The Big 2!

It was a big day in the Jones household!  We got ourselves a 2-year-old!   There was still the shuttling to and from school, a trip to the farmer's market, and other daily tasks, but we tried to have some fun things for Little Man.  His foster family from Korea sent him a package which was awesome!  Here he is with the little drum that came in the package.  And we went to the Korea restaurant for supper.  He devoured his radish kimchi and lettuce kimchi and went to town on the little dumplings, Korean beef, and bi-bim-bop.  It makes my heart so happy to see him have a taste of home.  I made him rice krispie treats for his birthday "cake".  He hasn't really eaten cake, but we knew he liked these :).

He's been home 9 weeks today.  I can't believe how well he's doing.  He keeps adding words - here's a few he's saying:
ucky - monkey (he has 2 little monkeys that are his special stuffed cuddle toys)
cee-oo - either cereal or cheerios, not sure which...
eye
cah - car
And I can't remember some of the others :). 

I still just can't get over what a sweet boy he is and what a blessing he is to us and our family.  I'm just so grateful. 

Sundays

I've wanted to post for awhile about our Sundays - I may have posted this before but I can't remember.  Sundays have become our (or at least my) favorite day of the week.  For the last few years we've really tried to make Sundays our Sabbath - a day of rest.  It's been wonderful.  I really try to rest (at least as much as I can with 1 and now 2 small people at home).  We do church in the morning, but I try to have leftovers or something really quick for lunch.  Last night, while I made supper, I put together a quick soup that I could just heat up today when we got home from church.  I don't clean, do laundry, go grocery shopping, or various other tasks.  When Liv was still napping I relaxed - watched football, read, looked at a magazine, did my Bible study, and on a rare occasion "crafted" something...  Then when she stopped napping we had quiet time where she played in her room, and Aaron and I could still have some down-time of our own.  We're still doing the same during Tate's nap. 

Then Sunday evenings is our dinner and a movie.  Our supper-time staples are typically venison summer sausage, cheese, crackers, carrots or other veggies, and apple slices.  And we usually add some sort of chips and dip or popcorn.  Then we set up camp downstairs and eat and watch a movie or show together. 

Now this isn't perfect from week to week.  There's some Sundays I'll put in a load of laundry, or we'll leisurely run an errand together as a family.  I may wash some dishes, but I try not to :).  But here's why I love Sundays - it's not become some legalistic observance, but a chance to mentally and physically disengage.  I don't feel guilty for not cleaning cause it's Sunday; I'm going to rest.  Things that don't get done Saturday get pushed to Monday.  We go for walks, take a bike ride, play outside, sit around, play a game, read books - do fun things as a family.  It's become an island of calm in the midst of a busy week.  God really knew what He was doing when He called for the observance of a Sabbath.  It's so helped me recharge, connect with the family, and be ready for another week.  It's become a day I guard and can feel it when work or something else necessitates us being gone or doing something else that day.

I write this not to sound super-holy but to encourage you to try the same.  Take a day to slow down, cease striving, and rest.  See what you think! 
(Photo above courtesy of Liv taken today, Sunday :).

Things to remember...





One of the reasons I blog is because I want to remember various moments in our lives as a family.  This photo below was taken about a week and a half ago.  I had said the word "whoops-a-daisy" to be silly, and Tate laughed.  Then we asked him to try to say it - it came our "hm-mm-day" and has gradually evolved to "hmp-a-daze".  I giggle everytime and just think it's the cutest thing.  (I'm the mom so I get to think it's the cutest thing :).  This picture also clearly shows his very distinct dimple right near his lip and his scooter which he can slowly ride on his own.  He is understanding more and more of what we say, and it seems like he adds about one new word a day.  When we picked up Liv from school last week he saw her out the car window and said "Na-na".  We refer to Liv as Nuna which is the Korean word for big sister.  Then I had him try again to say Nuna which he did.  On Friday I took him for a walk and kept pointing to trees and saying "tree".  Then today out for a walk he pointed at a tree and said "tee".  He's getting it.  I feel like at some point he just going to explode with language.  I'll be so happy and so sad at the same time - I LOVE his little babble right now.  It's about the sweetest thing cause he uses hand guestures and intonation to tell you all about what's happening.  I'll miss it a lot.

