Friday, August 31, 2012

Surprise!!!

I opened my email today during lunch to find an email from our agency. I was excited to open it and have new pictures! He has changed yet again in a month and a half. It is funny because just a few days ago I blogged about how we didn't get any pictures this month. Well, the last day of the month, but here he is!!!
These pics were taken on the 16th. As far as having experience on both ends (pictures monthly vs. pictures only 4 times while waiting 11 mos.) I would like to add that these pics help make the wait so much easier. I remember getting one update of Olivia and truly not recognizing her because she had changed so much from our last update. I see changes in Easton monthly, but I at least am recognizing him.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Science center fun

Once we were out of school indefinitely a few weeks ago we took advantage of one of our days off. The consignment sale was done and we had a day to spare so we wanted a day for the three of us. Something that didn't happen often enough over the summer! We packed a snack bag and we were headed to the zoo, but it began to pour on our way. So, plan B....I said let's just go over to the science museum and do that. John had wanted to take her there anyway, so we went.

She loved the "round round!" She had to look out the window at all of her "friends."

She used this pully to pull a figure on a parachute up to a magnet and when the magnet hit it the parachute came down. She loved this one!

Not her favorite...too much wind. They had a sail boat race.

She went fishing.

We built bugs after watching the queen bee in the bee area.

She came down a huge slide with daddy. She was a bit nervous because it was built to look like the inside of the heart. It was really weird looking.

She liked brushing the big teeth!

We ended at subway in the museum. She enjoyed a cookie after lunch before heading home for a nap.

We had fun just the three of us! It is something we need to be more intentional about before she is too big and doesn't want to hang out with us. She is a fun kiddo! She brings lots of laughter and lots of smiles to us. We love her so much.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Super mom

I wish I could say that the title fits me, but I can't. I just can't seem to fit it all in, and my blog has somewhat fallen by the way side. I hate that!!! Each post I say I will do better and that ain't happenin' so far! Busy is how our house has been lately. Here is a bit of a recap. After working the consignment sale we attended several local meetings as John and I are both teachers. Our schools were to open on July 31. They did, but then they closed. We didn't have students re-enter the doors for another week and a half. Bizarre, but a stand was finally made for our struggling budget. Unfortunately, there will still be budget cuts due to our local commission. It is a mess! Once school started, I dug in hard! I have become a fresh new teacher this year....ok, we have only had kids for a week and a half , but I am working hard, nonetheless. I am trying new ideas and working quite a bit. I leave the house by 6 a.m. to get Olivia dropped off at mom and dad's and then I head to work. My goal this year (one of the many) is to use my time wisely while at work. So, I get there early, don't socialize and stay late. I have been averaging leaving at 5. The night before the doors opened I worked until 1 a.m. at school. A cop drove by and shone his flashlight into my room....hello genius, the light was on and it was quite obvious I was working. Oh well. I have great kids (from what I can tell so far) this year and I am determined to teach using whole brain thinking and many new strategies. Other than work, I am currently planning a baby shower, took more clothes to a local consignment sale, retagging some items for another consignment sale, going on a weekend trip, celebrating my neice's baptism, dad's birthday, and hosting Easton's Dol, and trying to finish sewing orders. To say we are busy around here is a bit of an understatement. This is one way to pass the time though until our little guy gets home though, right?!? Oh, add in painting a mural....I HAVE to get his room done! I can't stand having projects hanging over me, but I think I have 20. HA! The last time I blogged, I was thinking we would get new pictures of our little guy any day. Well, with the new laws in Korea, I think it has been a bit crazy and the pictures haven't been top priority. Completely understood, but I sure do keep looking for them. I can't believe that he will be one in three weeks!!! We saw his little face at 5 months, and he is almost 1, holy cow! Time has definitely gone faster this time. I think it is that cute little girl running around that keeps me busy to pass the time. Last time our house was empty and we could hardly stand it. Now we have Olivia and we enjoy our time with her. I never blogged Easton's 10 month pictures because in truth I thought I would have 11 month pictures by the time I got around to blogging about them. I can't wait to see how much he has changed as each month I can see so many differences! Here are our (not so) little guys most recent pictures.
There is suppose to be a typhoon in Korea that is currently happening. It is amazing how much more you care about news on the other side of the world when you know your child is over there! Please pray with us that Easton, his foster family, Olivia's foster family and both of their birth mothers stay out of harms way during this storm. Apparently it isn't suppose to be horrible, but the words 'not bad' and 'typhoon' just don't seem to belong in the same sentence! We love you Easton. We pray for you and talk about you daily....many days by the hour! We can't wait to add you into this crazy house of ours that we call home. Stay safe buddy!

