Category Archives: International Adoption

~Home With Mia~

Home, International Adoption, Mia Grace 5 Comments

What a fun first day home!!! My older 4 kids are smitten, they just LOVE to play their new little sister. I think one of the best gifts you can ever give your children is a sibiling. She loves the puppies!! She loves to squeal and pretend they are chasing her. She puts her foot or hand out so they will lick her and then runs off so they will chase her. They arent paying that much attention to her, surprisingly, but thats a good thing!

She loves to get dressed up..she always wants to wear her Pororo backpack and slippers around the house. She think the slippers are hilarious.

When she looks at the camera, she says “Kim-chee”. She even had to wear her slippers outside to play!! She is having a blast!!

Paul is big enough for his big boy bike from last year! Grandma and Grandpa bought him an awesome scooter of his own (he has always used his sibilings) and I think it has given him the confidence to try his big boy bike again. He is riding it everywhere!!

We also went to Camye’s dance recital, but we were so rushed getting out the door and getting there, we forgot the camera. So pictures of the recital are coming, my friend with an even awesomer camera than mine took pictures for me.

Another blog…coming soon…~Sleeping With Mia~ or maybe it should be ~The Adventures of Sleeping with Mia~.:)

~Finally…Home~

2009-2010 homeschool plan, International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace 4 Comments

We traveled about 30 hours to get home. Mia did great! She slept all the way from Korea to San Francisco and slept some from San Fran to Pittsburgh. She loved running around the airport!!! So we let her burn some of that typical 2 year old energy off. I love all the playgrounds at the airports. This was one that was in Seoul, she loves playing with other kids.


I wasnt sure she would know how to play with other kids or all these balls. She jumped right in!!!

We were nervous with her and the stairs because all of her updates said she couldnt go up or down steps. She flies up and down steps.

She loves to have her hair brushed and fixed. She just sits there and lets you do it! Her hair reminds me of Chloe’s , the front half is curly and the back is straighter, so I am a pro at it.:)


The kids were waiting for her to come home!! They were so excited!! We didnt get home until 3am and we didnt get to bed until 5am.

She just loved them!!!:)

She is doing absolutley wonderful. We learn so much about her every day. Like she loves oragami, she sings the ABC song, she loves to sing EIEIO and she is incredibly smart!!! She is tinier than I could have ever imagined. She wore a 12 month bottoms yesterday with a 18 month shirt. Today she has on a 12-18month and the bottoms are a little loose. We love her so much already!!!

~Gotcha Day~

Adoption, International Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 7 Comments

Waiting at the Starbucks, close to SWS….getting very nervous! Our shoes lined up outside the SWS playroom…

Mia loves her toys! She said Bye, she was going to her house, while we were filling out paperwork!

Mia’s forever parents and foster parents.

In the cab ..having a good time.

Getting a kiss from Daddy, as she is warming up to him.

Unloading at our hotel…

Gotcha Day will be forever known as June 2nd, 2011 for Mia Grace Heimee. She came to us a little tearful but we had to wait for a cab outside of SWS, because someone grabbed our cab just as we were coming out. THey called us another…This happened to be the craziest cab ride I had EVER taken..we were flying and honking and zipping thru traffic like crazy! I dont know if they told him to get out of there quick. But Mia loved it!! We laughed and played all the way here and went straight to our hotel room. She skyped with her brothers and sisters and a few friends. She was doing so great, I was really impressed. And then naptime came, and the grieving began. It took 45 minutes for her to take a nap and then she napped for an hour and a half. When she woke up, she was really grieving for her “Omma”. We then walked around Seoul for 3 hours, her in the carrier with me when she was happy and as soon as she would start to get upset she would want Kenny. I am trying to figure that one out, my only guess is when she is happy she doesnt feel like she is betraying her Omma with me but when she is sad she does feel that way and wants her Daddy. As soon as he reassures her, she jumps back to me. This is going to be very interesting to see HOW this unfolds.

The foster parents sent us with bags and bags full of her clothes, food, drinks, winter coat, shoes, gifts for us and for the kids. I will try and take pictures of it all when we get home. Mia wasnt doing well seeing her stuff so we had to cover it all, she was just trying to hold everything and sob. It just breaks my heart.

It is 8am here, she has been asleep since 8pm. She has cried out for Omma a few times, but I feel blessed she has been able to sleep so well. Praying the sleep will help her have a great day!

She is potty trained which we werent expecting. In the midst of her grieving, she still was asking to get on the potty! I was so proud of her. She is so smart.

