Finally final!!! One whole family!!!

We went to court yesterday to finalize S's adoption!! What an AMAZING feeling!!!

This is a picture with us and the presiding commissioner!

Fall leaves are fun to play in!!!

I had BUNCHES of fun "teaching" the boys how to play in the leaves!!! G quickly figured out that he could kick them and crawl through them!!! We also buried each other in them!

This one was too cute to not post!!

Its been a while again...

I've been reminded that I haven't posted in a while. I'll see what I can do to make up for lost time. My brother's homecoming was FABULOUS!!! I'm SO happy to have him in the same country!!! Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Homecoming

I'm so excited to realize that we THINK my brother will be home in a month! He has been gone for WAY too long. I really miss being able to pick up the phone and call him...the military really frowns on people trying to call soldiers in Iraq!

Oh, and we are half way to a new roof!!! I had to leave the house this afternoon because my ears were starting to ring from the hammering. I finally called the guy we've been working with at 8pm. I asked him if they were ever going to stop hammering?? I told him I really didn't care when they quit as long as the roof was waterproof before they left...except I have two babies that NEED to go to bed!!

A couple more for fun!!

Look mom, no hands!!!

We had SUCH a good time while we were on vacation.

PIcture update

I found out that somebody DOES check this. :) I'll try to post some pics...until one of the boys wakes up from their naps!

This was in the Olympic Ring fountain at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wow...summer goes FAST!!!

I've just realized that I've been deliquent in my posting. I'm really not sure if anybody is looking at this anymore though. :)

We just got back from vacation and had a WONDERFUL time. I'll post pics as soon as I find some good ones.

Another 4th pic

Here is one of the whole fam.

Happy 4th of July!!!

HAPPY BABY!!!!!


















LOOK! I walk!!!

It's a little late, but I wanted to post a couple of pics from our holiday. We had a great time hanging out in the back yard. We were blessed with the most WONDERFUL weather!!!

Bubbles are the BEST!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Last Tuesday was Gman's 2nd birthday. Unfortunately, we didn't get to celebrate. We were in the waiting room in the hospital in Little Rock, AR. Hopefully, we'll be able to celebrate soon with cake and ice-cream!!

Brotherly love??

I guess he felt the need to "help" me empty the dishwasher!! He will climb in, on, or over ANYTHING!!!

I'm really not sure if this could be called brotherly love or if it was just trying to occupy the same space. I guess you can decide!

Time does heal

We've officially been a family of 4 for two months now. If we could keep this poor baby well, I think that things would be better. They do, however, continue to improve. Its really just been this week that we've started to see more of S's personality. He has really started to accept us and become part of our family. This is such a difficult process for everybody and he is such a sensitive little thing that sometimes it makes it more difficult. Adoption is DEFINITELY NOT for the faint of heart. He really has grieved appropriately, which is SO hard, but a good thing. Time is now starting to be our friend instead of our enemy!

I'm also happy to report that he has started to take a few steps unassisted. He does the Frankenstein walk to help steady himself and SMILES from ear to ear the entire time he is doing it! I think I've counted 6 steps at one time. I'm sure he'll be running before we know it...why is it that kids grow up so fast???

I'll try to post some pics of him walking if I can ever catch it on film!

Pics!

Yep, thats my tongue!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

What a fun weekend!! We went to the farm yesterday to "test" out how S would do in a car seat for that long. He did wonderfully, G, not so much. He sang the sleepy song all the way there and it took forever for him to give up on the way home! We had a BLAST at the park!!!

Today we went to church and my family took me out for lunch. I was able to leave the house for a while (BY MYSLEF!). We grilled out for supper and it was a small slice of heaven! Here are a few pics of the weekend.

Free time?

I've been notified that I haven't updated this site in a while. I'm thinking that I have a good excuse, right? Between the lack of sleep and the abscence of computer time, its been a bit difficult.

All in all, things are going well and everybody is starting to settle into being a family of four. Nobody seems to be sleeping through the night, but we are hoping that it will get better soon. This baby's adjustment, although frustrating at times, has really been nothing short of miraculous. In the past couple of days he has started playing with us and smiling a lot more. I have to keep reminding myself that he has only been home a month!

It was an interesting night last night. I had to run to the basement when the tornado sirens started going off. It was crazy trying to get everything and everyone downstairs by myself! The tornados missed us in the early evening. Fortunately, we have a weather alert radio and it woke us up saying that we were in a thunderstorm warning. When the 80 mph winds hit and the house shook, I was REALLY glad to know what was happening. THANKFULLY, we were not hurt and we only lost a bit of the fence in the back yard. Buildings, roofs and houses were completly lost about 8 blocks from our house! It was a rough night and we are still trying to get in touch with friends, but so far, everyone is safe!

