We got a VIDEO!!!

John and I went out to walk Oscar this afternoon and I wanted to check the mail first before walking. John didn't understand why, but I have started checking it first thing when I get home most days. I opened the box and the DVD of Olivia was in there. I have watched the video 4 times so far! The video was made the same day that the recent pictures were. It showed her crawling, pulling up, looking at toys, walking with a push toy, dancing and sitting. She is doing well to have been born so early. The only thing she didn't do was babble/talk. Though she wasn't really interacted with, conversation wise, I just wondered why she didn't talk. I do know she is really shy, so maybe the three extra people in the room made her nervous. Regardless, I think seeing it just makes me want her home even more! I am so ready for her to be here!
I have been working on her party more tonight. I don't know what I will do once her birthday passes? I think this party is making me feel closer to her in some strange way. I know she isn't here, but I know the celebration is for HER.

11 mos.

Today Olivia turned 11 months old. It makes me sad that it is another milestone that we are missing, but she is happy, healthy and well cared for, so I guess it should be a happy day! Her 1 year Dol invitations came today! They are really cute! They have a hanbok on them. I thought it was appropriate since she can't be here to actually wear hers, and it is an important part of her celebration. I worked all afternoon on her celebration, and I am hoping it goes well. I hope that day is a good day for her. I hope they have some kind of celebration for her there. I think they will do a Dol, but not as big as we would have here I am sure. Her FM appears to be very loving and sweet. I am sure that she is doing all she can for her. This was another picture that we got the other day. I can't wait to get her video!!!

One more month until she is 1!!!! I can't believe we have known her for 3 months. I sure wish she were coming home soon, but I currently have comfort in looking at the pictures since I know that is what she looks like now. I can't wait to hear her little voice on the video and see her personality!

UPDATE!!!

Today has been a good day! I was getting end of year stuff done at school, and decided to take a break. I went to my computer and saw 3 emails from Peg! I got so excited because I saw it said 'images.' YAY!!! I opened them and got 9 pictures! I also got an update and a message saying that we would get a video within a week.

My personal favorite picture is the first one because she has her hand on our faces. She is seeing us for the first time! She looks like she is really staring at those strange people in the picture. :)

The update was great! She is crawling around and walking holding onto furniture. It said she has a 'hot temper' especially at bed time! They also noted that she loved watching the olympics. (especially the figure skating) I can't wait to get her here!!! Today made me want her even more! Is that possible?

Trying to stay busy!

Well, I finally got it! Here is the design of the tshirt. :) I am already thinking of another one, but I can't wait to get this one.



Today, I had lunch with a group of adoptive moms. We were originally suppose to get together on May 2nd, but the flood came, so we met today in Murfreesboro. I really enjoyed getting to hang out with everyone! What a great group of people. I hope that I can continue to share time with this group, as they have all walked where we are right now. I am also hopeful that once Olivia gets home that she will get to know their children and have lifetime friends!

On another note, I ordered Olivia's Dol invitations this weekend. I know she will not be here, but I feel that we must celebrate her first year of life! She is our daughter, and if she were here we would be, so why wouldn't we under these circumstances? I figure I have two choices for that day. I can #1. mope and be sad that she is 1 and we are not with her on her special day, or I can #2. have an awesome celebration that we can tell her about and honor her life. Have fun with family and friends and let them know about the significance of the first birthday for a Korean child.
I am going with choice #2. :) I have looked at alot of Dol celebrations and I think I have hers figured out. It amazes me the amount of $ that goes into the first birthday for the Korean children. We are actually going to call this a celebration rather than a birthday party. I put on the invitations 'no presents.' I just want us to all come together and celebrate what is and what is hopefully to come!
I did, however, love John's suggestion. I told him I was putting 'no gifts' on the invitation and he said, "can we put in a smaller font under that that we are registered at pottery barn kids?" I thought that was hillarious!!!
Well, here is to another week of waiting and wishing for Olivia. She will be 11 months this week! To think when we met her she was 8 mos! Maybe time will fly?

Please keep praying for her daily! Please pray that she is healthy and happy. Pray that we get her home sooner rather than later. Pray that the government allows those that had accepted referrals prior to the quota mark get to bring them home this year!!! (thats us ya know!) :)

Paperwork

A week or so ago, we had an immigration officer call us. I have been emailing back and forth with USCIS since then trying to figure out what we needed to do to get our I600A in the mail. It turns out that there has to be an addendum to our homestudy and the form was stating that we wanted to petition to be filed in Texas. Um, last time I checked, Olivia lives in KOREA! I don't know how the paperwork got messed up, and I know that Stephanie did ALL of our homestudy, so I think that this is a lack of USCIS looking at our documents. I could be wrong, but seriously, Texas?

In the meantime, I am passing these days by being crazy busy at school, planning Olivia's 1st birthday (Even though she isn't here, I think it is important to celebrate since thier 1st birthday is considered to be one of the 2 most important days in their lives.), getting shop and swap together, and designing a t-shirt for Olivia's adoption. I just want a shirt to honor her adoption. I am not planning on selling these unless we decide they are nice and we want to do another fundraiser.

I am still hoping for pictures sometime soon! I am guessing it will be August before we get any.

Side note--the whole thing with the bombing of the S. Korean ship by N. Korea has me very worried. This is just another thing that is completely out of my hands. All I can continue to do is pray. I am just worried about the threats that N. Korea is putting out. I know that they get their feathers ruffled a couple times a year, but they have not gone to the extent of bombing another ship until now. The torpedo killed 46 people! S. Korea feels that there needs to be a punishment of sorts to ensure that they show the N. Koreans that this is unacceptable, but N. Korea is threatening 'all out war' if S. Korea retaliates in any form or fashion.