She is so tiny! All the 18-24months I brought just fall off of her! I should have brought 12 or 18 months. My vote is 12months at this point.

I have been very emotional since we got her. My emotions remind me of how I felt when I had each one of my biological kids(dont be scared..not that bad). Thank you for all your prayers, comments on facebook, private messages and words of encouragement. This has been such a awesome and life changing experience and hearing from you throughout this week has been such a blessing.

Gifts and Purchases…

Foster parent gifts, International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Pororo 4 Comments

The foster mother is soooo wonderful! We are so thankful for all that she has done and we are so sorry this is breaking her heart. She has been so kind to us. She gave us Mia’s first Hanbok. It is simply breathtakingly beautiful! This picture doesnt do these albums justice!! There are also 2 albums with over 400 pictures and videos on them.


Some of Mia’s favorite toys…she went ahead and sent these with us the other day because she has so much to give Mia. Her favorite music Cd’s, I was so excited to get. She sings, dances and plays instruments all the time!

Things we have purchased…a new bigger Hanbok, a gorgeous Korean tea set to pass down someday to Mia (its in the box, wrapped tightly). I didnt want to risk unpacking and then packing again, chopsticks, Name Chops, English/Korean books and CD’s…..oh and the socks are fabulous here!!!!
We thought all the Pororo items deserved their own picture!! This is her favorite and we were hoping it would give her some comfort of things she loved back home.

DVD’s and books…oh and the Jade and Amythest jewerly here is beautiful!!! It is mined south of Seoul. We were able to purchase two very inexpensive necklaces.

~Seoul Day 5~

International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Seoul, South Korea 4 Comments

Day 5…about to leave our hotel. I am sad to say that we have been so jetlagged and getting our barings around the city, that we didnt get any of sights we were hoping to see today!! With 5 kids and many other to bring souveniers to, and plus all the things we wanted Mia to have. View out of our hotel…notice on gray and white cars…odd…sometimes a blue truck.

Another view…

Roses are in ful bloom here and beautiful!


A cool looking building…

Worlds biggest Ipads! No this is just an interactive map of the mall we were in. Korea is technology crazy…I love it!!!


Get ready Blake and Paul!! Coming soon to America..Super Mario Bros 2 for the Wii.

World Trade Center…very cool!


Insadong….loved shopping here!!! I have another blog coming with all our purchases!

We purchased Mia a name chop, it is the way Koreans sometimes sign there names. It says Heimee and in Hangul.

A hoteok…can you say AWESOME!! Full of honey, brown sugar and peanuts!!!

Kenny is quite the superstar..I came out of the store to this…these girls were doing a school project ( I think)…when I said good luck with your project they laughed!! When Kenny introduced me as his wife..the mood changed a bit. The handsome boy comments stopped..:)

This was what Summer’s friends were doing..LOL!!!

And then one girl introduced herself to me as Heimee and asked to have her picture taken with me…I said we are adopting a little girl names Heimee…she said Oh no not me..I am a big girl.. :):)

My friend from the Subway, very interested in us and what we were doing, if we knew Hines Ward. He was so sweet!

It was a great day! We didnt get to do all the things on my list, but I know there will be a next time!!!!

~Second meeting with Mia Grace~

Family, fun, International Adoption, k, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, South Korea 7 Comments

Today was a little harder with our meeting with Mia, her foster father was there and they are extremely close. He said she is very smart and she was emotional today because she knows something is about to happen.:(
This is Kenny sitting on the floor waiting patiently for Mia to walk in..he even had the Pororo plane on his lap. Of course, she didnt warm right up to us today. We weren’t in her home and was a little leery at first. She immediatly chose another toy!

Mia came in today carrying this massive muffin!! I mean it was half the size of her head..crumbs were falling everywhere. She kept telling the Foster mom to clean up the floor and wipe her hands.

Starting to warm up…foster mom kept pulling her pant legs down. Mia kept pulling them up…she definetly has a mind of her own!

We found the way to get her to open up….the cameras. She loved watching herself on the video camera. She loved looking through her pictures..because she is CUTE you know…She informed us that today over and over and over..I think she has been told that before!!


All my close friends know my favorite bracelet, the Menagerie bracelet by Lia Sophia. Guess who LOVED it…yes you got it Mia. She wearing and letting the menagerie of charms and chains cling all around. I knew there was a reason for that ‘camp’ word and the reason I loved that bracelet!!


She finally warmed up to her Appa…

The camera had her in hysterics!! She laughs all the time!!