 

 

The other thing that gave us a giggle was in the car last week.  A couple years ago a nearby orchard introduced us to the Chestnut Crab apple (pictured below next to a normal size pear... they're small).  I love them because (1) they taste really good and (2) they're small - a nice little taste of apple and the perfect size for small children.  So we gave Tate a little apple to eat in the car as we drove.  A few minutes later we turned back and the apple was gone.  He had done this another time... he ate the WHOLE apple.  Aaron wondered if he had eaten the stem too.

As if to answer our question, Tate passed up the stem with a tiny shred of apple peel on it.  We laughed at this little garbage disposal we have. 

We had a great visit with Aaron's family last weekend.  Tate got to meet his great grandparents, great aunts/uncles, and lots of cousins.  I was so grateful we could go for the day.  The light wasn't ideal, and some of the pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.  This is a generation shot with Aaron's mom, her parents, and the kids. 

 

So amidst the busyness of the fall, we've been so grateful for moments together with our little family and our extended families.

 



Big Week!

Last Wednesday, the 5th, Liv had her first day of kindergarten!  She had half-days last week and begins full-days at school tomorrow.  I have to pack her a lunch tonight!  How do you send 33 1/2 pounds off to school all day by herself!  But she's such a big girl and so excited to be at school all day.  

 

 

The next big event was Friday night when she started riding a 2-wheeler all by herself.  She could've done it earlier but lacked the motivation.  Coming home from school where (I think) all her friends were talking about learning to ride their bikes suddenly brought the motivation :).  She rocked it.  No troubles, and now, at the end of the weekend, can go all by herself.  We got Aaron a new bike and all went out today.  Tate loves riding in the bike seat on the back of my bike, loves it.  We rode around while Aaron rode with Liv.  He got a mountain bike and had her going down the small hills in the grass at the nearby middle school.  I got a kick out of it.

So here we are, kicking the school year into gear for our whole family.  Labor Day weekend/first week of September is Aaron's busiest week of the year.  Liv started school, and Tate and I hung on for the ride :).  Tomorrow we'll start our days together.  I'm looking forward to our mornings with just the 2 of us.  I'll be back to doing the same things with him that I had done with Liv - running errands, grocery shopping, hanging out at home in our comfy clothes, library time, indoor play center, cleaning, cooking, playing.  Then after nap we'll get to pick up big sister and hear about her adventures.  Here we go!

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:

Gotcha Day Pictures

Here we are right before the prayer ceremony where the director of the agency prays for all the children and their families.  



During the prayer Tate rested his head on Aaron.  It was really sweet.

Hopefully it's okay that I post this picture, but I love it.  Here he is with with foster mother and her daughter.  Again, I can't emphasize enought how kind they've been.

And here's little man zonked out after the emotion of the afternoon.

We had Cory and Cindy with us here on our last trip and had much better pictures! :)  It's hard to try to be in the moment and photograph the moment at the same time.  And where's there's picture gaps is where I was taking video.  Oh well, you do the best you can :).

Gotcha Day

Yesterday, the 30th, was our Gotcha Day - the term in the adoption world for when you take custody of your child.  It was... good and so sad and heartbreaking and precious.  We had one last meeting with Tate's foster mother and her daughter.  It was wonderful to see them again.  We took pictures together and some pictures of Tate with them.  But then the time came for them to leave.  It was a quick goodbye.  I ached for his foster family and ached for Tate.  They left quickly as they began crying.  Tate did okay and looked around curiously.  Then we brought him up to our room.  He looked around for a minute - I think waiting for his foster mother to come through the door.  Then he got a real sad look on his face... then he started crying... and crying... and screaming.  And Aaron and I cried and held him and cried.  It was absolutely heartbreaking.  He kept looking at the door and calling for his foster mother.  And we just kept holding him and let him cry.  After an hour (by this time is was 4:30 in the afternoon and he hadn't had a nap yet) he fell asleep in Aaron's arms.  We laid him down for a nap, and he slept like a rock.  We woke him up after an hour - as I told Aaron woke him up back into his nightmare.  He started crying again immediately.  We quickly changed his diaper and got him in the stroller to go to a park we found out about close by.  When he got in the stroller and left the room his quit crying right away.  He loved the stroller, loved being out, loved looking at people.  We played for awhile and came back for supper.  It was such a blessing that his foster mother packed his supper.  He had seaweed wrapped rice rolls, some Korean pickles, a hard-boiled egg, tiny little sardines (ate those up like nobody's business), and a bunch of fruit.  The kid ate and ate and defintely eats more than Liv.  Then we brought him back to room - resume crying - gave him a bath and Skyped our parents and Liv.  He perked up for that.  Then came bed time - even more rigorous crying and screaming and arching the back.  It was just heartbreaking.  But then after about a half hour or 45 minutes, he pointed to his blanket, laid down with it, and went right to sleep.  It was the craziest thing.  That was nearly 12 hours ago.  He is still sleeping - poor little guy.  It's nearly quarter to ten.  Whenever he wakes up we'll get him breakfast and head out. 

