Finally .... we meet!

It may have been close to a  year ago, I ran across this little girl.

This is Ella. Isn't she the cutest??? Her picture was posted in another mom's signature  on the Korean BB last year.  Eventually, I ran across her soon to be mother on Facebook last year, yes FB strikes again! I soon found out that Ella's mommie Cindy lived really close to where I live!  

After missing the cut off for Aiden's EP last year, there were a few moms that started a message thread on FB. We were all running within the same time line of all our required things getting processed. So we were hoping that some of us would travel at the same time.   This was so great to be apart of.  There were about six of us mom's messaging on that thread for what seemed like every day! It really was a life saver.  We all had one major tidbit in common, we were all waiting on the notorious Emigration Permit. So basically, we were all in the same "batch" (technical term for where I don't even want to explain what this means anymore!).  So when we all finally were getting down to Travel Call's the first of this year, we were all tearing that message board up, and I do mean tearing! And eventually, we all started getting "the call".   

Come to find out, on March 5th of this year, Mike and I were leaving South Korea with Aiden and Cindy and Nat were on their way over to South Korea to get Ella. So we basically met in the air.  So we missed each other by a day or two in Korea.  Talk about a small world!  So we weren't able to meet in South Korea, here, now six months later, we met for the very first time yesterday!  

Cindy had invited us to an adoption and support picnic through Joseph's Hope Foundation in Kentucky, which is close to where we live in Tennessee.  It was so great to see these two kiddos together!  Ella is the sweetest, cutest, and most adorable little sweetie!  She is so petite, Taylor and I kept saying how cute she was to each other!  Taylor really enjoyed playing with Ella at the picnic.  I guess it was a pleasant little break from her little brother who's all boy! :) 

We all had a great time at the picnic! It was so great to reminisce about our trips to South Korea and our experiences so far.  I was so happy to finally meet Cindy, Ella, and her family!  It was such a special day to remember always!  Getting together with them seemed like getting together with family.  Although Aiden and Ella aren't related, they each hold a special piece of their birth place that will tie them together for the rest of their lives.  And if getting together keeps that bond connected, then I look forward to meeting up with Aiden's family from now on. 

This is how great a time he had at the picnic! Need I say more! :)

Thanks again Cindy for the awesome picnic. It was so great to be apart of something so wonderful! I see another family reunion in the future! :)

August 19, 2011

So this past Friday was my birthday, August 19, 2011.  I turned 41 years old.  Not a big deal, felt just like last year, and the year before that.  Age is a state of mind you know! ;) So I'm feeling pretty good about being in my 40's.  But this year was a little different.  I woke up, and as I usually think to myself when I get up, "what day is it?" I remembered after I realized it was a Friday that, oh yeah, it's my birthday.  I showered, fixed Tay's lunch for school, and sat down at my laptop till time for the kiddos to get up. As I'm scanning FB, email, and blogs, I thought about it being my birthday.

So as I'm sitting in my kitchen, I think of Aiden.  At that very moment I had a heavy feeling of loss come over me. It was very heavy and went straight to my heart.  I felt so bad for Aiden, what he has had to lose to get to where he was.  And as I'm thinking of him, I begin to understand where these feelings were coming from. 41 years ago, my birth mother made a very hard decision to put me up for adoption.  And 41 years ago, my mom and dad adopted me.    I too had suffered a major loss.  And as I'm tearing up from the weight of the loss, I realized it was me that was realizing my loss, not just Aiden's. It was like a cloud that had cleared, I could see through the fog, everything just clicked. Talk about an a-ha moment!

This is the very first picture my parents saw of me. I was 8 weeks old.

This is me when my adoptive parents first brought me home. The year was Oct. 1970.  I was 9 weeks old.

I was 3 months old here.

When I was little, my birthdays were always happy times, party with family, slumber party with friends, etc. As I got older, my birthdays weren't quite as happy.  I think I went through the resentment stage, anger stage, you name it, I probably felt it on or around my birthday.  I never really understood exactly what my birth mother possibly would have felt, till this past Friday.  I realized that every year on August 19th, my birth mother probably  remembered her loss.  I never really got it, till this year.  How could I not see her loss too?  I felt very selfish at that moment too, all these years of only thinking of myself on my birthday.