I'm attachging a couple of pics to help appease those who have sent requests!! :)

One is a picture of the big little man making an attempt at NOT getting dressed! As you can see, he finally gave in.

A couple more of the smiley baby

Papa is always the coolest!

Pictures for the masses

Every one has finally started to feel better. The boys are still awake from about midnight to 4am, but it seems to be getting better. Or, could it be that I'm just getting used to it? Thanks Mom, Dad, and E for coming down and bringing food. Thank you M for sending food!!!

So, as requested, some pics of our first few days at home. We've tried to get the boys outside and in the sunlight in an effort to reset their internal clocks. Today we went to the park for a few minutes.

Prayers please

And it begins...we just got back from the doctor. S has double ear infection and G has pink eye. Ick. Well, I guess this would qualify as a double ick. I'm hoping once we get them both feeling better that they'll start sleeping better!!

Home at last

We got home late last night. Please don't ask when that was because I have no idea what planet we are on right now. Actually, we are all much better after some food and about 4 hours of sleep this afternoon. Gigi came home tonight. The little man is NOT sure about her at ALL.

All three of us were sick the last day in Korea. I was really sick and so that is why I didn't post about our last couple of days there. I'll try to post some more pics when my brain is functioning better.

Thank you for all your prayers. They have been very much appreciated.

Its Monday Evening

Today was another incredible day in Korea. We hoped on a high speed train and traveled across the country. We were in Busan, which is where our new little man was born. A social worker from the agency met us at the train station. We went to the hospital where he had been born. We were extremely fortunate enough to meet the lady who was the main doctor while he was in the hospital and a nurse who remembered taking care of him. They said they remembered him because he was so cute! (I'd have to agree!) We ate lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant. There were about 17 courses of food and almost everything was delicious!! We didn't care too much for the sushi. :)

We went to the agency office and were able to meet the social worker that had handled his case AND the foster mother he lived with while in Busan. It was totally amazing to be able to meet all these people in one day! The social worker kept telling us it was our lucky day! I'd really have to agree. We were able to drive past a couple of beaches. Busan is a major port city in Korea and its a beautiful city. Its famous for its cherry blossoms...which came from Korea, NOT Japan!

The pics are of my tiny boy's feet. He weighed 2 pounds 12 ounces when he was born and his foot print is smaller than my index finger.

Whew what a day!!!

We met my cousin today and had SUCH a good time. She was able to fill us in on all the little secret places of Seoul. We went to Insadong. Its a shopping district where they close off the streets during the weekend. We got a bunch of really cool stuff for the boys like art work and traditional masks. My cousin speaks enough Korean to help us find a really cool store that sells hanboks (traditional Korean dress). We were able to get bigger sizes for the boys and they are BEAUTIFUL. On the venture to find the store we passed the Dongdaemun Gate. Its the only existing gate left after the Namdaemun Gate burned down. And yes, it is difficult to see the little man...he was asleep!

Then we went looking for a place to eat. That was an awesome adventure in itself. We went through a bunch of back alleys and found a really cool traditional place. We had to take our shoes off at the door and got to sit on the floor to eat...ahhh...heated floors ROCK. It felt very good on sore bodies! And the food. Oh, the Korean food is possibly the best thing I've ever eaten. I wish I knew how to make some of this stuff, but I don't think I'd ever do it any justice.

We are off to bed now so that we can be to the train station early tomorrow. We are off to the beach!!!

Sunday morning

We hit the pool in the hotel last night and we all passed out! This morning we got up and walked down to the Namdaemun Gate. It was a gate that was part of the original city walls during the Joseon Dynasty and was originally completed in 1398. Needless to say, it was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul. It was named National Treasure #1. To the best of my understanding of the story, the new president of South Korea decided that monuments would be better if they were closed to the public. I'm really not even sure why. Some poor man then lit the gate on fire in February of this year. It was a very sad sight to be around. They've built a wall around the gate and are trying to restore it. Its difficult to tell from the picture because of all the scaffolding, but if you look closely towards the left of the picture you can see the outline of the archway. The original pic is one I found on the net. You can get the idea of how large this thing was. There is now only one gate left and we are hoping to see it on Tuesday.

We just got done with lunch and are hanging out for a while to let the dryer finish. We are meeting a friend/cousin from the States this afternoon to go SHOPPING!!

