EV's First Christmas Performance

It is so sweet to watch your 2 year old sing and perform on stage with a bunch of other 2-4 year olds.  EV did such a good job singing and doing the body motions (although at times she got distracted by the  guy playing the guitar). Poor kid was so exhausted by the end of it but it was well worth it.  I can't believe it'll be Christmas in less than 5 days!!  Looking forward to lots of posts and quality time with family.  Unfortunately, papa bear had to miss tonight's performance because we double booked the evening (again).  So, it was just momma bear, grandma, and Gina eemo.

Sewing Club

I started sewing about a year ago and it's been a lot of fun sewing for EV.  But after awhile, it gets kinda boring sewing by yourself.  So, a couple of friends were interested in learning to sew; so, I decided to host a night of sewing.  It was a lot much fun to sew together, learn from one another, and to hang out.  So, we decided to try to meet monthly for Friday Night Sewing Club.

The first time we met, I taught the gals how to attach a skirt to a shirt to make a t-shirt dress.  Very simple and oh so cute!  Here's a picture of the final product:

 

The next two times, only Eileen could make it but it was still a good time.  She made a skirt both times (which Ellie wears all the time) and I made EV's Christmas dress and a pair of ruffle pants:

 

Tonight Eunice made a skirt for Mia, Krystal made a skirt and scarf for herself, and I made an infinity scarf for myself.

It's so much fun and fulfilling!!   I think the day EV doesn't want to wear homemade clothes will make me sad.  I think it's the best feeling to have EV wear something I made and get compliments where ever we go.  At least for now EV is proud of the clothes I make for her, to the point that she thinks everything she wears is made by mommy.  Ha!

I am also thankful for friends who want to sew with me and share in the hobby.  I hope the sewing machines you all bought are worth it and that you make many wonderful things for your little ones, yourself, and your home.

Complaint against Mr. Appraiser

Here's an email I wrote to the appraisal company that did my last appraisal.  They pretty much did not give us credit for the fact that we are rebuilding the whole first floor.  I haven't sent the email yet, as I am worried that it'll do more harm than good at this point, so I'm putting it on my blog. Ha!  I just need to get it off my chest.

Dear Appraisal Company,

 

I recently had a home appraised by Mr. Appraiser and I feel that he not only gave us an unfair appraisal, but he grossly underestimated the value of our home by not taking the time to read our proposal and using appropriate comparables.

 

Mr. Appraiser not only provided a bad appraisal but he contradicted himself in his report and his re-evaluation:

 

1.  He said that adding two additional bedrooms does not make a difference, when clearly homes with additional bedrooms have sold for much higher in our neighborhood.  To not give us credit for the two additional bedrooms seems to be a complete subjective opinion. 

2.  He said that he couldn't find comps in our area so he went outside of our area, but when we gave him comps in our area, he said those are not useable because they are not in a comparable subdivision (although NONE of the comps he used were in the same subdivision nor the same school district).  The Simpson Elementary School district makes a huge difference, as it is the top elementary school in Gwinnett county and many families come to Peachtree Corners specifically to be in this school district.

3.  He said he used comps within the last six months but some of the comps are from last March when the housing market was very different. 

4.  He used comps with renovations such as a new kitchen counter or a new bathroom, when we are gutting out and rebuilding the whole first floor and replacing the whole outside of our home.

 

It's appalling to me that when we wanted our appraisal to get reviewed it went to the same guy.  In order for our appraisal to get seriously considered, Mr. Appraiser would have to be willing to admit that he was wrong, and obviously he is not willing to do that.  Therefore, this whole process lacks accountability and it's been a very frustrating process. 

 

I have a very hard time believing that re-building my house would continue to make it comparable to homes built nearly 30 years ago with an updated bathroom.  I also have a hard time believing that the home 8 houses down the street from me is not comparable to what our completed home will be when they have nearly the same square footage, number of bedrooms, and bathrooms.  It may have additional acres of land but then take out what the value of the land would be. Plus, it is one of the only custum built homes in the area and again it is less than 10 houses down from our home.  Again, why am I not getting the same credit as a new construction?  Having a brand new kitchen, master suite, great room, dining room, garage, porch, patio, foyer, staircase, guest room, siding, and windows with top of the line materials is NOT comparable to a newly built home?  

