Yoo Mee--Keep Beauty

Korea....day 2 (a year ago)

2012-02-12T21:17:00.000-06:00

We just called mom and dad and reminded them that a year ago they were currently hiking a mountain in the COLD. (We took the tram up) :) It is noon in Korea. Then I realized I was a day off. We had done that the day prior on the 12th. It is now the 13th there. So, we were visiting the palaces. What an amazing day. We got to see them perform. We got there just in time. It wasn't many more hours until I began receiving sweet messages of friends waking up at US time to pray for us as we met our sweet Olivia for the first time. I think I truly saw my REAL friends in this process. I know you don't get many in life, but with the ones I have, I am set. That is a day I will NEVER forget. As I have snuggled her most of the day today, since she is sick, I have thought a lot about that first meeting and how terrified she was as were we! What a year, what a blessing!!!!

Sick again....

2012-02-11T08:20:00.000-06:00

Well, Olivia has the croup yet again. She just got over it 2-3 weeks ago, but she is down for the count. I hate it because today we are celebrating Annelyn's 5th (I CANNOT believe she is 5!) birthday. It looks like I am on my own for the tea party, and daddy and Olivia will hold the couch up with lots of Bubble Guppie episodes. Bless her heart....she gets so upset at drop off for school that she throws up. It was so bad this past Tuesday that her teacher had to go home and change clothes. So, she now has a bucket, or buck buck as she calls it. I just figure this is her anxiety coming out, and that she will outgrow it. In the meantime, we have a buck buck. She didn't have much of a cough on Thursday when she went to school, but had a lot of congestion. She played fine and seemed fine. She reached for her teacher which is a great sign to us that she is starting to like it. She had a great day! However, she threw up at naptime (in her buck buck nonetheless). I talked to the director and she agreed that it was simply congestion. When Olivia is sick, she doesn't play, eat or do anything. At this point, she was still playing and having a big time.
By Thursday night, however, we had a sick girl. So this mama felt kinda bad for telling her the day before, "no sick, Olivia." To which she responded, "no tick....buck, buck(nodding looking stinkin cute)." I guess I won't win that award for 'mom of the year.' ;)
So yesterday mom took her to the doctor for me. This was a first because I think/feel that is my job, but didn't need to leave work since I missed Wednesday due to John's grandmother passing away. She had a temp. of 102.3 and feels crummy. She pretty much slept yesterday, and has been up and down most of the night. Hopefully her fever will break today and she will be on the upside. I told her she has to get better before Tuesday...I don't want her to miss school.

(and might I add, look at that handsome fellow taking care of her. Oscar loves his sister!)

A year already!

2012-02-08T08:39:00.000-06:00

A year ago today, we were out for snow. I got up to check email as I do any morning I am home. I opened our email to see one from our international agency that said, "Today is your day. Please call me." My heart jumped....it was our turn to finally get the travel call! We scrambled that day to find rooms and flights. We left for gorgeous Korea 48 hours later. I couldn't get to my girl fast enough! What a year!

We got our bags packed, and we were off! I don't think I should be sad over this anniversary, but I am. I am sad that our first year has past. I want to be leaving for Korea and bringing home a sibling. I am excited to live life and watch Olivia grow and change, but sad that the firsts are over. I know....odd. :/

The best phrase yet....

2012-02-05T09:10:00.000-06:00

It might be because Olivia is talking to me when she says it, but the absolute BEST phrase she has come out with lately is, "me mommy." When we go around the room asking her to name everyone, she gets to me and says, "me mommy!" I LOVE IT!!!!!! I am the luckiest person to get to be "me mommy" to this great kiddo!

Gonna be a bright, bright, bright sun shiny day......

2012-02-01T05:21:00.000-06:00

It is quite possible that I have a mini me in asian style. I do not walk outside without sunglasses on. I truly can't see. Olivia seems to be doing the same thing lately. I was looking through pictures and began to notice how many she is wearing her glasses in. (they are upside down the majority of the time!) As we walked both in and out of church Sunday, Olivia had her glasses on. At one point, she was under the seat in her bag and popped up and had them on. The row behind us about laughed out loud.
Check out my super stylin' girl.

First love of sunglasses....thanks Ashley. :)

A girl on a mission!

I know it is blurry (hard to drive and take a pic....no mom and dad, I was at a stop light, not literally driving!) I bet the song "I wear my sunglasses at night...." will be in your head the rest of the day. :)

I don't know if I have said in the last 30 sec. or so, but I LOVE THIS KID!!!!!

6 nights out of 342 ain't bad....

2012-01-26T02:12:00.002-06:00

Yes, I know there are 365 days in a year, but we have only had Olivia 342 of them. I truly can't believe that we will be coming up on our year mark soon! That post is for another day though. Last night, Olivia slept in her bed. This makes 6 total nights of sleeping through the night since she has been home. Can we say EXHAUSTED! She actually asked to go to bed around 7:45. Which if you know my child, that NEVER happens. I rocked her and laid her down in her bed. I then left in no time. This too, is rare. She usually needs to be rocked or know that I am close by until she is asleep. She must have been exhausted because this morning, I saw this...

...and she was no where in sight!

HOLY COW people, she has NEVER slept that much! Granted, I didn't get to bed til 1:30 or so, but still. I actually got worried while I was getting ready for work and went in to check on her. Here is what I found.

...a snoozing sweet girl....in her OWN bed. This afternoon called for a celebration. We went to Wal-Mart (where all good hicks go) and got a new toy. I thought this might make an impression on her for tonight. She was so proud of herself! It did as she went to bed, and we talked about if she woke up to just snuggle her animals close and go back to sleep. I have been up sewing and heard her a bit ago. I am about to head to bed, wonder if she is in there or if she was taken back to her bed?

Yes, we must have ALL animals on board. Pooh (my childhood stuffed animal, Zoe, School Zoey, Sheep (thanks cousins--he is HUGE!), and blankie (her towel that came home with her from Korea.) Add me in there sometimes, and that is one crowded toddler bed!!! When we rock her, she has Zoe, Pooh and blankie. One night John was rocking her and she said, "sheee...." She very patiently asked several more times, but John didn't understand. Finally she got right in his face and yelled, "SSSHHHHHEEEEEEP!" John couldn't quit laughing. I had a great laugh from in the den, too! She is hysterical!!!

Helping with the dishes

2012-01-15T18:01:00.000-06:00

Whenever I put up the dishes, Olivia comes running! She gets a chair and pulls it up to the counter. She immediately asks to help, so I give her the silverware. I put the knives away first, and then she goes at it. She has many of my OCD qualities already, and I find her putting the silverware in the correct places. Sometimes she decides to add a little of her own personality and I get this.....

Don't worry, the ones she licked we rewashed. She is a great helper who brings a lot of laughs while helping. :)

Our Korean American

2012-01-13T22:08:00.000-06:00

I was just going to post this great pic. tonight, but then I saw that today is Korean American Day. I am SO LUCKY to have been chosen to be this kiddos mama! I feel beyond blessed every time she hugs and kisses me. We will always honor her Korean heritage. It is part of her. Happy Korean American Day folks!
January 13 was declared as "Korean American Day" in 2003 by the US Congress to celebrate the centennial of Korean immigration into the US and to also recognize Korean Americans' impact and contributions.

Olivia's First Haircut!!

2012-01-08T17:31:00.002-06:00

We went yesterday to see Nana and get Olivia's haircut for the first time. (Well, first time since she has been home with us.)
She has been pulling her hair up and saying, "Nana, cut cut." She definitely needed it cut.
She ended up cutting a full inch! Maybe we shouldn't wait so long before our next cut.

Checking out what is making her hair wet.

She loves a squirt bottle!!!

Oooh, can I see?

Keep your eye on the prize!

What a big girl I am!!!

Let me see!

Nana is telling her to be still for the 100th time. Look at Olivia's finger and what she thinks about it. We all got a good laugh!

Do I still have hair....let me check!

Ugh, this is such hard work!

Looking maybe a little nervous.

Thanks Nana!

One happy girl with a great new haircut!!!

Nana always has great suckers for me to choose from!

1st Day of School for Olivia

2012-01-05T22:09:00.000-06:00

Her bags for Grammy/Grampy's were packed, her school bag, nap mat and lunch box. She had a load to take this morning!

Today, I met Olivia and mom at First Baptist Church for Olivia to start her 1st day of school. She got out of the car and put on her bookbag like a big girl. We walked over and I wanted to get a picture before we went in. She smiled when I asked her to, but was positioning her bookbag and quickly told me it was, "heaby."

We got inside and her teacher let me come in. Normally we will just hand her over the 1/2 door to them. She immediately spotted the kitchen stuff and started to play. I tried to grab a quick picture, but obviously not the best quality.

I kissed her head and told her we would be back after nap. She walked across the room and began to play. No tears, though she looks very unsure!!! (not sure what is going on with that hairbow??)

I went back at 2:15 to meet mom again to pick Olivia up. Normally I won't do this since I can't leave work like that twice a week, but I was not missing my girls first day of school. When we got back, her teacher said Olivia had a good day. She cried a bit a naptime and said, "mommy, home," but had a good day otherwise. She painted (I will need to post a pic. of that!), played, sang, ate lunch, and took a nap. This was the first time she had been put down for a nap by anyone other than me, mom or John. This is huge!!!! She is the youngest one in the class, but I am hoping that will work to her advantage. I am hoping it makes her language pick up and encourages her to work harder. She is a smart one, but she is also extremely stubborn. (I could possibly be on the stubborn side, too, so we will definitely have our rough patches.) :)
Her teacher said she didn't eat much for lunch, played great, and tried to sing the words that she could say. So, I am very pleased with that report.
When I got there, they had just been woken up 10 minutes before. She was snuggled up being rocked and having Fancy Nancy read to her. She really had no interest in coming to me. :( You know where my head went, right....oh no, attachment! She finally came to me and snuggled with me. She was so sleepy. I have wondered if she was a bit mad at me for leaving. The girl can hold a grudge.
So tonight, I have really talked up going back to school. I asked if she is super excited to go back to which she said, "no." I asked if she wanted to go back to sing and paint. She raised her eyebrows and said, "no." I asked several questions each time getting the same answer. After dinner she wanted a piece of fudge for dessert. I asked some of the same questions with the fudge in my hand. Amazingly, I got, "uh-huh!" It was really cute and funny. I think she will adjust, but she may not want to be left on Tuesday. Sorry kiddo. We are leaving you, but we will ALWAYS come back. We love you SO much! I don't think I can even put into words how much I love her at this point. She is the best thing ever!!!!

Snowman Fun!!!

2012-01-02T21:57:00.001-06:00

Well, I am personally wishing for about 13 snow days that happen between Monday and Friday of any given week between now and spring break. Olivia has taken to this snowman that I have. This isn't his normal spot, but well, it is for this year. :) Enjoy the cuteness!

An Unforgetable Year

2012-01-01T01:46:00.002-06:00

As we say goodbye to 2011, I am amazed at how my life has changed. I stand amazed daily at what God can do in our lives. I think that is what is exciting as we move into 2012. God is already there. He knows what will happen. He has a plan for us. 2011 started with a wonderful phone call on January 5th. It was our first day back to work from Christmas break and after faculty meeting I got the best phone call. We had made the first batch to be submitted for EP! We knew we would be on our way to our girl soon. February came and we got on the big blue plane and headed to South Korea to meet our daughter.

Yes, that is Olivia 10 1/2 short months ago. It is hard to believe that is the same child. I was terrified. I knew God didn't lead us this far, across the world, to steer us wrong. She was so blank. So lifeless. With faith, we returned on the 16th for one last meeting before Olivia was ours forever. That meeting went better, but I was still nervous. She wanted NOTHING to do with us.

Her little eyes look so sad. Her little heart has had so much heartbreak in such a short time. It hurts me more now to think about it then it did at that time, and it hurt a lot then. I hate to think that her fostermom is missing her today as they are bringing in 2012. I wonder how her birth mother feels. Does she have a peace about Olivia. I wish she knew how happy Olivia is today and how much we love her. I had no idea I could love her this much!!!
We made it home and began to adjust as a new family. Uncharted territory for all of us. Olivia had new everything! New sounds, smells, language, clothes, food, parents. You name it, and it was new. We had a grieving child. Days and nights passed and slowly we made progress. We stuck together as a team, and all grew together. There were many hard days. I have not spoken much on here about it because that is somewhat private. However, adoptive mama's, you know what I am talking about. It's just hard. She came home and was essentially a mobile infant. We were starting from scratch. We slowly began to see some personality come through.
Olivia began understanding us and slowly started to let us into her heart. I also allowed her to enter mine.

We moved from cold winter to spring and well, that just helps everything, right? We found Olivia loves the outdoors. I quickly learned that she must not have ever felt wind in her face as she was terrified the first time. We played outside, planted flowers, and continued to grow as a family.

By April we allowed people to hold her, but that was it. It wasn't until I returned to work in August that she stayed with anyone aside from me or John---and it was Grammy and Grampy, so that was a huge relief!
I wish I knew when it happened, but I don't. Even sitting here looking back at the thousands of pictures, I can't pinpoint when I fell in love. I can't imagine her not being here. I can't imagine a day without her. She is such a joy! She is sassy, funny, spunky, loving, cuddly, and darn near perfect in her mama's eyes (as long as she isn't having a throw down fit--not my child, right?!)
Early June, we planned a quick trip to Gatlinburg to spend a weekend at Dollywood. We thought that would make a great first getaway. Unfortunately, Olivia came down with her first illness since being home. We decided we probably shouldn't take our child that was on an inhaler and multiple antibiotics out of town.

I quickly learned that Olivia is not barely sick. If she is sick, she is down for the count.
Her birthday came in the summer, and we celebrated red, white, and blue style.

We enjoyed long summer days out at the pool, time with friends, and time with family. I tried to soak up every second. I think I remember saying repeatedly this past summer that it was the best summer ever. We didn't do anything fancy, and we didn't need to. We had all we needed right here with us.
Fall came, and it was time to head back to work. This was very hard for me. Olivia and I had literally been inseparable since she came home in February and I didn't want to leave her. Well, it was time, and we made it! She has done great! We took a short weekend trip to Fall Creek Falls and this was Olivia's first overnight trip anywhere. We were a bit nervous, but she did great!

