happy saturday

Someone will be happy to wake up with a full house.:)

Garrett had a few rough days, but the he ended the week really well, so we had a "coke date."  That'll be the last time we do that. School plus sugar overload equals tears apparently.

It is a hard thing to wear out Garrett White, but last night, he said, "I think I need to go to bed, mom."

Allie had to write a little autobiography at school, and she asked me to proof read it at home.  This is a very small clip of something that she wrote that brought tears to my eyes and completely FILLED my heart.

She "gets it."  

We adopted David because we really believed God put it on our hearts to do so.  He confirmed that through the process, but the confirmation continues.  As I stood and gave an oath on David's behalf this week to be a citizen of this country, it reminded me that Christ also stands before God on my behalf...a fellow inheritor of the Kingdom.

After reading what Allie wrote, as I've thought many times, we didn't adopt David for David's sake, we adopted him for our own sakes...so that we may understand a little better what God has done for us.

Just this week, I ran across an article about this very thing written by a pastor named Jason Johnson who has adopted two children.  He can express in words way better than me, so I'll use his quote:

"Orphan care doesn't begin with the orphan "out there" who needs to be adopted, it begins with the orphan in you that already has been adopted in Jesus.

The call to care for orphans begins with the Gospel, is sustained and carried by the Gospel, and in the end is one of the clearest and most tangible expressions of the Gospel."

Hills and Mountains

One year ago...

we began this journey with you.  You had no idea what

 was up ahead,  and neither did we!  And together we have climbed.  Some days were hills and some days were mountains, but climb we have done.

Climb strong boy, keep climbing!

"Yook mommy! I did it!"

As I look back on this year, how can I really sum it up?  On this day, a year ago, I looked ahead not with courage but truly with trembling.  What brought us to that day was uncertainty, and the uncertainty became no less as David was placed into our forever care.

God was certain that David belonged with us, and although my faith completely nose dived SO many days, I can look back on this year and be ABSOLUTELY certain that my God is so faithful and that He really does bring great blessing out of wavering and what I would consider even resistant obedience on my part.  

This great blessing we have in a son who is healthy and happy.  This great blessing  that we have seen our families and friends welcome him with an OVER ABUNDANCE of prayer, love, encouragement, and support.  I could count on and on....

So, happy Gotcha Day to you David.   

You have made our hearts so full.  

We are ever thankful for you!

A week to celebrate

One year ago today, May 29th, at 9:00 am, we met our son for the very first time.  

Wow, we love you so much!

Memorial Day Sunday

ABC's!  He's come a long way!

Well before we traveled to Korea, the hubs ran across a blog of a family who have three children who are Korean adopted.  He said I needed to check it out because she had documented their trip, and written about their adopting.  After blog stalking for a while, I emailed her.  What a blessing!!!   There were many a time before our trip and after coming home, where I would email or text, HELP!!!!  And she would respond with encouragement, scripture, and empathy on the days that she knew all so well!

Above are her four kids and my four kids! We finally met for the first time yesterday.  We were able to visit for a few hours, and getting to meet her kiddos was so fun after following their family for so long!

Thank you Libby for your friendship.  Thank you for your love and passion for orphancare.  Thank you for reaching out and encouraging me in the midst of your crazy busy life.  Thank you for rejoicing with us yesterday over the milestone that this week brings!  

Mommy look how much I've grown!

We have had a wonderful time..hanging with the cousins too.  

David's official "Got cha" day is June, 1rst.  I have too many thoughts on this past year, so I guess I have until Saturday to document! ha.  All of his monthly posts will be slurped into a blog book that I will have printed for his first year "baby book."  What a year...a FULL year.  My heart is glad. 

My Stella

David went every Tuesday to "school/MDO/Mommy needs a break every week/whatever you want to call it"

He had the best two teachers.  They said at the end of the year that he was the "most changed."  

I couldn't agree more!  

He made a best friend this year.  "My Stella."  According to his teachers...when David had trouble sharing, he would walk over and give whatever toy to Stella instead of the child who he was supposed to give the toy too.  They said Stella was his alternative most of the time when he didn't want to follow orders!

Every Monday AM after dropping off other kids to school, I would do my weekly grocery run with David.  Every Monday, Stella's mom would roll in about the same time.  So for the hour we shopped, you could hear an aisle over, "My David?"  

And he would repeat, "My Stella!"

And somehow we developed the same gym routine too, so a couple days a week we would end up at the gym at the same time.  So without much effort, these two saw each other quite a bit!