I don't know if I ever would have realized this if Aiden wasn't here with me.  This little guy,

is my savior. He is teaching me so much about myself.  He was destined to be with me and my family from the very beginning.  I never knew the impact he would have on my life and my families lives till now.  So through the years when Aiden's birthday comes around, I will always remember his birth mother, her loss, and her gift to us. I will always say a prayer thanking her for Aiden and hope that she has peace in her heart.  And as my birthday rolls around from this day forward, I will say a prayer for my birth mother also, thanking her for my life, and hope that she has peace in her heart, just as I have now.     

Feet ...

Before school started for this young lady,

I took the kiddos to get some shoes, Tay needed tennis shoes for school and Aiden needed some tennis shoes for fall.  Found some for Tay  no problem. So as I'm looking at the little boys shoes, I picked out a few pairs and tried them on him.  Okay, I tried  to try them on him! My boy has some big feet! 

Maybe it's not that they're that big, it's just they're w-i-d-e.  Technically, he would wear a 5-1/2.  I could not get his foot in a regular 5-1/2 shoe! Oh yeah, they make wide shoes for toddlers, hence the big "W" on the box, nice!  Wow, it's so different shopping for a boy.  I've had 10 years shopping for a girl, still trying to get use to the shopping for a boy thing. I still want to go pink, purple, and cute! :) 

So, I found a pair of WIDE's in 5-1/2.  Still could not get his foot in there.  Okay, so I'm thinking what's the deal?  Is he crinkling up his toes in there? Are they getting bunched up? I was almost breaking a sweat trying to get his foot in them! Didn't work, so I moved up a half size.  Found a pair of 6's in a WIDE.   These little buggers! I had to undue the velcro strap and then put his foot in there.  They're a little big and they make his feet look huge, but they fit! So Aiden is the proud (haha) owner of a pair of Nike tennis shoes! :)

So my boy has WIDE feet.  I have to say, I was dying to see  his sweet little feet when we got back to the hotel in Seoul.  We were changing his clothes and I cupped his cute little feet in my hands. Made my heart melt.  The first time I saw his cute, chubby feet was in this photo. 

I knew he had the cutest feet from this photo, the very first photo I saw of him! And what I love most about his feet is when we're in the car, Aiden will whine a little, I'll glance back at him, he'll stick out his left foot, I'll cup his cute little foot in my hand,  rub it, and hold it.  He loves for me to do this.  When I do this for him, I see complete comfort come over his face and he totally relaxes. Just melts a mamma's heart! :)

For Melissa ...

Being an AP on Facebook certainly has it's privileges these days.  So when I come across an Adoptive Parent who lives here in Tennessee,  I send a friend request.  I love to find out who has adopted precious little ones from South Korea that lives here in Tennessee or surrounding states.  I've come across one special lady.  Her name is Melissa. She lives here in TN and not far from me actually.  She has two beautiful children, her and her husband adopted from Korea.  You see, Melissa is battling cancer.  I don't know all the specifics, but it's very serious and this special lady is a trooper! I hope she doesn't mind this, but you can check out her blog here.

An AP on FB contacted a  few other AP's with an idea for a project.  We were asked to send a picture with a special message for Melissa and she would put them all together in a video. Well, the list of AP's just grew and grew.  Check out this video Michelle put together for Melissa  here. (Tissues not included!) :)

Creek stomping ...

It's a term, most southerns know. But for those who don't, here's a good representation! :)

Okay, so yeah, we're walking in a creek, hence creek stomping.  My cousin Deb and her daughter Carrie  invited her sister, some friends, and Taylor, Aiden, & I to go creek stomping in a creek near her house.  So I haven't done this in so many years, so long ago, I'd have to really think how long  ago it really was. Did you get all that?  Too much thought process!  But I do remember it being fun!  Aiden took to it right away, he loves water.  Actually, I had to really keep a hand on him so he didn't fall.  He was wanting to go, go, go!  Huck and Sawyer came along for some four legged creek stomping too! It was really hot so we all enjoyed cooling off.

Of course, Aiden loved the mud.  His foster mother told us that he was "all boy" when we first met,  little did I know how much boys are different from girls. Aiden's giving me a crash course now! I've got a lot to learn about boys!

Taylor enjoyed it too, but I think she mostly enjoyed looking for geodes and other neat things you find along a creek bank with her cousin Carrie.

After creek stomping, we headed to the house for some lunch.  Aiden made friends with Cadence, she's three weeks younger than Aiden. She's so cute! :)

It's hard to see Taylor's creation in the picture, but what an imagination this girl has! It's a boat made out of the walnut shell  (pictured above with the crawdad), with a stick and a leaf as an umbrella for shade.

