Category Archives: Korea Adoption

~Mia’s First Tea Party~

Camye, Chloe, friends, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Tea party 3 Comments

Okay so I have the MOST awesome friends!! My friend Tina and Jennifer came up to my house and gave the most fabulous TEA PARTY!!! EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! The food was very tea party-ish. The menu included: Cucumber sandwhiches, salad, potatoe soup, chicken salad on croissants, deviled eggs, fruit kabobs, sugar cookies and cupcakes. Drinks included all sorts of teas, lemonade and punch!

When I said the food was fabulous..I didn’t lie…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

Tina made these adorable little butterfly cupcakes for the little girls!!

Mia had a blast!! She loves being the center of attention!!! Danielle, Myla, Mia and I…hoping the girls are as close of friends as Danielle and I are!

Logan being adorable as ever!!!

Katie and I…she is such a sweet sweet girl!


This picture brings back such great memories of my childhood. This picture could very easily be Staci, me and Jennifer. But it is Bailey, Camye and Madison…the next generation..new and improved!!;)


Mia LOVES new clothes and toys!! She is a typlical girly girl!


Great friends, The Zotolla’s got her a flashlight with her name on it!! She loves it and was trying to take pictures with it!

One of her favorite gifts…Ritz Crackers!! Thanks Miss Lori!!!

Mia and Myla jumping in circles!! They are so cute together!!

Chloe and Chloe….2 beautiful, godly girls!!

~Fun Times~

Chloe, International Adoption, Korea Adoption, Mia Grace, Paul 3 Comments

10 days ago today we were blessed to become the parents to this beautiful little girl. Today was a great bonding day with Daddy! They played outside, watered the trees, played with the ‘Kimchee’, what she says when she wants her picture taken and rode bikes. Today was also Mia’s first day to attend church, she did so well. We didnt even have to go out to the nursery. But Mommy sitting in one place for over an hour is probably a dream come true for Mia.

Okay, I think we may have found Mia’s favortie food! She loves corn on the cob!! She devoured hers and then took the rest of her daddy’s!!! Some of you know that I have been concerned she hasnt been drinking alot, well last night she must have decided she was thirsty. She grabbed her daddy’s big cup and started gulping and hasnt stopped since!!!!

She is bonding really well with her oldest sister Chloe, who is very mothering and will make a fantastic mother someday! I Love to hear how many she wants and where she wants to adopt from!

It has been extremely HOT and HUMID here! That doesnt stop Paul from breaking out the fleece sleepers!! He loves his footed sleepers! I hope he always wants to wear them!!


Mia is definetly a part of the family! She fell and skinned her nose after being home 3 days, which as most of you know we are a house full of accidents!! It looked terrible for a few days but was completely healed for church today and our first post placement visit with the social worker, which went extremely well.

Overall, she has adjusted FANTASTICALLY with our family. I have been warned this may not last or this is our honeymoon stage. But I am willing to roll with it, she has been such a blessing and I have never thought God wanted me to something as much as I felt he wanted us to adopt Mia. He will not leave us now. If she decides in a month, she isnt Miss Personality and decides to be shy…that’s fine! How many 2 year olds do that? If sleeping habits get worse, we will make it. She already throws fits, like any other 2 year old. She already makes messes as any other 2 year old. She is a blessing…no matter what happens….as any child is.

~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!!!

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..

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!!

She isn’t waiting for us..

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


Dear Family and Friends, We have been waiting awhile see and hold our baby girl. We’ve had quite a few months to prepare for the changes we will experience, to learn as much as we can, to contemplate what adoption will mean to us as a family, and to anticipate the changes we will experience as our family grows from a family of six to a family of seven. We have started to come to know and love Mia Grace Heimee through the photos and updates we have received from our agency. It is hard for us to believe we are still strangers to her! While we are preparing a place for her in our home and hearts, Mia Grace has not even thought of leaving where she is. She is happy and content in the loving arms of her foster family. In a few days, she will be experiencing the loss of everything she has ever known. Her world will be turned upside down. We anticipate that this will be a very difficult time for our little girl. We ask that you keep Mia Grace in your prayers. As Mia’s arrival is approaching, we wanted to talk to everyone a bit about bonding and attachment. We are thrilled that everyone is excited to welcome our new daughter. That said, we want to make our expectations clear from the start, so that there won’t be any confusion, misunderstandings, or hurt feelings after her arrival. We have talked a lot with our social worker and agency about this transition and have done a lot of reading about ways to make healthy attachments with adopted children. As hard as it is to say, please enjoy her from our arms for awhile. Mia Grace needs to recognize us as mom and dad before she is ready to be passed around. This is a small window of time we have to develop an appropriate bond. She will be a much happier baby if we give her time to grieve her losses and then form a forever bond. There is no set length of time for this, but we will be able to tell by her reactions whether or not she is ready to be held by others. We still invite you to say “hi” to her, talk to her and play with her (keeping in mind her reaction of course); but, for awhile, we need to be the only ones to feed, diaper, bathe, cuddle Mia Grace. She will be grieving the loss of her environment, foster parents, language, familiar foods, etc. This usually lasts for at least a few weeks, but grieving episodes could occur for months after her arrival. Grieving episodes are also intensified by over stimulation, so we need to keep her world quiet, small and consistent for her first weeks with us as she begins to bond with her forever mommy, daddy and big sisters and big brothers. We have been so blessed by this gift. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can for Mia Grace to feel secure. It is important to remember, in her short 2 1/2 years, she’s lost her birth-mother and now will be losing her foster parents, the two people who have taken care of her every need since she was born. We know many of you have bonded with Mia Grace just as we have! So many of you have prayed daily for her and we do not underestimate the bond or love you feel for her. We hope you understand our need for this special time with our baby girl. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email us. Thank you in advance for understanding!
Ken and Wendi