What an amazing time!

I'm in love with this place! The people are amazing and there is SO much to see and do while we are here.

After we figured out how to navigate the subway system we went to a Folk Village this afternoon. The pic with my guys is in the Folk Village with Namsam Mountain and Seoul Tower in the background. It was very interesting to see some very old original houses/palaces. The picture with me is with a bunch of kimchi pots. Amazingly, we've only had it to eat a couple of times. It was offered at breakfast, but I couldn't bring myself to eat it that early in the morning! For those who dont't know, kimchi is fermented cabbage. Once you get past the smell, its actually pretty good.

On the way back to the hotel we happened upon a large demonstration outside of city hall. We wished we would have had somebody with us to let us know what they speakers were saying...well, maybe we didn't want to know.

Our poor little man fell asleep in the carrier on the way back. We were able to get him out of the carrier, but he is still asleep. I'm sure he'll be up for several hours again in the middle of the night. I'm going to sign off for now!

He is perfect!!!

Ok, so I MAY be biased, but I think he is perfect!! G really didn't seem to notice that the new baby was in the room until he was sitting in my lap. The foster mom laughed and we could tell from her sign language that she said they would knock heads at some point in the future. We believe the foster mom did a wonderful job with him. Its VERY hard to tell that he was only "half baked" when he was born. Our boys are VERY close to the same size.

Now we are off to check out this wonderful city. More on that later!

We made it to Seoul!!

I used to have a dream of traveling international...that was until about half way through a 15 hour flight. :) Besides being ridiculously long, everything went well. We ended up getting a bulkhead seat and a bassinet for the little man. In the 24 hours we were traveling, he slept about 5 hours...not a good rate when you consider he usually sleeps about 13 hours on any given day!!

We made it to the hotel fine last night and we were able eat at a resturant in the hotel. We were able to get some sleep last night except Gman thought it was fun to be up from 1:30am to 4am!! Course, when you consider that is the middle of the afternoon for his internal clock, the best we could do was try to be quiet so that Dad could sleep.

We've all eaten a really nice breakfast that the hotel provides and gotten showers. We might live!! We are getting ready to leave so that we can figure out the subway system and get to the office to meet our new little man!!!!

Ps-please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors as I'm still running on fairly few brain cells. I'm not going to go check anything. I just hope you can get the general jest of what I mean!!

We are leaving on a jet plane...

In about 12 hours we'll be on our first flight. I think we are packed. I'm pretty sure that I have everything. Well, at least we should be able to buy about anything I might have forgotten! I wanted to thank all of you who have sent e-mails and called wishing us well. It really means a lot! I better get to sleep now!!

My next post should be from Seoul!!!

We have a meeting time!!!

We just found out this morning that we'll get to meet S on Friday morning and then right after that we'll actually be able to meet G's foster mother too! I'm starting to get REALLY excited!! Now I have to get packed to go to O town this weekend!!!

Have a HAPPY EASTER!!!

***TRAVEL CALL***TRAVEL CALL***TRAVEL CALL***

What a week!! As of late Tuesday afternoon, we still had not heard anything about our travel clearance. There was a flight with Delta that would be straight from Atlanta to Seoul for an extremely reasonable price, AND we'd know somebody else who would be on the flight!

On Wednesday, the agency called and said that the agency in the other country was concerned about a medical condition. Well, we've known about that condition for months and have always been fine with it. I'm really not sure what has changed. It made for a VERY discourageing and frustrating day!! Especially when I went to make the airline reservations and the price had jumped by over $550 PER TICKET!!! I tried to call the travel agent and he was NO HELP either. He also told the that the hotel we wanted to stay in didn't have any rooms available. WHAT??? We could leave the following Tuesday, but I didn't want to WAIT that long!!!

After my dear husband got home from work, we were able to finally find a flight that would leave on Wednesday and return the following Wednesday. It wouldn't be as perfect as our plans, but it would at least still have the same outcome.

It really shouldn't have been this stressful!! :) At least we are going to leaving soon and we'll get to meet our baby next week!!!

We know that God has had everything in this process in His plan. We would LOVE to have you pray for us! We need safe/UNeventful travel. Please also pray for our boys that we'll have a smooth transition to a family of four!!! Yikes!! We'll be a family of FOUR next week!!! YIPPEE!!!

Almost forgot!!

I did have one other bright note today!! I got to talk to my brother today!!! It was SO nice to hear his voice. He sounded great and I'm glad to find out that he has an air conditioned place to sleep!!! Its the little things in life that make me very happy!! I love you big brother, be safe!!!