First friends:)

11 months home

11 months home big D!

This weekend he found "James" at Bunny's, and he's been holding James ever since.  His trains are his favorite things.

This afternoon I had an appointment, and as David and I were sitting in the waiting room, and older couple came over and sat beside us.  They were adorable, and the man asked if my son could play with his I-Pad.  I was a little nervous about it!  He then asked if David was adopted, and where from if so.  I told him Korea, and he tapped his sweet little wife on the lap, and grinned really big.  I thought they might kiss David's cheeks!  They proceeded to tell me that they adopted their oldest daughter 45 YEARS AGO from Korea.  They told me about their trip to Seoul, and that she's now a pharmacist in California.  It was such a sweet moment because they genuinely about burst with excitement to visit with David.  I was fascinated by their story.  The man had been stationed in Japan, and they saw the need for orphans to be adopted, and Korea was one of the only international adoption options 45 years ago.  Our visit was short, but I sure would have loved to hear their whole story. They made my day!

HUGE change this month.  With the coming of David's vocabulary is the long awaited passing of the boys' fighting. They still have squabbles, but even in the last week, I've noticed that they are really playing together, A LOT!  It's such a relief because I've been refereeing my days away.  Maybe they are starting to "get" each other.  Their relationship has DEFINITELY been the hardest, and mostly because lack of understanding and communication, but they are moving in the right direction.

Today, the kids had been in the car TOO long.  They were squabbling and I was about to pull out my "crazy," when I decided to roll down all the widows and turn the radio up really loudly as we pulled in the driveway.  They were so happy that we made about 10 laps around the driveway.  They jumped out and started dancing because they were so glad to be home, and I snapped this picture.  It may be my favorite except that Allie was not home. 

And finally for the forever long blog post.  David wore himself out on noodles, but decided he wanted some yesterday.  Don't let one noodle get away big guy.

David Lee White, I don't know how we could love you anymore.  So thankful it's not May 2012!

10 Months home!

 Ironically, I took these pics last week, and it was literally one of David's worst days home. (Aren't pictures deceiving?)

He has been so good this month, but last week was a little tricky.  He lost his "puppy," his lovie that he immediately attached to when he came home.  "Puppy" was missing for three days.  He didn't nap well, and didn't sleep well, but when we found it, I got my boy back!

So done with pictures!

As for this month, he loved hunting his first Easter eggs.  He's so close to talking in sentences!  

9 months

When I sat down to document this past month, I realized that I took so FEW pictures!

Bummer.

And then I remembered,

We've been potty training!

We hit it pretty hard this month.  Once I realized he was capable, I didn't back off.  I just loathe potty training, and wanted to be done, and there is never a "good" time to do it.

I am so proud of him!!!  He's had maybe one accident since Saturday, so hopefully we are really done!

One big change I've noticed this month is that he has REALLY taken to daddy.  David keeps close tabs on him. "Daddy sleep?...Daddy work?"  

He's just way more fun than me! 

Now, when I look at baby pictures of David, it has hard for me to believe he ever lived with another family!  When I looked at these pictures before we got him, all I could think about was his life in Korea.  Now sometimes, I find myself forgetting he's only been with us 9 months, and that he spent 2 whole years somewhere else.  

Many of the pictures are not dated, but you can see that the calendar says March 2012 on it.  So this is what he looked like one year ago.

Now he's a little boy.

He can....

count to 5.

say his ABC's (although not very clearly).

identify almost every letter if asked randomly.

speak in phrases now. (BIG CHANGE!) 

identify most colors. 

EAT.

The boy can EAT as if that's not obvious.

Happy 9 months home little buddy!

8 months home

Since I missed the "picky sticky stages", it is important to me for his sake to document his progress every month for the first year.  I'm going to make a first year book like I did for the other kids because when he starts asking questions, I want to have a tangible way to walk him through his first year "home" because it will important to him.

This kid is affectionate, loving, pleasing, smart, funny, silly, serious, and secure.  

Many people have commented in the last two months that he's a different child.  We haven't heard his "scream" that shook the house for several months.  He is not strong willed like I thought.  He knows the boundaries now, and he obeys readily.  He has the occasional fit, but walks to time-out and is "done" in about 30 seconds.  He's very particular still, and is definitely a "first born" because he wants to do it all himself.  Because of this, he can put his shoes on, wants to dress himself, gets his back pack when it's time to leave, and helps set the table.  We've even had some potty training successes which I never expected in this time frame, but again he wants to be independent like the big kids.

