Wednesday, July 31, 2013

9 years ago today

We said I do! 
We celebrated today by going to dinner at PF Chang's!  We then went to Lowe's.  I know....it just doesn't get any better, right?  Yep, I am right!!  My parents very kindly offered to keep Olivia, but we wanted her to go with us.  Tomorrow starts back the everyday grind for us and we know that our time is limited once we are back to work full force, so a babysitter was not optional in our mind.  I am not so sure about that smile she has with me, but its the best we got.  It's much better than the one with her mouth wide open and full of a fortune cookie.  If you look at the one in the car of me and John, you can see her leaning to get in the picture.  We love that kid so much and we are lucky to spend our anniversary with her!   
 
Happy Anniversary, John!!!  Nine years ago we stood in front of God, our families, and our friends and promised forever to each other.  Forever is hard, but I am glad I get to spend it with you!  We have had lots of ups and lots of downs.  A lot of laughter, tears, great memories and some that we may want to forget.  I am glad that you walk with me everyday of this journey called life.  Who knew 9 short years ago (I know it feels like 30 years, but only 9 deary!) we would be where we are today.  I did not see our paths going in many directions that it has, but I am so grateful that He saw it before we walked it, and He has provided.  I am looking forward to actually getting to 30 years and many more!  Just think, by then you will be basically senile so you won't realize it's 30.....you will think its only just begun!  Thanks for taking me....all of me.  The good, the bad, the happy, mad, very sarcastic, whiny, angry, goofy, non decision making self that I am.  Only you could put up with me.....I know that cause you have told me a million times.  I love you!  Thanks for all you do.  Thanks for the things that I don't recognize as items on the 'list'  that you take care of.  But, while I am being nice, I will just slide in that there is a two page list waiting for you on the kitchen table.  :)
 
Here's to many more!!!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Happy Birthday Adeline

Earlier in the month, we celebrated my nieces' birthday.  She turned one on July 5th, and we celebrated the following weekend.  Everyone seemed to have a great time!  The theme was ice cream and I took care of the decorations.

 
 
 

 
Adeline, as most one year olds, didn't have a clue. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
However, the other kids enjoyed playing on the playground and running around. 





 
After dinner and playground time, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl!



 



 



 
 
The rest of us enjoyed cake and homemade ice cream!! 


Sunday, July 28, 2013

EP SUBMITTED!!!!

BIG NEWS folks!!!  EP submission means we have movement!!!  Easton's EP was submitted and we got a call Friday mid morning to let us know.  Unfortunately, his birth mother still has not come forward, so I fear we may hit a snag or slow down.  It looks like we could, COULD have him home this year.  I don't want to get my hopes too high, but I am seeing a glimmer of hope!  Now that he is EP submitted, we wait for approval and then the court will give us a date.  This is not a fast process, so we knew this one step is an exciting one, but now we wait some more.  Days between submission and court approval for the families before us appear to be anywhere between 30-60 days.  However, the courts are on "vacation" until August 11, so that will give us another slowdown.  Once we have been approved by the court, we will then wait for a court date.  This appears to be 15-20 days.  From here, we wait to travel which has been running another 40 days or so.  Sooooooo.......here is the layout for what is ahead of us.  At least we know we are moving.  When I took these days and counted, if things go somewhat like they have for the few families that have traveled, we MAY see Korea in mid to late November.  This is a blessing and a curse.  Do you know what plane tickets to Korea cost during the holidays?!?!?!  Holy cow they are expensive.  I was so hoping to go in October before it gets super cold, but I don't see that happening unless they speed up the process to get more kiddos home before the end of the year.  Seeing as so few have come home this year, I am hopeful to see that happen.  Who knows?!?!?  We will continue to wait, pray and wait some more.  Our sweet boys birthday is quickly approaching.  I never dreamed he would be over two coming home!!!!  As long as he comes home, I am good!  This mama is tired of waiting.  I did love that we got our EP submitted on the exact date of us waiting 16 months!  Good news people, good news!!!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Rainy days

As we watched several rainy days go by, we decided if we can't beat it, play in it!!





"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain." 