We have quite the musician! She would play a song..not pounding but actually play a song with fingers and when she was done. She turned and waited for applause. The foster mother told us she thinks she will be a musician because of her love for music.

She loves playing with toys…I mean LOVES toys!!


It was time to go and she came over to hug us goodbye!!

I even got a kiss without being prompted!! She is sooo adorable!!

When it was time to go she threw a fit!! I see a temper temper here…We have our work cut out. Kenny and I were sitting in the room while the foster parents said Bye and that they were leaving. We couldnt understand what everyone was saying…as much as we wanted to believe that she wanted to stay with us. She didnt want to leave the toys. She loves coming to SWS and playing and loves seeing all the babies!
I did think it was good she wasnt worried about being left in a room alone with us. Thursday is going to be rough…I didnt take pictures but there was one meltdown…that had me and her crying. I know it will all be fine. But I am more nervous for Thursday morning than I was for meeting her the first time. The foster parents treat as a little grandchild…so when she was throwing a fit, her foster father offered his cell phone and off she went! Oh my..

~Seoul Day 4 Randomness~

International Adoption, Seoul, South Korea 2 Comments

Here is some randomness on our trip….this place is busy busy busy!!! Today we went to a Lotte Mart..which is like a Super Target with like 4 floors..It was awesome!!!! MOre business…see the Pizza Hut in the far background…we ate their today!

Us in the middle of the business!!

These are the 2 pizzas we ordered at Pizza Hut. We are so used to everything being supersized..nothing NOTHING here is. We have had a terrible time finding food. We have been skipping meals….and we are always starving. So we each ordered a regular pizza and hoped to take rest back to our hotels. Well their regular pizzas are a little bigger than a personal pan pizza in the states….needless to say Kenny devoured his and finish mine off too..And it cost $33.00!! Cha=Ching!!


This was an awesome greenhouse inside of the Lotte Mart…they just grow their lettuce!!

$9 ice cream from 7-11…food is soooo expensive here!!!

Presenting Mia Grace Heimee Rogers!!!

International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 7 Comments

Kenny and I right before we left…we were a nervous wreck!!! We left an hour and a half early!! I had little things to perk Mia’s interest in us..one being her favorite Pororo (cartoon character) ring on my finger..which she saw and loved!!! But had to take it off my finger.

Kenny and I in the back, our SWS driver and our SWS social worker in the front…we drove 30 minutes to Mia’s home for our first visit.


A view of the countryside on the way…

We are here..her apartment complex. We put the camera away so we would scare her for our first few moments.

When we arrived, we gave our gifts to the foster mother and Mia her gift…we also noticed that the had hung Our FAMILY pictures on the entertainment center, who Mia turned and told us that was us and it was Omma and Appa.


Mia trying on her new sunglasses…this kid is hilarious!!!!!


Oh yes we found her a Pororo cell phone..broke the ice right away!…that is our social worker behind her. Isnt she beautiful?


Mia and her precious Omma…who we know she will grieve for terribly when she leaves to go with us. We are eternally grateful for raising her in such a loving home.


The foster mother gave me a photo book, an album and 3 discs of pictures of Mia. We are thankful to have these! Words can not describe how thankful.

Mia enjoyed showing us and telling us how cute she is …over and over and over…Mia …your Omma and Appa already know!!!!


Mia sat and stared at me for a few moments..very seriously….pondering…who is this woman?


Oh yes I even thought of putting the cell phone around my neck…it worked..this teeny weeny baby girl came over to chat with me on it.

She is very ticklish…very ticklish!! She sat on my lap and we tickled a little!!

Mia and her Omma telling us good bye!!!

This was such an awesome experience to get to visit with her in her home and to see what kind of life she has. Some things we learned…this kid is hilarious. She is potty trained. She drinks out of a regular cup and doesnt spill it. She still takes a nap. She is going to LOVE her big brothers and big sisters!!! They are going flip at her teeniness!!!! I mean she is soooo tiny!!

To top off an even great day..we got to meet a friend from my adoptive forum Maryleigh and her husband Nick and their little one Bates, they are here to adopt Bate’s little brother Brodie…check out her blog at http://www.abrotherforbates.blogspot.com/ We had a great visit!! It was so nice to speak to someone who understood English.