In October, we enjoyed a great trip to the beach with our friends Ashley, Brandon, and Everley.

It was spur of the moment, but it was very needed and wonderful. Finally, the end of October meant that it was the beginning of the holiday season. John, for some reason, had really looked forward to Halloween with Olivia. We carved pumpkins, painted pumpkins, and went trick-or-treating.
.

I am already looking forward to this next year of holidays to do the fun stuff again. She will understand more and hopefully we can do more! I hope we get to go out to a pumpkin patch and do fun things like that!! By November we were past ready to finalize, but had been waiting on paperwork and a court date.

Luckily, we got one on November 18th. I was excited that we got that day because it was 9 months to the day of us being home with her. That same weekend, Olivia was baptized.

What a wonderful weekend. Our family was able to share in both days. We wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanksgiving seemed special to have that extra seat filled at the dinner table. Olivia and Annelyn ran around and played while I cooked. Olivia loves to be with her cousin!

Last but not least, we began the Christmas season once the table was cleaned from lunch on Thanksgiving (ok, maybe not that fast...) Olivia enjoyed getting presents from the elves prior to Christmas. She sings "Away in a Manger" and has sweet hand motions, and she loves to hold Baby Gigi (Baby Jesus). She got to help bake cookies with Grammy and Annelyn which is a tradition that has been as long as I can remember. We enjoyed Annelyn's Christmas play and I got 'sewing for a sibling' up and running with holiday orders.
Even though she seemed overwhelmed on Christmas Day, she seemed to really get the hang of it and had fun.
So, here we are, one year later.....these are just the highlights.

I can't help but wonder where we will be this time next year. I am so excited to soak up more time with Olivia over the next year. Will we have a face to put with our prayers? Will Olivia be a big sister in the waiting???? One thing is for sure, we will tackle this next year as a family. That seems to be working for us. :) I can't wait to make more memories. Happy New Year!!!! Thank you for reading about us, praying for us, and traveling the wonderful adventure called life with us.

Christmas

2011-12-28T10:17:00.000-06:00

Well, I think the last post I put about Christmas was behind. I took some pictures to show that we were slowly catching up. (but I never blogged about it...slacker! :)) We got our tree up and wrapped some presents.

We made it through the last few days of work (we didn't get off until Dec. 21st). A sigh of relief....until about 1:00a.m. when Olivia started to throw up. She was up the remainder of the night throwing up. The next day I had many errands to run and things to get done before Christmas, so John stayed home to take care of Olivia. She wasn't sick anymore, but very weak and very tired.

We continued to get ready for Christmas over the next few days, but also tried to take it easy for Olivia's sake. We made some crafts and stayed home and played. I sewed every chance I got to be sure to get everyone's orders done before Christmas.

Christmas Eve mid day we went to Johns' dad's house. We enjoyed a great brunch and family time.

It was getting to be naptime, so we headed home. I was exhausted since I have been staying up most nights until 2 (at the earliest) to work on sewing, so I laid down to take a nap. I woke up and noticed that John was under a blanket and really cold. This is not like him. About 5:30 on Christmas Eve John got sick. He felt miserable. He insisted that I take her on to my family's house for our Christmas Eve celebrations, so with my stomach feeling off, we loaded up and headed to mom's. I didn't have time to be sick! There was still a ton to be done, so I figured I felt nauseaus since I had been surrounded by it since early morning Thursday. We ate a great dinner, opened our Christmas Eve presents (always pj's and a nutcracker) and then made our traditional sugar cookies.

Oscar loves to help bake!

It was super late and we knew Santa would be coming soon, so Olivia and I went back home. Poor John was sound asleep on the couch, so I quietly took Olivia to bed. Once she finally went to sleep, it was time to get busy. I still had gifts to wrap, crafts to finish (the footprints above), and sewing to complete. At 4:40 I finally laid down. This is our first Christmas to not spend the night at mom and dad's, but it wasn't really optional. So, I guess it worked out. We got up and Olivia opened her presents from Santa here at home.

She stopped mid way to clean up and then said, "wipe" and took off downstairs for a kleenex. It was pretty comical to watch her. I think she was most excited about the batteries.

A few nights ago when I was rocking her she said, "baba's (batteries), Santa, ho ho ho!" I thought that was super cute! She finally understood that Santa wasn't some guy who comes in the house in the middle of the night to do anything bad. When we first mentioned him and told her he was going to bring her toys she said, "noooooo" and looked very frightened. We have a stuffed Santa that when she saw it she said, "back" as in to put it back in the attic. She loves him now and he stays in her room.
So, we finished up at home and got ready to go to mom's. We had a lot of fun opening presents there and then ate a delicious lunch.

Luckily, John felt well enough to go. I knew he was still weak, but he wasn't missing Olivia's first Christmas home. Before we knew it, it was time for mom and dad to head out to Chattanooga. We hung out a bit more while John and Olivia napped. This gave me a great opportunity to play with Annelyn. They woke up and it was time to go to his mom's house. She had a huge meal! We opened presents and then John and I played catch phrase with his neices.

In the meantime, Olivia had gotten her appetite back so she was getting Nana and Aunt Amy to feed her as much as they would. It was late and Olivia needed to get to bed. We came home, changed clothes and then went back to mom and dad's house to keep their dogs since they were in Chattanooga. Somewhere in all of this, I began to feel miserable. By this morning, I had zero voice and had been up with nausea all night. I never did get sick though. I went to the doctor only to learn that I must have the same virus, but that it hit me differently. I feel flu-like whereas they threw up. I also have an upper respitory virus. So, instead of cleaning, shopping and playing with Olivia today, I have spent my day in the bed. All this to say, this really isn't how we invisioned our first Christmas with Olivia. However, I told John I would much rather her be here with us all sick then her be in Korea and us here without her. We love that child so much!!! She is so much fun. I am hoping I feel better tomorrow and that we can play. At some point, I really need to find my floor. As John tripped over toys a few minutes ago, he said, "um...we may need to pick up a bit." They played all day and all the new toys haven't found new homes yet. That is on the list this week. Merry Christmas! We are so blessed to have this Christmas with our precious Olivia!

Our Star of the Show!

2011-12-21T23:35:00.002-06:00

Last Monday we went to see my niece, Annelyn, in her Christmas play at church. I think this child has found her calling. She loved being on stage and singing the songs. She is 4 and the play was long. She got a little restless and felt the need to help her buddy next to her since that child had not made it to practice. Annelyn would dance a bit with the songs and then try to help the girl do the motions. It was hilarious. Olivia enjoyed watching the play and cheered her cousin on. Great job Annelyn! We love you so much! When we left, she cried as they were going home because she couldn't understand why the people didn't want to see it again (in practice they must have done it several times through). I thought that was precious--its hard to be little sometimes.

Love that they are all going one way and Annelyn is going the other, but she is rockin' it!!!

She didn't miss a beat of the singing and dancing at first.

Straightening her friends' costume. Poor kid. She was so polite to let Annelyn invade her space.

"helping" her friend. Really???

a time out for a hug...in the middle of a song.

Um....hello Annelyn, you are in a play. Sit up.

Annelyn had a solo. She did a wonderful job. I was impressed that she would get up and sing in front of a crowd!

Olivia clapped. She thought the play was great!

Sweet girls! They love each other!!

Decorating mom and dad's tree

2011-12-17T23:29:00.000-06:00

Last Friday we hung out at mom and dad's house and John put the lights on the tree. We all went over again Saturday night to decorate!

Before we decorated, we had a great dinner that had some of my Thanksgiving favorites. The girls did a great job with the tree. They both decided they liked having Jeremy (aka...Moose) to hold them up high to hang the ornaments.

Behind....

2011-12-08T22:32:00.001-06:00

So, let me set the scene of Christmas' before this year. Anyone could pretty much walk in my house at any given time (without warning) and it was nice and neat. Maybe a blanket on the couch was unfolded. The laundry was clean and put away, the dishes were in the dishwasher or put away, decorations (didn't matter the month) were done at the first of every month. Christmas presents were usually bought and wrapped before Halloween. Everything has a place and it was all where it needed to be.

Christmas 'then'

Now....enter Christmas 2011 at our house....
(sorry....I don't really even have a picture of now--maybe I will take one soon. Just add lots of toys surrounding the decorations)

These are the same deer that are at the base of the mantle in the other picture. Notice, no glass vase with pretty green sticks there? Olivia broke that lovely vase back in the summer. She now walks past the empty place and says shaking her hand, "don't touch." I gotta admit, its pretty cute to see her do that. It was just a vase.

I took the day off from work because mom had some more eye surgery and was unable to keep Olivia. John took yesterday off with her, so today was my day. This morning, I found myself in Wal-Mart at 6:30 getting some thread. I thought I could get some sewing done before my "helper" woke up. As I walked through my house all I see is mess. We have toys out in the den, stuff all over my counters (papers/junk), fabric, shirts galore upstairs, laundry (clean and dirty), etc. A MESS I tell ya. I got a little flustered since, if you know me, mess is not in me when it comes to my house and things. I am OCD in that everything has a place and it must be in the right spot. Enter Olivia! She is very good to clean up, but can make a mess just as quickly as your children can, I am sure. SO, I found myself trying to straighten up and pick up before she woke up rather than sewing. We have yet to put up our tree upstairs and um, presents, well, maybe people will get them before New Year's! :)
So, as I look at my decorations through coloring books, toys and more toys, I am so thankful that I GET to have these toys and things that say Olivia is here and well. Last year we dreamed of spending Christmas with Olivia here, and now we get to. So the tree isn't up and decorated and presents aren't bought yet, BUT we are having fun and enjoying each other. It will get done, right?

I found this poem on another blog and couldn't help but think this is how I was feeling this morning--a bit like the Grinch.

Read to the rhythm of "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Twas the first of December I was already “done.”
My fudge was not working, this was no longer fun.
I had barely just started this advent of peace,
It was all I could do to hold back a scream.
The stockings were not hung by the chimney with care!
And remnants of cookie sprinkles are still everywhere.
How many people do I have to buy for?!
Why can’t they all want something from the same store?!
I did not nestle my children in their beds...
In fact, I wrestled them with a head-lock instead.
When out of the kitchen there arose such a clatter-
I arose from my bed screaming, “What in the world is the matter?”
“No, you may not have a drink of water before bed!
For in the night you will pee, and I will (again and again and again) have to wash your bedspread!”
I pulled out Martha Stewart and Southern Living too,
I thought to myself, “Our neighbors, I will out-do!”
Then came the Grinch slithering slyly into the room,
I didn’t even notice the impending doom.
Slowly, but surely, one thing at a time-
He stuffed up the chimney all the peace that was mine.
Amid all the boxes and garland and holly,
I found myself displaying nothing but folly.
“That ornament! It’s an heirloom!”
I said with a cry.
“Baby Jesus doesn’t go there!” with an impatient sigh.
About to pull my hair out,
I sat down with a plop.
With a thought to myself, “They're causing my efforts to flop!”
As I looked around in utter dismay...
My eyes fell on baby Jesus asleep on the hay.
The Lord brought to my mind
That lowly stable scene,
Where not an ornament was hung
And blinking light did not gleam.
Where there was not a single gift wrapped with glittery bow,
But instead the Light of the World, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
All of a sudden Martha Stewart's tree wasn't so nice,
As all of the ornaments clumped just three feet high.
I remember the giggles that got them all there,
and giggled as Mary and Rudolph rode into the Snow Village Square.
I tossed the December issue of Southern Living out the door,
And leaned back on my Christmas pillow that was (once again) thrown on the floor.
With my new-found perspective, I rolled onto my face-
Confessing my sin and receiving His grace.
I went to the rooms of all my precious, sleeping babes,
With tears in my eyes,
Kissed each one on the face.
Christmas is not what I had been portraying it to be.
It’s not about tinsel or trinkets or a tree...
If I get it all done, that will be fine, but regardless
A peaceful December is mine.

Presents and decorating

2011-12-02T19:26:00.000-06:00

Can it get any better? I mean, really??? We are loving every second, but lately even more so. Olivia has turned into (yes, still very 2....so add that in) a comical little person. Her personality has really taken off. Maybe because her mom and dad are pretty silly, but she is stinkin fun these days. Maybe we are really feeling the holiday spirit, but we will take it! I love this girl more every second. Sometimes I hug her and kiss her and think it just can't get better, then I want to squeeze more!

We came home the other night to a box. We were playing with Oscar as that is a must when we first get home and Olivia went to the kitchen (hers) and got one of her knives. She then worked quite sometime on getting that box open. Funny thing, we open boxes with scissors. Grammy, where did she learn to open boxes with knives??? This kid imitates everything and takes every word in!

She loves to hold clothes up to everyone to make sure they will fit.

Now for the shirt....will it fit--I'll check!

She loved decorating the tree! She is going to really like doing the fun tree upstairs this weekend!!

Tree done, ready for bed, love my new jammies!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T19:30:00.000-06:00

Another first for our family. We gathered around the table and had a new face this year. It was a sleepy face, but we felt so lucky and blessed to have Olivia home this year. As I look at other adoptive parents going through the holiday season without their little one home, I am reminded of how last year felt. There was definitely a big hole in our lives. I want to just reach out and hug those people, because I KNOW how they feel. I KNOW how they ache.

This Thanksgiving did not dissapoint. Olivia and Annelyn wore matching shirts that my sister got them.

They played great while I cooked. Olivia got into the stickers, and we all had a good laugh.

Mom typically is cleaning dishes/pots and helping me in the kitchen, but this year it was dad. Mom had a bit more eye surgery on Tuesday, and couldn't lift or be near the oven heat. Dad was great help, and kept me right on track. Our Thanksgiving funny this year was as I, literally, was stirring the last thing for the oven, the oven blew. John and I packed all the food up into the car and went to his mom's to cook it. Once it was ready, we loaded it back up and took it back to moms. I figured we could just laugh about it. Its just food, right?!?!
After a great meal, and lots of full bellies, I took Olivia upstairs at mom's and rocked her to sleep for her nap. I sat there and remembered how I wished for this just a short year ago. I say short because since she has been home, time has flown! I can't believe it is Christmas time!!!
Annelyn and I took this time to play a bit, and then it was time for us to head over to John's family. We went to his aunts house this year, and enjoyed time with them for a bit. Olivia enjoyed yet another plate of food!
We went back to mom and dad's to play a bit more and to get Oscar. Olivia was obviously ready to go to bed since she got her story and got into the doll cradle.

