4 months home and Happy Father's Day!

I cannot believe four months ago we were standing in the airport with a shocked and terrified little girl. I laugh everytime I think of the statement I made to John about Olivia shortly after leaving the agency. I said, "Do you think she will ever have a personality?" Oh me!!! This girl has got some personality! She is so fun! I cannot believe the transformation in such a short time. Sure, we still have our days/moments, but for an almost 2 year old who has had her entire world rocked to the core, she is doing AMAZING! I am so glad to be to this place of the journey rather than standing with a scared baby on my hip. She knows me and knows that I love her. She loves her daddy and the rest of our family, too. I also made the statement shortly after coming home that "by June I think life will be better." Yes, it is!!! She has come so far. I often have to remind myself that it has only been four months. I remind myself this because some of our 'issues' are not resolved, and I can't expect them to be at this point. I think I have decided what the most annoying statment that people make is. It is when they see me holding her and say, "God bless you for doing that for her." or "She is one lucky girl." I always respond with, "we are the lucky ones!" Seriously, we needed this child so much in our lives. She was given to us for a reason and we are the ones that are lucky! She is such a blessing.

On a different note, this is John's first father's day. He said he wanted to get some khaki's for school, so this morning I told him we would take care of that on tax free weekend. (I know....sweet, huh?!) However, I did make him a book of our trip to Korea and I tried an unsuccessful photo thing with Olivia. Here is the cute idea: give Olivia the letters D A D and take three different pics. of her holding the letters individually. Well, maybe next year! It was somewhat hilarious to do this with her. She would throw the letters at me, run off, smile after the flash or just say no. Obviously the cute idea didn't pan out. I tried. Here are the pics. that I got.


She put her arm up like that....then the minute I would get the camera focused she moved.

This was a possiblity, but not what I was after.

I tried using a navy blanket to make a backdrop. (look at all the feather junk on it...what was I thinking? She kept pulling the blanket down and wanted whichever letter that I was holding on to.

We even tried when we went over to Grammy's house.
She would not put the phone down....looks like she is having a good conversation though. :)

This one is cute, but she looks like a deer in headlights.

Really, could you hold on. My mom is trying to take another stupid picture! Ugh! --Pretty sure that is what she is thinking here!

Some assembly required....

I haven't blogged much in the last week because as of Monday, I had Olivia's funk. She is finally better (it took her a week and a half) and then I got sick. I am still not completely over it, but I am feeling much better! I haven't been as sick as she was though. I have been really stopped up, my ears are clogged, I have been achy and my throat has been sore. I am glad this virus has almost moved out of our house! As I haven't felt my best, I realized that poor Olivia must have been completely miserabe. I knew she didn't feel good, but poor thing!!!
Now that we are getting back to normal around here, it is time to get really busy!!! We have a party to plan!!!

Olivia will be turning two next Monday. For her birthday, she is getting a swing set. At 8 a.m., John headed out to the garage to begin putting it together. We figured it would take a few days, so he knew he needed to get busy. It was (literally) black out as a big storm was passing through. So, he decided he would assemble what he could in the garage and then move it around back. Lucky for him, our friend Brandon and my dad came to help. Though we don't have a swing set fully assembled out back yet, it is beginning to look really good. Before they can attach the two end pieces they are going to have to dig out around it to make it level. John and Brandon worked until 10:15 tonight and finally called it a day.
Here is what they started with....

Feeling Better!!

Finally, I think Olivia is on the mend! By mid day Saturday, we started to see our sweet girl return. She still had two more rounds of diarrhea, but then it was gone. She so wanted to eat Saturday night. She ate really well, but you can see her little eyes still look weak.

Her appetite has returned and she is as playful as ever. Sunday she was great and even took an impromptu swim! She kept looking at me and saying, "cheese!" She hasn't done that in qute a while so I was loving it! She decided she would get in....clothes and all!

We are still taking her medicine. (No mother of the year award here, I forgot her medicine last night and this morning) I noticed that she still feels pretty yucky when she isn't getting it on her normal time!

