2012 comes to a close.....

Dear Family and friends!

 

I am finally sitting down to recap our busy 2012. I trust you are all very well and enjoyed your Christmas.

 

Last Christmas we were so blessed to spend Lilyanna’s first Christmas with my family. We had a great time at the Thornes. They were great hosts.

Then we traveled to Milwaukee to spend New Year’s with Teddy’s family.

Previous to these visits only my mom and Teddy’s parents had met Lilyanna. It was so nice for Lilyanna to meet her aunties, uncles and cousins.
 
Before returning to Korea I was able to set some wedding plans in place. I got a dress, location, pastor and musician. It felt great to have these things decided.

In May we made a very important trip to Taiwan so Teddy’s maternal

and paternal grandparents

could meet her. We had a great time and I’m so glad we went.

Then it was back to Korea to pack for moving home! What a task it was after living there for so long (11 yrs!) and with a baby! But it all seems so long ago now.

When we left Korea we flew to Mississippi for the month of July. During that time, Lilyanna and I made a quick trip to Ottawa for a friend’s wedding. Then, at the end of July, it was on to NS to finish planning the wedding! We made some trips to the beach for breaks in the stress of wedding planning, as well as a trip to Saint John to visit the Thornes.

The big day finally came. It was perfect. Teddy and I often talk about how much we enjoyed our day.

Right after the wedding, we honeymooned in Mexico with Teddy’s brother (Henry) and sister-in-law(Jessica). It was such a great way to relax after the move and wedding; as well as to get ready for the green card application process! (All the papers are in and now we just wait.)

The 26^th of September brought us to Lilyanna’s 1^st birthday! What a special day. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful girl as our daughter!

In early November I spent a week studying to become a certified lactation counselor. They happened to be offering the course in Milwaukee during the first week of November, so it was great that we got to stay with Henry, Jessica and their son, Harrison. The studying went well, but the test was quite difficult. I didn’t feel very confident about it when we drove back home and had even looked up future course testing sites to see where I might join in for another testing day. To my surprise in early December I got the test results back and I passed with flying colors! I am now Loree-Beth Chang, CLC!! A few changes to my name since a couple of months ago!

Throughout the fall Teddy has been applying to applied health science schools around the country, hoping to be accepted into a radiation therapy program. There is one in New Hampshire I am really hoping for! J We really just hope he gets into any of them though.

We had a nice thanksgiving here with Teddy’s parents. They ordered a precooked turkey and I made the veggie sides. Then we got tarted on Christmas shopping. I learned a good lesson this year. American Thanksgiving is so much closer to Christmas than Canadian Thanksgiving, and it is NOT the time to begin Christmas shopping….especially when mailing is involved! J

As Christmas drew close, we had a visit from Teddy’s brother and family. It was nice for all the Changs to be together, but it was too short.  They were here only from the 21^st to the 23^rd. Since we lived in Korea, Lilyanna and Harrison haven’t spent much time together, but each time they do, I can see Lilyanna trying more and more to play with Harrison. This time she was following him all around the house and wanted to play with whatever he was playing with. So cute!

Christmas day was quiet, just us and Teddy’s parents. I think New Year’s celebrations will be quiet as well.

I trust all of you are healthy and enjoying this holiday season. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all the best in 2013! Happy New Year!

tickling the ivories

often when lilyanna walks by the piano and it's open, she reaches up for a few notes. a few days ago she sat down to play.

 

i want lilyanna to be musical, if she so desires in a few years. she will choose her instrument. i think it's important to let children study what interests them. i think the guitar would be great, but if she wants to learn piano, then so be it. violin? sure. whatever she is interested in learning and whatever she can be self motivated by. it would be so annoying to have to nag her to practise and to drag her kicking and screaming to lessons over an instrument i chose for her. hopefully she will find an instrument to love one day.

tea party!

on christmas night we enjoyed a tea party in new owl pjs. thanks auntie wendy, uncle michael, mallory and hudson for the tea set and auntie leesa and ryan for the pjs! we love them both!

 

waiting for the tea to get ready!

 taking a sip!

our christmas day

our christmas day was a quiet one. just me, teddy, lilyanna, mimi and papa. most of the remaining presents were for lilyanna. she had fun opening them with mommy while daddy snapped a few photos.

 

taking a peek at what else is in her stocking:

 crayons! lilyanna has started to really like coloring---or asking for it anyway. but it quickly dissolves into coloring the carpet or eating the crayons! we'll work on the skill of keeping the colors on the paper and crayons out of her mouth!

 this is a photo book for babies. it is all plastic, by sassy. i saw it at a friend's house last spring and thought it'd be a great gift for lilyanna. i put our family's photos inside so we can practise their names.  

 

 owl crib sheet and matching blanket!

 a fun toy from auntie amy.

we enjoyed our quiet day. it was fun watching lilyanna open her presents. she had no idea what was going on, though. ; ) next year will be even more fun with her excitement level higher, as she will understand a bit more.

christmas with the other changs!

henry, jessica and harrison came to visit at the start of their holiday, from the 21st to the 23rd. it was a great visit, but too short.

 

one night we went out for chinese dinner. lilyanna is trying to be patient while we are waiting for the food to arrive.

 the chang family:

 the night of the 22nd we had our christmas dinner. turkey with delicious veggie sides, including cornbread dressing. yummy!

 after dinner we exchanged our presents for each other. santa even showed up! lilyanna was not too sure she liked the jolly ol' man any more than the last time she met him! (she met him, for the first time, a few weeks ago and didn't like him much!)

 santa wanted to share some hugs. lilyanna.....not so much!

 get me away from this man!

 lilyanna and harrison opening some presents.

 lilyanna going for it.

 

 lunch on the 23rd was at the country club.

 lilyanna loved the trees.

 checking out the reindeer

 pretty! ball!

 the changs, christmas 2012:

 hhuummmm.......look at this! i wonder what it feels like.....

 i'm gonna check it out!

 uncle henry and lilyanna sharing some laughs. kick! kick! kick!

more random photos from this month

this is a christmas blanket we got from leesa. lilyanna loves to get "cozy" in it!

 wearing a beautiful hand knit sweater from tobi.

 ready for church in one of her 2 christmas dresses. what a christmas princess she is!

 wearing an outfit from some friends back home.

 putting a train together with mimi.

 watching it go around the track.

 playing with her vacuum.

 yes! that is all mommy wants! sleep has been going much better the past 3 or 4 nights.

 daddy captured this moment of feeding her baby.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

we bought a little tabletop tree to have up stairs to enjoy when we're playing up here. lilyanna was excited to "touchie" and hang the balls on it.  

 here she is in her grinch shirt. "merry! merry!"

 enjoying a banana one morning at breakfast.

 this is a fun sparkly decoration. a little pokey, so we only play with it for a few minutes at a time.

 we tried to do a christmas photo shoot in one of her christmas dresses. not too successful. lilyanna is determined not to look at the camera and smile.

 the second try did get us this shot. cute but not happy.

 here she is smiling! haha!

 probably the best of the bunch this time around.....but still not great.

oh well. there's always next year.....