This past month, he has continued to add to his vocabulary. He can say every letter of the alphabet, identify all the letters in his name, plus about 12 more if asked to identify.  He wants to ride his bike so badly, but cannot pedal yet.  He says David pedal?!  His favorite character right now is "Thomas the train," and he loves all things "Thomas."  

He will sit and work on a puzzle for long periods of time, and plays with his cars frequently still.  His favorite food hands DOWN are sweet potatoes.  He will stand in front of the oven when they are baking, and say "tatoes" over and over. He can hardly wait.  

From the looks of it, he's had plenty of them:)

I will say every month has definitely gotten a little better than the month before.  I feel like the old me is back, too.  I'm light hearted again and laugh a lot.  This has definitely been one of the hardest seasons of my life (I've not been through many major losses or trials.)  I spent many months grieving our old family.  That may sound surprising, or weird, but I didn't know how to explain it until someone said those exact words to me, and I could TOTALLY relate.  We were very settled, and when the youngest is four and the oldest is nine, that is a sweet spot in parenting....no teenagers, no toddlers.  I didn't even realize how "easy" I had it.  When David came it disrupted all that, and honestly my reaction to his joining our family was the opposite of what I wanted or expected.  I rebelled against God for a brief period of time because I was resentful that He lead us in this direction, and even questioned if it was He who directed this or just some crazy thing we came up with.  In His great faithfulness and grace, as I've said before, He brought me back to Him, and reminded me that he is in total control and that He will grant me the love and care that David deserves.  He's given me just that.  I ADORE my new son.  I enjoy him.  I'm incredibly proud of him.  I cannot imagine our family without him, and I love him without condition.  

And that is the honest truth.    

Happy New Year

It was cold and rainy this first day of 2013.  We broke out the bubbles rather than the fireworks. I spent probably 20 minutes trying to teach him to hold the wand OUT in front of him and not right at his lips.  He was so mad because he couldn't get them to work.  FINALLY, he decided to listen....

It was really cold, and the other kids didn't want to stay out. For 6 months, this blog has been ALOT about David, and I'm determined to get the other ones on here, but they are RUNNING from the camera.  They are done! 

His hands are covered in bubbles and FREEZING, but look at that face!

Happy 7 months home little man!

It is cold enough..

..for FOOTED pajamas!  Yahoo!

or maybe...

NOT!  

The boy FLIPPED out when I put these new snuggly pajamas on him.  Kept grabbing his feet and yelling..NO SHOES BED!

I guess he's never worn footed PJs and it was NOT right in his world, so I took them right off!  We spend enough energy on tears worth fighting, and this isn't one of them!

Some pics from adoption day...

Mary and Bunny hanging out...plenty of time for that.

Love you sis!  

Abby and the girls were SO very patient. 

Becky and her little man

What did people do before I-passies?  Hunter and David really did great especially for having to wait almost 3 hours.  This is my friend Patti holding David...he loves some Patti.

What a crew.  The judge was so sweet.  Hunter jumped right into her lap! 

There were stuffed animals everywhere, and the kids all chose one....big ones apparently.

Finally...a completed family pic.

A tale of 2 "T'was the night befores"

T'was the night before our long flight home.  Our 23 month old "baby" lay on the pillow next to me in a hotel....fretful.  He'd had a good day, but bed time brought an unfamiliar routine, unfamiliar people, an unfamiliar language, an uncertain tomorrow. He knew nothing but to scream in frustration.  He landed on big sister's chest, an image I'll NEVER forget.  He tossed and turned all night as I did the same.  Awake all night, panic started to take over.  My heart raced for what seemed like hours as the clock ticked away.  I was terrified of an 18 hour travel day to home....anxious like I've never been before.  Lord, I don't even know this child! 

