Violet is 11 months and New Pictures!

One more month until your 1st birthday!!!

December 8th we got an email from our agency with an update and 4 new pictures Violet! We just think she is so beautiful! I love her little fingers! I can't wait to hold them! Our update tells us she was 16.5 lbs in late November and she has 6 teeth already! She is starting to crawl too! Last week we also received our video! I wish I knew how to upload videos! It is of her and the foster mother opening the gifts we sent. They all laughed at the Spam, lol. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea?


The whole family is currently sick (except me) and it is 2 days til Christmas! I hope they feel better! I was sick with strep throat over Thanksgiving and stayed home. Luckily my family pretty much celebrates Christmas the whole month of December so we have already gone to Little Rock for the family party with my grandma, and the party at Clay's grandparents, and Faith had a church party and Clay & I have been to a church party. Unfortunately, Aidan's church party was a couple days ago and he was too sick to go :(. We are supposed to have Christmas at home and then at my parents on Christmas day. Then the next day we are supposed to go to my granddad's and then Clay's parents. That's a whole lotta Christmas! I hope everyone feels better soon! And I hope I don't catch it!

I sure have enjoyed the Christmas music (thanks to Pandora!), the decorations, the lights (can't wait to be able to go to Silver Dollar City next year thanks to tickets from my in-laws!), and the shopping - but BOY will I be glad when December is over! That means another month closer to getting my baby girl!! This is usually the fastest month of the year but it has really been draaagging on and on! Then I have to make it through January and February...I really hope I don't have to make it through March...but it is possible. I realized that the process starts up again on the Korean New Year, not January 1st so it will be even longer than I thought. Then it is typically a couple weeks to get Visa, then a couple weeks to get EP submission, then a couple more for EP approval, then a COUPLE MORE weeks for travel call...those weeks add up!!

In other news, it is time for me to begin packing up Violet's birthday package! We did send her Christmas package a few weeks ago,  I will post pics later! For now, please enjoy this picture of a cute yellow-haired girl and 2 black cats.

Violet is 10 months old! Happy Thanksgiving!

 You are getting bigger everyday, Violet! I am so anxious to see your picture next month! According to Babycenter.com you are beginning to understand simple words and phrases and you are starting to say some yourself! You may be able to play games and wave bye-bye! You can grab toys and may be able to stand up and cruise the furniture. Your big sister started walking at 9 months, so you could definitely be walking all by yourself. I cannot wait to find out next month!

Happy Thanksgiving! Clay and Aidan are home all week on Thanksgiving break. We are going to visit Clay's grandpa, and then go to his family for a day, and then visit my family on another day, so we don't have much "break"! We hope to get a lot of adoption work done! Passports and online classes, reorganizing to make room for a toddler and all the things that come with them! We shall see how much actually gets done! We are a bit different than the average adoptive family in that this is not our first child. We have all of our bedrooms already filled up with children ;). Many adoptive parents bide their time by decorating and painting a nursery, picking out cribs and rockers and dressers...this is not us. We have a crib, covered in bite marks from a teething Faith, that we don't even plan to put up. We have a little girl room already filled to the brim with toys and a closet packed with size 4 clothes. Violet in fact, does not have one item of clothing or toy yet in this house. Its kinda funny how lackadaisical we have been about preparing with material things. All you need is love? Right? LOL I remember preparing for the birth of Faith. She was my first girl, and everything had to be perfect! We spent hundreds of dollars on a crib, I spent months picking out the right crib bedding. MONTHS! And then the paint color had to match the colors just perfectly, as well as the curtains, etc...then we brought the little darling home. She never... EVER...slept in her beautifully painted room. She also never used the $500 crib - except as a giant teether, and the pack-n-play was used as a giant toy box for all the toys she didn't care to play with.  We co-slept with Faith and loved it and we assume Violet will be happiest co-sleeping as well since that is what she does now with her foster mother. When the time comes if she would prefer a crib, THEN we will set it up. But sticking my baby in a bed with bars alone in a dark room is just not my style. Concerning closet space...we have none. I honestly have NO CLUE where we are going to put her clothes! So hopefully that is something we can figure out this week - or Christmas break?! But I am not too worried about it. Writing this reminded me that I did not have my own closet as a child. I was a "surprise" and my parents turned my mom's tiny sewing room into a nursery for me and I shared part of a closet with my brother (most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from him too!) & I also had a dresser :).  Somewhere in the attic should be a tote with Faith's baby clothes, that will now be Violet's (hopefully they are the right size in the right season! Faith was born in June & Violet in January!).  I do, however, plan to buy her clothes and I cannot wait!! That is the funnest part! Hopefully I will find out her size next month when we get the update on her.

