Happenings

There's been a few things I've wanted to post so I don't forget them.  As of tomorrow, we've been home a month - hard to believe!

 

Here's the tallest lego tower...

 

 

We gave Tate "the daddy" haircut.  We knew it would be hot this week, and he literally sweats under that mop of hair.  We cut off 3 inches?  He has really coarse hair that grows like a weed.  Here he's doing "Where's ShiWoo?"  And he covers his face and uncovers it for us to say, "There he is!" 



 



And other happenings I want to remember so bring on the bullet points!

• I took Tate in for his physical last Thursday, the 23rd.  I brought his measurements from Korea so they could copy them and put them in his file.  On July 27th he was measured in Korea - in that 4 weeks he gained 2 pounds and grew 2 inches!!!  I'm willing to throw some measurement error in there, but still, the kid grew!  I can tell he's bigger.  He's now 25 1/2 pounds.  I think (and would confidently say I know) part of that weight gain is muscle.  He was pretty tipsy when he walked when we brought him home.  We've had him outside pretty much everyday walking and running around, and his legs have gotten a lot stronger.  He's become more sure-footed when he's moving around now.  And he hasn't gotten fat - he's just solid.  He's 50th percentile for height (yay! Liv has never broke the teens :)) and 25th for weight.  So he's holding his own.
• He's got some words!  I can tell he's understanding more of what we are saying.  He says Appa (the Korean word for daddy) and up, down (dow), and corn (co).  He's also saying mamma.  Mamma is also the Korean word for food so I never knew if he was talking about food or me, but in the last few days he's clearly called for me.  And corn, the kid LOVES corn on the cob.  So that word came pretty quick this past week.  I picked him up so he could see some cooking on the stove tonight, and he said "co" over and over again.  I can't put it on the table until he eaten some of his other food or he'll be totally insistent until he gets some (same with fruit and chips).
• Liv had her physical yesterday - she's grown 3 inches this year!  We're in the 15th percentile :).  She's gained a little ground since she was a baby.
• Tate loves his daddy and gets so excited when he comes home.  A few days ago I was getting supper ready in the kitchen, and the kids were playing in the living room.  All of a sudden he yells, "ABBADABBADABBA!" ...pause... "ABBADABBA and more chatter!" with BANG, BANG, BANG on the window.  I thought Aaron must be coming in, and sure enough Aaron was walking up the driveway, and Tate kept yelling and pounding on the window.  It was so cute.
• And sleep... the final frontier.  We've had him sleeping on the floor in our room, but last night was his first night in the crib.  We set it up in our room.  With Aaron starting to work some evenings and me putting both kids to bed, I needed to not have to worry about him getting up and wandering around if he wansn't asleep - cause it's taking about 40 minutes to an hour to get him to sleep at night.  I don't think it's freaked him out - we had Liv get in and pretended to put her to bed to show him it was okay.  I have to wonder what's going though his little head, what must seem like a sleeping cage to him. 
• Finally for tonight - Liv starts kindergarten next week!  (I know, we start so late in Wisconsin.  Most kids have been in school for weeks...).  But she's excited and has the same classroom and teachers as last year; so it doesn't feel like too much change.

Well, that's all for tonight... off to bed :).

Family

Aaron goes back to work full-time tomorrow.  What a BLESSING to have him home for a little over 3 weeks.  We had saved up some vacation time, and I'm so grateful we did.  Last week we did some fun events with our staff team.  The picture below was taken at the Como Zoo in St. Paul - a small zoo and perfect for small kids.  It was exactly 2 weeks since we brought Tate home and our FIRST family picture with all 4 of us!  So glad it has a brass gorillas in it too...  Oh well.





On Friday we got to spend the day with Aaron's parents, and a friend graciously took some family pictures of us.  I don't know what we would've done without grandma and grandpa behind the camera to get the kids' attention - it was a lifesaver!  So we'll post some of those when we get them.  I think Tate is recognizing the granparents a little more.

Then yesterday we drove to Wisconsin Dells to meet my family - we dropped Liv off so she could go to my parents for a couple days.  My grandpa and brother and sister-n-law came too so they could meet Tate.  I was so glad we could get together cause I don't think we'd see them until Thanksgiving otherwise. 

We got some really good pictures! (I love my camera.)  Here's one with my grandpa and all the grandkids.  He's 94 and sharp as a tack.  He's a walking history book.  I try to ask him questions because he's a wealth of knowledge and experience.  He gets a kick out of Liv and now Tate, and it's fun to watch him watch them. 

We actually managed to get a picture of all of us!  A nice woman from the park just snapped a few, and they turned out great!

Liv is always quick to chatter and laugh (and take anything with a little "sparkle" that I have on me).  I think this one is a kick.

LOVE this picture of the sassy Minnick women :).  and LIV TOOK IT!  She really does manage to aim and shoot fairly well - but this one is a treasure.   

We stopped in Tomah with Little Man for some Chinese food - kid can down some rice.  He got so excited when they brought it to the table.  I was just so happy and grateful for my family as we drove home.  God has so richly blessed us - and there was this sunset to cap off the day (the picture just doesn't do it justice...).

And family can look a little different as well - this picture is for the foster family.  They sent these lovely pajamas home for Tate.  They're soft and white with little blue teddy bears on them.  I thought a post-bath picture in his new pj's was a must.  Who can resist a wet-haired, little-one smelling like baby wash with clean pajamas on... 