So, we loaded up and headed home.
What a HAPPY Thanksgiving it truly was. I am so excited to enter the Christmas season. Not because I am hopeful for that one particular present under the tree this year, but because Olivia is home. Olivia gets to experience so much this season. From what I have heard, the elves should start visiting soon! I can't wait. We haven't fully decorated yet (a first for me), but as I pulled out a Santa, she kept saying, "back, back." She wasn't a fan at first, but she is liking him now.

Baptism

2011-11-23T23:40:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday, surrounded by family, Olivia was baptized. She wore her Hanbok for the baptism and then we took it off. Our minister did a wonderful job and was so considerate of the fact that Olivia was scared. She did not allow him to hold her, but did fine when he put the water on her head. She kept wanting Grampy throughout his small ceremony, but John and I held her. I really didn't get to focus on what was said, but what I did hear was perfect. After church, we all headed over to mom's for a great lunch and some family time. Our family has become super fun in the last 8 years. There are six kiddos now, and they all get along really well. Unfortunately, Ian is the only boy, but is the oldest and such a trooper.
We didn't get any pictures of all the kids together, but we had really good intentions. There weren't many pictures taken at church either. I hate that. I need to be more specific when I hand my camera off for someone else to use. :)

Legally Ours....FOREVER!

2011-11-19T16:37:00.000-06:00

9 months ago on meeting day (Feb. 14)

Our family 9 months ago when we first landed here at home. (Feb. 19)

Our family now (Nov. 18)

....notice the outfits on meeting day and court day. I know, cheesy, but two life changing days.

This morning we pulled Olivia out of the bed and gave her a bath, put on her smocked red, white and blue dress, and headed to our courthouse. Today was the BIG day for us. Today is the day that this long journey comes to an end, and our lives fully begin with Olivia. Today was especially special because we had the honor of my uncle being our judge. We were originally going to be in a small courtroom, but they worked it out so that we were in their main court room. Therefore, we shared space with general sessions. They allowed us to go first, so my uncle came in and gave the docket number and some legal information as to why he was up there. Then our attorney asked us a few questions before the judge. Such as "are you aware that as of today, this child will be yours as if she were born to you at birth." That is the best thing I have heard! She also discussed how we chose Olivia and how lucky we all are. This by no means was the typical court date. My uncle then said, "I see you brought family with you today." He said for us to come up and stand behind him while he signed the papers in front of us and our family.

He asked Olivia several times if she was ok with all of this. I kept thinking she would say, "no" since she says that for everything. It was very sweet! I couldn't have asked for more! He told everyone that he knows it is not the norm, but that we were going to pause and take some pictures.

Everyone in the court room waiting for their time was so nice. They enjoyed watching, and as we walked out there was a man there for something and said to John, "I see you finally got her. I came to your yard sale a couple of summers ago when you were raising money." --small world!!

Olivia and I coming out of the court room.

We finished up here and went to breakfast. I think Olivia ate some of everyones! After breakfast, we came back to our house so my aunt could see some of my sewing. While there, Olivia got her piano and she, dad, and Uncle Don sang ABC's and other songs. I love my family and couldn't enjoy their company more if I tried. We always have so much fun together! So, there you have it. The end to one long journey that leads us to a life together as a family. We are very blessed!

Sewing for a Sibling

2011-11-14T19:01:00.000-06:00

Ok, the way to purchase a shirt can go several ways. You need to facebook me, message me on the blog, or call/text me. Tell me what you want, and I will send you an invoice through paypal.
This is just while I get started. I may start a facebook page or etsy page. I am not sure of the restrictions since there is not a business liscense involved for this.

If you supply the shirt ~ $12.00
If I supply the shirt and the applique ~ 22.00
add a monogram ~ $5.00
Send a friend my way and get a FREE monogram on your next purchase!

Shipping cost will be added to your total if I need to ship it.

You will receive your item (depending on urgency) within a week. If you need it the next day, let me know. We can work something out! :)

I have many appliques to choose from. Please tell me what you want: the colors of fabric, size of shirt, the applique (and site you chose it from), and monogram font. I will take a picture of the fabric/applique and send you a facebook message before sewing.

I don't want to limit your applique choices, so please feel free to go to lynnie.pinnie.com, planetapplique.com, embroidery-boutique.com, swakembroidery.com, or any other applique site you choose. I may already have the applique, but if not, I will get it for you!

Please remember that this is our main fundraiser to bring home a sibling. Spread the word!!!! We are starting from scratch. :)

A BIG post!!!

2011-11-13T09:33:00.001-06:00

Well, I have been trying to think of the order of events to blog this, so I have put it off. I decided I am just going to roll it all into one. The first BIG news is that we are in the paper chase to bring home a brother or a sister! Olivia has been home 9 months this Friday (which is very hard to believe) and we feel that with the current adoption situation in Korea that we need to get started. We feel like it will be minimum of 2 years this time, and we are ok with that. I figure we waited 11 months last time, so we can definitely wait two years. If we don't, and others don't, then I hate to imagine what would happen to these babies. So, we will wait. Please begin to pray for us and our sibling.

Next BIG announcement, with the paper chase going, the looming money that we don't have is hanging over us. So, we are SEWING FOR A SIBLING. I have made several samples, but the options are numerous. I will make a post of what appliques I have and pricing, turn around time, etc., but for now, here are some pictures of samples.

My cute little model. Notice her little brace under her shirt. She is doing better, but still not using that arm much.

Blogging all the firsts.....

2011-11-10T20:48:00.001-06:00

....even the bad ones. Olivia has her first broken bone.
Yesterday was not an award winner day at the Parker house. Olivia was sound asleep in our bed, and rolled right off. Our bed comes at the very least up to my hips. It is a tall bed! She cried a painful cry and I knew she was hurt. Typically, she goes right back to sleep or playing. Not yesterday. She pointed to her throat and kept saying, 'hurt.' I wasn't sure if she had gotten hurt from falling off the bed or if she was getting sick. I have had a viral thing for the last week that started with a sore throat, so I thought that might be what hurt.
John stayed home and I called the doctor as soon as they opened at 8. I told John if for some reason they sent her for an x-ray to call me and I would be there. Well, about 9:45 he called. They wanted to x-ray her arm. Her throat and all were clear, although I could argue that today since she coughed her way through the night last night, has been sneezing and has a runny nose. So I left school in a rush and headed to the hospital. They called her back and after some massive coaxing, I got her to lay on the x-ray table. She was so scared, but did a great job! They told us to wait in the waiting room, and then they came out and told us to go back to our doctor. We got back and he explained the variations of collar bone accidents. Apparently, Olivia has a broken collar bone. So, for the next 2-4 weeks, she has to wear a brace that pulls her shoulders back to help realign her bones. She has to have it on 24/7. So far, she has been a trooper. She was in a lot of pain yesterday, but between tylenol and the brace, I think she feels some better today. She is moving it some today, and yesterday if she moved slightly it brought her to tears. If she moves fast or wrong, she is quick to tell us it hurts.
There was one spot on her shoulder on the x-ray that was apparently 'questionable.' The doctor pushed and poked, but she didn't scream. I assume that means they aren't too worried about that spot. We go back in two weeks for a recheck. We are so thankful that she is in a brace. I was worried that if it were her arm, we would be in a cast.

The pictures aren't grand, but you can see what the back looks like. It kinda makes her arms stick out.

You can tell there is extra padding under her shirt. At least it can go under. Getting dressed and getting in/out of the carseat is a challenge, but we will make it.

Say a prayer for our sweet little one to heal quickly and be in minimal pain.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-03T19:08:00.000-05:00

Yes, I realize this post is a few days late, but such is life. We had a great Halloween and Olivia seemed to really enjoy herself. There were a couple masks that terrified her, but she got over it quickly.

For the last month or so we have had her costume out and talked about it daily. We have all worn the puppy hat to encourage her to wear it. We have stood in front of the mirror and really tried to get that girl on board with dressing up. I wasn't sure how the evening would work, but she had her costume on from 3:30-9:00 and loved it! I think seeing others in a costume helped. My personal favorite part was her little tail when she walked.

We made it to get her picture done by 4, and then I made a stop to JoAnn's for some stuff (stay tuned for that post!).
We headed back to Nana's and Mickme's house and Olivia helped pass out candy.

Oscar enjoyed Halloween, too!

We loaded back up to go to my parents house. We got our fire pit up and running and I am quite sure I never even stood in front of it. We ate dinner and then took Olivia to a few neighbors. I wanted to take some more pictures, but my camera said my battery needed to be charged. I hate that! This Halloween was one I will never forget! I can't wait for the next two holidays!

Pumpkins!

2011-10-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight, we did our annual pumpkin carving. This year however, there was a lot more laughter, and my heart felt full! For the last several years, holidays have seemed as if they were on hold as well as the rest of our lives, but especially holidays. John and I, for some reason, have really looked forward to having a little one to enjoy Halloween with and the rest of the upcoming holiday season. Olivia and Annelyn had a lot of fun tonight running around and playing together. I think they have finally started to like one another.
Grampy has spent several days coming up with the perfect design for each girls' pumpkin. They got there and changed it both designs! Typical girl, right?!? We have never been much on the character thing, rather done the creative jack-o-lantern faces. Each year dad comes up with something better than the last. We were all a bit disappointed to see that the girls wanted Elmo and a Cinderella. However, I think he has now raised the bar for his carving ability. He doesn't use stencils and draws them free handed. They turned out amazing! Both girls were pleased and we enjoyed a great fall night together!

You want me to put my hand in there???

Annelyn took it on like a pro this year!

Olivia started to work a little, but her hand was not going in the pumpkin. She was satisfied with a spoon.

Annelyn is showing off her progress!

She finally let her hands get a little dirty.

Silly girl!

Wait a minute, this stuff is fun!

Hmmm, what's in there?

Wonder how this stuff tastes?

How's it coming, Grampy?

Annelyn and her daddy still digging out.

Annelyn went to take a bath while Grampy finished up on Olivia's pumpkin. When she came back, she was up on her daddy's shoulder which meant Olivia wanted 'upa,' too!

Oscar was overly thrilled tonight, can't you tell?

Olivia took her first look at her carved pumpkin.

Is the inside still empty?

Wow!!!

They watched Grampy carve on Annelyn's pumpkin for a minute....

....and then they played under the table.

Somehow, they ventured off to the den, and Annelyn had Olivia as the "baby."

We lit the pumpkins and asked the girls to come in to see.

They loved them!!!
This is Olivia's 'I am so happy!' scream. This is followed by a lot of jumping up and down!

They headed into the living room to play a little "pia."

Olivia came back to kiss her pumpkin she liked it so much.

Look at those eyes! "Did you get this picture, dad?"

Dinosaur World

2011-10-23T09:45:00.001-05:00

**Best comment of the day (people ask some hilarious stuff!): "Are you all a part of Big Brothers and Big Sisters?"-asked by a random bystander at Dinosaur World as he observed a bunch of adoptive mommas with their Korean children at a playdate.

This morning we left home and headed to Kentucky to meet several people at Dinosaur World. This was a great outing as we got to meet many other families with asian cuties--most of whom have a blog that I have kept up with!!!! I always love getting to actually meet the families! We wanted to call today the asian invasion (hello, we love our children, but there were alot of them today!), but apparently, some took offense to that. Really people, c'mon, have a sense of humor! I met several of the mama's that will be attending the conference in March, and I was excited about it, but now I am SUPER excited about it!!!! We are going to have a great time. For the first time, Olivia wasn't the only girl! There were three other girls. It was so fun to be with so many adoptive families and share our stories. It is amazing to talk about our journey's to our little one's and our time in Korea. All of the children were about the same age. They ranged from 1 1/2-3! With that many kiddos, not many good photo chances came around with group pictures, but we really tried. I can't wait to meet up with everyone again. It was a great day!

Finishing up breakfast before running off to play!

This was a very popular slide!

Olivia loved being up high on the mammoth!

Our attempt at a group picture with the big dinosaur right off the interstate.

And NOW she cooperates.....everyone else is gone except Will.

Back to the playground....

Fossil dig!!!

Bates and Brodie are ready to dig!

Ella and Mabel are working hard!

Olivia is really getting into the fossil dig!

2nd attempt on a group picture....

Yes Mabel, do you have a suggestion to help us with this picture?

Mabel and the other kiddos had a great time swinging from the rings!

....but Mabel had the dismount to go with it!!!!

Sweet Brodie!!

My sweet girl swinging before getting in the car to head home.

She was asleep within 5 min. of being in the car!!!

Say Cheese, Olivia

2011-10-19T20:22:00.001-05:00

As I have mentioned, Olivia has not been cooperating with pictures lately. Today, we were upstairs (more on that in a minute) and I got my phone out. She said, "cheese!" I got the camera ready and held it up and her face dropped. She stared at me like I had 10 heads! I started saying, "you can't smile. Do you have teeth?" Silly questions or comments. Before I knew it, she gave me this.....

She completely gave me a little ham smile!!! It was so cute!
We had gone upstairs to play, and were greeted with 12 pee spots from the day. It wasn't just pee, it trailed around the room after each spot. He must have tried to stop and couldn't. My poor baby boy! Her response, "uh-oh!!!" Oscar is taking prednizone and the vet told us it would make him have to go to the bathroom more. We haven't had a problem, but we have also been home so we have been taking him out more frequently. I felt so sorry for this sweet face.

