Thursday, July 2, 2009

We got a new picture of Clarissa!!

It's is absolutely killing me that I can't share photos here because getting a new photo of Clarissa is like Christmas around here and I want to share it with everyone!

The other day I mentioned that we got her five month well baby checkup report in the mail and I was a little disappointed that there was no photo with it. Then today I got an e-mail from our agency with a photo that I'm guessing was probably taken the day of the checkup.

There is something just so amazing about getting a photo of her. It's actually kind of a strange feeling. I feel so close to this amazing little person that I've never even met. I so badly want to just pick her up and kiss her sweet face.

So now my petty complaint about the photos from Korea is that it's hilarious to me how they take these photos. In their mind they're simply documentation photos to go in their file, not glamour shots or anything, so I think they pretty much just plop them in the chair, snap a quick photo and move on to the next baby. In the latest photo she has this total deer in the headlights look on her face, lol. She looks totally startled like she has no idea why they just put her in the strange little chair and stuck a camera in her face. I would love to see a photo of her smiling! I wonder what she looks like when laughs and when she's comfortable in her surroundings.

I will happily take what I can at this point though. I love her deer in the headlights look! :) Since I can't show the photo I will describe it. For anyone who saw the last photo (I shared it with family and some friends) this one is taken in the same place. She's sitting in a purple Bumbo seat with a big stuffed animal behind her. She's wearing the cutest little strawberry outfit! She has a ton of hair and it's pulled up with a clip. I love to think of her foster mother picking out cute outfits for her and fixing her hair. I can tell that she's being loved and well cared for.

One thing that I can really tell from this photo is that she has HUGE eyes!! I've learned interesting things about Korean eyes over the past year. If you're caucasian you know the crease in your upper eyelid that we pretty much all have? Only about 20 percent of Koreans have that crease in their eyelid. Most Koreans eyelids go straight down, which makes their eyes narrower. In Korea it's considered a sign of beauty to have a crease in your eyelid. It makes your eyes wider and rounder, which they like. The most common plastic surgery in Korea is eyelid crease surgery! People who don't have a natural crease pay lots of money to have one surgically created. I had no idea that such a thing existed until I started reading about Koreans and I kept noticing that eyelid creases were mentioned a lot when they described someone.

I tell that whole story because Clarissa is one of the 20 percent with the crease in her eyelids, something that she actually shares with her biological mother. (Eyelid creases are such a big deal that although we only have a small amount of info on Clarissa's biological mother, they did take the time to mention that she has an eyelid crease. I don't know much about her mothers life story but I do know everything I need to know about her eyelids, lol!) Anyway, Clarissa has extremely round eyes for a Korean. I could tell from the last photo, but they're even more noticeable in this photo (possibly because she has such a surprised expression on her face!)

The other thing I noticed in this photo is that strangely she almost looks SMALLER in this photo than she did a month ago, which is weird since she's gained a pound and a half since I last saw her. I think that maybe she has gotten taller so even though she gained weight she actually looks like she's thinned out just a little. Her cheeks are slightly less chunky than they were in the last photo. They're still pretty smoochable though!! :) I wish so badly that I could just pick her up and snuggle her.

I just can't stop looking at her! I've stopped typing this blog post several times just to go look at her sweet face again. I love her SO much! I love every single thing about her. I love her round face and her big eyes and all that hair and her chunky little legs. I love her sweet little hands and her sweet little toes and I love that she has a foster mother who takes the time to put cute bows in her hair. These photos are so special to me, especially because I never know how long it's going to be before I get another one, if I even get another one at all before we go get her. They're really hit and miss and I think that we've already gotten lucky to get so many!

So now I'm going to go back to staring at my sweet baby. :) I'm going to have every inch of that photo permanently burned into my mind by the end of the day. Clarissa is REAL and that makes me happy. :)

5 comments:

Joy said...

I didn't know that on the percentages of the eyelid crease, but I did have a friend in highschool who was Korean, and she had these little stickers that she would put on her eyelids to force them into a crease. It seemed pretty silly to me, but it's a big deal to them.

Unknown said...

I am signed in under my husband so don't feel weird when you see a guy writing! I am so excited for you. I absolutely can't wait to see her pictures. I follow your blog and I am happy for you!
Alisa
aweronick@comcast.net

Wendy said...

I've seen those eyelid stickers! I watched a whole little documentary about Korean eyelids one day and they showed women applying those stickers. It's funny what some cultures consider beautiful. I had no idea that eyelids were such a hot topic in Korea, lol.

Christie said...

I'm so glad you are getting more pictures! I almost feel like a part of your family. Not trying to be weird or anything.

My5Blessings said...

How exciting! I hope that you get a new one every month. She sounds so beautiful, I can't wait to see a picture. How many pictures do you have of her?