Some of the precious moments yesterday were playing with him.  He's such a sweet boy.  Aaron pointed out that even though he's been so sad, he hasn't been obstinate.  He lets us hold himWe ran around the little playground with him, and he liked being in our little kitchen next door to eat supper.  He'll chat and point at things.  He was intrigued with Skype and would chatter and wave and point at the screen.  He liked watching himself on video I think.  And we broke out some bubbles.  Those were a hit as well. 

So I'm going to end this post for now.  If he keeps sleeping I'll upload and post a few more pictures.  PLEASE, please pray for him and for us, especially the flight.  I feel like if we can just make it through that then we'll be home and able to move forward from there.  At 6:30 pm central time on Tuesday evening (the 31st) we'll be boarding our shuttle to the airport here (it'll be 8:30 Wednesday morning of the 1st here in Korea).  Then a few hours later we'll be in the air.  We'll land in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening of the 1st at 4:30 pm central time.  By the time we get home it'll be about 24 hours of travel.  Thanks so much for praying.  We appreciate it more than you know!

Sights and Sounds

Yesterday, Saturday, Aaron and I switched lodging (moved from a hotel to the guest house in our agency which had an opening and is quite a bit cheaper) and then we shopping for the kids.  By far, my favorite thing we saw was this picture.  It looks slightly blurry because of the sortof holgram quality, but the writing is the best.  Read it closely - could be a good fit for us large Americans.  Man, I wanted to buy it and hang it in our dining area and just see who noticed.  You just can't find gems like this back home.

(In case you can't read the writing, its says, "I am the food shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.")

Then we ventured over the more cultural area for shopping.  There's a lot of really great Korean items you can find like fans, pottery, silk, scarves, and other trinkets. 

This is a girl's hanbak - the traditional Korean dress.  We got one for Liv that'll fit her right now, and Tate's foster mother had bought one for him.  I'm hoping to get their pictures taken in them together.

Also, we've been watching the Olympics in Korean.  They are (obviously) airing the sports featuring Koreans.  We've seen women's handball (cross between basketball and soccer - very interesting), archery, rowing, judo, fencing, and a little swimming. 

Last night we met another couple who had just taken custody of their little boy who's exactly 1 month older than Tate.  Oh, it just broke our hearts.  He was so sad and forlorn.  The expression on his face was so fragile that it seemed the slightest thing would put him to tears.  They are staying right down the hall, and everytime we've heard him today he's been crying.  It's just so sad.  On this side of things, adoption is seen as such a happy occasion - and it is.  So much paperwork and such a long wait finally ended with excitement to finally see this little person face to face. But for the child, adoption first starts with profound loss.  Loss of one of the deepest relationships between a parent and child.  And now for these little guys, another loss of the only mother they've known.  I have ached, cried, and prayed for Tate.  And now tomorrow our lives, and his little life, will never be the same.  We are so excited and ready to bring him home to our family, but we do so with a profound dependence on the Lord to meet us, and especially to meet Tate, in all the ways we need.  We're excited to bring him home and settle him in, but we want to be sensitive to his needs and his great adjustment.  Please keep praying for us and especially for Little Man.  He's a special little guy I can tell, and I can't wait for you to meet him too :).

Introducing Tate ShiWoo Jones!!!