The last update was July 17--he weighs 20 lbs already!!! These monthly pictures are wonderful. I think that is the main help in this waiting process. With Olivia we got 4 pictures the entire time we waited. I noticed not receiving pictures this month has made the lapse of time seem longer. It is amazing how our minds play tricks with us, but those updates sure do help pacify me!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Olympics 2012

A few weeks ago we kicked off the olympics in style! We went to our friends Nick and MaryLeigh's house and enjoyed an evening of fun, food and friends. MaryLeigh had a screen set up outside for us to watch the opening ceremonies.

We each brought food to represent a different country. Of course we chose Korea. Since I was so busy tagging for consignment, I ordered it to go from a local Korean restaurant. MaryLeigh had said there would be about thirty there, so I ordered enough for 15 because I knew that we would just "sample" all of the different country foods. I said no sides, just meat. We got there to pick it up and Olivia and I waited outside. She was getting a bit restless so I decided we would go on in. I found John walking out with BOXES of food and two ladies behind him assisting. To say the least, my order was misunderstood and we had enough food for thirty full size meals. With Easton's first birthday coming, I decided we would just freeze all of the bulgogi and eat it for his Dol. Well, that didn't happen, so plan b here I come! :) Yes, wasteful. Yes, expensive. Yes, a super funny story. We decided we better laugh about it or we would cry. We had been working so hard on tagging and penny pinching and then did this. Oh well, such is life, right?!

The kids made these super cute torches (ok....us mama's made them and handed them to our kids)
Lovin the look Olivia is giving MaryLeigh!

They played outside with glow sticks

tricycles

and a massive red ball.

I personally love Mickey Mouse in the background of one of the tricycle pictures. Bates and Olivia had a ton of fun riding/pushing the tricycle. As you can tell, John didn't get quite the thrill, but he had fun nonetheless.

Everyone had a great time! Thanks MaryLeigh for hosting a great Olympic party and having us over. We always enjoy our time at your house!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Happy Anniversary!

Yep, this is another catch up post for me. Our 8th anniversary was on July 31st. We didn't do anything fancy. To be exact, we had registration at school. So, we both worked that night until 8. The night before, John surprised me with my favorite....cheesecake! He had 4 pieces from the cheesecake factory, and yes...we ate every bite!!! 2 oreo, 1 Kahlua, and 1 snickers. Yum!!!





That was a much needed break while tagging. He also gave me

I have really gotten into that show and watch it every night! I love Sheldon. He is a hoot!! That too was also great comic relief while tagging. We said no gifts, so I didn't have anything for him. Typically in this house there is no 'reading between the lines' so I was quite surprised that he did all of that. We had several cheesecake dates. I think I blogged about this before, but just in case I didn't...when there is cheesecake in this house from the Cheesecake factory, we can only eat it together standing over the counter. We only eat it at night once Olivia is asleep and we just eat a few bites a day. The last piece however, we shared with our little munchkin. She liked it a lot. It made me feel kinda bad that we hadn't shared the other, but she doesn't want for much around here.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Catching up ---Post 1

Where in the world did we go for the month of July?? I don't think I have let this much time pass since I started blogging, but I am going to post some pictures to let you see exactly why I haven't had time to blog. It is consignment season.




Yes, we had a huge horse in the house for a few weeks. It was interesting carrying him in my car!