We had a great time with family and friends.  Aiden had a great time too.  He passed out in the backseat before we even left my cousin's driveway.

Creek stomping - Check!

2nd Post Placement visit ...

 Since Aiden is technically not ours yet, our social worker has to pay us 3 visits to report back to Holt and the Ministry in South Korea that we're doing what we said we'd do, take care of Aiden.  So on July 14 (last Thursday) we met with Hallie, our social worker for our 2nd Post Placement visit.  She asked her typical questions, how's her doing, what's changed, etc.  I'll spare you the boring details of that meeting, but this means, two PP visits down, and one more to go before we can finalize his adoption!  Yah!!! :)

I think Hallie is pretty relaxed about these visits.  When we emailed to set up a day and time, I didn't realize and she didn't mention about having more photos of Aiden with us, his family to turn in with her report.  Well yeah, it makes total sense to have pictures, I just forgot about them.  So I mailed them separate to Holt in Oregon.  So if you're curious, here's some of the pictures. :)


Aiden with his Nana.

Aiden with his grandaddy. 

Aiden with his other grandaddy.

Aiden with his Granny.

Aiden loves music.  Taylor has learned to play some tunes on our piano and there's one song she made up that Aiden will kind of dance to. Totally cute!  The rest of the pictures I'm sure you can figure out!  :)

I'm seeing more and more of our sweet little Aiden's personality every week.  He's one climbing, rock throwing, laughing, screaming, temper tantrumed, smiling, high-5 giving, hang full!  He's one awesome little boy and we love him so much! Can't imagine my life without him.......seriously! :)

18 months ...

July 3rd, my little Aiden turned 18 months old!

And,  I can't believe we've been home 4 months today, July 5th!  In looking back, I still can not believe we've been home 4 months.  And the memory of flying half way around the world wasn't a dream, that we really brought Aiden home and he's here with us! Just hits me weird sometimes! lol  It seems so short and yet seems like he's been here  forever.  Aiden is doing really really well.  I'm beginning to believe it now, lots of friends and family have told me so, okay I  believe you all now!  I'm such a basket-case worrier though.  I'm so into Aiden's schedule, it's my first thought when the hubs asks "so what's going on this weekend?"  or if Taylor asks "what are we doing today?"  I need to get a grip, seriously! It's like I think he can't function without his schedule.  ((maybe it's me that can't function without his schedule?!?))

This past Saturday was our local town's fireworks celebration.  I don't have any pictures, forgot the camera both nights! At least I didn't forget the diaper bag! :)  We went to the park where they had lots of tents, tractor's, games, a firetruck spraying water on the basketball court for anyone who wanted to indulge, and food.  Aiden ate his first hot dog, loved Tay's snowcone, and enjoyed some free lemonade! That evening was the fireworks show, so we set out at 8:15 to get a good spot, and waited.  Any other time I would have said no way, 8 pm is Aiden's bedtime but I'm trying to relax and enjoy. When the fireworks started, Mike got Aiden out of the car and we watched his expression.  Yep, he liked them! He pointed and said "oooooooo"! I was afraid he'd get scared with the loud boom, but he didn't! WTG Aiden!! :)  He already had his pj's on, so when it was over he fell asleep on the way home and I laid him in his bed sound asleep, and not a peep all night! :)

So yesterday we went to some friends of ours house for a 4th of July celebration.  Had a great time and Aiden did too.  He let some friends hold him, enjoyed the fireworks, and the food! So I was really happy that he was happy, and let me tell you, it was GREAT to be with friends again! I've missed them and hanging out with them!  Aiden  fell asleep on the way home again, even later last night, but he had a great time, we all had a great time and I'm so happy he's adjusting well, and is happy! :)

Aiden's tastes have changed a lot! He wants pretty much what we're eating, baby food is gone! He loves blueberries, cantaloupe,  pretty much all fruits!  We're seeing more of his temper, but that's normal for this age ... right? :) He has 10 teeth now. The first set of molars are in and it's really hard to see that his teeth bothered him at all.  He doesn't drool or put his fingers in his mouth, so maybe he's not a bad teether, we'll see! :)  Love to see Aiden smile when he sees his grandparents! Can't help to smile big at that one! :)

All in all, I'd say Aiden is doing great! Some days are rough, but most days are great! Just hang with me Aiden, we'll make it yet! :)