She had quite a bit of snot today causing her to gag on her sandwich and throw it up, but then she was ok. She napped off and on in the car today as we have been in the car most of the day. Our day started by going to Vanderbilt for her vision test. She passed with flying colors!!! I was so relieved since she failed with TEIS and they suspected that she may need surgery. Vanderbilt had no feeling that that was the case, and said to return when she was ready for kindergarten.
In the mean time, her new favorite hide out seems to be my closet! I have no clue, but I look in there and she has thrown my boots on the ground and climbed the step ladder thumbing through my clothes.
(if you look at the following two pictures you cannot judge me on the messiness of my closet! You still have to like me! :))

I think I have my hands full in the future! :)

She obviously was ready to see what was up top as she climbed up the shelves of my closet. She has no fear!

She has also gotten really big into dressing herself. I went into her room the other day and she had her swimsuit drawer open and had three swimsuits on--all on top of her clothes. Too cute!!! Here she has put her swim diaper on over top of her clothes. I told her to pull her shirt up and show me, but a smile was not in the cards.

She took off running. Notice the back -- she still can't figure out how to get the clothes over her tushy.

This girl is a laugh a minute, very full of herself, and has a ton of personality! I love her!!!


It is time for this girl to get to stay away from doctors for a while! She has definitely had her fair share. Now it is time to prepare for her birthday party. I can't believe in less than two weeks she will be 2!!! Last year I planned and planned (to keep myself busy and to meet all of the Korean traditions with the Dol) and this year I just haven't had time. I have my ideas, but haven't gotten a chance to produce them. We ran into Hobby Lobby and I literally got what I needed in 15 min. as the store was about to close. I need to go back, but not sure when I would. I have no clue what I have, if I need more, or what else I want. Not the ideal trip, but could have turned out to be a good thing?? :)

Boo :(

We had to officially cancel our trip today. When we got up this morning we were still hopeful that we would be going. I had my lists of places I needed to go before heading out on our trip. She actually ate a little, played, and seemed fine. She slept until 10:00 a.m. which NEVER happens, but I thought she must be sleeping off the rest of her funk. No, no.....she is still sick! Poor thing. She played until 1:00 and was exhausted. She has had a few rounds of diarrhea (yuck!) and is asleep again (slept 5-7 p.m.). She is only making it about three hours before being wiped out. She is pitiful. We decided that since she has zero energy in the air conditioning that it would be mean to take her to an outdoor park and drag her around. John made the comment that since she is on 4 prescriptions and tylenol that that should be our answer on if we should go or not. However, her doctor said she would be fine in 48 hours (tomorrow), but based on what we are seeing today, that won't be the case. So, here we are.....home just us. We will make the best of it and try to prepare for her upcoming birthday party and maybe get out tomorrow if she is any better.

Vacation.....postponed

We have been looking forward to heading to Dollywood and Splash Country with our friends Brandon, Ashley and Everley. We were scheduled to leave bright and early in the morning. However, we had to cancel due to a little one being sick. Olivia had a runny nose that came out of no where on Saturday and Sunday she threw up mucus. I didn't think much about it. On Monday, she threw up three times (mucus) and began coughing. Tuesday I decided that since we were leaving town that I would take her to the doctor. I didn't get any real conclusive answer, but was told to watch for a few things such as labored breathing, diarrhea, and fever. Well, by last night, we had all except the diarrhea and she continued to throw up. By this morning, we welcomed the diarrhea. She has pretty much layed on my shoulder the last two days until lunch time today. She hasn't eaten in two days and is now down to 19.5 lbs. That isn't much for an almost 2 year old.
We went back to the doctor this morning and she now has an ear infection and a bronchial thing. They gave her a breathing treatment in the office and put her on a new antibiotic. She was on an antibiotic for her toe that set up a bacteria. So....this medicine should take care of both problems. Poor girl! She has been a sick one. We were given an inhaler to take every six hours at home and she takes it like a champ! We are hopeful to head to Gatlinburg on Friday, but it all depends on how she feels. Her doctor said she should feel much better in 48 hours, so I guess time will tell. If she isn't up to it, we won't go. I hate that, but we have to do what is best for her. There will be other trips.