So, pray that this settles down and does not affect the adoption process. Please also continue to pray that the government allows babies that already had signed referrals go home this year. (thats us ya know)

Mother's Day --A Long Line of Love

Today at church the title of the sermon was 'A Long Line of Love.' I am sure the message was different for everyone, but all I could think of was Olivia's line of love. The sermon was about how a person can feel the love of their mother, grandmothers, etc. How you reflect what you have been taught because of the love that was shared by family. Pastor Wallace mentioned how A. Lincoln was grateful for his mother (who passed away when he was a boy) and for his stepmother because she also gave him endless love. His mother's main goal for him was for him to be able to learn how to read. His stepmother saw that he learned how to read and taught him through the scriptures.
After this point I began thinking about Olivia's line of love. She has a unique line of love. It is not like mine or anyone else's in my family. Her line of love began the day her birthmother gave her life and decided that she wanted more for her. She knew that she could not afford the medical treatment that Olivia needed and loved her enough to give her up in hopes that she would be placed with a family that would love her unconditionaly and give her all she needs. From there, her line immediately grew. She was placed with her foster mother. Her foster mother is seeing that she is cared for day in and day out. She sleeps with her on the floor each night and loves on her. She knows that she is a temporary caregiver for Olivia, but gives her the love she needs for the time that she has her. On March
25th, she entered our line of love. I fell in love with her the minute I heard about her. We will teach her how to be a caring, giving person and how to love. Though our line of love is limited at this time, it will not be for long. Once we bring her home, her line of love will grow and she will grow in that love. She is actually blessed to have so many different lines of love. Not many people are given that many opportunities for so many different people to show thier love for one person. She has essentially 3 mothers. She is blessed. We all play a very important role in making her who she is and who she will become. I am so grateful to her birth mother and foster mother for all that they have done. I thank God for allowing us the opportunity to get to have her as our child. She will know her entire love line. Not just the one that begins with us.
A. Lincoln's stepmother could have easily told him that he would not learn to read and that he would work on the family farm as most did at that time. Instead, she honored his mother's love and gave him the chance to bloom.
Olivia, we can't wait for you to bloom!

My best friend, Ashley, sent me a text this morning wishing me a Happy 1st Mother's Day. While I have referred to John and I as 'mom and dad' on here, and talked about us being her parents, I had not anticipated anyone saying 'Happy Mother's Day' to me today. I told her that I was hopeful for next mother's day and she told me that this one is just as important. She reminded me that she is ours even though she isn't here with us. She is right! Thank you for that Ashley!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

June 11 or 12?

What is happening with Olivia on that weekend you ask? Got you hopeful, right? Sorry, to disappoint, but that is the weekend we have decided to have our first large event for her! We (me, Traci, and Ashley S.) are hosting a toy swap. I am not sure of how it will all go down, but Traci and Ashley went to one in early spring and said it was awesome! So, I said I can do the organizing when the toys come in and they can take care of the PR. :) It looks like we are going to accept any aged child toy/ gear. (beds, saucers, swings, etc.) We are going to get together soon and nail down times to have the event. I do have the location! :)
I am super excited about this. I hope it turns out!

So, no, we aren't bringing her home that weekend (what a great dream though), but we will be fundraising for her! It should be a great time for people to get some great stuff, spend time with friends, and talk about Olivia. Hmm....do I do that? :)

Oh, and speaking of fundraising, don't forget to check out how you can help by clicking on "My One Hundred Wishes" tab on the right side of my blog. Thanks for your help and prayers in getting her home!

Just wishing for you

John and I find ourselves doing lots of projects to try to keep ourselves busy. We want Olivia to come home so badly, so we are just trying to pass the time because we know that there is nothing we can do. We were told at her 6-9 mos. update that we would receive pictures at 10 months, but we haven't. I look at her little picture (she is about 4months in it) that I have every day. I love that little girl!


Olivia, you will quickly learn that your daddy does NOT have a memory. I think it took him 3 months to learn my name. At somepoint, he looked up Korean holidays and apparently tomorrow, May 5th, is National Childrens Day. He has mentioned it several times in the last 2 weeks. The fact that he remembered it more than one day is a miracle. You are weighing heavily on his heart as well as mine these days. Any little Korean holiday or event, we think about you. I think that he is remembering the holiday because he is wanting you here so badly.
As we were working today in the yard, he said, "well, I guess we can get the pool open and projects done and that will keep our minds occupied for 20 min. or so. Even if we are occupied, I am still thinking about her." I thought that was really sweet. We love you so much and can't wait for you to be home. He is not one to express much feeling, so when he said this, I knew that he was really missing you.
Another reason I know he is missing you and ready for you is because Sunday afternoon I took a nap, and woke up to him putting your high chair together. I didn't even have to ask, he just did it!

At night, I pass the time reading other blogs of parents who have adopted from Korea. I have not found one family that has had to wait for their child as long as we do. The typical wait I have found (meaning from the time they had a referral) is between 4-7 months. We will be waiting for 10 more months! (plus the other 1 1/2 that we have already waited) We are only able to think about what you are doing and we know that you are growing and changing daily. I look at our clock here at home and then calculate the Korean time. Once I have done that I figure out what I think you would be doing. We got an update on April 3rd, and will probably not get anymore information on you until January 2011. I know that you are being well taken care of by your foster mom, but I want you in my arms. I want to rock you to sleep and lay beside you on the floor. I want to feed you your applesauce and porridge. I want to hold you when you are scared, hurt, or sad. I want to celebrate your first(s) with you. We can't get you home soon enough!