Waiting 5 Months! And one stuffed ziploc bag!

Waiting 5 months!

We have now been waiting 5 months since the referral of miss Kim, Bo Ra. She was only 5 months old then, and she will soon be 10 months. She was only 12 lbs then, and I have no idea how much she weighs now. I am going to guess 19 lbs! We will hopefully get an update next month! Woohoo! I am sooo anxious for it!!

I often can't help but think if the wait time had never changed from 3-4 months to 8-12 months she would be home by now. She would still be small and I wouldn't miss out on so much.

Exciting news! We did get to send Violet a care package this month! Finally! I spent a LONG time trying to decide what to put into the bag. You would not believe how much you can cram into a ziploc bag! But I still overbought :(. But I was so happily surprised with an email from our agency that said we will be able to send a CHRISTMAS package to Violet!! And ALSO we will be able to send a BIRTHDAY package!!! These gifts can be sent directly to Eastern in Korea, and the gifts do not have to be restricted to a ziploc bag!  Her birthday is in January so we can send a gift every month now! Hopefully we will go get her in February, which will involve buying MORE gifts! There is going to be a lot of shopping in my future. Maybe I should put one of those Paypal donation buttons on my blog, lol. We just sent off her ziploc care package yesterday, and after Clay and I had spent so much time packing and repacking trying to get everything to fit (it also took both of us to close it), I realized I forgot to take a picture of all the things we are sending! AHH! So I took a few pictures of the bag at different angles. ;) (Some things I could find the picture online.)

Bib

Teether for bib

Baby Nay outfit

I hope I am remembering everything- for the foster mother (and family) we sent: Avon lipstick (in golden raisin), rice seasoning & tea bags (made locally, we found them at the local craft fair), some Starbucks instant coffee packets, trail mix (the all-American kind with M&Ms, raisins, cashews, sunflower seeds),  goats milk soap (another craft fair find), Strawberry fruit strip (one of mine & Faith's favorite snacks), & a small can of Spam Spread (Korean's love Spam right?). For Violet we packed one Carter's fleece romper (sz 12 months), one Baby Nay outfit (sz 12 months), pair of Ministar soft soled shoes (purple with a butterfly), a jar of California Baby calendula cream,  a bib that holds a toy on a snap (made to hold a binky), and a teething ring toy for the bib, a small board book called "Where's the Kitten" written in Hangul, a mango/pear baby food packet, AND a card with a picture of downtown Eureka Springs that we wrote a long message on telling the foster mom how much we appreciate and love her (& that the shoes were from Violet's grandma and her papa sends a hug and her Aunt Carie sends a kiss! And all her family can't wait to meet her!). Can you believe all that fit into a gallon ziploc bag!? Now its time to start working on the Christmas package!

 

I am sad I will be missing Korea in the fall, I bet it is beautiful! 

But I am sure I will see Korea in the Winter or Springtime! 

 

 

 I would really like to visit Namsan. "At Seoul’s Mt Namsan, thousands of love padlocks can be seen hanging on the fences around the base level of N Seoul Tower. Locks of love is a custom in some cultures where love birds would lock their padlocks at public areas and throw away the key to symbolise that their love will be locked forever."

YeinJee's Asian Blog

Happy 9 months & Happy Halloween!