Prayer requests

My little man starting feeling bad again these last couple of days. :( Poor baby, all he would do is LAY on one of us all morning.

Please pray for us as Stacy is working a crazy crazy schedule this week. Evenings 2 days, 12 hours the next, days for 2 days...I'm not even sure I can keep track!!

Please pray for Stacy...if we DON'T get our travel call soon, I will probably DRIVE HIM NUTS!!! This is seriously painful. I know another family that had their visa issued last Thursday too and they got their travel call today. AND, they are working with the SAME agency in the other country!

It IS a good thing that my little E is here to keep me company this week!!! She will be a great distraction while we wait and FUN to have around!! How about some warmer (and dryer) weather!?!?

One more weekend

So, we didn't hear anything this week about our little man. Well, at least from the agency. I talked to the State Department today and they said that his Visa was actually issued on March 13. That is better than I thought. To the best of my knowledge, that should be the last thing before we travel. I talked to somebody at our agency and double checked to make sure that the misunderstandings from last week have been corrected. She said that everything looked fine. So, we'll see about celebrating St Pats this weekend and try to stay away from all the crazy basketball fans!!

Oh, and G seems to be feeling much better. He ate today and actually played. Hopefully he'll be back into everything and running me crazy again tomorrow!!!

Prayers needed

Nobody is our house has been feeling well for about a week and a half now. I went to the dr on Monday and got some drugs. Feeling better now. Poor little G started running a fever yesterday. He still has a fever today but also started throwing up. Poor baby is currently sleeping on his daddy in the chair. Please pray that we all start feeling better so we'll be ABLE to travel when we get the call!

WOOHOO!!! One more step!!

S is scheduled for a VISA INTERVIEW!!! I'm shaking right now!!!! I just called the State Department and they said his VI is scheduled for 1pm on March 13th, which is in like 8 hours!!! There really isn't an interview done. He won't have to go to the Embassy or anything, but that is what the State department calls them. Its really just a scheduling thing so that they can control the number of cases they handle in any given day. I **think** this is the last step we need before we will get our travel call!!! Dare I say anything as far as a guess?? COULD we get a TC in the next week???? Hold on little one!! Momma is coming to get you!!!!!

slowly

I think that the wait is getting WORSE. We had a good weekend here, except that we were all sickly. Its fine when you KNOW you aren't going to hear any new news. Then, the week day comes and you COULD get a call, but then you DON'T. I'm running out of stuff to do to keep busy too. I've made doctor's appts for both boys. The wonder dog will be getting a good scrub and shave on Friday. I hope they put St Pats bows in her hair!! I'll have to post pics of that if they do!! She is currently sleeping behind my back in the chair.

So, one more load and the laundry bins will be empty...I'm ready to PACK clothes now. :)

Just when you think you cannot take anymore...

God gives you a bit of encouragement!!!

Our social worker called this morning. Seems there was some confusion between her office here in town, the agency office and the international agency about whether we were going to travel or not. After a bit of PANIC, we called and were able to get it straightened out!! He went in on Wednesday and had his visa physical done!!! I'm not sure why, but they sent us PICTURES TOO!!! I know I'm a bit biased, but I think he is adorable!!! Enjoy!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Its 10:30 here right now which means its 1:30pm tomorrow in Seoul. It is my baby's first birthday. I knew it would be a LONG shot, but I had REALLY hoped he would be home by now or at least we would be in Korea with him.

I know that everything is going to happen in God's perfect timing, but right now, its all really starting to drag me down. There just really isn't a real end in sight right now either. I've been trying so hard to NOT let it get to me and I've been trying to keep busy. I must say that Garrison and I have had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends!!!

A bit of news

I talked to the Program Director at the corporate office of our agency today. I just love them all. They are so supportive and helpful.

It appears that our wonderful government is holding up our process again. For all babies that come over, they have to have a physical before they can get their visas. Apparently, in November they started doing these physicals ONCE A MONTH. Gee, do you think that might create a backlog?? Well, if you said yes you are CORRECT. The program director said that they seem to be correcting this problem, but they are still trying to catch up from the backlog of kiddos waiting to get physicals. It is HIGHLY likely that our paperwork is hung up in the backlog. ARG. He is sitting there, ready to come home, and our lovely Embassy isn't getting it together. Ok, enough venting for now, must go sleep.

And the guard dog...

This was the first place that she went after we put each crib up. She knows that something is up.

With a new crib!!!

