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!

It is good

2 little Indian girls

1 handsome Pilgrim

and 1 BIG turkey.

So thankful for the cast of characters the Lord has entrusted us with,

And so thankful that we had some time away from them this weekend.  

It is good to rest.  It is good to eat alone.  It is good to think and to talk without interruptions.  It is good to come home:)

Tracks

David loves to be where you are.  He doesn't mind if it's me or hubs or one of the other kids.  I'm usually in the kitchen.

He's found that the brick columns in the kitchen make great car tracks.  He has spent ALOT of time in this position.  

Sitting is something Garrett didn't do much of.  

Love that sweet face!

Four things I love about fall

outside

outside

outside

outside

..although 80 deg is a bit much for November.

Today we had NOTHING after school. That is pretty rare.  

Free for all Friday....wonder what they will fix themselves for supper:)

Adoption Month

Love my sweet friend, Libby, that I've never met! Ha.  She's encouraged me SO SO SO much these past several months.  It's amazing how God brings friends together, and I'm thankful for her wisdom and crazy funny personality too!

She posted this on her blog, and I had to copy.  November is National Adoption month.  I've been scrapbooking, and when I look through the pictures and read about our trip on this blog, it seems like such a blur. Did that really happen?  Did we fly to Korea and bring home our second son???

MAMMMMMMMAAAAA!!!! MAMMMMAAAAA!

MAAAMAAAA! (Insert very loud Korean yell)

Ahh yes.  There's my boy....bossing me around:)

I fought a very internal struggle over adoption.  It was something that God just kept bringing up in my mind and heart and I was very heavy hearted for months before I voiced it.  I didn't want to follow through.  The burden became too great, and after several months of praying, we just couldn't deny the path God had us on.

If you are anywhere near this path...RUN RUN! Ha ha. Of course I'm kidding!  When you have your first baby, you have NO idea what you signed up for.  You lose a LOT of sleep, you cry a LOT of tears, but you feel an indescribable sense of joy in it all.  It is the same with this boy.  Every day that passes, I laugh at God's plan for our family....so unexpected, so not "planned", and such a perfect fit.  If He's put it heavily on your heart, don't fight it.  He knows what He's doing.

5 months

Beautiful child.

You have been home 5 months.

This past month for me has been the roughest yet.  About 5 weeks ago, David went through a really rough patch which lasted 3 weeks.  I know he's 2.  I've had three two year olds and this seemed very different than the terrible twos.  

His normal disposition is happy and light hearted.  He does have a hot temper, and when he doesn't get his way, he's going to tell you about it.

This was different.  Shrieking, hitting, scratching.  He just seemed so out of sorts pretty much the whole time he was awake.  It wore me way down.  I cried almost every day after the second week because it was affecting not only me but also the other kids.  The whole house was just very edgy, and this was coming after months of being more edgy than "normal."

Two weeks ago, his normal happy self returned.  He has been so secure.  We made some adjustments on how we discipline him, and he responded so positively.  He has been more secure and happy the past two weeks, than he has the past 5 months.  It's been such a HUGE relief.  

His language has just exploded lately.  He's not quite putting two words together regularly.
One of my favorite moments this months was when he was struggling to get up a hill.  I was clapping and tell him he could do it.

At the top of the hill, he shouted,
"Mamma, I did it."

I think it was his first sentence in English, and I cried then too. I cried not because he spoke a sentence but because when he said it, he was so very proud of himself.  I felt so proud of him too.

Adoption as anyone will tell you is such a process.  The paperwork, the wait, the coming home, the being home, the process of bonding and attaching.  I'll be honest, emotionally I've had greater highs and greater lows with this experience than with almost any other.  There have been times where I've thought, "What have we done, or Lord, what have you done?" Many times.  Yes, I said that. It's true. 

But there have also been many times, where I've thought, "What would my life be like if not for this child?" And there have been more times, where I've felt the Lord just saying, "Just rest in Me, and I will take care of all of you." And He really has.  I've learned more about myself, about God's faithfulness, about my husband and other children in 5 months than I have in years.   I've seen Garrett turn from a very upset, angry little boy, into a big brother.  He loves to show David new things.  He will play with him for literally hours now without a squabble.  Garrett is happy again.  He's proud to be a big brother, and he will tell you that!

It really is hard to put into words.  I really can't even imagine what 1 year out will be like.  I feel like at this point, I'm just now starting to breathe a little easier.  NOW, we are starting to feel more normal. (Are you laughing at me? Do I say that every month?)  

Thank you for letting me have my monthly ramble.  You only have 7 more monthly posts to endure!