Welcome Home Brodie (PART II)

Last night, I was so tired by the time I finished my post that I decided to make it a two post session. Plus, any homecoming deserves its own post! Yesterday afternoon we headed to the airport with balloons in hand to welcome home Brodie. He looked amazing! While I am sure he has a long road to go, he was all smiles yesterday at the airport. He has a great big brother that will show him the ropes and a mama and daddy that will love him to pieces. I had fun visiting with MaryLeigh's family while we waited. They were all so sweet and welcoming. Within no time, their flight had landed and it was time for us to be on the lookout of them. They came in as a great family of four (and uncle William). I love the airport scene because they look like they are on cloud 9. The excitement of seeing family and friends there to great you and having your child on your hip after the long waiting months is something I will never forget. As I saw them walking up I got choked up. I didn't even get choked up when we came home, but seeing it happening was amazing! I loved watching people as they went by, and experiencing the excitement of the awaiting family members and friends.
I am looking forward to fun times with Olivia, Bates and Brodie. I am again so grateful for all the friendships that have developed from adoption. It is an amazing experience that is one you can't understand unless you have been there

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Our first 'slumber party' --PART ONE

This last week we have been somewhat busy. It has been really fun though! My very dear friend Traci has twin girls that are 7 mos. old and a sweet little boy that just turned 2 in April. Unfortunately, Traci's Grams is not doing so well, so we were able to step in and help since her in-laws are out of town and her husband Michael has a new job. Ashley and I have alternated every 2 nights since last Tuesday. She kept them Tues. and Wed. and I had them Thurs. and Fri. Landon was here only Tuesday to play and then went home. Unfortunately, Landon got a pretty bad stomach bug. He joined us on Saturday after I got the girls taken back to Ashley's house. (I am sure this sounds very much like a 3-ring circus!--Organized chaos, people!) :) So....that puts us here on Sunday. Grams condition is worsening and Traci needs to be with her mom, Granddaddy, and Grams. Ashley brought the girls here tonight about 8:30 because Miss. Everley (Ashley's 3 year old) has her first dance recital this week and dress rehersal is tomorrow. She will do great, but it is going to be a very busy day for them. So, here tonight, my house has 4 kiddos under 2 1/2. They are all asleep now and hopefully it will be a smooth night. So far, the rest of the week has gone well. I love knowing that there are 4 kids here! Here are some highlights from our week with our buddies! My mom made the best statement the other day. She said, "it has been amazing to watch our friendships. We are all so close and take care of each other." That is so true. I would not have made the journey through infertility and adoption process without many long talks with Traci. We pull together when needed. Traci, Ashley, Cassie, Amy and a few other sweet friends literally carried me through our process. Traci and I have cried, laughed, and cried some more together. I think it is true that God gives you a few true friends. Thank you Traci for entrusting me with your most precious gifts this past week. I have truly enjoyed it!!!


Dinner time!


Annelyn and Leslie came by Thursday. They came to town to check on mom and then came over and ended up eating dinner and helping out!



Ellie clapped and Whitney thought it was hilarious!


Oscar couldn't figure out why he couldn't get a bite. He watched the spoon go back and forth.


Olivia helped her daddy carry the girls out to the car to take them to Ashley on Friday.


I guess my bed needed mowing? See the cow lawn mower in the background? Olivia carried it from down stairs and then put it on my bed.


They played with the train. (and every other toy in the house) :)


We went to Chick Fil A, Target and the airport (not all on the same day)


We were waiting on our friends to arrive with their newest addition, Brodie!






We played bubbles!


We settled in at night with Berenstain Bears.


Olivia loved the babies. She helped with some of the feedings.


Olivia and Landon stood on their heads. Olivia is really big into turning flips at the moment. They thought this was a fun game!