He truly couldn't help it, so I loved on him and headed upstairs to start cleaning. An hour and a half later, I had soaked all the pee up and was ready to oxy clean and scrub! This is very difficult to do with a 2 year old. She successfully stepped in it several times and would say, "uh-oh!" So, I asked Olivia to go down and get me a towel. She came back with shout. I asked her to go try again, and she came back with a tide pen. Obviously, she has seen me stain treat one too many times. :)
Just so you know I wasn't exaggerating the mess, I happened to snap a picture which is why I originally got the phone out. All the white stuff is paper towels to mark where I had cleaned and sprayed oxy clean. I then went back and SCRUBBED! When we were done, I thoroughly washed Olivia's feet and my feet as well as our hands. :) Fun times!

Can we say hardwood, please?!?!?!

8 Months Home

2011-10-18T22:59:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe that 8 months ago we were currently flying home from South Korea. We have come so far in so many ways. Olivia has many words, but is not stringing many words together yet. She has several 'security' words. She repeats these quite often. They are mama, dada, Oscar, home, bampy (that is Grammy and Grampy), and BeauBeau. The teacher in me is determined to get her to recognize her letters as her friends already do. (Yes, I know they have heard this language and have been worked with for two years vs. her 8 months, but a mama's gotta try!) The comment I made to John as we drove with our screaming, inconsolable child from the agency has bitten me several times. I said, "I sure do hope she gets some kind of personality!" Well, she has one! She is so fun! She is spunky, sassy, and stubborn. All in a good way, as I have many of those same traits. For example, I was trimming her toenails earlier tonight and she was letting me have it and then she leaned in and gave me the best hug. Her 'love pat' is a smack typically across the head....just ask her Grampy. When she sees the camera these days, she just turns her head or looks down. It takes a ton of coaxing! She is extremely ticklish, but if she doesn't know you or doesn't want to be bothered she will not crack a smile no matter how much you tickle her. This girl has a mind of her own and isn't afraid to express it! Oooohhhh, we are in for it, I know!
It is amazing to me how in 8 months she has picked up some of our quirks. We are struggling still with sleep, but I think that is to be expected since she co-slept for 18.5 months. Her current eating is to eat anything in sight. I have no clue why she doesn't gain weight....I wish I had that problem! Yesterday she measured 33.5 inches and 23 lbs. She is still tiny as we are coming up on 28 months next week.
I know I have posted these pictures before, but I still look at our Korea pictures in amazement. I truly can't believe how much we have been through. It has been a whirlwind, but I really don't think I would change one second of it.

Thank you God for blessing us with this precious child. We are very blessed!
Olivia Rae, we love you so much, and WE are the lucky ones in this family! God chose you to be our daughter. How amazing is that?!?!? It doesn't just happen.

The Last day of Fall Break

2011-10-17T22:31:00.000-05:00

Today was it for us. Today ends our 10 day fall break. I must say, I have enjoyed every second of our break. I love my kids at school, and I am excited to get back to them, but this break was so nice. I must say that we have not really relaxed as we have been on the go the whole break, but it is just different when you don't have to get up and be somewhere at a certain time. I didn't have to drag Olivia out of the bed at 6 a.m. I didn't have to pack lunches or be sure her bag was ready for the day at Grammy and Grampy's. So basically, no schedule has been nice. However, it is also nice to have a schedule --once I fall back into that routine. I think being on a schedule the bulk of the time makes us really appreciate these times that we are off.
We ended fall break by enjoying time with Miss. Annelyn, playing on the swing set, painting pumpkins, playing in the sand, playing in the pool (yea, yea, I know it is chilly...but they are only little once), eating pizza for lunch and a special rice krispy treat that had been dipped in chocolate, and eating dinner at Grammy and Grampy's. The only yuck part in the day was that I had to take Olivia to get shots. That was a bad hour, but she perked back up and has been great ever since! Here are some pictures from our 'fall' day!

It was a great way to end our wonderful break --- with my two favorite little girls. I can't wait for more fun times together!

Destin (Day 5)

2011-10-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

I had good intentions to blog last night, but I fell asleep putting Olivia to bed.

The girls watched a little Barney on the ipad yesterday before heading down to the beach.

Yesterday we enjoyed the day on the beach.
Everley and Brandon threw the frisbee for a bit.

Olivia played in the sand--she did not want her picture made AT ALL yesterday!

We were playinng in the sand when Olivia said, "fweepy" (sleepy), so we gathered our things and headed up to our room for a quick lunch and nap.

Brandon, Ashley and Everley joined us shortly because the wind really picked up. Once everyone was awake, we got showers and headed out. We went to Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin and walked around and ate pizza. Brandon, Ashley and Everley went to Louisiana Lagniappe which they said was wonderful! They met up with us at SanDestin and we got ice cream and watched the girls play on the playground.

We have had a great trip and I really want to stay another night. Brandon and Ashley have decided to stay one more night to enjoy the weather today. I feel like we need to get back to get Olivia back to a routine and let her have a few days at home before we go back to work. It has been a wonderful fall break! We will definitely do this again!!!! It was a spur of the moment trip, but it worked out! Back to reality, I guess.

Destin (Day 4)

2011-10-12T23:11:00.000-05:00

The sun came out today!!! We got up this morning and went to eat at the Donut Hole and returned to put swimsuits on to head out to the beach. The sun came out and we enjoyed the bulk of the day on the beach. The water was very calm today and there were several sand bars.

The girls had a ton of fun playing in the sand.

We came in for Olivia to nap, and afterward, we all headed out to go on a seashell cruise. I found this and was a bit nervous as the things I come up with don't always pan out (ask John about any movie I have picked out within the last 10 years!), but this was perfect! We rode the boat out to a shallow bay where we found some gorgeous shells!

Everley got to help drive the boat!

(Please disregard the zero amount of makeup on me (ugh!)....just trying to prove that I am on the trip too. :))

As luck would have it, we also got to see about 10-15 dolphins playing in the water.

I know it is blurry, you gotta be fast with these guys!

I laughed because growing up, my family took many of these dolphin cruises, but never saw much. We went on a seashell cruise and saw an amazing amount of dolphins. They were jumping out of the water and swimming right under our boat! We came back, got baths and went to eat dinner at Fudpucker's again tonight. We had another great dinner and then the girls played out on the playground.

While I am blogging, Brandon, Ashley and Everley have headed out for a walk on the beach. We are about to head to bed to rest up for another day at the beach.
We have really enjoyed our time here. I love that our families travel so well together! The girls have been amazing, and as always, we love being with Brandon and Ashley. I am looking forward to many more trips together as our families continue to grow over the next few years. I hope our girls always stay friends. They are off to a great start!
Happy Birthday Brandon!!! We love you!

Destin (Day 3)

2011-10-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

Today was cloudy and yuck here in Destin, so we didn't do much at the beach. We took a walk on the beach this morning and came back to head out for some shopping. We ate at Cheeseburger Paradise (I loved this when we ate at one in Atlanta and the four of us all remembered the chocolate nachos --which we ate again!) for lunch. We then came back here for a nap and then walked on the beach. We ended our day at Fudpuckers.

Olivia chased birds this morning!

I have no clue what she is doing, but it is stinkin cute!

She yelled, "look!" and was pointing to a bird.

This is my favorite picture of Olivia today. :)

Olivia's footprints....I wouldn't take a million dollars for them. They are precious prints from a precious girl.

She is yelling, "look" - again!

She loves the sand!

The clouds rolled in and stayed for the evening.

We were walking back to our condo and Olivia stopped and buried her feet.

As you can see, she was quite proud of herself.

We went to Fudpucker's for dinner tonight. What are they looking at?

....these guys! We enjoyed watching them before we ate dinner.

Everley sat on the alligator for me. She is so precious!

A sweet family on the gator.

Our little family on the gator. It is tough to get these pics. with the three of us. You should see Ashley and Everley trying to get Olivia to smile. Ugh, maybe one day it will be easy to take her picture with us in it.

I am hoping for some sun tomorrow! We will see, the weather forcast doesn't look so good, but who knows. The weather changes by the minute, right?

Destin (Day 2)

2011-10-10T23:07:00.000-05:00

Today was a great and relaxing day. We went to the beach and had a great time. We then came up and 5 out of the 6 of us had naps after lunch. John went for a walk while we napped. We got up and got ready for dinner. We headed out to eat and ended up at The BackPorch for dinner. We ran into some friends from home and visited for a few minutes and then had a nice dinner. After dinner we drove over to Sandestin and let the girls play on the playground for a bit. Olivia had a bit of a meltdown on the way back to our condo. I ended up climbing through the seat to get to the back. She was pitiful, but quickly got over it after changing into her pj's and playing with the ipad. We are all sitting around watching the girls play for a bit before bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good! Looking forward to another day of sun!

We stayed in this morning and the girls played with their toys together.

Grammy, look at the shell we found!!!!

Olivia decided to dump buckets of water on her daddy. She thought it was hilarious!

Olivia took about a 10 minute nap on the beach. The wind made the sand blow in her ears, eyes, up her nose, etc. I couldn't stand it so I was picking it off and she woke up. Oops!

The girls had fun diving in the sand. Olivia ate several bites during this time. She didn't seem to mind though.

We tried to get a picture of the girls together in their matching outfits, but they wouldn't cooperate. Such is life. :)

After dinner we went to the candy store. We left with some Taffy that Olivia loves!

Destin (day 1)

2011-10-09T21:19:00.000-05:00

This morning we got up at 4:15 to meet our friends Brandon, Ashley and Everley at 5 to head to Destin, FL. We planned this trip a week ago, so we have all been a bit unorganized on getting here, but we are here now!!! We had a wedding that we went to last night and didn't get home until after 10:00. We got back to my parents house, and I still needed to go to the store. We left the store and got home close to 11. I still had not started packing at that point. I felt like I had a lot of time before going to bed, so I went ahead and made muffins and brownies to take on the trip. While that was cooking, I got Olivia's bag packed. Luckily, I had laid her stuff out earlier in the day, because I was now in the dark since she was asleep. All to say, we finally hit the bed at 2:00 a.m. John and I both laughed since we knew we were only getting to sleep for an hour and a half. We arrived in Destin this afternoon. As we came over the bridge and Olivia saw the ocean for the first time she said, "home." We told her no that we were staying here for a few days and then we got her to look at the water. She said, "big!" Within literally one minute, I looked back and she was asleep. We got settled into our condo and quickly changed clothes to head down to the beach.
Olivia was very unsure at first, but warmed up quickly.

Everley was thrilled because she remembers the beach from last fall break. The tide was really high today since we are expecting storms tomorrow. After playing at the beach, we went to swim at the pool. Olivia was shivering so we decided it was time to head back to our room. We got cleaned up and went to eat at Bubba Gump's for dinner. We drove around for a few minutes and then went to Publix for a few things. The girls are currently playing play-doh. Here are a few pictures from Olivia's first time to see the beach.

Olivia and Everley had fun running back and forth carrying the shovels and the buckets.

They were all digging in the sand and I saw John quickly grab Olivia. This washed up right on where they were digging!!! Yuck!

I love this picture!

Olivia decided the water was pretty fun. She sat down and let the water come up around her.

She liked doing that so much that she started army crawling toward the water.

...but a wave got her!

She didn't mind at all. (I know....it looks bad, but it wasn't really deep and she laughed.) We stood her up and she was ready for more.

She was running back our way a bit later and looked cold. I wrapped her up...

....and snuggled her while she ate a 'sand banana.' :)

The 'baywatch' helicopter continuously flew over and came in pretty low several times. The waves were really strong!

All in all, we had a good day!!! Olivia has asked several times about the "wawa." Hopefully, the rain will move out quickly and we can get back out!

House work....

2011-10-07T21:11:00.001-05:00

Olivia is in to helping around the house. You can find her helping with the laundry, (I think we had to start over with our folding by the time she was done jumping over the pile of towels. Oh well, it was fun!)

vacuuming, (I was putting away her new stuff and wanted to see how this Christmas outfit looked on her. Ignore the messy hair) :) She however felt the need to vacuum at this moment.

or washing clothes most any day. (She LOVES to clean out the lint thing. She also loves to put the drier sheet in.)

M.I.A.

2011-10-02T11:23:00.000-05:00

I feel that is a very appropriate title for my blog post. I hate that I have not been a very faithful blogger for the last month and a half. I will do better! Olivia will do something and I will think, 'quick, grab the camera.' Then the minute she sees the camera these days she turns her head and gets whiny. Nice, right? We are very 2 around our house these days. We have fall break coming up and lots of fun fall events so I am sure I will get back to being a better blogger. Olivia is doing well, but is still adjusting to some degree. We are waiting on our court papers to finalize. How exciting! Yes, we will definitely have pictures of that!!!
Last week, mom took Olivia and Annelyn to see ponies, they went paddle boating, and then mom took her to see goats and made cupcakes. (nope, not a single picture of it!:( ) Olivia had a moment the first day with the ponies when they got there. She had the silent tears (which is what we saw a lot of during the main grieving time) and then had a full out sob fest. She was grabbing hold of her coat and making sure no one took her belongings which is something else she did right at the beginning. Two steps forward and one back, I guess?? It is hard to know what was going through her little mind. Maybe nothing as far as being left, maybe she was terrified that mom was going to give her to a new family?? I have no idea. All I feel I can do is cuddle, and continue to reassure her that we are it! She loves to say "home" and then names me, John, and Oscar. She cheers some days when we pull into the driveway.
Once she got over all of that, she had a great time at the farm and even tried to put her hand in the mouth of a pony.
John told mom that he needs permission slips since she is going so many places! :) I am so glad that mom is getting Olivia out and about. Yesterday, we went to our local fall festival and Olivia had fun running around. I wish I had a picture of her in her overalls...too cute! I will get one!
So, this is our week in a nut shell. Today we are celebrating a first for our family. My dad's aunt is turning 90. No one in our family has lived to be 90. We are headed out to celebrate and then have a surprise visit from Karen and Heath who live in Mexico. I didn't think I would get to see them until Christmas, but Heath's grandmother passed away so they came to the states. Looking forward to a great day and a great fall week. One more work week until fall break!!!