You are nine months old now my sweet girl!  Are you walking yet?!
I know I said a few posts back that our EP quotas were met and then turned out it was a false alarm and all was right with the world again...WELL...EP quotas have been met for real this time. UUUGH. All I could think at first was "NOOOOOOO!!!!!" But now I am trying to stay calm by telling myself the wait will start up again in late January and hopefully we will still travel around February, which was always the guesstimated time anyway. So I think we will all survive this. The process had begun progressing so quickly up until this point, there was the thought in the back of my head that we could travel in December, but that will not be possible now.  To be positive - #1. I guess I can "relax" knowing there will be no traveling abroad until at least late January (if one can relax when their child is overseas). I am TeRRiFieD of flying and traveling to a foreign country (which I have never done).  Sometimes I wonder if I can even do it. There is the option of having Violet flown to us. But more than the fear I want to see her home country and I know the foster mother loves for the families to come meet them. It is the least I can do for her. #2. There are only about 3 or 4 families (at least what I can tell from the forum) who are still ahead of us. So there is the exciting possibility that Korea will get all our paperwork done in the meantime and we can all go at once when the new year comes! #3 We were given the estimated wait time of 8-12 months which would be February-June. So anything will be better than June and we may only have to wait until February!
God knows the right time to send our children to us when we leave it up to Him and let Him take control of the situation.

Tonight, Faith had a Halloween party with her playgroup and Aidan went too. All those little kids LOVE him, he was the hit of the party! Those kids climbed on him, and jumped on him, and hung from all over, and he LOVED it! I love that I have such a sweet, kind son who loves little kids and is so good with them! Faith had a good time, she dressed up as Sleeping Beauty. I had bought her a plush butterfly costume (with fleece pants) and it was 80 degrees outside! So last minute I found a $7 blonde wig (it was actually a High School Musical "Sharpay" - yes I had to google that - wig with a crown already attached!) and she already had the dress and shoes! Of course this wig only stayed on about 10 minutes. Aidan just wanted to wear all black and be scary. I found this awesome black mask at a Halloween store and a black "Scream" robe from Target. Halloween is so much fun! We have our "Fall adoptive families get-together" tomorrow afternoon at the Corn Maze in Cave Springs. Other families in our area who have adopted from Korea get together about every 6 months and plan an event. I planned this one, which did feel a little odd/sad since I don't have my child home yet. But I can't wait to see everyone and ask them lots of questions!
Next weekend my parents are having a Halloween party for our church family. We will roast marshmallows and hot dogs and take scary walks through the woods! WoooOOOooo! And we will possibly go trick-or-treating Sunday evening after worship. Gonna be a fun holiday!
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Faith loving on her "Bubby" at the party

Two Years . . . Just Sayin'

While the super cute cats help with the wait, our son and daughter are great too. They are usually the only distraction I need from thinking about the interminable adoption process. Ironically, one of the reasons we chose the Korea program and Dillon was because the time line was shorter than some other programs. Ultimately, I have faith in God regarding His control over this process. We feel as though we have been blessed circumstantially and financially throughout the process.
Good night, Violet. I love you!
-CLAY

Hello October 2010...

We began our adoption process by attending an informational meeting in October 2008. We immediately went home and began filling out application #1. So we have always considered this date the beginning of our process. So it has now officially been 2 years. We are STILL WAITING. I have had friends and family who have gotten pregnant, have had their babies, and they are now walking and talking during this process! I am happy for them, I am just trying to give an idea of how long this wait has been! I really hope we get an updated picture and video soon. Hopefully November. I would just really like to know what size Violet is wearing. Moms care about that stuff.

But I do have some super cute cats to entertain me during my wait! ;)

Miss V is 8 months! And no more EPs...

