Time Truly Flies When You Are Having Fun!

Oh my goodness!

Is that so true or what?

Time flies when you are having fun!

Or maybe it is time flies when you are busy with 5 kiddos AND having FUN!

Whatever it is, I have to say I can't believe it has been so long

since I updated our blog.

July 5th marked our 4 month anniversary since

Andrew CheolWoo was placed in our arms forever!

This was our 1st photo and how sad he was leaving his foster family.

It was the hardest thing ever.

This photo was taken after we landed in Chicago and were ready to go home.

He was doing much better at that point.

Check out our sweet well adjusted boy now.

He is loving life and is growing with his forever family.

We can't even imagine what life would be like without him.

Is he the cutest little guy or what??

This mama is super partial to him.

What an awesome time it has been.

Each time I look into that sweet boy's beautiful, dark brown eyes,

I know I am the most blessed mama in the world.

This little guy has brought so much joy to us that words will never tell.

He loves to squeeze and I mean squeeze our cheeks as hard as he can with both hands while at the same time planting the biggest kiss on our lips!

That is precious.

This doesn't happen once in a while....often.

He will come and want picked up and just grin from ear to ear and BAM!

Kiss us many many times.

That is just Andrew.

He is super affectionate and always likes to be lovin' on us.

Oh how his foster mama loved that too I am sure.

She knew the treasure he was and will continue to be.

So, what are some other Andrew little things....

...he is saying Dada and BaBa for mama.

...he "sings" Jesus Loves Me with me as I am rocking him to sleep.

Truly is the sweetest.

...he lays on his blanket to be swaddled at naptime and bedtime (do you remember the one from the beginning he threw down when we first got him?) yes...he loves it!

...he loves to wear an apron and help cook in the kitchen.

...he is using the toilet each time we sit him on it, even though he still wears diapers.

...he is SO excited when he hears the garage door and knows Dada is home.

...he likes to snuggle his mama in the middle of the night.

Yes, it is wonderful to me even though it is 2am,

but most nights he sleeps all night in his crib.

...he still uses his signs to communicate and at times they are a

little "sloppy" and he is very frustrated if we can't figure them out.

When we do though he laughs with a sense of relief.

...he is a little daring...when we are at the pool he likes to go down the bigger slides and walk under as many of the water falls as he can.

...he brings laughter to his sisters every day, and some frustration at times when he wants to "mess" up what they are doing

or be involved in something that really isn't 2 year old play.

He so loved fireworks on the 4th of July!

We are all enjoying our summer of tennis, swim meets, lazy days at home, and family time together.

It is so great to have my kids home for the summer.

I realize how quickly time goes and how they are growing up fast.

I also know that we are blessed to

have the children that God purposefully placed in our care.

To train them up in His ways and love and nurture them so they can go out into the world and shine His light and lead others to Him.

It is a privilege and an honor to be parents.

It is hard work many times and sometimes I feel like I am not doing the best.

When those times come and I am the weakest is when I know God is there to give me the strength to continue the mission He has called me to...parenting.

I love it!

Each time I take the time and look in each of my kids eyes as they are talking to me I see so much. I realize that I don't stop enough and really focus on them as they are speaking to me. When I do though, WOW!

It is so good!!

Okay, so I feel I have gotten so off on a rabbit trail.

Sorry about that, just some thoughts that were coming to me.

So, to bring it back to my post..

Time does fly when we are having fun.

Take time and let it fly by having fun with those you love the most!

2nd Post Placement Visit

Yesterday marked our 2nd post-placement visit with your social worker.

When she was asking about areas of concern I really couldn't think of one.

Well, just that if little guy would sleep through the night but you know what?

We have decided whatever works we will do.

He goes down around 8 after we give him a bottle and wakes somewhere

between 2-4am. We just put him in bed with us and all is good.

He falls right back to sleep and we get some great snuggle time with him.

His bonding and attachment is really just over the top amazing.

He knows Steve and I are his mama and daddy and when he has his choice

he choses us! Yay! That is so great.

God has truly orchestrated the entire process from the beginning to now

and continues to do so. How powerful it is to see now with all the unknowns we had early in the adoption process.

It is cool to look back on all that stuff that was so blurry to us

and know that it was our faith in God and the prayers of so many that brought to where we are today.

Thank you so much!

Our exchange students went to prom a couple of weeks ago.

They will be leaving us in 2 weeks.

It will be hard but great to know we have that relationship with them forever.

As you can see above, he was not thrilled with the picture but wanted Mama!!

Andrew loves the sandbox!

How Strong is Andrew?