~Seoul Day 2~

Family, International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 7 Comments

Okay we are out of order here..because I dont know how to rearrange pictures. Let me just say…Koreans are stylish…they are dressed so stylish. We went over to the Dangdumun Market and the women were shopping like no place I have seen. Below is a picture of some stylish shoes. My feet were killing me in my nice comfy shoes..some were wearing 4 inch heels..!! Yes I look like a dork…but I bought this awesome pineapple on a stick…it was really good but juicy. Sit down and eat this, dont try to walk around with it.:)

Kenny got this fabulous…tatertots and fries fried around a hotdog..He said it was really good.? I didnt try it.


Look at these toddler clothes…arent they incredible! I love the leggings, lacy skirts with matching shirts. Oh so cute!!! We plan to get some after meeting Mia today and we see what size she is. We havent had a weight on her since September 2010.

Our first day to explore….starting out fresh and ready to go!!:) There are signs at almost every street corner with English and Korean on them. Very helpful, if you know where you are going…which we did not.:)

Our typical Ken/Wendi…we do this anywhere we get a cool oppurtunity.

We found Pororo in the Seoul Subway Station…it was so cute!! I had to get his picture for Mia. I am guessing the some Koreans are like some Americans..they leave their Christmas decor up all year.
Picture of the Subway…seems like total chaos..but it is complete organazation! Love it!! the best way to get around and least exspensive!!
We walking some back alleys(we were told too) and came across this awesome parking contraption. Slide your card and your car will come down for you. When there is as many people as there are here..I am sure you must be creative on parking space.
Subway! I thought Americans were crazy about their electronics…every where we looked people are on their cell phones, IPads, carrying antennas for their phone to watch TV. Everytime we stopped for directions…we would show them our maps..they would say, “We have an ap for that” Cant complain love my Iphone and Aps as well.
Not so busy street corner..
This is the basement of the Lotte Department Store. Very high end, mall and food. Grapes were $10 here! We are looking for street vendors for fruit tomorrow!:)
There are 2 things that remind us of Mexico here..1. the smell- there septics arent sealed like ours(but the smell here comes and go, Mexico was all the time, everywhere) and 2. the electric wires..crazy bunch of wires.
Our hotel bathroom…is very odd. The walls are glass..so zero privacy. The bathtub is definetly for a woman under 5 foot and zero hips. And I am a 5’5 and have much more than zero hips..

But the toilet is awesome…their septics may not be up to our standard in America..but their toilets are incredible!!

First of all, their is a light in the toilet for when you use it at night and they have a BEDET!! I had only ever seen them on House Hunter International…these are awesome!! Why doesnt America have these yet?

My cousin told me I was lucky to have one here, and out in the country they have squatter potties. I didnt even ask what that was. I am enjoying this futuristic toilet this week.
Okay so you may think this blog doesnt have much feeling in it….I cant explain the way I am feeling. I am overwhelmed, exhausted, elated, excited, exhausted, anxious and nervous. It is about 1:30 in the morning..I cant sleep. I know we will be meeting Mia in 12 hours. 12 hours..I will meet my 5th child. Oh my..the feelings that are rushing over me are completely unexplainable. Please pray for us to have a fabulous meeting!!!Stay tuned for more exciting blogs to come…

Travel Call and We Made it to Seoul!!!!

International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Seoul, South Korea 4 Comments

No pictures yet.

We arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon at 3:30 and then onto our hotel after a little confusion (okay…alot). We passed out about 8pm. I was wide awake at 1:15 Sunday morning. Maybe I will take a Tylenol PM.

The flight was about 12 hours. It was really long. But I got the joy of watching all these Korean children run up and down the aisle. And one little boy, in particular, kept waving, laughing and coming over to us, Kenny leaned over and said, “How about a little boy next…”LOL!!

When we got to Seoul, we got through the airport rather smoothly. We exited the plane, went thru immigration, then baggage claim, then customs, then changed our money to Won, rented a cell phone for the week SUPER CHEAP ($3 a day) and then got our ticket for the limo bus(which is just a bus for anyone wondering).:)

We arrived to our beautiful hotel, Seoul Palace, and unpacked. We fell asleep at 8pm on Saturday night. We only slept a couple of hours on our flights!

We will be meeting Mia on Monday afternoon at 1:30, we will be taking our gifts and going to the foster parents home. I am really anxious to do this. Deciding what to take..we are going to look for strawberries today since she thinks they are DELICIOUS. I love when our social worker translates that word and how she says DELICIOUS!! It is so cute!! But we are hoping to take those..so she may show us some interest. We also have a bag of skittles, that might help. ANd of course her bag of gifts!!:) And I WILL find her a Pororo cell phone today!!

We are out to explore..maybe if I get some sleep…Thank you for all the prayers!!