Consignment Time

2011-09-25T15:24:00.000-05:00

Last week I mentioned that the upcoming week was going to be hectic. Well, it was, and I have been exhausted! It was a good week though. Monday night I left work, met mom, and we went straight to work at the sale. I marked clothes with stains and helped put items out until 9:30. I got home a little after 10. Tuesday, John went to help pick up some stuff from our friends and take to the sale. He got home by 9:30. Wednesday I went back to the consignment sale to work some more. I got home close to 10 this night too. I got to shop on Thursday and found some great stuff! I got home after 10 with Olivia excited to see what her momma got her. It was finally Friday and I didn't have it in me to blog. So yes, it was a busy week consignment wise, but check out my stroller!!!

I unpinned and washed it all, and it is all ready to be put away. I think I have almost all of Olivia's summer stuff put away. This sale has been one that mom and I have gone to for the past 5 years. In the last 2 years I have gotten into working it so I can shop before the public. That's the way to go people! Happy fall shopping!!!

Sunday morning fun

2011-09-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

This morning we got up and headed to the park. It was a gorgeous morning and we haven't been since it has been so hot. Olivia had fun going down all the slides, but Oscar wanted to continue to walk. So, I walked Oscar back to the car, and John stayed and played on the playground with Olivia. As we were pulling the car up to the playground, I saw them coming towards me. She told him she was done and ready to go. With that, we came home and got breakfast going. A breakfast of champs! She wanted pancakes so I made some (yep, stuck the frozen ones in the microwave for 35 seconds. I know, I will get that mom of the year award!!) Then she spotted her m&m's and said, "meme's" so we spruced up those frozen pancakes with meme's and banana.

She is not into her being taken picture lately, so this is the best we could get. She was all smiles once the camera was put away. She saw her plate and got excited! We got the camera out and she wouldn't look up. Here she is asking for a fork. When asking it sounds like another four letter word, and I, for some reason, think it is hilarious!

Don't be fooled by this picture and think she is smiling....we asked her to say please for the fork.

She enjoyed her pancakes and ate every bite!

Now, off to get ready for church. We have a super busy week coming up (YAY for Encores!--local consignment sale) and I am not sure how much blogging I will get done, but I will try. :) Happy Sunday!!!! Hope your day is fun!

First overnight away from home

2011-09-15T20:46:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we headed to Fall Creek Falls for our first overnight trip. We were supposed to go to Dollywood in June with our Brandon and Ashley, but didn't get to since Olivia got sick. So, this weekend we finally got to all go on a short trip together. It did not disappoint!

The girls enjoyed sitting in any and all small seats that were at the festival. The one Olivia is in appropriately was marked, "Time Out."

We ate MANY snow cones! Yum!!

We had to look (um...or eat) at the map a little to see where we were headed next.

A little rock climbing along the way....

...only to jump off the top with pure JOY!

The girls played peek-a-boo for a bit and giggled so much! It was so cute to watch!!

Somehow, I captured this picture....may be one of my favorites!

After playing peek a boo, they ventured over to where the log cutting was going to take place. Olivia made herself comfy.

Olivia really wanted to watch the log cutting. Brandon did both the log splitting and the big saw that took two men. John wanted to keep his record and workout chart that we both have going consistent. His is blank.

Everley had fun riding the horse. Olivia was pumped about making the neigh sound, but when I asked if she wanted to ride she quickly said, "no."

Olivia's first view of the falls.

Olivia made the LONG walk across. She acually jumped her way across. I went back across with another family because I HATE that bridge and can't stand it swinging. Both girls had a blast making it swing and jostle. UGH!

Once we hiked to the bottom, we went to the nature center only to discover it closed 10 minutes earlier. The girls ran from the nature center back to us many times screaming at the top of their lungs. They were going through a small tunnel area, so it sounded very loud and they loved it! Since the nature center was closed, we headed over to the falls where many people go to swim.

Olivia and John ventured over closer to the falls.

Before we knew it, all four were over on the rocks and Ashley and I were back on dry land.

Brandon, Ashley and Everley

Our little family

All of us. This picture makes me so happy. We have been on trips just as couples, just with Everley as a baby, and now as two families. We love to travel with them! It is always fun!!!

Everley was big into carrying sticks over the weekend. Brandon found a big stick and told her about walking sticks. Luckily, we found one that was just her size. She and her daddy walked for quite a while with their sticks. It was so cute!

We wanted a picture in front of the sign. We handed her a pumpkin because she was not feeling picture time. Obviously, she wasn't impressed.

And then she melted. We were done.

We are waiting for the herding to begin.

We watched this dog, Molly, herd sheep. Unfortunately, Molly is really old and can't perform as well as she use to. It was so sad to hear her owner talk about her because you could tell how much he truly loves her.

We didn't make it out of the park Sunday and she was sound asleep. She slept all the way home!

We survived our first overnight. She seemed to do just fine. I think I was more nervous about it than anyone. I kept telling her all day the plan. I kept saying, "we will go night night here and then go get Oscar tomorrow at home." She wasn't ready at all to go to bed. We were so tired as I had 2 hours of sleep Friday night and then we had been going since 5:30 Saturday morning. Luckily, we were all asleep by 10, I think. I am looking forward to many more family vacations and many more fun trips with Brandon, Ashley and Everley!

First Pedicure

2011-09-09T20:26:00.000-05:00

On Monday, our family spent the day together at our house. I had promised Annelyn that I would give her a fresh polish on her fingers and toes, so mom brought the bucket of nail polish when they all came over. I have tried to paint Olivia's nails before, but she just wipes it off. She likes the idea, but thinks it is more fun to wipe it off. So, Annelyn gave me all the details of her new nail job and we got started. Before I knew it, John had Olivia sitting next to us and was painting her nails. She blew them dry, giggled, rolled around and had a great time. So, her first pedicure....yes, her daddy painted them!
I hate that these pictures are blurry, but my sister took them on her iphone. I couldn't get the camera because I was painting Miss Annelyn's toes with stripes and polka dots! Olivia doesn't look thrilled in these, but trust me, she had a great time!

Did I mention, Olivia's nails look good! However, she just isn't the nail painted kind of girl. She just isn't that girly. Annelyn on the other hand must have her nails done! :) These girls are opposite in every possible aspect, but I couldn't love them more!

Walking Oscar

2011-09-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

Oh my!!! A full week and I haven't blogged! WOW! Well, you haven't missed much in our lives. We are still getting into the school routine, but it is much better. I think I have neglected the blog because once we get home the focus is 100% on Olivia. Once bath and bed are done I have found that I just want to go to bed too. I will do better. I am looking forward to fall and getting lots of pictures! Stick around, I promise I will do better.

Lately, Olivia has wanted to walk Oscar. She does pretty good for the most part. It is hilarious to watch her. When Oscar stops to sniff or do his manly business, she sits down on the side of the road to wait. We have had several laughs over this!

It continuously happens....he sniffs, she sits. It takes a while, but we eventually make it back home.

Baking with mama

2011-08-28T12:15:00.000-05:00

One night this past week, Olivia and I made cookies together.

This was the first time that I have let her help and she did a great job!!! Rumor has it, she already helps with Grammy making muffins.
Oscar decided he would join in the fun. Did you really think we would leave him out?

Olivia gave a little bite to Oscar. Don't worry, we were done cooking at this point so her little hands didn't touch anything after she fed Oscar.

She is very satisfied with her cookies!

A picture is worth a thousand words....

2011-08-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

....but today, today these pictures only bring one small sentence to mind. God is good!

6 months home!!

2011-08-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that we have been home for 6 months? WOW! Where has the time gone? Why has life suddenly sped up now that she is home? I look back at pictures and can't believe how much has changed. I am going to share pictures from each month to show where we were vs. where we are now. I wouldn't trade this experience for ANYTHING! She has been through so much (and still transitioning in some ways) and has been amazing! I am so lucky to be her mom and be the one to help get her through all of this. I am lucky to get to watch her grow up. I am lucky that I get to wipe her tears, give her baths, change her diapers, and do all the daily mom things. I am one lucky girl!!!! Thank you Olivia for allowing us to love you and letting us into your heart. You have definitely made your way into mine. I love you little girl.
Now, lets make this thing legal!!!!

Still in her foster mothers arms (second visitation -- 2/16/11)

On the plane ride home. She was in shock, poor thing! (2/18/11)

We had just landed in the USA at the Atlanta airport. (2/19/11)

We had been home about a week here. (2/24/11)

Beginning to get out a little...here we are at the park after a month home. (3/19/11)

Just having fun at home in April. (4/21/11)

In May she was helping me with the laundry. (5/24/11)

Enjoying Grampy's corn! (6/20/11)

Loving pool time with daddy! (7/14/11)

It is amazing to me when I look back through pictures to see how much has happened and how much has changed. I looked through many pictures to make sure that I found some that were taken close to the monthly 'family day!'
So glad that we are 6 months in....I can't wait to see what the next 6 months have in store for us!!!

Working at the car wash....

2011-08-18T21:29:00.000-05:00

You know the song. Yep, bet it is stuck in your head now. :) Well, we are no car wash, but we ventured out to wash mine yesterday. It was NASTY! With Olivia's help we got it done. When I say help, as I would dry a spot, she would spray it down again.

Yes, I was soaked after this picture. I was just trying to protect the camera from getting wet. She thought it was hilarious!

Whenever I leave the pool, I always tie my towel around my waste. She insists on any towel that is used outside to be tied around her waist. This was the towel that we dried the car with. She was determined to get it fixed around her waist, so we finally helped. Yes, she had a really good bath later in the evening. :)

She 'helped' me clean the inside of my car. She looks a bit like Cruella De'Ville here the way she is scrunched over holding onto the steering wheel! I can tell she even has the underbite going for her in this picture. She is a laugh a minute!

Almost done, and look--she found a sucker that we had been holding out on her!

It was a long process, but we had fun!

Bring home Greer and Sophie

2011-08-14T22:05:00.000-05:00

Last night, we got in the car and headed out to a fundraiser to help bring home twins from Korea. I have met their mamma one other time (at the airport when Brodie came home), but was super excited to go and help bring home her sweet babies. There is something about adoption that makes you want to help others in anyway possible to get their kids home. I guess because we know the waiting feeling and that pain. After playing in the car for an hour and a half,

we arrived at a beautiful farm house. We were greeted by Annelyn running to us and then cought up with Leslie, Jeremy, and MaryLeigh.

We got settled and enjoyed a great dinner.

After dinner, April and her husband talked for a few minutes about their journey to the twins. Olivia is listening to them talk about the twins.

It is amazing how God calls us to adoption.

Olivia, Brodie, Bates, and Annelyn had fun running around during this time.

I got to meet some super nice people (one who I have followed her blog for quite some time and had no clue she lived in the area!) and then we looked at all the great stuff that was up for auction. It was getting late so we loaded up and before we even got to the main road, Olivia was snoozing. What a great Saturday night! Olivia has brought us so much joy in such a short time. We have met many wonderful people that, without this experience, we wouldn't have ever met. Adoption is an amazing gift!!! We are so lucky!!

A Barrel of Fun

2011-08-10T21:10:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Olivia slid her kitchen toys from the kitchen to the den and emptied ALL the contents. She then climbed into the tub. She had a ton of fun rolling around all over the den. Her hair had so much static, but she didn't mind. I miss these fun moments! Summer will come again! Looking forward to it already! :) We are still finding our new normal, but slowly we are getting there. We CAN do it!

Farm Girl

2011-08-07T21:08:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, we went to our friends, Danyell and Jimmy's house to see their baby calves and horses. Since 'moo' was the first animal sound that Olivia made, it has been on our list of things to do. They have had two baby calves, and we wanted to see them before they are sold.

We finally got a date set and the animals did not disappoint. Jimmy had been out working all day hauling hay, but was so patient and sweet with Olivia. Olivia was a bit unsure,

but finally got close and fed her a piece of sugar.

Poor Jimmy tried to get her to get on with him, but she wasn't having it.

She went quickly to Danyell when she offered to sit up there. She loved it!!!

When she is a bit bigger we are hoping Jimmy will ride with her and teach her to ride. She really liked it out there.

We can't wait for another visit out to their farm.

After visiting with the animals, we went to eat at a local italian restaurant. What a great Saturday night!!!

One week down...

2011-08-06T22:45:00.001-05:00

This week was a week of more 'first's' for our family. On Tuesday, I went back to work leaving Olivia here with John for the day. That was hard, but the hard part came when I left Olivia at mom and dad's on Wednesday. Knowing that was day one of 180 seemed sufficating to me. But, we made it! One week down. On Wednesday, Olivia had the entertainment of my cousin's two kids Mia and Ian.

They came Tuesday night to our house to swim and eat dinner, so I also got to enjoy their company.

When I left Olivia Wednesday morning, she seemed ok. I told her I would be right back and she pointed at me and said, "be back." She looked unsure as I headed out the door, but was not crying. Mom said she did really well when I picked her up Wednesday afternoon. I am not sure who was more tired...me, Olivia, or mom? Thursday, I left and she was reaching for me and crying. She was so tired. Mom said that passed quickly, but it weighed on me all day. Friday morning, we got up and had a few minutes at home before heading to my parents, and I think that helped both Olivia and me. We stayed home and played all day today and then enjoyed time with Jimmy and Danyell tonight (post on that tomorrow) :)
I can't help but wonder what Olivia is thinking? Did she wonder why we didn't put her in the car at the crack of dawn in her pj's today? Did the look of fear I saw in her eyes Wednesday when I handed her to mom with her bag make her think of when her fostermom handed her to me with a bag? Does she wonder why all of a sudden I am not spending all day with her? Does she think, "what did I do wrong?" since I am not with her all day now? These are just a few of my worries. Yes, I know her thoughts are probably not that complex at this point, but it still worries me. I wouldn't do anything to mess up all the progress that we have made. She has been through so much! In all honesty, I am also jealous of the time that mom and dad get to spend with her. I know....that is silly. However, when I get there to pick her up she prefers them initially. If she wants to be picked up, she goes to them to say up. I feel a bit like chopped liver for a while in the afternoons. I have to get over it, I know. I know it is dumb to feel that way, but everyday, everything we do, I still think about attachment. Other adoption friends will know and probably understand that irrational fear/worry. In my head, one of my worries is that she may think, "these people are fun...I can just stay here." Why wouldn't she want to live with someone else at this point. I mean, we have been fun for the last 5 1/2 months, but why not move on? Poor thing doesn't know any different at this point. The "mommy shopping" is something that most of you have never thought of unless you have adopted a child. It is something that is terrifying to me!!! I want her to know WE ARE IT! We are her mom and dad. I hate the feeling of that constant insecurity. When will that fade?
I don't do anything anymore without thinking, "how will this affect Olivia now? --in the longrun? Is this putting her first?" I know I have said it several times, but you couldn't have told me that I would be so in love with her at this point. I am not sure the day or time that it happened, but it happened. This girl has changed our lives and we are so blessed by that! We love her to pieces and I guess I am still worried about heartbreak. There is a lot of that in the adoption process -- on all sides!