Happy 8 months my sweet girl! What are you wearing today? What size do you wear? What time did you wake up? Did you have a nap? Maybe 2? What did you eat? Did you have a bath? Did you like it? Are you crawling? Are you pulling up? Did you laugh today? Did you give anyone a kiss? Did you get a hug today? I know you did! How long is your hair? How much do you weigh? Are you ticklish? I miss you...
Well, we got some bad news today...Eastern has submitted Emigration Permissions through February. I just felt like we would travel around that time, but now it will be longer. They will start issuing EPs again in February, but we are not at the top of the list. So now it looks like maybe March or April? This is very sad. *sigh*
Tonight Clay and I are going to a Kiwanis Installation Dinner. Clay is being installed as president elect. So, we are dressed up and grandma and papa are watching the kids and - uh oh! we are late! Gotta go!

Education Requirements

We are working through the education requirements. We have had a slow start on that. Amanda and I are both reading a book and we have completed one online class.
-CLAY

Someone else is holding my child . . .

I also find it hard to blog about this. I feel very certain that I have three children now. However, I do not get to hold/hear/hug/kiss/see one of them. It's pretty much emotionally crippling, so I avoid this blog. I did attempt to post for her 7 month milestone, but I see that it is not here. We're almost to the next 21st by this time. On Tuesday, Violet will be 8 months old. I wonder what she smells like. I also wonder what her little hands and toes look like.
-CLAY

7 months old and hard to write it...

My baby girl is 7 months old!!
So, apparently Clay and I had a breakdown of communication. I thought he had written a post about Violet turning 7 months and so I did not! I think about my precious daughter on the 21st of every month. I have also ignored my blog because it is just too painful sometimes. My way of coping during this agonizing waiting process has been to simply not think about it. Posting on my blog is emotional for me and it takes me a long time because I just cry and cry like a big baby and I typically have a 4 year old hanging on me every second of the day and there just isn't much time. But good ol' grandma wanted the little monkey to sleep over this weekend so I have time to write! Yay!
I have not seen a picture nor an update on Violet since June, and I am not even sure how old she was in those pictures/video. SO I wrote to my caseworker and she told me that a staff member was going to Korea in NOVEMBER! So I should be getting pictures, a video, and an update then! And that should also mean that I will be able to send another care package! I am so excited! I wish it was sooner! I have been keeping up with as many other Korean adoptive families in my agency that I know of and so far I have been noticing a pattern I am quite anxious and excited about! I don't want to get my hopes up, but speculation has lead me to believe that 3-4 families have been traveling EVERY month this year! And we are now #10 down the list (on the UNofficial waiting list on the forum) which could possibly mean we would be traveling in NOVEMBER! But I don't want to get my hopes up...really...Our 8-12 month wait would put us between February-June 2011. But if we travel in 3 months, I have soooo much to do! I have not gotten any of my education requirements completed! We have to complete a CPR class and lots of online classes and read lots of books! Oh boy, I am getting nervous!

In other news, my other baby girl had a fun Saturday the 4th! First, in the morning she was in our town's parade with her square dancing group!

Then later, her group danced at the annual Clothesline fair! And boy was she and her little group just the cutest EVER!
!
Here are my 2 oldest in the car waiting to go to the parade! Aren't they cute?!

5th Anniversary -from Clay-

It seems like 5 is too big of a number, but it is true. It has been a very fast, eventful, and family filled 5 years. Although, it also seems like we've been waiting to go get Violet for about 10 years . . . The best part of our anniversary was getting a video of Violet from Dillon. It was so great. I sat and watched it five times. She smiled at one time, but was mostly silent. She's going to fit in well, we're a very quiet family!

We went to Carino's for our anniversary.

Noodles was our previous favorite, but they changed their bread and pizza. I like the new bread, but Amanda doesn't. I don't eat the pizza, but Amanda does. The chicken parmesan was excellent as always, but for a restaurant to be our favorite, we both have to like it best.

Carino's might have been our new favorite, but their chicken parmesan was kind of like rubber chicken parmesan. I had the lasagna last time and it was great, but you can't be my favorite with bad chicken parmesan.

CLAY

Noodles in Trouble, Girls' Clothes

OOO NO! We went out to my favorite restaurant, Noodles, this week and they have CHANGED THEIR BREAD!!! I am soooo sad over this! I also ordered pizza like always and it was different and awful too!