We are in KOREA!!!  We got the call to travel to get ShiWoo this past Monday, the 23rd.  We flew out Wednesday the 25th, and now today, the 27th, we finally got to meet our little guy for the first time!  We had sent over a little toy photo album this past winter which we knew he had received and played with.  When we walked up he just looked at us for a moment with a look on his face like he was trying to figure out who we were and why we looked familiar.  We were able to spend an hour with him, his foster mother, and our social worker who translated for us.  We were just taken with him.  He's just shy of 22 months old and about the cutest little thing and such a sweet boy.  He chatters and moves about to play with various toys.  He loved this large toy car.  In the first picture we were playing a type of peek-a-boo with it. 

From what his foster mother told us, he loves people and even initiates with others.  He chatters all the time, and is a happy, easy-going little boy.  It was very apparent that he's been well loved and taken care of by his foster mother - a blessing we could never repay.  We're unbelievably grateful for all she's done.  We brought Liv home with the clothes on her back.  Today, the foster mother brought 2 full shopping bags with his blanket, 2 stuffed animals, a couple toys, his clothes, and 2 albums with all the pictures they'd taken - such a gift!  We couldn't believe she sent all that with us. 

We will have the weekend on our own.  Then Monday afternoon we'll take custody before we fly home on Wednesday, the 1st.  Please pray for this transition for him.  I'm sure he'll feel the separation keenly.  Pray for wisdom and discernment for us in how to best help him and love him well.  Also, please pray for our flight home with him.  It's a lot to have a toddler for 12+ hours on a plane.  Since he's under 2 we did not buy him a seat because we paid an outrageous amount for ours to fly over.  So he'll be on our laps.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous about it.  Your prayers will be greatly appreciated!

I'll try to post again in a couple days once we have him as long as we have internet.  We're in a hotel now, but we will transfer to the guest house at our agency since a vacancy opened up - quite a bit cheaper.  Thanks for celebrating with us!

5

Here's Liv on her next-to-last-day of preschool with her teachers.  She LOVED school this year, and her teachers were an absolute blessing!  I'm amazed at how much she learned and grew.



And today is Liv's 5th Birthday!  It was a big day and her 1st birthday at home!  Every other year we've been on assignment somewhere.  We so enjoyed getting to celebrate here!  She attended vacation Bible school at a nearby church this morning.  We went to the pool for 3 hours late this afternoon.  She requested pizza and icecream for supper - Papa John's and DQ, done.

I can't believe she's 5 and attending kindergarten this fall.  It's been a delight to watch her learn and grow.  She loves story - she doesn't ask questions about why things are the way they are or how things work, she asks questions about people and stories: Why did he do that?  Why did she get mad?  What happened to this person?  She's maintained her love of horses since our time in North Dakota last summer.  She likes to dance and sing around the house.  She loves to pretend.  She's great at "helping" around the house - trying to channel that energy so she really can learn and help do chores.  She loves to be goofy, loves to wrestle, loves Disney, loves going to the library, loves jamming to music in the car.  We keep praying for the Lord to continue to shape and mold her heart.  She is growing into a sweet girl.



And an adoption update:  So things are moving along quickly!  Right after my previous post we got a call that ShiWoo's visa is being processed and within the next 2-9 weeks we'll get our call to travel!!!!  AHHH!  We can't believe it!  I kept expecting things to move more slowly, that hopefully we'd go in September.  I hadn't really prepared myself that it could happen faster!  So now nesting has kicked in - we are trying to clean out and purge a bit.  I have hopes to paint the kitchen and my dresser... we'll see how far we get :).

I'm Back! Hopefully...

It's been nearly 8 months since my last post! I'm sure many that had been checking here have since given up! I've been divided between so many things I want to write about and remember and my dislike of spending time on the computer. But, I have a terrible memory (or so it has developed the older I get), and so remembering has won. Today I dropped Liv off for her last day of preschool. And as I rewatched the video posted below, I simply cannot believe that Liv will be in kindergarten this fall! I was amazed as I watched her this morning. She got out of the car and walked to the school building like such a big girl. As I pulled away, I saw her swinging her arms and walking as confidently as her 33 pounds could take her back to the playground. She's still such a peanut. And on the adoption front, ShiWoo is 20 months old and has been our boy for a year now. We were anticipating we'd be able to bring him home this fall. However, it's very possible we could go get him late summer! Of course they never want to assure you of anything, but I think it's very likely. I've honestly been in a state of surprise over the last 24 hours. I'd been preparing myself for a longer wait, but now the possibility of him coming home this summer has me shocked! So we'll see what happens, and I will definitely keep you in the loop!