What's in a Name?

Since we have had the fun and difficult job of coming up with a name for our new daughter, I thought it would be fun to explain the importance of naming in Korea.

In Korea a name is usually made up of 3 characters. Each character is pronounced as a single syllable. The family name is placed first followed by the given name made up of 2 characters, one of which is chosen by the clan and used by all members of the same generation. This is the generation marker and changes from one generation to the next. Some families give generational markers to female offspring, but most do not since females are not usually recorded in the family chokpo (the genealogical table that traces one's lineage).

There is a great variety of given names, but only about 274 last names in current use. Forty- four of the last names account for less than 100 persons each. Each character of a Korean name has a certain meaning. According to tradition a child's fate is influenced by the name it is given so it is not uncommon for the parent, or the paternal grandfather who is usually given the honor of naming the child, to consult a professional name maker. (Notes on Things Korean, Han 1995)

Here are the meanings of our children's names:

Josiah TaeHyung

Josiah = sustained by God, Tae = great, Hyung = goes well

Naomi YooJin

Naomi = beautiful woman, Yoo = mild, Jin = true

We got a very nice surprise today - several new pictures of Naomi. Hope you enjoy them as much as we are.

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words!

Surprise!!

Wednesday November 14th, 2007 started off just like any other day. We were up early and off to school by 9:30am. I ran errands and back to school at 12:30 to pick Josiah up. We spent the afternoon doing lazy activities because I have had the flu all week and have been just dragging myself around. After dinner I decide to stay home and send the boys to church by themselves.

After they left I curled up on the couch with a magazine for the evening. Not long after that the phone rang and it was our case worker from Adoption Assistance. She said that she had a preliminary referral for us. A 4 month old little girl. She wanted to know if we would be interested in reviewing her information since she was considered a special needs child. Yoojin has some medical issues that we had to consider. I called Greg at church and told him everything I knew and we agreed that we would have a couple of physicians look at the information to help us understand the extent of her medical needs.

The last few days we have spent researching, talking to doctors and praying - a lot. We have talked with family and with some close friends and have received wise counsel. On Friday night we decided that this is our little girl and we are going to accept her referral. Nothing is official yet. We have to wait for the formal packet of information to come and then we will begin the paper chase. We have no idea when we will be able to travel to Korea to get her, but hopefully we will know more when we meet with our case worker and we sign all our paperwork.

Wow! What a surprise! I really didn't think it was possible that would have a little girl and surly didn't think it would be this soon. We have no names picked out and will let you know when we do. Her middle name will be Yoojin so for now that is what we will call her. Please pray with us that her health would be stable and that we would be able to travel soon to bring her home.

Now for a fun Josiah story:

Josiah has been telling us for several months now that he wants a brother. He and I were driving in the car on Friday and I asked him how he felt about getting a sister. This is the conversation that followed:

M: Josiah how would you like a sister instead of a brother?

J: No girls allowed. I don't like girls.

M: But Mommy is a girl

J: I like Mommy, but we need 3 boys and only one girl. Daddy and Josiah need a brother. Maybe we should get 2. A brother for Daddy and Josiah and a sister for Mommy.

M: I don't think that is going to happen. God decides these things. We don't get to choose.

J: (slight pause in conversation) Oh!

Then I hear him talking but can't make out what he is saying

M: What is that sweetheart?

J: I am not talking to you, I'm talking to God. God please, please, please can we have 2. (pause again). Yes, Mommy He says yes. Did you hear it?

When we showed Josiah the picture on Friday night and asked him what he thought of this little girl. He kissed the picture and hugged her and said, "I love her !" He has been carrying her picture around with him ever since and is apparently OK with a sister.

Meet Emma Jayne - our little niece

WOW! This has been a roller coaster 2 weeks for us. It all started 2 weeks ago when my sister, who is pregnant, went to the ER thinking she was having a miscarriage. The ER doc told that she was, but the next day she went to her regular doctor and he said no the baby is fine and she needs to rest. She will be having a followup ultrasound on Monday. Please pray everything continues to be OK.

Monday this week my brother and his wife had their little baby girl. Emma Jayne was born Monday afternoon weighing in at 3.8Kg (about 8 lb). A few hours after the birth, Melanie (mom) had a drop in blood pressure and was hemorrhaging. She was unable to recognise my brother. 36 hours later she is OK and the doctors are a little puzzled at what might have caused her to have such a reaction. They have since said they think it was a drug interaction. Mom and baby are doing well now and are at home resting.

We don't need no stinkin' directions!

Last week while Josiah and I were out shopping we bought a gingerbread house kit. All week he has been asking if we could eat the candy in the kit. All week I have been trying to prepare him for the fact that some of that candy was going to go on the house to decorate it. We even talked about the story Hansel and Gretel and how the gingerbread house was so pretty and decorated. So we decided as a family that tonight would be the night to take on the project.
We unpacked all the parts to the house. Josiah kneaded the icing to get it ready to use and Daddy trimmed the edges of all the pieces. After the icing was good and ready, I piped the icing needed to hold the house together. Josiah and Daddy put the pieces together to make the house. Right after putting the house together we proceeded to decorate. Josiah ate more candy than he put on the house, I think. Each time I looked at him his mouth was full and he was saying, "I need that kind of candy next!" He really surprised us at how accurate he was at putting candy on the house. I thought he might need more instruction, but he did a great job. Josiah loved the icing too and I had to keep telling him not to lick it off the roof. After we were all done decorating Greg and I realised that the roof was drifting south - right off the house. So with a 3 year old, an Engineer and a Therapist working on this project - who needs to read the directions - right! It turns out that we were supposed to wait at least 30 minutes after construction before decorating. No problem here - I built support beams out of Josiah's Lego's to hold the roof up until it dries. Only time will tell if it holds up to gravity.

Spiderman, Spiderman...goes wherever a spider can!

I haven't posted in a while because Josiah and I have been sick and computer time was not at the top of my list of things to do. We are all feeling much better now and are having fun again.

Josiah has been learning about halloween at school and has been telling me for months now that when he grows up he is going to be Spiderman. So last night we made his wish come true - at least for a few hours.

After nap time Josiah got dressed in his Spiderman outfit that Granny gave him last Christmas already. After dressing he sat on the bathroom sink while I painted his face. It was difficult to do because he wanted to watch in the mirror the whole time. Just as a side note - that face paint gets into and onto everything. After getting ready we went to Miss Amy's house to see Nate, Emory and Audrey. Nate was Batman, Emory a cheerleader and Audrey the cutest little lady bug. One of the families in our neighborhood was hosting a party so we walked over to their house to let the kids play for a while. They had a bouncing castle, drinks and candy. The kids had a great time. After hanging out there for a while, Greg, Josiah and I went to Wendy's for a quick dinner and then to church. The church also had a bouncy and lots of games for the kids to play. Josiah came home with so much candy I have to hide some of it. We all had a fun evening and Josiah decide that trick or treating is a lot of fun. He is already thinking about what he is going to be next year.