Well, all in all, I think the week was successful. She had fun and I know my parents had fun with her being there. They are crazy about her. I can actually tell that dad is laughing with her while she is in the swing by looking at the side of his face in this picture.

Mom told me several things they did, and I know Olivia is having fun! She helped water the flowers, do laundry (she loves to "help"), played with toys, colored, got to swing, and much more! (where are pictures of all that stuff, Grammy?) :) Yes, I took my camera to their house for them to take pictures of her so I don't miss out.
I still hate that I have to drag her out of bed in the mornings, and I really dread the winter months. That just seems mean. I hate knowing that I don't get the majority of the hours in the day with her, but I know she is ok. I know she is being loved by her Grammy and Grampy. I also know that I am missing "firsts" and I am missing her goofy laugh. I am missing breakfast and lunchtime with her.
We will adjust. It will just take time. In the meantime I just keep telling myself, "smile and fake it till ya make it!" I can do this!!!

Finding a "new normal"

2011-08-02T20:37:00.001-05:00

I have written this post several times in my head. I know I am probably leaving out some of the thoughts I have had, and this may seem extremely scattered, but here goes.
I have dreaded this post for almost 6 months. Well, I shouldn't say 6 months because when Olivia first came home, I wanted to return to work and let John stay home with her. Work was the easy way out at that point. She was grieving so badly and didn't understand us. It was so hard. By June, as I have said before, Olivia and I bonded and attached to each other. Since February 19th, I have not been away from Olivia for more than 4 hours at a time. I have only done that a couple of times. I have run errands and been gone for a couple hours a couple of times, but we have pretty much been together 24/7. Today, I went to work and left Olivia here for what was our last 'real day of summer.' I went on to get some paperwork done prior to the year starting. I missed both of them all day.

Before I continue this post, I want to clarify that I love my job. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I am blessed to have the job that I have. This is my blog for Olivia and I am writing what is on my heart.
However, I am having a hard time returning to work. I will rise to the occasion when I have my students as I know I would want Olivia's teacher to be 100% mentally and physically there. So I will be. I treat my students as if they were my own.

But today and the next few will be hard. I dread leaving MY baby tomorrow morning. I dread not being the one to spend the most time with her during her day. I dread not getting to share breakfast with her, playing play-doh and enjoying each others company. In the last 6 months, my life has completely changed. It has changed in a way that I didn't know was possible. When I left for maternity leave, I remember saying, "oh, I will definitely not have trouble coming back to work. I would NEVER want to be a stay at home mom!"
I feel like I missed 18 (almost 19) months, and I don't want to miss another minute. She is such a precious little girl. I am very blessed that I will be taking her to my parents house to stay while I am at work, but my heart is still sad.
We have found our groove for the day and I am hesitant to see that change. I want to do it all well. My job, being a mom, being a wife, keeping a house, being a good daughter/sister, etc. I am worried that I will be doing many things, but what if I am not doing them well? My students deserve a teacher who is engaged and excited about the day. Olivia deserves a mom who isn't tired and ready to play pat-a-cake for the millionth time. John deserves a patient and happy wife. My house needs to be kept to my liking--clean and laundry done/put away. Meals need to be cooked. Not take out all the time. These are my concerns/fears of finding our 'new normal.' As I went to bed last night, John said, "I hope you have a good day at work tomorrow." I began to hysterically cry. I continued to cry until almost 1 a.m. I can't say that going tomorrow will be easy. I can't say that I won't cry all the way to work. I can say that I will do my best. I will try to leave Olivia in the morning with a smile and go to work and put a smile on my face. Really, no one wants to be with a 'Debbie Downer' all day, and I WILL NOT be that person. Fake it til' you make it, right? I think that saying helped me keep a smile and stay focused during our wait until we received our travel call.
I am not the first person to adopt a child and return to work. I am not the first mother that returns to work and leaves their child with someone else. I am not the first person to juggle so many things. I know that. However, I am entitled to my feelings and my heart is sad. My heart hurts for Olivia. She has had so much change and transition. I HATE that in such a short time she is now having to start a new routine. From the few days that I have been away (hours more like) I have noticed when I do come home that Olivia does not want to listen to me. She is more unsure of things and she is more likely to get into things that get her into trouble. I don't want to come home to a constant battle.
I know that in the long run, it will be beneficial for her to be away from me. I wish I could have it all....teach and stay home. It just isn't possible. I would love to have her home for the next year, but really, that is probably more for me. I know she will adjust and be fine. I know she will continue to learn. I know that she will laugh and be extremely well cared for and loved. I just want to be the one loving and caring for her. As I mentioned above, I never saw myself having all these feelings after my maternity leave and summer.
Tomorrow is a new day. I have to take one day at a time.

I guess I am having such a hard time because

this face and this girl

is someone I don't want to miss a minute of being with!

I love you Olivia Rae!

7 years ago....

2011-07-31T22:46:00.000-05:00

Seven years ago today, I stood before God, my family, and a crowd of people and said "I do" to my best friend.

We had hopes and dreams of starting a family and growing old together. Well, God intervened to show that He is in control and we finally listened. I don't know about you, but before we married we would talk about the future and when we would want to start a family. We decided to go for the five year plan. After being married a few years and dating for six years, we decided we were ready to start a family. We tried for a while and then sought a fertility clinic. After several failed IUI's and a miscarriage after invitro, we decided to adopt. (that is definitely the short version) We were led to Korea and matched with a gorgeous little girl. It wasn't until last month that I realized every bit of our "failed attempts" worked! They did work, just in a different way. We are so blessed to have our little Olivia home with us today to share our anniversary with.

I know a lot of people drop their kids off to go on a date for their anniversary, but we are so happy to share every minute of this day with her. Though it wasn't how we "saw" it seven or even ten years ago, we wouldn't change a thing!
Happy Anniversary to you John. You are a wonderful best friend, husband and now father! We are so blessed!!!! Looking forward to many more years as a family!

Cousin sleepover

2011-07-30T09:59:00.000-05:00

Last night, we had 4 of the 5 nieces come spend the night. They have all been great!!! The younger girls started their fun by arranging all of the kitchen food.

We then all headed out to swim for a bit and enjoy hot dogs and smores.

There was some hesitation from Annelyn since she had never made them, but the other Allayney and Courtney were ready and excited! Once Annelyn took a bite she realized she loved them.

I think Allayney got hers a little too toasted. :)

I think it was more the hot fire that made Annelyn nervous. Olivia enjoyed swimming with Brittney until she realized food was involved with the fire.

She ate a few bites and decided swimming was more fun!

We came in and two girls had baths and the other three said they didn't need one.
Obviously Olivia isn't thrilled with Annelyn washing her, but she got her turn. :)

Monkey see, monkey do.

We cleaned up because I think every toy was out. It was getting late so I made our beds on the floor and sent the older girls upstairs to watch TV or just hang out. This morning John and Brittney went to get doughnuts so everyone is currently watching the smurfs and eating their breakfast.

Annelyn has to leave in a bit for a hair cut but the other three will be here until nap. I think we will swim, but we will let the girls decide. :)

2 years and 1 mos. old!

2011-07-26T09:44:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to get these pictures. We had these done back in May. I LOVE THEM!!!! What better time to show them off than today on her 25th month of life. We got a very large linen print of the first picture We love this little girl more every day! She is the best gift we could have ever received!

Shucking corn

2011-07-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

The other day, I had bought some corn and asked John to shuck it. Olivia and I followed him out and of course she wanted to help. As he was getting started, she decided she wanted to walk on down to the "waba" which is the pool. We told her no several times and once she got down to the water she turned around, looked at us, smiled, and then stepped into the first step. I went and got her and she had a time out for it. I know it looks pitiful, but after her 2 minutes, she was all about the corn.

She had a lot of fun helping her daddy.

She loves corn. She was ready to eat it!

She is determind to get a bite!

But, she continues to work on her corn and will have to wait to eat it until it is cooked.

Maybe I can get a bite like this?

So pleased with herself!

Showing off a job well done. Her daddy may have had to do a little more work on this one before passing it off to Grampy to cook.

No wait, give it back.

Finally, I got a bite!

Yucky! I will just wait until it is cooked!

Well, the corn was cooked and she ate a ton and loved every bite!!! Sweet, sweet summertime is just the best!

5 months home

2011-07-19T23:53:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it??? It doesn't seem possible. We have had a very exciting month here at our house. After celebrating Olivia's 2nd birthday here at home, I have felt a closer bond to her. I don't know why? I guess it is because we celebrated a milestone together. Yesterday I was carrying her and asked her if I had told her in the last three minutes that I loved her. I have fallen so in love with this child. She just fits here. Her personality has really come out and she is hilarious! She is like John and I in so many ways. It seems like she has always been here.
For those of you who know me from childhood (ahem Karen and Kristen) you know that I always had my Winnie the Pooh at slumber parties. Last week after Olivia had her shots, I took Pooh into her room once she had fallen asleep and let her sleep with him. People, that is huge!!! Don't laugh! Ever since then, she has slept with him. Last night she said she didn't want him, and then from her room we heard her yelling, "Pooh! Pooh!"--it was precious!! I don't know why, but that is an extremely special thing to me. That bear has had a lot of love and tears over the years. My parents gave him to me when I was 4. I hated that bear at first. I wanted a Teddy Ruxpin. They knew better and were not buying me one of those. They thought he was junk. So here I was at my Pizza Hut birthday party with this dumb bear. Little did I know how comforting he would be over the years to come. Now it is Olivia's turn to give Pooh love. She has been taking him and putting him down for a nap and covering him up with her blanket. She then hums the tune to the lullaby we sing to her at night and closes the door as gently as she can (until it slams at the end) still humming on her way out....just like we do for her. I guess what I am getting at is that bear is very dear to me. I never would have thought sharing him was optional. However, that little girl seems to have stollen my heart and is unbelievably dear to me after only 5 short months.
As I look at work starting in just a couple weeks, I am saddened that this season of our lives is over. You couldn't have told me 5 months ago that we would be here at this point. It hasn't been easy (especially the first 3 months home) but we have found our new normal and I love it. I am very hesitant to find yet another new normal as I am completely smitten with this child.
Happy 5 months home sweet girl. I look forward to many more birthdays, memories and 'firsts' with you. We love you so much.

Swimming in the summertime!

2011-07-16T22:08:00.000-05:00

In the last couple weeks, we have had several friends over to swim and enjoy summertime. Our pool was only opened the week prior to Olivia's birthday, so we have been outside quite a bit in the last 3 weeks. The week after her party, we had Bates and Brodie up for a day of fun in the sun. We seemed to venture from the pool to the sand box and then inside to get ready for lunch at sonic! We had a lot of fun and always enjoy time with the Brown's!!

Before Annelyn headed to Disney we got to enjoy the afternoon of swimming and playing together. The two of them are really starting to have a good relationship. Olivia squeels with joy when she sees Annelyn. She loves her big cousin!

Typically in the summer, we have 'swim days' once a week. These are just fun days that a group of us look forward to having so we can enjoy each others company. It was a group of us from work, but as life has changed, it is now just a group of close friends. :) Unfortunately with the pool not working the better part of June and our busy schedules in July, we have only had two swim days. The first one was small as it rained on the Friday of swim day so we had an impromtu swim day on Saturday. Everyone else had plans, but our husbands had gone to play in a golf tournament together so we decided to swim!

Finally, this past Friday, we had one of our real swim days. We have enjoyed these for the past two summers and it was so exciting as my house filled with friends and their sweet kiddos. We wanted to take a picture before getting everyone changed and out at the pool, but as you can see, we didn't have the best luck. (it was hilarious because all of us were standing cheering and saying 'cheese' and they were m.e.l.t.i.n.g.--all you can do is laugh!)

We made it outside and all the kids were all smiles the remainder of the afternoon. However, when nap is skipped with many toddlers and babies at the same time, it does tend to get a bit rough for a bit. But, as I said before, all you can do is laugh!

We have also enjoyed swimming as a family of 3. Yes, I say 3 here because Oscar is not going to get in that water. He does come and sit under a lawn chair until he gets too hot. Then you will find him inside in the air conditioning.

Luckily, Olivia loves the water and outdoors. We would be in big trouble if she didn't since we live outside in the summer! We love the summertime!!!!

2 year old check up

2011-07-14T17:01:00.000-05:00

Today we went for Olivia's 2 year check up and to get some of the lacking vaccinations. She had 4 shots. She was laying on the table looking around with me at her head and all of a sudden was had streaming tears. Oh poor thing....they hurt! She was a trooper and was ok by the time we got to our sticker and sucker. We went straight to Sonic and got her a new hot fudge sundae milkshake that she loved. After lunch, she got some tylenol and then went down for a nap. She really doesn't seem bothered by them. They said her legs would be sore and she wouldn't feel her best, but so far, so good!

Her checkup went well. She only weighs 21 lbs. and 4 oz. Poor thing doesn't register on the weight chart. She is 32 1/4 inches long. She is in the 10th percentile. Though her speech is slow in coming, Dr. Kastner felt that she was doing great considering she has only been home for 4 1/2 months and was so premature. So, overall a great checkup!!! We were very proud of our sweet little girl. We have to return in October for some more vaccinations and again in January. Hopefully that will be our only reason to have to go to the doctor, but my guess is we will have to return before October! :)

She is showing off her 4 boo boo's. They have tweety bird band-aids on them.