The Finish Line

I LOVE the Olympics.  We're had them on every night - even in Korea where we watched sports we don't normally watch.  My favorite was listening to the Korean commentary during volleyball where every spike was met with an exuberant response by the announcers, "Spikoo!"  Anyway, during the fog of this week and the start of another chapter in our lives, I've tried to take moments in my heart to celebrate finally reaching the finish line of this adoption (though there's more paperwork/progress updates to turn in, the court date, and citizenship to file before we're officially "done").  It's been years since we started the process - 2 years since our homestudy was completed and we were put on the waiting list.  There was the switch from Ethiopia to Korea, sending in checks that shouldn't have cleared our account, praying like heck when we got his referral, and waiting 14 months to meet him with pictures coming in every so often as we watched him grow bigger and bigger.  There were prayers offered up in the middle of the night, at bedtime with Liv, at Bible study, driving in the car, looking at his picture by the sink, opening updates on email, and many, many silent prayers of, "Can we do this? A toddler boy? Korea? Money? Are you sure about this, God?"  Through it all God continued to give confirmation.  And now he's home (survived the plane ride!... with flying colors!), and I'm in awe of how God has answered every prayer, how this boy - even after 9 days - fits our family and fits my arms so well.  He truly, truly is God's bestowed blessing to us.  I'm in awe of how God has so richly blessed us with 3 of the most wonderful kids.  We haven't built our family in the most "traditional" way, but for us its been God's best for us and a rich, rich experience.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I think one of the things I've learned most through both adoptions is that if you ask God what He wants you to do, He's faithful to show you, to give firm footing when you feel like you're stumbling, and to reveal that His plan is Good - better than you could've planned for yourself though the path may not be what you expected.  He's so good.

Here's sweet boy in his pj's with a touch of bed-head.

This one was just too precious. 

He LOVES being outside.  He'll grab his shoes and go to the door.  We've been pooping him out everyday since the weather has been blissful.

So many of you have been right in the trenches with us in this journey. Thank you for praying - I cannot tell you how we've felt them. Thank you for loving us.  Thank you for loving orphans.  Thank you for supporting adoption.  We couldn't have gotten through this without you being a part of God's provision for us.

Settling In

You know how the winners of those hotdog eating contests are often thin Asian males?  I give you...

The boy can eat.  At every meal.  Bless his heart, we ordered take-out from a Thai restaurant last night, and he just devoured it.  Couldn't shovel it in fast enough.  He ate a whole egg role that was good size and 2 helpings of curry and rice.  I was so grateful we got take-out.  I think it was at least similar to a taste of home. This morning he ate a small bowl of cereal, a scrambled egg, a whole piece of toast, and blueberries.  This is our new normal. 

We had a little better night last night.  He still woke up for 3 hours, but he didn't really cry.  And he woke up a couple times and was quickly comforted when I was there.  I am still very sleep deprived.  I can't sleep - its like insomnia.  I'm so tired and I just can't fall asleep.  I'll sleep for an hour or two.  Then Tate will wake up later for a long time.  Then sometime around 4 or 5 I fall asleep for 4 or 5 hours.  So I'm hoping I can catch up soon after being awake for so long when we traveled home.  It has been something like bringing home a newborn - up at all hours of the night, in a fog, showering sometimes, but we're settling as a family and loving it.

We went to the park for a bit today because the weather was amazing.  Liv is slowly growing accustomed to her new brother.  It's an adjustment for her, and we knew that was coming.  She's been a very good big sister though.  She's been patient and helpful.

I'm so grateful Aaron has a little more time off.  It's been a blessing to have the freedom to take each day as it comes and just focus on helping our kids settle in to their new lives.  They're both pretty great :).

Plane Ride and First 24 hours

Let me say THANK YOU for praying for us!  I just felt those prayers as we flew home.  Tate did so awesome.  We all slept the night before we left.  He did so well through the whole plane ride and switching planes and being in the airports.  It was unreal.  Aaron and I kept commenting on how well he was doing.  I just knew the Lord was carrying us through it all. 

Then we got to see Livie :).  It was so good to see her and introduce her to her little brother.  She's been such a good big sister this last day.  She's been so willing to show him things and share and help.  It's been a blessing and a joy to see. 

Last night was really hard.  The kids finally got to bed at around 10.  By the time we got dinner and drove home from the airport and had general chaos getting in the house with luggage and exploring toys it was getting pretty late.  Tate slept for 45 minutes to an hour at a time and would wake up fussy and crying.  Then at 3 he woke up crying and wouldn't go back to sleep.  He just kept crying and calling for his foster mother.  It was so sad.  Aaron and I just cried with him, and Liv woke up too.  The 4 of us sat in the living room together for awhile.  It's so hard to watch him grieve.  His crying went from sad to really angry.  At 5:30 or so he calmed down enough and let Aaron hold him for awhile.  Then he fell asleep at 6:30 or so.  The 3 of us slept until 11 :). 

I have to say again what a sweet boy he is.  He's just captured our hearts.  He's doing so well, and I can just see his little brain trying to process all that changed and all that's new around him.  We named him Tate because it means "cheerful, brings joy."  And I love that his full name, Tate ShiWoo, means "brings joy, bestows blessing." He's definitely brought us so much joy. 

Here's a few pictures we took outside today: