supposed to slow down. I will post more soon and probably add some pictures again. But for now the bed is calling my name as it is 12:30am (ok so I slept from 8:15- 10:45 but still its late!).
I promise I will do better!