Mowing

2011-07-10T23:17:00.001-05:00

It was so hot today that we stayed inside as much as possible. This evening, John decided he would try to get some mowing done. Olivia and I watched from the deck. Lately, every noise has scared her, so we are working on getting past that. The lawn mower is one of those noises. She did great tonight! She said "mow" before we went out and we talked about the loud noise. She has come so far in so many ways!

She was cautiously watching, but ended up running to every section of the deck to watch.

She is really watching her daddy!

She saw the camera and I said, "Olivia, smile" to which she screamed. This picture makes me laugh because there is the *cutest* picture of a little asian girl in Parents magazine screaming. The article is titled "bossy toddlers." Uh-oh!

Sweet and innocent, right?

....and then we get these looks. That girl can give us some glares!

After this she sat and turned the other way when I would try to take her picture. I think I may have taken a few to many and she is over it! :)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday we headed out to meet up with Brandon, Ashley and Everley to enjoy some festivities and fireworks. The girls played in the bouncy house and sweated like crazy!

They thought it was great to have water poured on their heads.

We took a break for a couple hours and headed to Grammy and Grampy's house to cool off. Olivia talked on her phone on the way. She had a great conversation with Elmo.

We met back up with Brandon, Ashley, and Everley to enjoy fireworks. It was still hot, but the girls didn't mind! We enjoyed watching the girls play before the fireworks and they giggled all the way through the fireworks. They are so cute!!

We weren't sure how Olivia would do as she has recently been scared of any noise. Cars starting, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and thunder are just a few of the noises that have Olivia on edge lately. We saw fireworks in April when we went to a baseball game, but the noise thing is recent, so we weren't sure. We are happy to report that she loved them!!!

Today we got up to rainy weather so we did a little craft that we have been meaning to get to before Olivia grows anymore than she already has (which isn't much!) For mother's day, Olivia and John gave me the stuff to make Olivia's hand prints and foot prints.

We honestly just haven't had a chance until now because John was working and we wanted to both be here when we made them. This took the bulk of the morning and then the sun decided to shine this afternoon! We went for a swim and then headed over to Grammy and Grampy's for a great dinner. They followed us back to the house because we all were going to walk over to our local park to watch the fireworks. We got half way there and a car stopped and said they had been cancelled. I didn't really believe them until a few cars later my friend Rachael passed and said the same thing. We then passed several friends who gave us the same news. We walked back home and watched Olivia play for a bit. How sad to not see fireworks on the fourth! Apparently, the guy that was hired to set the fireworks off tonight just didn't show.
Regardless, we had a good day and enjoyed another "first" holiday with our girl. Happy 4th of July!

Yard Sale and a fun Saturday night!

2011-07-03T09:20:00.001-05:00

Late this week, I decided that we needed to get our yard sale in before any more of summer gets away from us. So, at 10:30 Thursday night I started setting up. Olivia woke up Friday morning and joined us outside. She saw everything on the driveway and looked very confused. By Saturday she was getting the swing of it! She was telling people 'hello' and waving bye to them. She would even take the money and put it in the box for us! I wonder how many times she has had the thought of, "what are these crazy people doing now?" since she has come home???

Saturday night we joined our friends at P.F. Chang's for some yummy food. We got there early (I know....not a typo, we were actually early!) While we waited, we let the breeze come through the car and Olivia "drove." (car was not on if you are wondering)

She was more interested in pushing buttons and playing with the sun roof.

This is her current "surprised" face. Way too cute if you ask me.

After dinner, we went over to feed the ducks. The girls had fun and the rest of us were making sure they didn't fall in.

(for all you photography people (ahem....Melissa Lewis) can you tell me how to make my night time flash not make my pictures blurry. I didn't get very many good pictures because the flash put a blur on them....I will post one so you can see what I am talking about.

I took all of these within 15 minutes, and you can see the few that worked with the flash look alot better as far as lighting. The others look like it is pitch black night time and it wasn't. Thanks for your help!) :)

In the end, the girls ended up eating the bread. Keep in mind, we had JUST eaten a huge dinner!

We had a great night! We always look forward to and enjoy our time with the Goodwin's!

Sweet Summer Time

2011-07-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

There is nothing better than the summer! This summer truly proves that to be a true fact for me. I told John tonight, that I don't know when I have felt this satisfied with life. We are so lucky Olivia is here with us and loving every (yes-- every single one) minute of it.

Happy 2nd Birthday Olivia!

2011-06-27T23:38:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated Olivia's 2nd birthday. I think I truly enjoyed every minute of this day. We slept in this morning and sang "happy birthday" before ever getting out of the bed. Pretty sure she had no clue, but we sang to her. Then ate waffles with cool whip. We put on swimsuits and headed out for a day at home being just us. We followed Olivia and did whatever she wanted to do. We started in the sand and then headed over to swim. Once she had her floaties on, she didn't want to take them off. So....we have pictures of her on/in everything with her silly floaties on. She was happy and that is all that mattered on this very special day. We went from the pool to the swing set and then back to the sand.

We decided it was time to come in for some lunch so we ate and then had our own singing of "happy birthday." We tried the candle thing, but she wasn't having it. The song ended with her in my arms and me holding the cake and blowing the candle out.

She was tired at this point so I rocked her and got her down for a nap. John and I finished putting everything away from Saturday and then I took a little nap, too. When we all got up, we went upstairs to check out all of Olivia's new toys. She had a blast! I on the other hand felt a little sick to my stomach as I was trying to figure out where to put everything. It looks like my house exploaded in toys! We then cleaned up and went out to dinner. We attempted a family picture....lots of out-takes, and this one was the winner.

After we ate we stopped and got Dairy Queen and brought it home to enjoy. Olivia took her baby for a spin in her new stroller, and then it was book time, prayers and bed.
Throughout this day, I have had two special people on my mind. One is Olivia's foster mom. Did she remember today was my girl's birthday? Did they celebrate or do something to remember her? She is very special to us as she took care of our girl her first year of life.
The other woman is Olivia's birth mom. I am forever grateful for this woman. She gave Olivia life and also made the hard decision to give her up for a better life. For that, I am thankful because I get to watch her grow and I get the honor of being her mom. I wish we could tell her that Olivia is happy, healthy and doing well.
I felt somewhat sad that I am here happy and loving this day while they are in Korea thinking of Olivia without her there. I know that feeling. I did that last year. I am so grateful that she is here in my arms this year and for all of her birthday's to come.
We wanted to do a balloon release today, but we never left home to get the balloon. The plan was to use one from her party, but the rain deflated them. So....maybe tomorrow? We want to do that every year as a remembrance for her birth mother. Who knows....that balloon may make it to Korea. That is what we are going to go with anyway.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, beautiful daughter. We are so proud and blessed by you in many ways! We love you so much!

Party Time!

2011-06-26T19:19:00.000-05:00

I am going to start by telling you that there will be ALOT of pictures in this post! We only took 261 pictures today! I won't post ALL of them though! :)

Today we had Olivia's 2nd birthday party. Let me just say that this one was so much fun since she was here to participate! She was overwhelmed, but I think she had fun. I hate that I didn't really get to play with her much, but she swam with her Aunt Leslie (thanks for playing with her) and was all over the yard into the different activities. We had different play areas because I figured not everyone would want to swim. We had a bubble station, the swingset, sand box, smaller water station and the pool. I think there was something for everyone to do. This year I tried to do better about pictures (thanks Danyell for taking pics while she opened presents). It is hard when there is so much going on to get pictures. I wanted to get some group pictures, but that just didn't happen. I made sure that I took pictures before the party got started this year since I didn't do so well with that last year. The day started with unsure weather, but turned out to be perfect! The rain in the day did slow us down some on the outside stuff, but it all got done! I had actually showered and was outside when the guests started arriving (unlike last year)! I don't know why I can't get it all done the day of. I am blaming the weather this year. :)

The theme this year was 'fireworks/red, white and blue' because we wanted to celebrate that she is home with us. Last year we did the Dol to honor all Korean traditions and this year we went all Americana.
I think Olivia is very excited from the day. John is currently still putting her to sleep. It is now 11:12 p.m. He started putting her down around 10:30 (I know that is late) because she was wired and we had to go to get Oscar from my parents house. After books tonight, she pulled out her toys like she was going to play right then....um, no kiddo!
Olivia has been great all day and played with all of her friends. I don't think she had a clue as to what today was all about, but she will learn. :)

Well, the rest will be pictures, so hang in there if you want to see our red, white and blue party. Thanks for all of our friends and family who joined in the celebration today! It was such a blessing to have each one of you here to participate in our little firecracker's party. We look forward to many more fun parties in the years to come!

Our invitation

Deck view

What is a party in the south without multiple kinds of tea?

Pictures of the last four months!

Party favors

From the back of the pool

Banner (I think it turned out pretty cute!)

From the side

From the back of the yard

Her swimsuit dress for today. It is an "O" made to look like a firework. I think she wore it a whole 10 minutes!

James Luke was showing off his swimming! He is doing a GREAT job!

Sweet Noah

Swimming Fun

The "water station" was pretty fun too. There was also a water hop-scotch and circular sprinkler.

Love this picture! Nothing better than juicy watermelon in the summer!

Silas and Jamie having fun in the pool.

All the fun made Olivia hungry!

Well, dad popped in on the picture. True dad style! Love him so much!

I guess she was afraid we were going to take her food away! She got down low after our family picture attempt. She cleaned her very full plate!

My dad and his brother. They look JUST alike!

People, I am ready for presents!

Tara and baby Harper.

Ben was swimming like a fish!

Brandon and Everley eating some dinner.

Landon LOVES watermelon!

Her cake!

Presents!

Our little family. We put a sparkler on top since she is still trying to learn how to blow. Notice I am holding her arm because she was determined to grab it!

Opening presents

Still working on presents, but needed a cake break!

Daddy helping Olivia open presents.

Another cake break...this time, Grammy's plate!

John's Grandaddy (only 103--will be 104 next month) enjoyed feeding Olivia some cake, too!

Mattie, Noah, Bates and Landon having bubble fun!

All of Olivia's presents! WOW! (where is her mother going to put it all?)

I think we may have our hands full with this one! :)

Allayney, Annelyn, and Sophia playing in the bubbles.

Annelyn "bathing" in the bubbles!

Landon LOVES bubbles, so this was the best!

She was all smiles toward the end of the party.

Happy to be playing on her new swingset.

Daddy took advantage of having the camera and some one on one Olivia time and snapped a quick picture.

Allayney and Annelyn relaxing on the hammock after everyone had left.

4 months home and Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe four months ago we were standing in the airport with a shocked and terrified little girl. I laugh everytime I think of the statement I made to John about Olivia shortly after leaving the agency. I said, "Do you think she will ever have a personality?" Oh me!!! This girl has got some personality! She is so fun! I cannot believe the transformation in such a short time. Sure, we still have our days/moments, but for an almost 2 year old who has had her entire world rocked to the core, she is doing AMAZING! I am so glad to be to this place of the journey rather than standing with a scared baby on my hip. She knows me and knows that I love her. She loves her daddy and the rest of our family, too. I also made the statement shortly after coming home that "by June I think life will be better." Yes, it is!!! She has come so far. I often have to remind myself that it has only been four months. I remind myself this because some of our 'issues' are not resolved, and I can't expect them to be at this point. I think I have decided what the most annoying statment that people make is. It is when they see me holding her and say, "God bless you for doing that for her." or "She is one lucky girl." I always respond with, "we are the lucky ones!" Seriously, we needed this child so much in our lives. She was given to us for a reason and we are the ones that are lucky! She is such a blessing.

On a different note, this is John's first father's day. He said he wanted to get some khaki's for school, so this morning I told him we would take care of that on tax free weekend. (I know....sweet, huh?!) However, I did make him a book of our trip to Korea and I tried an unsuccessful photo thing with Olivia. Here is the cute idea: give Olivia the letters D A D and take three different pics. of her holding the letters individually. Well, maybe next year! It was somewhat hilarious to do this with her. She would throw the letters at me, run off, smile after the flash or just say no. Obviously the cute idea didn't pan out. I tried. Here are the pics. that I got.

She put her arm up like that....then the minute I would get the camera focused she moved.

This was a possiblity, but not what I was after.

I tried using a navy blanket to make a backdrop. (look at all the feather junk on it...what was I thinking? She kept pulling the blanket down and wanted whichever letter that I was holding on to.

We even tried when we went over to Grammy's house.
She would not put the phone down....looks like she is having a good conversation though. :)

This one is cute, but she looks like a deer in headlights.

Really, could you hold on. My mom is trying to take another stupid picture! Ugh! --Pretty sure that is what she is thinking here!

Some assembly required....

2011-06-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged much in the last week because as of Monday, I had Olivia's funk. She is finally better (it took her a week and a half) and then I got sick. I am still not completely over it, but I am feeling much better! I haven't been as sick as she was though. I have been really stopped up, my ears are clogged, I have been achy and my throat has been sore. I am glad this virus has almost moved out of our house! As I haven't felt my best, I realized that poor Olivia must have been completely miserabe. I knew she didn't feel good, but poor thing!!!
Now that we are getting back to normal around here, it is time to get really busy!!! We have a party to plan!!!

Olivia will be turning two next Monday. For her birthday, she is getting a swing set. At 8 a.m., John headed out to the garage to begin putting it together. We figured it would take a few days, so he knew he needed to get busy. It was (literally) black out as a big storm was passing through. So, he decided he would assemble what he could in the garage and then move it around back. Lucky for him, our friend Brandon and my dad came to help. Though we don't have a swing set fully assembled out back yet, it is beginning to look really good. Before they can attach the two end pieces they are going to have to dig out around it to make it level. John and Brandon worked until 10:15 tonight and finally called it a day.
Here is what they started with....

Feeling Better!!

2011-06-14T22:32:00.004-05:00

Finally, I think Olivia is on the mend! By mid day Saturday, we started to see our sweet girl return. She still had two more rounds of diarrhea, but then it was gone. She so wanted to eat Saturday night. She ate really well, but you can see her little eyes still look weak.

