Life is rough here in Korea...we have to be constantly ready for action. Sometimes you don't even have time to put your pants on. Carson loves his Wii. Here he is in action - fencing early Saturday morning. Carson may kill us someday for posting this.
Jessica is playing 5-6 year old Basketball with Youth Services. She is on the Rockets. She enjoys the running, defense and dribbling and is still working on the shooting.
Jessica received some new Hanna Anderson clothes and wanted to model them for us. This was also Mrs. Hoffman's (her Kindergarten teacher) birthday, so she was dressing up for the special occasion. Her ankles look bumpy because she has thermal underwear under her tights. It's just too cold to wear tights without them.
Too cute!
Garrett has discovered that climbing in and out of the bar stools is super fun. He can entertain himself for 30 minutes at a time with this. What a handsome brown-eyed boy!
Garrett loves to climb inside and then sit on the back bar and swing his legs. We have to push the stool up against the wall or block the front to make sure he doesn't fall through.
Peek-a-boo!
It's been so cold here all winter, but we only had a skiff of snow on Christmas Eve. Then last Friday it snowed and snowed. It was beautiful and the kids loved it. As you can see in all the pictures the snow accumulation was not much. The grass and dirt was showing through very quickly. Here's Jessica and her friends Dylan and Kimberly playing in the muddy snow in the Kindergarten yard.
Carson and his friend Adam building a snowman. I wanted to get the high rises in the background. Just to show we really do live in a city.
Carson, Jessica and Adam still building the snowman. The snowman was never completed, but a very hard and large base of a snowman was built and then thrown around.
Peak a boo, Garrett! He's warm and cozy in his Protect-A-Bub stroller cover.
My boys - playing in the snow. Garrett's hands are not bigger than his arms. He just won't keep gloves on, so I bought him a pair of large froggy gloves with a string. He loves them, chews on them and most importantly keeps them on.
Garrett loved the sled! He doesn't look very happy in this photo and his froggy hands kept dragging in the snow. However, he screamed whenever we took him out of the sled. We all loved our 1st real snow day in Korea!
Garrett had his 3rd and possibly final modeling shoot last week. He was smiling and cute until he got under the lights then he was a screaming boy. Poor dude! It just wasn't his day. The pictures were for a HappyLand Summer 2009 catalog. He looked so pale in his shorts and tank top. He's quite stingy with his smiles in front of a camera. He has more of the inquisitive look.
I call this the "Captain and Tenille gone Korean." Seriously, would parents buy that hat for their child? Garrett loved this red chair. He hated the hat, hated the black plastic sandals and hated the lights and cameras. But LOVED the red chair!
Still happy, because I'm by my Mama and being fed. He's an eater. If all else fails when he's fussy, give him something to eat. Anything!
By this time his black tie was completely drenched with slobber, yogurt, granola bar, some kind of Gerber Puffs (which he had never tasted until today) and goldfish.
I'm one year old today (Sunday, January 4th) and look at my new airplane desk -
the propeller even goes around and around!
Garrett was a little disappointed when he realized the airplane desk didn't move when he sat in the chair and lurched forward. However, having paper and colored pencils to draw with made it all better. We have discovered that the chair tips over very easily, maybe not a great gift for a one year old. I just couldn't resist.
We went bowling on Garrett's birthday too. Yongsan Lanes is becoming our Sunday tradition. He loves to be right there with the bowling balls. We kept his fingers safe this time.
Happy 1st Birthday, Garrett! Thanks to Jess for holding the 1. Our plan was to have Garrett hold the 1 or prop it somewhere. However, that wasn't working for us, so Jess stepped in to assist.
The birthday boy posing with Carson and Jessica - Carson and Jess decorated the 1's for Garrett's party. This is Carson's version of "Happy Birthday" with lots of balloons. Even though they look very similar to something else. :)
Garrett and Elizabeth talking and exchanging one year old advice.
Garrett doing what he does best, pulling out all of his toys.
Daddy and Mommy with the cutie pie.
Yum, this plastic food is delicious and no, we won't pose for you!
Birthday decor
Yummy banana cakes for both kids - we found the cute "My 1st Birthday candles" at E-Mart. E-Mart is the Korean version of Walmart.
Garrett blowing out his candle.
Loretta (Mommy) and Elizabeth blowing out the candle.
This cake is great for my hair.
All cleaned up and ready for presents - Garrett received a set of 3 Pororo balls - soccer, football and basketball. Pororo is a Korean cartoon character. He's a penguin with funny goggles.
Garrett also received a farm animal set. He loves trying all of the different animal sounds. We had such a fun time with our friends the Endres'. It's great to have friends that have children the same ages, have similar interests and live just up the stairs.
During Christmas break we took a trip to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. We even took Ol' Blue (our van). We usually take the subway, but we followed our friends the Yi's, which is much easier than having to read the signs in Hangul ourselves. This is the 1st trip to the zoo that Garrett noticed the animals and even made sounds for them. He mostly knows Ruff for a dog, Moo for a cow and Grr for a bear, dinosaur, lion, etc. Here are Joe and Garrett "mooing" at the giraffes. What does a giraffe say anyway?
Mama and baby giraffe - I just missed the nursing shot. So cute!
Next to the reptiles and insects the elephant slide was a favorite for the kids. It was much faster than the alligator slide and you could climb with ropes up the side. Joe and Garrett are at the top. Carson is by the left tusk. Zane Miagany is climbing the ropes. Jessica just finished the slide and Alex is getting ready to go back up.
Here's Jessica on the alligator slide. This was fun until they found the elephant slide. I even went down the alligator slide and had to push myself along. Seoul Grand Park Zoo was a terrific way to spend a cold winter day!
Garrett Charles Locke born on Friday, January 4, 2008.
Garrett' 1st meeting with his big brother and sister
January - 3 weeks old
March 2008 - 2 months old in the azalaeas in Montgomery, AL
April 2008 - 3 months old - discovering the exersaucer
May 2008 - 4 months old - meeting Julie, Aunt Wendy and Uncle Dave for the 1st time. We (The O'Connell side of the family) think Garrett looks like Uncle Dave. Pretty handsome guy to take after. :)
June 2008 - 5 months old - Camping in Colorado with Grandma and Grandpa Locke
July 2008 - 6 months old - with the Gran and Papa O'Connell in Wyoming
August 2008 - 7 months old - Our new apartment in Seoul, South Korea
September 2008 - 8 months old - Hanging out with Carsy, notice the large drool spot on Garrett's shirt. He cut 4 teeth in the 1st few months we were in Korea.
October 2008 - 9 months old - Eating Yaki Mandu at Namdaemun Market with Mom
November 2008 - 10 months old - I'm standing!
December 2008 - 11 months old - I get into everything and I'm walking!
January 4, 2009 - Happy 1st Birthday, Garrett!