Solomon's Room!

We are ready

I learned that our information has arrived in Seoul and has been sent to the agency in Korea. That happened last Friday. In theory, all that has to happen now is for a visa interview to happen in Korea and then we can get our travel call. Of course, thats assuming that he already has his Korean passport and travel clearance. I don't think there is any way that we can find out if any of that has occurred. Our agency said that they would let us know if they found out, but they don't always find out in a timely manner.

On another positive note, we were able to get the crib, mattress, and highchair last week. Everything is assembled and ready to go, now all we need is a baby to fill it!!

Finally good news

After about twelve phone calls and a LOT of frustration, we have finally figured out that our immigration paperwork has been sent to Korea. Long story short, nothing was moving because the National Visa Center had been giving me information about Garrison's case! I finally found a nice and helpful lady in the State Department in Washington DC who helped me actually locate information for Solomon's case!! Our paperwork was forwarded on January 29, 2008.

Also on a good note, we only have ONE more door frame and FIVE pieces of trim left to paint. There is still a lot of trim to hang and touch up paint, but MAYBE before the weekend is over. Stacy and I are hoping to go get the new crib and mattress tomorrow!!! I'll try to post some pics once we finally get everything in the new room.

My hands hurt

So some REAL progress in the last few days, but my hands are officially killing me because of it. I'M SO TIRED OF PAINTING. But, at least its starting to look really good! Stacy was able to get the rest of the trim hung in Solomon's room. I need to do a bunch of touch up paint in that room to fix my screw ups and to go over the nail holes on the trim, but thats IT!!! The ceiling in the hallway is also painted and I was able to get the walls done tonight...at least I think so. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow after it dries. Got half of the trim for the hallway painted tonight too!!! There is a TON of trim in that little bitty room.

Boring details, but moving quickly to having lots of stuff done. We only have three more doors paint and hang...THANK YOU UNCLE E!!

Off too bed for now, I need to rest so that I can stalk the National Visa Center and the State Department in DC tomorrow. It has been three weeks and our immigration information STILL has not reached the Embassy in Seoul. Hopefully, we'll have good news soon.

We have been busy painting and today we were able to get some trim done. I've posted a pic of the "new" bedroom just to tease you. Hopefully we'll be able to finish most everything up this week. The picture is at the bottom of the blog because I'm not sure how else to get it IN the blog.

Horray for the postman!!

We got a well baby check in the mail today!!! Solomon was seen in the clinic on January 17, 2008 so the information is already a little outdated, but its the first news since the end of November!


All we can think is that Garrison is going to have a run for his money...poor thing. We ALL may actually be in for it as he is crawling and already pulling up...yikes!! Here is what we know, for comparison:

12/20/2007 - Garrison weighed 23.2 pounds and was 31 inches long

1/17/2008 - Solomon weighed 16.98 pounds and was 28 inches long!!

Now, I just want him home.

Progress?

We were able to get the ceiling in Solomon's room painted today. We also got one door and frame painted. Its kind of difficult because we have to put the door on saw horses IN the room we are working on. Its the only room that is clear of all other junk. It would be REALLY nice if it would warm up so that we could paint doors and trim in the garage...ahh, spring.


The lesson of the day: call DC in the afternoon!! I called again today to see if they had any updates. I was only on hold for 45 seconds!! (as opposed to 26 minutes on Monday) They, of course, still had no information. :( Apparently they ship the information via steam boat to Korea!!

Right now, we have our I600 (immigration) approval. It was approved on January 14, 2007. The approval is then sent to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. They recieved it on January 16, 2008 and forwarded it to the Embassy in Seoul on January 18, 2008.

I called the State Department in Washington DC (DC) yesterday to check the status of our case. After being on hold for 26 mintues, I finally was able to talk to somebody...who told me she didn't have ANY record of our case! After a minute of PANIC on my part, we realized that she hadn't gotten our SEO# right! yikes! She then told me that they didn't have any information on our case. I've heard that there is a LONG gap in timing between when things ACTUALLY happen in Korea and when our government's system is updated. I'm hoping that this is the case, but have decided that I won't be calling them again for at least a week...well, if I can wait that long!

We still don't know if Solomon has EP (immigration approval on the Korean side) so it won't do a lot of good to stalk the people involved in the immigration part on the US side until we know he is ready on the Korean side.

testing

This is a test of the emergency broadcasting system. This is only a test. :)

I'm trying to figure out how this whole thing works. I will try to post updates of our journey to bring Solomon home as often as we get any news!!