I feel like this is where we are.  We are in a "storm" along with other families.  We are learning to dance in the rain because we have no other option.  This adoption has been hard.  We can do hard, but we are still learning how.  We are not worse off than others, and our life isn't harder than others.  We have a good life, but right now it is hard.  It is at a stand still to some degree.  My mom pointed out yesterday that we have waited almost 3 pregnancy lengths.  It's hard to swallow and unless you walk that path, it is hard to understand.  Heck, it's hard for me to understand some days.  It's all the not knowing.  Not knowing if he will come home this year, not knowing if his BM will take him back, not knowing the WHEN he will even come home.  I know they are hard, but a pregnancy guarantees 9 mos. give or take.  We are all impatient people to some degree.  My patience is running thin!      

Good News!!  We found out that Easton's papers have been moved and are being prepared.  Ok, so this happened a month ago, but I didn't put two and two together until this weekend when I saw another family with our agency (a  May 2012 family, we are March 2012) had their paperwork moving and I panicked a bit.  When my social worker called Friday night, she put my worries to ease to let us know that when she went to Korea and had told us she took our papers with her that this was the reason why.  Lightbulb moment for me!!  His BM has not yet relinquished, or they haven't found her.  That may cause a 'hiccup' for us, but at least we are moving forward. 

As John said, we shouldn't get too excited!  This is basically our papers going from one desk to another.  We still have a LONG way to go, but at least we know our papers are being looked at.  So, it is a success. 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Happy Birthday Nell!

My friend MaryLeigh is one creative mama!  I love to see what she comes up with and for her daughter's birthday, she did a random act of kindess day.  The theme during their wait for her to come home has been Love Big.  So, today, Olivia and I put on our love big shirts and we all headed out to show some kindness and love big for Miss Nell's 2nd birthday.  We already had a play date planned today which worked out great!  We all went swimming to start the day!  We had planned that we would do 6 acts of kindness, and we only got to 5.  We may roll the other one over to tomorrow.  That's ok, right?!  We came up with our acts, which ended up being some of the same ones that MaryLeigh did, but that's ok...different town.  I loved that we had Nora with us today because her dad is a local police officer.  She felt like a star!  So, we prepared our acts of kindness and attached this note to them.  I loved doing this and we all had fun!!!  Thanks MaryLeigh for a great birthday for Nell!  We wish she were here with us, and we can't wait for her to be home!

 

We worked up an appetite swimming so we headed to Chick-Fil-A.
 I didn't take a picture, but I put the card on top of a gift card and we handed it to a lady as we were leaving.  She came up to us once she got her order (John had stopped to talk to someone) and said, "I know you placed that in my hand, but that was God.  I lost my job last week and just needed something like this!"  WOW!  What a start!!! 

Next we went over to the fire station to take some cookies.  Olivia loves to go there.  When she gets too loud in church, she and John walk over and look at the "whoo woos" so she was super excited to get to go today!  Somehow, the girls made out pretty good with loot today! 


They left with hats and whistles!  Thanks guys, we love the whistle!! ;)
 
We walked across the street to take some goodies to the police station.  Nora was particularly excited about this one!  Everyone there knew her.  We got to go down to find some policemen, but they weren't to be found.  Finally, a lieutenant came up to see the girls.  Here they got two huge stuffed animals!  Hmmm......I don't think we were suppose to be leaving WITH stuff!
 
 


Our next stop was out to my mom's best friends' house where we picked some gorgeous flowers!  I knew Nora's mom needed to smile today, so we picked her some flowers and made her a bouquet.  I think she liked them! 


 

Olivia was over it by this time!  It was hot and she didn't like the "sticky" flowers.

It was time to get Nora home, and we also delivered the flowers to her mom!  We came on home and gathered our popcicles to take to the construction workers in our neighborhood.  They don't speak English and I don't know Spanish, but the note was on it and I am sure someone was able to read it for them.  I am hoping they enjoyed the popcicles in this heat!!!! 



 
Our #6 act of kindness will be tomorrow.  We ran out of time because I was at work cleaning and trying to get ready for the upcoming school year.  So, tomorrow we will go to sweet cece's and leave a gift card for someone to enjoy ice cream on us.  This family loves ice cream and I can't think of a better way to end our acts of kindness!!  What a great day!
Happy Birthday Nell!!!  We love you and can't wait for you to be home!

