Monday, April 23, 2012

Voice of Love

Last Sunday, yep--I am that behind--we went to a park to take some pictures with friends to advocate for our Korean children. There is a call for us to voice our concerns or simply share life once our children are home to try to explain to the government how important it is for these children to come home to their forever families. We are trying to get them to see how much we love our Korean children and how badly we want them home.










These pictures are just a few reasons why adoption is AMAZING!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Cheeburger Cheeburger

I go back to, you gotta eat! So, join us this Thursday night, April 26th for a great dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger in Hendersonville. There will also be face painting for the kiddos! What a great family night. You can eat there at anytime throughout the day, but you have to have a flyer to help our adoption. Thank you in advance for your support!!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Surprise!!!

I opened my email today and saw an email that had our little guys number on it. I got really excited because I knew he just went for his 7 month check up. I opened the email and we had 3 new pictures!!! What a dream! He is so cute and has changed quite a bit in the last month. He has a lot more hair! I showed Olivia when I got to mom and dad's to pick her up. I said, "do you want to see baby?" She responded, "uh huh." I opened the picture and said, "this is your brother. Do you want him to come live with us?" Luckily she said yes. I have asked that several times and the answer varies. But today she added, "he color with me?" So, maybe she sees a playmate? I hope they are great friends one day once we get past normal sibling stuff. I am sure they will!


Saturday, April 14, 2012

Introducing.....

Our little man.

We don't have a name picked out yet, so we are just saying little dude or little man right now. We just can't seem to come up with one. We have played with several, but nothing that feels just right. We are totally open to suggestions! :)

I thought today was a great day to introduce him as he is 7 months old today. I wish I were holding him and snuggling him, but I know he is in good hands a world away. It still seems so surreal to be waiting for a son! What a precious gift. I bought his first care package stuff to send and will be posting about that soon. Our paperwork headed toward Korea on April 5th, so our waiting has begun. I am thinking 18 months of waiting....better to be surprised than depressed in this process! I am SO excited to return to Korea. I am not sure where my emotions are right now. We didn't expect a referral this fast so I think I am still in shock. Last time I really worried about Oscar and how he would handle a sister. This time, I am really worried about Olivia and how she will be. I know she will be fine, but she is our world right now and I don't want to hurt her in any way. I already find myself comparing my feelings to this process versus Olivia's journey. I know they are totally different, but I still compare. I was already painting and preparing her room, and I have no desire to go clean out that room. Partly because I have no clue where we will put all that stuff! With her, I just took the stuff from her room and put it in the workout room which is now our guest room--which will now be little dude's room. I also know we are in for a long wait, and my heart is really guarded. I started Olivia's room when I thought we were waiting for 4 months.
We will continue to pray for our little guy and wait. I feel so blessed to be waiting, honestly. The referrals are coming slowly due to the backlog, and I know this guy is meant for our family just like Olivia was. These things don't just happen. I remember imagining Olivia's little voice. I wonder what he sounds like?

We took some pictures of Olivia holding his picture. It was quite comical.




Olivia walks up to his picture and says, baby! I have his picture framed on a table and she took it and placed it behind a bigger picture. She said, "bye bye baby!" Um....we could have a problem. I think she will eventually enjoy having a brother and playmate. I sure hope so!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter 2012

What a great Easter! The Easter bunny visited Olivia and Oscar and they both seemed to like their baskets!


We went to church....late nonetheless. (really, would it be me if I weren't late?!) It would have helped if I hadn't been sewing until ten min. till 11. Um, church starts at 11! I was determined to get an order done. Anywho, we made it to church and that's what matters I guess. After church, we had mom and dad come over to take a few pictures.


She loves being outside, so off she went in her dress to play. I had her come back and take her dress off for her to enjoy the sunshine, water and her toys for a minute before heading over to John's family's house.




I made Olivia stop so I could get a picture of her in the outfit that I quickly made. She is a stinkin cute model, I must say!

Olivia loves to have her sunglasses on outside, and somehow, and somehow she ended up with two pairs on. She is so silly!

We enjoyed lunch with John's family and then had an Easter egg hunt. Olivia had a blast!!!! She knew exactly what to do without us having to show her! There were some rather large items in this egg hunt! A hula hoop, bat and ball, kick ball, golf clubs and more! WOW! What an egg hunt (or toy hunt!) We got a quick picture with Olivia's cousins and Granddaddy (he is only 104 years old! ;))



Even Oscar had a treat in an egg!


Olivia and Allayney had fun looking through their loot and I loved seeing Olivia get excited with each egg she opened! She would gasp and say, "Look!"



After a bit more playing, we headed over to my parents. Olivia had not had a nap at this point, and immediately fell asleep. We let her nap about 45 minutes and headed straight out for the egg hunt at mom and dad's house. Annelyn had been waiting on her all afternoon! Olivia was still tired at the start of the hunt, and was a bit whiny. She wouldn't carry her basket, so John went along to help. In no time she was having a ton of fun again!










We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then the girls had fun looking at their baskets from Grammy and Grampy. Finally, we ended the night by dying eggs.




There were a few casualties, but all in all, the girls did a great job!



It was a perfect day!

Hey Seoul Sister!

Friday night we got to go with some friends to dinner. Tracy and her family from Ohio were passing through so we met up. I haven't seen her since we were in Korea, so it was really fun getting to hang out with her and her family. We enjoyed all the company and the kids had a great time playing. I got some pretty funny pictures of the kiddos because they were done with the day and super tired. I did manage to get a picture of Olivia and Emi. I love this because they have their locks on Seoul tower together. At that point, Tracy and I had not met the girls.

Wow, look at a year later!



Love that Asher just smiles along!



Of course we always love our time with Bates and Brodie! Unfortunately, hard head Olivia and Brodie ran into each other and left a big goose egg on Brodie's poor head.