 

I would like to speak to Mr. Appraiser's supervisor or manager.  I understand that this may not change the final appraisal for my house but I would like to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else and that Mr. Appraiser is appropriately reported for his actions.

 

Shin Y. Kim

 

Interestingly a colleague of mine who recently got her home rebuilt had the opposite problem:

1.  The appraiser said land does not matter (whereas ours refused to use a comp down the streat because it has more land than our house).

2.  The appraiser said that their completely new construction from ground up is no different than homes that have renovated parts of their home (whereas ours said that we cannot use new construction for comps even though we are gutting out our whole first floor)

 

I hate this process.  So what's next?  We've been spending a lot of time in prayer.  Otherwise, I am letting our wonderful project manager help guide us.  Like I said--I hate this process.

Lights of Life

Last year I read on someone's blog about Lights of Life at Life University.  It sounded like a lot of fun and I've been wanting to check it out since I first read about it.  We visited today and I would give it a 6 out of 10.

We had dinner at a Persian restaurant called Falafel Cafe and the food was really good.  I LOVE Mediterranean food so this totally hit the spot for me.  EV is also a lover of food so we all enjoyed our plate of Tabbouleh salad, hummus, yogurt sauce, falafel, lamb slices, and pita.  Then we headed over to Life University.  The lights itself is decent, it's definitely no Lake Lanier, but it had some similar displays.  The only thing that made it hard to enjoy is that some of the lights are so close to the street, it's a little hard to make out what it was supposed to be.  They had one display of an Eagle (I think it's their mascot) and it was waving and EV says, "What's that thing that is 'hi-ving'?" It took me a moment to realize she was trying to say waving but couldn't think of the word so said "hi-ving."  Haha!  The whole time on the way to Life EV kept saying, "How are we going to see if it is dark?"  I think she was having a hard time conceptualizing these lights.  When she finally saw them, she was wide-eyed and I think a little confused.

Anyways, after we looked at the lights we went to the little carnival part and went on a train ride and the petting zoo.  I was especially amazed at how well EV did in the petting zoo.  She touched every animal and was not scared one bit--we've come a loooonnng way from even 3 months ago when she peed in her pants walking into a pet store because the animals scared her.  EV really enjoyed watching a small band play some Christmas music while eating marshmallows we toasted on a stick.  And on the way home she got to enjoy some hot chocolate while listening to Michael Buble sing Christmas songs.

Like I said, all in all, I give it a 6 out of 10.  Compared to Lake Lanier, it's a lot cheaper ($10 per car on Fri and Sat, $5 other days), there's a lot of activities for kids, and the lights were enjoyable.  I enjoyed the company more than anything; an evening out with my two loves is priceless.

On a completely other note, I forgot to start our advent ornament tree today so we'll do two tomorrow.  This will be the only "tree" we have this year because of our pending home renovation we did not buy an actual Christmas tree.

Sleep Training

If you are a parent, the names Ferber and Sears are probably very familiar to you.  From the day our baby is born, we are instructed on baby sleep.  At the hospital we are told, do not co-sleep with your baby and make sure your baby is placed on his/her back.  At home we have well-intended parents, grandparents, and friends all giving advice on how to get your child to sleep.  You get on the internet and there are books and experts all sharing their theoretical, biological, psychological, sociological, and clinical theories on sleep.  And all you can personally think about is how you wish you could get some sleep yourself.  So, you take in all this information and start the trial and error process (cause seriously lets admit it, a lot of parenting is trial and error and making educated guesses).

Thankfully, our sweet Evangline was a good sleeper.  In the beginning you had your day and night switched but with bright lights and loud noises during the day, and darkness and quiet during the night, you quickly got your day and night corrected.  Otherwise, you went down quickly, you slept on your own well, and when you woke up, you would just play in your crib until someone came to get you.  We were very blessed in the sleep department.

We actually transitioned you into a full-size bed early because you were so determined to crawl out of your crib.  Again, you transitioned well and we had no major problems.  But we always emphsized the importance of sleeping on your own, learning to fall asleep by yourself, and being an independent sleeper.