 

Friday, July 19, 2013

22 mos

I cannot believe our little one is 22 months old. We got new pictures this week and also found out he is now receiving some therapy a few times a week. Hopefully that will help him and he will be able to gain in some areas. I loaded the picture on my phone and told Olivia to take it over to daddy.  She looked at it and said, "look daddy, he is walking now!!"  I loved that she noticed that!
He currently weighs a heavty 23 pounds. If he doesnt come home soon, he really will be bigger than Olivia (she is 29 lbs.)!  It blows my mind that we have waited for 16 almost 17 months for him to come home. I honestly dont know if he will be home this year, but we will continue to pray in that direction. Look how much our little guy has changed!!!
5 mos at referral
 

22 mos.

Hurry home little one!!! 

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hooked!

Yep, I am hooked!!!!  Hooked on Consignment that is!!!  If you want to see one of the top consignment sales in TN, you definitely need to come to this sale!  Natalie Dohanos puts a sale on that is far above the rest!  She truly cares about what is at her sale and works hard to ensure that it is a top notch sale!  She is such a sweet person, and I have personally followed her from other sales until she landed Hooked on Consignment last spring.  Here is a little about Natalie: She taught Preschool and worked for Gymboree for 6 years as an Asst. Manager and that is where she first discovered her love for Children’s Clothing.  She worked for Encores North from 2009-2011 as the Sale Manager and then decided in 2011 to start an Encores in Murfreesboro. In 2012 she realized that she wanted to have a sale in her home town area of Hendersonville/Goodlettsville  so she started  Hooked On Consignment.


  At Hooked on Consignment you will find the best deals on kids clothes, toys and gear.  If you are new to the consignment world, I really encourage you to come to this sale!


You can shop the Hooked On Consignment Sale July 27th-Aug. 3rd. The sale is located next to Bed Bath and Beyond in the Rivergate Mall area. It is located at Exit 1 right off of Vietnams Veterans Parkway.

If you love to shop consignment sales and find those amazing deals at a fraction of the cost, then this is the perfect sale for you!   Here you love finding new with tags Boutique items, new with tags Gymboree, Mini Boden, Matilda Jane, American Girl and much more! 

I have tagged many items for this sale already, and I know for a fact that I have all of the above names ready to go to the sale!  I can't wait to shop!  If you are available, come out and volunteer some time to help at the sale.  It is an amazing atmosphere that is fun and friendly.  Hope to see you there!!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Happy 4th of July (a little late)

The week of the 4th brought a lot of rain!  Luckily, a local firework show did theirs the night before.



 
We went with our great friends Danyell and Levi to Chick Fil A before heading out to enjoy the fireworks. 
Olivia wanted to hug for a picture

 
Unfortunately, Jim Jim (as Olivia likes to call him) had to haul hay.  We missed him, but had fun nonetheless.  Levi was tired, but he did amazing!
 
 
We were so close that we could feel the firework dust falling on us. 

On the 4th, we hung out at home and played inside.  It was pouring!!!  For dinner we went to my parents house and had a great meal.  Steak, potatoes, salad and homemade ice cream!  Joining us this year was mom's high school best friend.  We love her and have always thought of her as family, so it was a nice addition to our table. 

We went outside where it had gotten quite chilly....especially for a southern July!  Local fireworks began despite the rain so we ventured home so we could watch them on the way. 

By the weekend, the rain had finally cleared and we went to John's dads' house to enjoy fireworks done by his dad.  There we enjoyed homemade peach ice cream.  What is it about the homemade ice cream this summer?  We aren't sure, but we sure do love it!!!

Happy late 4th!  What an amazing day!  It is wonderful to live in this country.  I hope Olivia grows up proud being a citizen of this country, but also remembering her Korean roots.  We proudly will fly both flags around here!!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Last birthday post....promise

The day after Olivia's birthday the gift that we got her arrived!  She opened the door and I said, "well, daddy isn't home, so let's wait a bit."  All she could think about was what was in that big box outside.  The first thing she said to John when he walked through the door was, "my present!  I want to open my present!"  With that, John got the boxes in and let her open the first one.  He had her open the box with the pieces in it and I watched her little face drop.  She was almost in tears.  Ok, she can be a bit dramatic!  Before he would open the big box, he had her smile holding up a piece of the metal leg.  So....not so sure, she waited while he opened the box.  She saw a long pink think and then quietly said, "balance."  I asked what it was and she said with a huge smile on her face, "balance beam!!"  I think she likes it!  Happy 4th Olivia! 






 


After a few times of walking across it she could squat and stand back up, jump and land back on it and turn around and walk back.  I think it will be a while before we add height to it, but she is doing really well on it!