Friday Funny

So, since we came home 6 weeks ago the girls started trying to ask Andrew how strong he was and then they would make a face to show him.

Well, he picked up on it super quick!

This is what he does when you say,"How strong is Andrew?"

It just cracks everyone up so much.

He knows it and when we are just laughing really hard,

he does the same thing like it is the funniest thing ever.

This is one way when we meet people we have him

give them a High 5 and then show them how strong he is.

It just bring a smile to their face and his too.

These are just super cute pictures of our little guy.

I couldn't resist sharing!

Seems Like A Long Time

Boy, it has been a long time since I have blogged and so much has happened.

I will try to catch everyone up to speed.

My computer crashed just after my last post so I was without it for a week.

That is a hard thing! How did we ever get along without our computers?

I use it for so many purposes!

Andrew had his Early Intervention appointments last week.

The speech and developmental therapists were both so impressed with how well he is doing.

They said considering he has only been home for one month he is really showing great adjustment and understanding.

We have been teaching him sign language since we came home and

he has completely picked up on it!

They thought that was so awesome, because that would have been a recommendation for him since he is not speaking.

He is communicating by signing and understands when we give a sign along with the word.

He has several signs...eat, more, please, thank you, bath, play, school, night-night, out, in, up, help, car, drink, stop, yes, no, and finished.

He is starting to make some sounds though.

Yay!!

Some sounds he is making are dada, ga, sk, ma.

There recommendation was not to start services yet and see how he is doing in 3 months.

They really thought that would give him some more time to understand and also they think he will have some words by then.

The nutritionist assessed him too last week.

She gave us some helpful tips and thought he was doing super as well!

We just have to work on getting some meat on this guy's bones!

Oh, one last thing, he had an appointment with the ophthalmologist and got a great report from him as well!!

No need to go back for a couple of years.

I tell ya,

"He is AMAZING!"

At least we all think so!

We have been playing outside A LOT!

He wakes up in the morning...still in his pajamas,

and goes to the door with his shoes in hand ready to go outside!

If that doesn't work he goes to my closet, gets my shoes and brings them to me.

The girls have had school plays, band concerts and solo ensembles recently.

Let's just say that Andrew doesn't sit so still for any of it.

He can handle it for about 15 minutes then when the snacks are gone, he is finished.

They did so wonderful and I am so proud of them.

Now we are getting ready for spring dance recitals and getting signed up for summer activities.

We also went to Miss L's school for her to "show her little brother off" and that was fun.

Steve loves tossing Andrew in the air.

He says, "SuperAndrew" and then up he goes.

About makes this mama scream!

He will make his legs go limp when Steve is finished and then sign, "more please"

over and over again.

Yesterday was a total highlight for us since we have been home!

We met up with some other mamas and their little guys they brought home from Korea.

I love this picture!

Are they the cutest ever or what?

I am glad to know that there is a group of little ones Andrew's age that we can connect with and stay in touch as they grow.

Plus they have the coolest mamas too!

We had dinner last week with some of our

friends from church that have played a major role in our adoption journey.

I met Kristy 6 years ago when our girls were taking dance together.

They were about to bring their son home from Korea.

She was so awesome and just a beautiful Christian gal.

Little did she or I know that a seed was planted so long ago would bring us to a decision to adopt as well. Now they attend our church, were in our small group when we were in the beginning of our adoption journey, and our kiddos are friends.

It is so cool to see how God has brought our families together.

Just an example of not knowing how, when or where we are each planting the seed for adoption.

God will cultivate and grow that seed in His timing.

Why not pray that each time we meet someone a seed will be planted to bring an orphan into their home?

Just think we will be knocking that BIG number of 147 million orphans in the world out 1 at a time!

We submitted our photo and theirs for a new video Third Day is making on adoption and it will be used behind the band at their upcoming concerts.

They posted this on their page regarding the song, Children of God

Here is the link for all you that want to submit your photo too.

http://thirdday.com/adopted

Go ahead and submit your photo!

Let's get the word and pictures in front of more people so they can see how amazingly beautiful adoption is.

My dear friend that I spent the day with yesterday shared what her husband says he sees each time he looks into the eyes of their child they brought home from Korea....

The Gospel of Jesus

WOW!

How true and real is that?

Family

It is crazy to think that we have been home 3 weeks now

AND

this is our 1st family picture!!

I can't believe it never happened until yesterday.

I love it!

Lovin' Life

We are so lovin' life with this little guy!

I am thinkin' he is lovin' it too!

Everything is going so well.

He has some fussy times where really the only way to calm him is to "podegi" him....

aka using the carrier, which I love too!

For the most part though Andrew is a fun-loving, busy, super affectionate toddler.

Of course, we see some toddler kind of fits come out too.

Foster mom had said that when he didn't get what he wanted he would bang his head...

Yep, we have seen that!

We try to scoop him up, hold him, and love on him so he doesn't put a big knot on his noggin.

We celebrated Meredith's birthday last week with some family over and he did great!

She is such a blessing to us and all around her.

Outside time is like his all-time favorite!

He will stand at the door and just wait for someone to take him out.

He loves the slide, his new swing, wagon rides,

and the girls taking him around the yard in the Barbie jeep.

Foster mom had said that he really wasn't attached to any kind of lovey or blanket.

Well, this mama loves to have a blankie with me when traveling or going anywhere.

However, when we were leaving for Korea,

Steve didn't think it was so cool for me to take my cozy blanket along.

I love to have something to snuggle up to when anywhere.

I know, it may sound crazy but that is just who I am.

So, I thought I would get this blanket and I could snuggle with it on the plane then use it for Andrew when we got him.

Great plan right?

He wanted NOTHING to do with it!!!

As we were coming home on the airplane I would wrap him up in it

and he would just throw it right down.

Each time I hold him, to either put him down for nap, bed or when he is sad,

I literally swaddle him up like a newborn in it.

He actually lets me.

It is so cute how he just lays there ready for the swaddling.

SO, 3 nights ago when he started to cry at 3am,

I went to him and as I walked into his room he was standing up in his crib

holding on to this blanket.

It totally melted my heart!!

It may seem small to you all but it shows he is attaching more and more each day.

Steve noticed it too when he went to get him that morning.

I am telling you he is just doing so well.

He gives kisses and hugs all the time to us.

When we meet people he is a little shy,

which is totally fine but if we say,"give them High 5",

he does and then just grins really big.

One last photo.

Is he the cutest ever or what??

Who couldn't be lovin' life with this little, sweet guy?

Tidbits about Andrew

Thought we would share some things we have learned about our little guy.

First, he is little!!!

We thought that 18 month pants would work...ugh...NO!

~He is just a peanut!

~He weighs 19 lbs and is about 30 in.

~He is so curious.

~He is a very affectionate little guy.

If I say,"Omma boh, boh" means give mama a kiss,

he turns to kiss me. Super sweet! Totally melts my heart!

~He loves, loves bath time.

Steve has been doing the bath routine with all the bath toys and Andrew will throw them all in then before Steve lifts him out he asks him to hand him the toys again and he does.

~He is getting in a routine with bedtime and nap time.(for the most part)

He takes a bottle around 8:00pm while I rock him then I pat his back pretty hard....foster mom said he feels comforted by that. Thankful for that info because it is so true! Sometimes I feel like I am pounding him but is really soothes him anytime he is sad.

I lay him in his crib and he sleeps usually until 1:00am and wakes for another bottle.

I rock him again and he sleeps until 7:00 or 8:00am.

However, each night has been a little different with him waking to be comforted and then back down but for the most part this is the way it is.

~He doesn't really cry, just a really sad little whimper most of the day.

~He comes to me to be comforted and puts his hands out for me to pick him up.

~He loves the carrier...either to be on my back or front.

It can calm him when just holding him isn't doing the job.

~He is a little cut up! Making us all laugh so much!

Foster mom gave us a care package for him and these funny glasses were in it.

We have had so much fun playing with them.

He puts them on and off and then turns and puts them on us.

~He will talk in gibberish to us.

Too cute. Something like a mix of Korean and anything else you can imagine.

~He is a smartie:)

Of course this mama thinks so!

~He had his 1st haircut and did awesome!!

~He plays peek-a-boo!

Is that little hand the cutest or what?

So little and so sweet!

Oh yeah, his toes are the cutest too!

I am a feet person so on our 1st meeting with him I took his sock off to kiss his little toes.

He then lifted the other foot for me to take the sock off and do the same.

See, I told you he was smart.

By the 2nd meeting when I did this again, Steve said the foster mom and social worker were talking about it and cracking up.

He said that is probably something they don't see every day.

What can I say?

I love little toesies.

~He loves for us to put music on and dance around the room.

~He has taken to his sisters and they are all about him!

~He likes his car seat.

~He loves stacking blocks and putting things in and out of cups.

~He is a GREAT eater!!

Literally whatever we have offered him he is up for!

~ HE IS SUPER BUSY!!!

~He is a snuggler.

~He makes funny faces.

~He is a little movie star with so many!

My friend who is an amazing photographer took some photos of him last weekend and told me I could post the link.

They were here for lunch and she just started following him around and snapping.

http://dawnjohnsonphotos.com/viewing/?slideshowID=146098

~He is such a blessing to all of us!

It's Been a Week...since Gotcha Day!

One week ago tonight we were driving home in the pouring rain from the airport!

Andrew slept almost the entire car ride home.

It is so hard to believe we have been home for a week.

It has been a fun week.

I wanted to share more about our Gotcha Day.

So, here goes....

When we arrived at the agency last Friday we had all our luggage in tote ready for the airport.

It was a little bit of a struggle getting in the door.

We thought we packed light but still, sheesh it wasn't so light.

The plan was for us to arrive at 1:30 and then there would be a ceremony at 2:00 in which we would get Andrew along with 3 other families.

The agency had 2 vans ready for us to get into after the ceremony to take us all to the airport.

One van for all the luggage and one for us.

4 families adopting 2 boys and 2 girls.

So, as Steve and I sat there watching the front doors we spotted Andrew's foster mom, dad and Mr. Cutie walking in!!!!!!!!!

I was giving him big smiles and saying hello from across the way to the parents.

His foster mom immediately starting talking to him saying, "Omma, Appa, then something else in Korean."

She was preparing him to come see us.

They sat down next to us on the couch and I pulled out my bag of tricks again.

A ball, a truck, a book, and some snacks.

He came right over to us and began playing but still keeping a close eye on foster mom.

He was so sweet.

Yes, so sweet.

He was interacting with us.

As I sat next to foster mom I couldn't communicate

much but just patted her arm and gave her little hugs to say thank you.

Then Dr. Kim came in and she was going to go ahead with the ceremony and pray over all of the families before the children were handed to us.

I am so thankful for another adoptive mama that posted the prayer on her blog before we left for Korea. It was prayed in Korean but to know the words were so much more powerful!!

There were so many sniffles from the foster families and the adoptive families.

Here is the prayer she prayed.

"Precious lives, our angels, we send away these lives to foreign countries, with scarred memories of their homeland. Please forgive our sins and allow Korea to be a better country, so that we will be adopting children from other countries, instead of us always sending ours away.

We send them for care. So please protect these lives and help them lead a happy life in their new homes. Always provide them with grace and intelligence, lead them to live by the rules of Jesus Christ, to have luck, to help benefit others, and to return the glory to our Lord.

It is our sincere wish that these lives will not forget their home country and the love of the people who took care of them. Father, please remember the foster families who worked hard whether it is favorable or unfavorable conditions to protect these lives, and give them blessings for the benefits they provided with. By your blessings, these adoptive families will be full of love and be under your protection.

Now the children are leaving: Please make their way as easy as possible, lead them to the most pleasant life.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen."

We then said our goodbyes to the foster mom and dad.

We just hugged and she held so tight to little guy just patting him and kissing him and crying. It was so special to see how she had such a bond with him.

I am so thankful he had that his 1st 2 years of life.

It is what is helping him to create a bond with us now.

Steve and I were the first to climb in the back of the van.

The foster dad handed Andrew to me.

Foster mom stood at the sliding door and just watched and cried.

Then Andrew started to cry.

He was losing everything he knew...His Birth Country...all the smells, the food, the people, and the language.

We really realized that as we rode to the airport looking out the window.

We knew it before but it was SO real at that very moment.

We so want him to know his country and his people.

We want to keep Korea alive in him.

He screamed for over 50 minutes to the airport. He cried until he fell asleep.

When we arrived he was still sad but was just doing his little sad whimpering.

It is hard to believe that was one week ago today.

It is a day I want to forever remember and cherish.

We love Korea.

We love his foster family.

We love that God chose Andrew to be our child to raise to know and love Him.

We love that we get to spend our life with him.

We love this baby boy!

We are Home!

We are home!

I have so much to say about the last 2 days but I am

exhausted and really feel I should go to bed.

I want to share more about our Gotcha Day later.

I don't want to write about it quickly.

It was amazing!

It was hard!

It was surreal!

IT IS REAL!!

Our plane ride was so good.

He played in his seat for a couple of hours, ate, and then took turns napping on Steve and I.

We had a long ride from the airport to home but he slept most of the way.

When we arrived home the girls were eager to meet him.

He just observed them for a long time and then they led him to his room where there were toys.

He played with them for an hour or so and then we gave him a bath.

Foster mom said he loved baths and that is for sure!

He played and played.

He slept from 1-5:30am woke for a bottle then slept from 5:30-noon.

(I woke him up)

He then played and went back down for nap from 3:30-5:00.

He is sleeping in his crib and one of us is on the floor on a mattress.

He does a lot of wimpering but not screaming or crying hard like the van ride to the airport.