T'was the night before our long awaited court date.  Our nearly 2 and a half year old lay on the pillow next to me in a hotel....peaceful.  He'd had a good day, and bed time brought a familiar close to the day.  He'd spent the evening at his cousins' house where he could already say their names and exhibited a happy inflection, "Mando's?" when we announced where we were going.  He asked for "Pappy?" before we even opened the door for our visit.  He'd exclaimed "CAKE!" when he saw the cookie cake which read, "Forever Ours."   I lay awake listening to him suck on his fingers (oh how I only WISH for a passy now!).  His fingers became a source of comfort 6 months ago, and now they are shriveled every morning, so for now, I will thank his fingers for good and peaceful sleep.  I slept all night, only anxious about a 2 year old missing nap time and having a fit during the ceremony.  My heart did not race.  You see, when this boy woke up on this special day,  I knew that he likes the light turned on immediately when I walk in the room.  I knew that he likes me to get him dressed immediately all the way down to his shoes.  I knew that he likes eggs and cereal for breakfast and that he loves to get in the car to take his siblings to school, but is sad when they are not around to play during the day.  I knew that he likes to brush his teeth often.  I knew that he gets more than excited over a popsicle and that he'd rather ride his plasma car down the hill on his adoption day.  I knew that he would get so excited about his favorite "la" on the radio.  I knew that he would ask for a kiss when his mosquito bite started itching from two days ago at "Patti's" house.  I knew that he'd scream for "Puppy and Baket" at bed time tomorrow night because he'd be so tired from his big day.  I knew all this....

because I'm his "Mamma."  

I posted the video of our ceremony so our friends and family wouldn't miss it!

More pics to follow:)

From here to there

6 months at home!

Hubs took this video of David on his phone literally right after we got into the car and drove away from Eastern the day David came home (June 1rst). Excuse my sniffles...it took all I had not to burst into tears as I looked at the foster parents, and my nose started pouring.

I really couldn't believe how happy David was.

I took this video last night before bed.  Wow, what a difference!

The bandaid "thing" is new.  He wants to wear one on his head every day.

He is passionate about setting the table for some reason!

He is an "I do it" kid.  The last "I do it" kid was Allie...so three kids ago. Poor David doesn't know that all my "I do it" tokens were all used up a LONG time ago. Ha, I'm trying to slow things down for him, but that's an uphill battle.

He's a very sweet boy.  He's a very particular boy, and when things don't go his way, he is HOT headed.  His speech is coming along.  He repeats a lot of words we say, but he very rarely puts two words together.  I think as his speech improves, and we can understand what he wants, he will get easier.  

This sounds like typical twos, but many two and a half year olds are speaking in multiple phrases by now, and his vocab is about 6 mo-1 year behind at least (because of his late start of course:)  I know that at some point, it will all come together!

He's been incredibly healthy, which amazes me for his age and new environment.  We finalize next FRIDAY!

Had a visitor this morning.  Whoever started this tradition didn't have moms in mind.  This is all on you dad. I told the kids he doesn't come until Dec 1rst, because 24 days is PLENTY, (I'm such a scrooge), and I forgot the first day.  

Hubs remembered though.  Love his note:)

(He printed it out...cause he could NEVER write that neat.)

Bulgogi Tuesday/Turkey Thursday

Too many pics!

I love to cook and have been cooking all week.  When asked by his preschool teacher about his Thanksgiving tradition, Garrett replied, "The BAKER comes over and cooks the meal." 

What in the world?  This child is oblivious.  

Our social worker encouraged us to have traditional Korean meals now and then, and I thought this week would be a good week to give it a whirl!  With a little internet research..and my friend Libby, we pulled it off!

This Korean meat is called Bulgogi, and it was SOOO GOOD!  It tasted exactly like the meat we ate in Korea.  We bought it at a big Korean market in Dallas, so it was fully prepared...just had to cook it.

This was a Korean cucumber salad pepper, sesame oil, vinegar and sesame seeds.  It was spicy, but very good.

We bought the Kimchi at the market too.  I would have not the slightest idea how to cook it.  David took one look at it, and dove right in. (The Korean people eat this dish daily.)  He found that it was way TOO spicy.  Poor thing!

We had dumplins, mushrooms, noodles, rice, and sea weed!  He LOVED it!  Definitely, Tuesday was "his" meal.  He only ate sweet potatoes today!

We have been friends with the "G" family for quite a few years now because our kids are all in school together. They have 3 girly girls...2 adopted from Korea, and 1 in the middle who was born soon after their oldest came home from Korea.  This pretty girl is their youngest.   All the kids liked the food..I was fully prepared with chicken nuggets, but the dumplins were THE hit.

First swim in a while.  The kids had a ball.

Little bit thought the pool was too chilly for night swimming!

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with more friends!  The hubs had to work, so we stayed home all week.

Loved this sweet note from Allie.

Cuddle time...waiting for lunch!

They weren't very patient, so we threw them in the pool.

This was the only pic of all 6 kids....and 5 weren't looking.

Long time friends...getting way too big.

Thankful for a great week of food and friends!