Her appetite has returned and she is as playful as ever. Sunday she was great and even took an impromptu swim! She kept looking at me and saying, "cheese!" She hasn't done that in qute a while so I was loving it! She decided she would get in....clothes and all!

We are still taking her medicine. (No mother of the year award here, I forgot her medicine last night and this morning) I noticed that she still feels pretty yucky when she isn't getting it on her normal time!

She had quite a bit of snot today causing her to gag on her sandwich and throw it up, but then she was ok. She napped off and on in the car today as we have been in the car most of the day. Our day started by going to Vanderbilt for her vision test. She passed with flying colors!!! I was so relieved since she failed with TEIS and they suspected that she may need surgery. Vanderbilt had no feeling that that was the case, and said to return when she was ready for kindergarten.
In the mean time, her new favorite hide out seems to be my closet! I have no clue, but I look in there and she has thrown my boots on the ground and climbed the step ladder thumbing through my clothes.
(if you look at the following two pictures you cannot judge me on the messiness of my closet! You still have to like me! :))

I think I have my hands full in the future! :)

She obviously was ready to see what was up top as she climbed up the shelves of my closet. She has no fear!

She has also gotten really big into dressing herself. I went into her room the other day and she had her swimsuit drawer open and had three swimsuits on--all on top of her clothes. Too cute!!! Here she has put her swim diaper on over top of her clothes. I told her to pull her shirt up and show me, but a smile was not in the cards.

She took off running. Notice the back -- she still can't figure out how to get the clothes over her tushy.

This girl is a laugh a minute, very full of herself, and has a ton of personality! I love her!!!

It is time for this girl to get to stay away from doctors for a while! She has definitely had her fair share. Now it is time to prepare for her birthday party. I can't believe in less than two weeks she will be 2!!! Last year I planned and planned (to keep myself busy and to meet all of the Korean traditions with the Dol) and this year I just haven't had time. I have my ideas, but haven't gotten a chance to produce them. We ran into Hobby Lobby and I literally got what I needed in 15 min. as the store was about to close. I need to go back, but not sure when I would. I have no clue what I have, if I need more, or what else I want. Not the ideal trip, but could have turned out to be a good thing?? :)

Boo :(

2011-06-09T19:54:00.000-05:00

We had to officially cancel our trip today. When we got up this morning we were still hopeful that we would be going. I had my lists of places I needed to go before heading out on our trip. She actually ate a little, played, and seemed fine. She slept until 10:00 a.m. which NEVER happens, but I thought she must be sleeping off the rest of her funk. No, no.....she is still sick! Poor thing. She played until 1:00 and was exhausted. She has had a few rounds of diarrhea (yuck!) and is asleep again (slept 5-7 p.m.). She is only making it about three hours before being wiped out. She is pitiful. We decided that since she has zero energy in the air conditioning that it would be mean to take her to an outdoor park and drag her around. John made the comment that since she is on 4 prescriptions and tylenol that that should be our answer on if we should go or not. However, her doctor said she would be fine in 48 hours (tomorrow), but based on what we are seeing today, that won't be the case. So, here we are.....home just us. We will make the best of it and try to prepare for her upcoming birthday party and maybe get out tomorrow if she is any better.

Vacation.....postponed

2011-06-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

We have been looking forward to heading to Dollywood and Splash Country with our friends Brandon, Ashley and Everley. We were scheduled to leave bright and early in the morning. However, we had to cancel due to a little one being sick. Olivia had a runny nose that came out of no where on Saturday and Sunday she threw up mucus. I didn't think much about it. On Monday, she threw up three times (mucus) and began coughing. Tuesday I decided that since we were leaving town that I would take her to the doctor. I didn't get any real conclusive answer, but was told to watch for a few things such as labored breathing, diarrhea, and fever. Well, by last night, we had all except the diarrhea and she continued to throw up. By this morning, we welcomed the diarrhea. She has pretty much layed on my shoulder the last two days until lunch time today. She hasn't eaten in two days and is now down to 19.5 lbs. That isn't much for an almost 2 year old.
We went back to the doctor this morning and she now has an ear infection and a bronchial thing. They gave her a breathing treatment in the office and put her on a new antibiotic. She was on an antibiotic for her toe that set up a bacteria. So....this medicine should take care of both problems. Poor girl! She has been a sick one. We were given an inhaler to take every six hours at home and she takes it like a champ! We are hopeful to head to Gatlinburg on Friday, but it all depends on how she feels. Her doctor said she should feel much better in 48 hours, so I guess time will tell. If she isn't up to it, we won't go. I hate that, but we have to do what is best for her. There will be other trips.

Welcome Home Brodie (PART II)

2011-06-06T22:18:00.000-05:00

Last night, I was so tired by the time I finished my post that I decided to make it a two post session. Plus, any homecoming deserves its own post! Yesterday afternoon we headed to the airport with balloons in hand to welcome home Brodie. He looked amazing! While I am sure he has a long road to go, he was all smiles yesterday at the airport. He has a great big brother that will show him the ropes and a mama and daddy that will love him to pieces. I had fun visiting with MaryLeigh's family while we waited. They were all so sweet and welcoming. Within no time, their flight had landed and it was time for us to be on the lookout of them. They came in as a great family of four (and uncle William). I love the airport scene because they look like they are on cloud 9. The excitement of seeing family and friends there to great you and having your child on your hip after the long waiting months is something I will never forget. As I saw them walking up I got choked up. I didn't even get choked up when we came home, but seeing it happening was amazing! I loved watching people as they went by, and experiencing the excitement of the awaiting family members and friends.
I am looking forward to fun times with Olivia, Bates and Brodie. I am again so grateful for all the friendships that have developed from adoption. It is an amazing experience that is one you can't understand unless you have been there

Our first 'slumber party' --PART ONE

2011-06-06T00:27:00.001-05:00

This last week we have been somewhat busy. It has been really fun though! My very dear friend Traci has twin girls that are 7 mos. old and a sweet little boy that just turned 2 in April. Unfortunately, Traci's Grams is not doing so well, so we were able to step in and help since her in-laws are out of town and her husband Michael has a new job. Ashley and I have alternated every 2 nights since last Tuesday. She kept them Tues. and Wed. and I had them Thurs. and Fri. Landon was here only Tuesday to play and then went home. Unfortunately, Landon got a pretty bad stomach bug. He joined us on Saturday after I got the girls taken back to Ashley's house. (I am sure this sounds very much like a 3-ring circus!--Organized chaos, people!) :) So....that puts us here on Sunday. Grams condition is worsening and Traci needs to be with her mom, Granddaddy, and Grams. Ashley brought the girls here tonight about 8:30 because Miss. Everley (Ashley's 3 year old) has her first dance recital this week and dress rehersal is tomorrow. She will do great, but it is going to be a very busy day for them. So, here tonight, my house has 4 kiddos under 2 1/2. They are all asleep now and hopefully it will be a smooth night. So far, the rest of the week has gone well. I love knowing that there are 4 kids here! Here are some highlights from our week with our buddies! My mom made the best statement the other day. She said, "it has been amazing to watch our friendships. We are all so close and take care of each other." That is so true. I would not have made the journey through infertility and adoption process without many long talks with Traci. We pull together when needed. Traci, Ashley, Cassie, Amy and a few other sweet friends literally carried me through our process. Traci and I have cried, laughed, and cried some more together. I think it is true that God gives you a few true friends. Thank you Traci for entrusting me with your most precious gifts this past week. I have truly enjoyed it!!!

Dinner time!

Annelyn and Leslie came by Thursday. They came to town to check on mom and then came over and ended up eating dinner and helping out!

Ellie clapped and Whitney thought it was hilarious!

Oscar couldn't figure out why he couldn't get a bite. He watched the spoon go back and forth.

Olivia helped her daddy carry the girls out to the car to take them to Ashley on Friday.

I guess my bed needed mowing? See the cow lawn mower in the background? Olivia carried it from down stairs and then put it on my bed.

They played with the train. (and every other toy in the house) :)

We went to Chick Fil A, Target and the airport (not all on the same day)

We were waiting on our friends to arrive with their newest addition, Brodie!

We played bubbles!

We settled in at night with Berenstain Bears.

Olivia loved the babies. She helped with some of the feedings.

Olivia and Landon stood on their heads. Olivia is really big into turning flips at the moment. They thought this was a fun game!

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T21:14:00.009-05:00

This afternoon we headed to Murfreesboro to visit our friends Stephanie and Brian. They were hosting our 2nd annual Memorial Day cookout. Last year we went and definitely had something missing, but this year our little Olivia was in full attendance! It took her a while to warm up. She hung out with us eating (everyone else's food) and hanging around the adults.

She ventured over to the cars that were out on the driveway and hung out with Niko and Silas.

Then the pool came out.

She got very interested and we walked over to see what was going on. She cheered from the wagon and stood back and watched for a bit.

Finally, I took her by the hand and asked her if she wanted to go down the slide into the pool. Miss Fearless climbed the steps and went down like a champ. She loved it!!!!

She went a few more times and just as she was really getting into it, it was time to eat dinner! We wrapped her up in her towel and came in to eat. She ate a great dinner!!! We visited for a while and then it was time to hit the road to head home.

We are so lucky to have formed these friendships. I hope that Olivia always has this group to hang out with as she grows up. They are such neat and fun kiddos and we always enjoy our time with them!

In the ghetto......(you know the song, right?)

2011-05-29T22:17:00.007-05:00

I am totally joking! I am sure you know the song "In the Ghetto" and that is all that I hear as look at my back yard. Laugh with me here people. Look, we have a gorgeous pool that is a current mess! It is nasty!

We are waiting on it to be fixed. We called on the 16th of May and were told it took 2 weeks to get a liner in so we chose ours and called the next day so it would be ready by June. They just ordered the liner (at least I hope they have ordered it!), so this is what we have to look at for now. Fun, right? We have been told it will be ready no later than the 15th of June, so we will see. It has a horrible smell that goes with it. Along with that, we have the cinder blocks that were holding down the liner that we haven't put up yet, the little kiddie pool right up to the big pool, the lawn mower complete with gas can out next to it, tall grass and yard work to be done. So, I will just sing my song until it is all done. Don't get me wrong, I love my house and my yard, but just not right now. It is quite comical!
This morning, we went out and filled up the pool with good ole hose water and let Olivia have at it. She loves the water. It is a shame that our pool isn't up and running as it should be. She played with side walk chalk, bubbles, pulled her Dora chair up to sun, and was sporting her lovely pink necklace. She was pleased!

After nap and our Sunday afternoon lunch with John's family, we came home and John's mom came to watch Olivia so John and I could go paint. They had a great time from the sound of things. Olivia loves her Nana!
She has a toe nail that seems to have some kind of fungus. Lately, she has been into putting on and taking off her shoes. While she and Nana were playing, one of the shoes snagged the already loose toe nail. By the time I got home, it was hanging on by a thread. It was really gross! Olivia wasn't bothered by it in the least. I looked at it and decided I could just pull it off. Then I decided I couldn't. Luckily, her Nana was still here and grabbed it and it came right off. Olivia didn't even look up from her toy. We put some peroxide on and a band-aid.
At this point, John was still at school painting, so Olivia, Oscar and I loaded up and headed back to school to paint some more. Olivia really wanted to help tonight! She finally decided that she would settle with playing with an aqua doodle instead. We had a fun day. I think I enjoyed it the most. I got to hang out with John for the full day which is something we haven't done in a long time. We laughed and enjoyed each other's company.

Playing, packing and celebrating!

2011-05-26T20:59:00.006-05:00

We got up early Tuesday and headed down to the doctors office. I had to have a quick blood draw for our new insurance. FYI....you have to go fasting or I could have had it done when I got the physical done the day before. Olivia was very interested in the needle and the blood. She sat in my lap and was watching every second. We got home and she had her speech evaluation. I am not sure if she will qualify, but we will soon find out. She did fail her vision test. Apparently, her pupils don't dialate. We have a appointment at Vanderbilt coming up, so I am hopeful that we learn more then. I am hoping she doesn't have to have more eye surgery due to scar tissue. I guess we are in the wait and see time.
Wednesday afternoon was our friend Amanda's last day here in the states so we went to a local lunch spot that we always hit when she is home. We laughed at how our lives have changed. She has three kids, but only brought the one year old home this trip. So there we sat wrestling our kids and eating lunch. I looked at another table of two friends as they enjoyed their time together. I asked Amanda if she 'remembers when.' We both just laughed and moved on. I am so glad my life has changed!

Later, Olivia and I were home playing and I looked and there was her Minnie Mouse with her tea cups lined up. It seems that they were having a tea party! When I got the camera she immediately cleared the tea party.

Last night, we went to my classroom to get packing!

I decided to change classrooms this year for a fresh start. We got the whole room packed last night!!! We have been a tired group today. I went to work today to help a friend get her room moved. So, tomorrow we will start painting! :) I am hoping to be done with that by Saturday night. Olivia and Oscar were with us and my parents joined the fun too. As mom packed my videos/dvd's, Olivia unpacked them.

John and Dad decided to make her a fun riding toy.

She was determined to get to the sink, so she pulled herself up and climbed in. Look at that face....it says, "oh, you cought me...oh well!"

Yes, it was a lot of work, but I really did have fun. Olivia ran up and down the hall everytime a load was taken. Oscar kept his normal enthusiastic look on his face.

Today we got up and headed to John's school as he was being honored for Teacher of the Year at is school. My mom, his mom, Olivia and I went to join in the celebration. It was great food and I enjoyed getting to talk to some of his co-workers.

When we got back, I changed clothes and went back to school to help with packing and moving. My dad came and helped move my friend Amy. John joined when he got home from work. I think I may possibly have the BEST family in the world!!!
What a day! I am beat!

Please say a prayer for my sweet mom as she has surgery tomorrow. She has a macular hole in her eye and will have to lay face down (in a massage chair) for 7-10 days! We went to their house tonight to eat and let her play with Olivia for a bit as she won't get to see her or hold her for several weeks. Jokingly I told her I needed to take pics. to blog about it, but I think she would kill me! This is not exactly the retirement gift she wanted. Hopefully she won't have any complications and she will be good as new as soon as possible!