Well, onto a more positive subject - my youngest is 6 months old as of yesterday!!

So, according to babycenter.com she could possibly be rolling all around, maybe sitting up, & imitating sounds. I wish so much that I could know what she was doing! I wonder if she will be starting solid foods this month. Being pre-term they may have her wait. I wish I was making that decision. I am sure her foster mom is taking good care of her though. I wish I could get more pictures or send another package! I thought we were going to get a video of the last visit, but we are still waiting!

I love blogs with lots of pictures! Colorful, fun pictures! I came across this blog today full of pictures of strawberries! I also love Aunt Ruthie because she finds the BEST pictures for her blog! I have no idea where/how people find their pictures! I love finding pictures to put on my blog also (they just make me so happy!), but I am not so good at it. Maybe I will try a "theme" sometime like the strawberry page :).

I LOVE having a daughter and I cannot wait to have TWO! I love my son, but girls have the cutest clothes (and he does not like me to pick his clothes)!! When I was little I always wanted two little girls that I could dress alike and I hope I get the chance to do that one day soon :) In the meantime, my current hobby is searching out the cutest clothes for girls...

Here are some of my favorite finds on Etsy.com *sigh*:

Okay, so I am pretty terrible at updating this blog. We did announce our referral of our precious little girl! Sunday at church, my parents, Clay's mom and one of my brother's and SIL came, so we had a nice full pew. Clay did an excellent job. It was a surprise to me, too, as he would not tell me how or when he was going to announce it. He began his sermon by talking about patience and used our adoption as an example and then up came her pictures on the overhead screen and there was a big GASP! from the congregation and my mom started crying and I leaned over and saw my son point & say "That's my sister!" It was so sweet! So we have been getting a lot of congratulations and questions from lots of family and friends. It is so sad that we have to wait 8-12 months before we can bring her home.
So it has now been ONE month of waiting. 11 more to go (or hopefully 7!).So what to do for the next 11 months? I have NO idea! I have, however, bought 2 Asian baby dolls off ebay that my daughter, Faith, loves to play with and carry around with her and she calls them both "Violet". Which brings me to another announcement - we have officially decided to name Bo Ra, Violet! It has been nice to call her Violet and every time I see something purple I think of her and want to buy it! But I don't. I want to buy her clothes so bad but I don't know what size she will be when she comes home. I don't know if or when I will get to send another care package. Right now we are also trying to save money. We still do not have all the funds needed for travel. I guess there is a positive side to having to wait 8-12 months - time to save up! We also are focused on gifts for her foster parents. I am really nervous about finding just the right gifts. They need to be items made locally (or at least in the USA). These people are and always will be so special to us. I really like this clutch and may get it...it takes me a long time to make decisions. Drives Clay crazy, LOL.
So because of the expense of the adoption/saving we decided to have a STAYcation this year. Clay did get a grill for his birthday from his mom and he had fun grilling lunch and dinner almost everyday! And I had fun eating it! We went to the farmers market (which I LOVE) and got a lot done at home. Clay and I love to eat out at our favorite restaurants. We went to Johnny Carinos and I had the best pizza! It was even better than the pizza at Noodles, my favorite restaurant! But Noodles has better bread, so they will keep my business ;)

Some People Wait a Lifetime...

for a moment like this!!
Well today was the last day we had to get our acceptance paperwork and care package all together and sent off to Dillon. Clay and I were super stressed and frantic all day! I went to Clay's office to have his coworker notarize papers and I needed to take a picture of him for our baby photo album. I had to have it to put into the care package I had put together.

He couldn't be there until 2 and the latest we could send something overnight at the post office was 3:45! So the very last thing was to get the mailing address for Dillon from my email. So we logged in and there was an email from our agency with 3 news pictures of our precious Miss Bo Ra!! She has grown so much! I LOVE her face! I love her hair! I love her nose and I love her little mouth! It was such a nice moment in such a stressful time.

So here are some new pictures of my beautiful girl: