14 months

Today Olivia is 14 months old! I can't believe another month has passed! I must say that August has gone quickly. It is so hard to know that your child is growing and changing so quickly ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD. I know that we will travel and get her when we are suppose to, but come on! I think bringing her home at this point is going to be beyond surreal. Here are all of our pics. of her changing over the last 6 months since we first saw our daughter.

Some updates around the Parker's

So, I have wanted to blog since last Friday because I got home and logged on to my email only to find some updated pictures of Miss Olivia. How exciting!!! She has changed quite a bit! My mom stopped by Friday night to drop off some flowers for a baby shower I was having on Saturday (yay Traci) and I pulled the pictures up. She has gotten into reading a lot of blogs with Korean cuties so her immediate comment was, "well who is that?" I let her look a few minutes and then said, "um...your granddaughter!" She couldn't believe it!!! It was a nice surprise because I didn't know that we would get anymore pictures. Well, here they are!!!!










I can pretty much tell you anything about these pictures! I have looked at them so much. Everytime we get updates I get excited, scared, nervous, sad, and excited again. How about that outfit??? Yeah, you see it! Poor thing! Why doesn't she have on that cute smocked dress I got her? This brings me to my next topic....

"Retail therepy" is what we like to call it. I can't hold her, hear her, or touch her, and this has seemed to be the only thing that is soothing to me. Hey, don't knock it until you have been in my shoes people. :) After such a long wait to have a child, I can't help but buy stuff! John has been great and hasn't said much. I have gotten great deals, but I know that once she gets home and new season stuff comes out that I will buy a few more pieces. After the Encores and More sale we decided that it was time to be done shopping for a while. (I still need hot pink shoes and black ones.) We have really buckled down on saving right now, but it is so hard not to go buy for her. This is a picture of her closet currently.



So, a few weeks ago we went to get her toddler bed at Pottery Barn Kids. I went over to the Brighton store just to browse. I designed a charm bracelet for Olivia's foster mom and then found out that they are giving one away each week from each store. I left the bracelet just to see if I would win, and figured I could go back and redesign it closer to travel time. On Sunday they called to tell me that I WON THE BRACELET!! It was a free bracelet with $100 worth of charms on it!!! My dad and I went to pick it up yesterday, and here it is!



The bracelet has gold on it since I have noticed that her foster mom has a gold watch. It also has Olivia's birthstone on it, a Y for her birth name, little girl feet and a little girl charm.

The next new thing around here is that Olivia's furniture was delivered yesterday! (Tuesday) It is so hard to find SOLID wood furniture, but we finally found some. I think it looks really good in her room. It is so strange to see stuff in there after it being empty for so long. It is going to take me a while to get use to it, but I do like it. I think the room is almost done once we hang the mirror. We still have to have her bedding and window treatment made, but we are getting closer. Oh, we would really like the cute little girl in there to complete the room! Please excuse the mess in there!!!







I mentioned above about a baby shower for Traci. I am posting this picture to tell these girls thank you for being there for me. (add in a few others that aren't pictured :)) I have not been the best person to be around during this process, but they have stood by me daily still loving and encouraging me. My family and friends have unfortunately endured my ever changing moods with all of this. I have been happy, angry, sad, and any other emotion that you can think of. The days are unpredictiable. I thank God daily for my family and friends. I have noticed that some days I get upset with a situation and then realize that it wasn't even the situation. It was me being sad/angry/anxious about Olivia coming home and the amount of wait time that we still have. Thanks guys. I love you all so much!!!!
My mom has been reading a forum and also noticed several moms recently posted that this wait and everything has also caused them to be the same way as far as mood and emotion. I wonder why it does that to us??? I think it is the unknown of them being on the other side of the world???