We tagged 21 people's items and then did my stuff!! To say the least, we have been a bit covered up! It is all out of the house and at the sale that is currently going on. I got some great stuff for Olivia and Easton at the sale!! I can see my floor again!!! I can walk through my house without tripping over things! It was a TON of stuff, but we got it done. We get 20% of each item that sells (I know....$1.00 item we only get .20 cents, but it adds up!) I am hoping that we make enough money off of this sale to at least buy 1 plane ticket. Every penny counts!!
Hopefully over the next few days I can catch up so I don't let any memories slide by without documenting them. I want Olivia to be able to look back at her childhood and see how much fun we have--some days doing absolutely nothing special, but just being together.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

What a day!

This blog post is to be a reminder of "things could be worse." It is not me complaining, but a 'if you don't laugh about it you will cry' kinda day. We are throwing in the towel for the day, so I am going to bullet point the day. Remember, we are reminding ourselves to laugh this one off.

-Yesderday was our anniversary. (another blog and lots of catch up blogs coming.) I fell asleep rocking Olivia after school registration last night. I woke to her puking on me. I took her to the doctor yesterday morning because she had a temperature and was really snotty. I was thinking an ear infection or something simple. Her doctor tested for strep, but it was negative. He said she had a virus that is similar to strep but it wasn't strep. He said just to treat it with tylenol and benedryl. He also said she could vomit with this, but maybe not. Yep, she did! :)
-My phone has lost its charge yesterday, not a problem. I left it on the charger while I was at work last night. I got back to the car and it still didn't work. So, I came home and put it on the wall charger overnight. I woke up this morning to find it still wouldn't turn on. I called
customer service and was on the phone for over an hour.
-After one hour into the conversation, we had not gotten very far. I may or may not have been a bit (ahem) not nice. Really though, we pay our bill and the phone was randomly dead. It needed to be fixed and they were less than helpful.
-In order to get my phone up and working again, I would have to purchase an entire new phone or add a line. Um...no.
-We went to our local AT&T store and they couldn't help either. We were talking about possibly dropping every possible service we had with them due to the trouble we have had with them. Not a great thing to do, but it was on the table at one point today.
-We went to a main store that is close by. The very kind man was about to sell us a phone that would still put us out money, but not as much. He said, "before we do this, let me check one more thing..." So glad he did. It ended up being the battery! I can't believe that!! We just got these phones in May.
-We left there without a charge! That is the upside of being on the phone and completely frustrated for the bulk of this day.
-We went to the store while we were out, but they didn't have what I wanted so I was going to run into wal-mart while John and Olivia got dinner.
-We went to get dinner. It was getting late and John and I were discussing what to eat. I was going to do chicken sandwiches and fresh veggies, but John said, "Lets just pick up something. It will be much easier at this point."
-We headed to Chick-fil-a, but our 'tire pressure is low' light came on. John stopped to put air in it to get my by tomorrow.
-I wasn't in the store long before I saw Olivia and John behind me. John says, what did you want at chick-fil-a, chicken? I looked at him as if he had lost his mind (which I often do) and said, "yes, I am hurrying. I know its probably getting cold." His response, "Nope. They WERE OUT OF CHICKEN!" Are you kidding me!!!!
-So, 8:15 and back to the discussion of what's for dinner. As we pull out of the parking lot, John says, "oh no!" He pulls over and says, "Yep, its flat!" We were now laughing so hard at our day because it has just been that kind of day.


-He changed the tire and while he was doing that I called my mom back because she had called while I was checking out at the store. I was telling her that John was changing the tire to which she immediately said she had food she would bring us since we hadn't eaten. Thank you mama!!!
-We got home and started eating. Remember Olivia'a virus? Well, she hadn't held down food today due to all the congestion on her belly, I guess. This meal was no exception. Before we knew it she was throwing up chicken pot pie.

Well, there is our day. Laughable, right?! Tomorrow is another day. It is the first full day of school. Well, its an administrative day, so no students, and then registration tomorrow night again. Our last few weeks have been very busy!!! It is consignment season! Lots of catch up blogging to do!