Interestingly, about a few months ago, pappa bear and I would wake up and find you in our bed.  Neither one of us would have any idea how you got there, especially since when you're awake our bed is too high for you to climb into.  Although I totally assumed pappa bear was lifting you into our bed, he denied it.  Since you've been born, you've also sleep trained me into being a slightly lighter sleeper.  I used to sleep like a log but now I am at least consciously aware when you cry out.  Well, now you do it every night.  Between 2 AM and 4 AM, you quietly sleepwalk into our room, and somehow you climb up into the bed, and snuggle between pappa bear and myself.

My first inclination was to tell you when you were awake that you need to sleep in your own room, but you don't seem to have much memory of coming into our room.  Then I tried stopping you in your sleep, but then you just cry and cry and all any of us want is to just get some sleep.  Then my mom said something interesting, she said, "Why is it in American culture you try to train your babies to be independent sleepers at such an early age?  There's value in kids sleeping with their parents, it helps them feel secure and loved.  I bet kids think that it's so unfair that parents get to sleep together but they have to sleep by themselves."  That got me thinking--I only get EV as a baby for a little bit of time, especially since she already acts like a teenager sometimes.  I also really enjoy waking up and seeing EV snuggled between Jimmy and myself.  Plus, I don't have the energy to convince her to go to her room at 3 o'clock in the morning.

So, I may be undoing all those efforts to get her to be an independent sleeper, but we've decided to leave her alone when she comes into our bed.  Well, we'll see how things go after the renovation and our master is moved to the first floor.

Thanksgiving Traditions

This was the first year where we didn't have Jimmy's parents here and it was noticeably different. It's amazing how traditions form and become a way of life. That's why I want to create traditions with EV so that she has cherishable memories and things she can pass down to her kids.

One tradition we have had every year is to make Thanksgiving cakes the Friday after Thanksgiving. A very simple recipe:

1. Take all your leftovers and put it into a big bowl
2. Add eggs, mix thoroughly and make little (or big) balls
3. Coat it into seasoned flour, egg wash, and panko
4. Deep fry and serve

There are so many things I'm thankful for this year. As I reflect on the many blessings, trials, and challenges I've had this past year, I count it all as blessings as they have helped shape me into the person I am today and more importantly they have allowed me to grow in my faith.

Weddings

This past month, we have had the privilege to attend three weddings.  They were of friends from three very different stages of my life.  Interestingly, Jimmy was unavailable to go with me and so I had the honor of having EV as my date for all three events.

I am not a very emotional person but I can get very sentimental.  Interestingly, at these weddings, I choked up and held back some major tears at the very same moment--when they bowed and hugged their parents.  This never happened before, but that's when I realized it's because one day we will have to give EV away.

The last wedding I went to was a friend of mine from middle/high school.  It definitely brought back memories of sleeping over at her place and talking about boys all the time.  She looked absolutely stunning but I would not expect her to look any other way.  She was always very pretty--shy and pretty.  Well, I was trying so hard not to break down when her dad gave her the biggest and sweetest hug a father could give his daughter.  Maybe it's because I have known her for so long; maybe it's because I used to be so scared of her dad and seeing him hug her like that showed his soft side; maybe it's because one day Jimmy will give EV a hug like that; maybe I'm just a big softy now that I have EV. Either way, it was touching and it made me want to cherish every moment I have with EV.

EV on the other hand has had a very different perspective after attending these weddings.  She now associates weddings with dduk (Korean rice cakes).  It's so like my daughter to associate everything with food.

Congratulations, friends!  I wish you all the best as you journey into the next chapter of your lives together.  May God bless your marriage and you grow with more love each and every day.

The Holidays

Wow, I can't believe it'll be Thanksgiving this week and soon after that Christmas and New Years.  I feel like once August came around, we hit the ground running.  This may sound a little vain, but I really enjoy getting my picture taken and I really like taking pictures of EV even more.  We also have a very near and dear friend who is more like family who is always so willing to take photos of us.  So, in preparation for our holiday photos this year, I made a few items, including EV's holiday dress, ruffle pants, hairband, and Jimmy's neck tie.  I didn't want to be too matchy matchy but I did want everyone to have some pop of red in their outfits.

Here's a preview of our photograph session:

Things to look forward to:
--Thanksgiving with family
--Beginning of home renovation
--Christmas and New Years in Maryland
--Visiting friends in New York
--Holiday food, traditions, smells and festivities