**side note....I got all of my post done (and it probably sounded better) and published it only to find that it didn't save. Ugh, technology. So, this is the best it can get after already working an hour on it the first time. :)**

"Sibling Rivalry"

Well, the jealousy begins...or should I say, it started the day we decided we were ready to expand our family. Poor Oscar is so jealous. I have been in Olivia's room folding clothes and rearranging toys tonight and he just got more jealous by the minute. I came out to sit down and write a couple of thank you notes and asked John where Oscar had gone. Then we heard his little feet hit the floor. I told John to run up and see if he did anything since a couple of weeks ago when we had been working in Olivia's room he did, but I thought maybe he had an upset tummy or something then??? I am not joking, this little fellow is not happy. He DOES NOT go to the bathroom in our house. GROSS!!!! I think he went twice as a puppy in the house and learned quickly that that was not a good idea.
I know he is going to love her, but he does not like sharing the spot light right now. He loves kids. When Annelyn was a baby, he would nap with her and sit on her in her car seat. He goes nuts the minute a kid enters the house. They make him so happy (usually)!
As I cleaned up upstairs, I really felt sad for him. John had thrown him out after fussing at him (which Oscar was fussing back the whole time)and his little white face stared back at us through the front door. When he came back in he stood at the base of the stairs and just looked up. Normally he would run up as fast as he could, but he knew he shouldn't.
Well, he has moved from the ottoman and is now trying to snuggle with John. He can't stand for us to be upset with him. He is a love. John now has taken him back upstairs for a 'manly talk' and they have apparently made up. They are both heading outside.

On a different note, we finally got a piece of furniture for Olivia's room!!! Mom bought her toddler bed at PBKids over the weekend. John has put one of my blankets from the den on it since Oscar immediately jumped on it when we all went in to look at it. So, here are a few pictures of the bed and of Oscar doing his BEST trick, which is to be cute.

July 27 Update and 13 months!

Another month down!!! Typically her turning another month older is really sad to me, but today I am trying to remember that another month just means that we are getting closer to going to get her!!!! I keep hoping that we will get to go in Nov. or something (I guess that time seems practical to me)but I know that it will be in 2011. Gosh, that seems like a long way off!
Happy 13 month baby girl! I can't wait to spend all the small milestones together!

So, now for the update. Hmm....apparently I just have my hopes set too high. I know they have lots of babies, but when I actually get to use one of my "requests" for an update I expect it to be a bit more than a few check marks off a list. Anywho, it looks like she is doing well, and that is what matters! She has gained 2 pounds and grown 2 inches since May. That puts our little one at 17 pounds and 28 inches. She is tiny. I love it!!!

Registering

We are done!!! Last night and tonight we went to Babies R Us and Target to get registered for Miss Olivia. John took the 'gun' and decided that he would be in charge of that. I went two aisles over and hear "beep, beep, beep," I didn't know what he was adding, but found several things on the registry when we got home and I looked them up. While I left a couple of the things, I did delete some of them! :) We had fun, but it made me want her here even more! Is that possible??? Our registry is a bit different from the 'normal' baby registry, so take that as your pre-warning prior to looking at it. Since we unfortunately don't get to have the saucer, high-chair, swing, bouncer, etc...we registered for things she WILL need such as developmental toys. She is going to need a lot of those! If it is out there and we thought we needed it we zapped it!!!
We did put several different kinds of bottles (the fact that she will be on a bottle at 1 1/2 is a whole other subject for me, but it is what she knows) on the registry since we don't know which one she will take to. So, no, it wasn't us being indecisive, it was us wanting to find what she is most familiar with. I know things like bottles, paci's, and sippies are going to be trial and error for us, so I gave us an affordable array of choices. :)
We registered for things such as v-tech and leap frog toys to work on her english and developmental things. We figure since we will be home the first few weeks we need to have lots to do as we all get acquainted with each other. Hopefully we will be able to play in between the grieving. Poor thing!!!
So, that is it for tonight! Go check out the registries! Babies R Us and Target.

New Pics "the professional ones"

** Before you read: Thank you for your continued prayers and support. The days are very up and down. The wait is hard.****


So, we got a call last week to be on the look out for new pictures. We were initially told that we would receive professional pictures of Olivia at her one year birth day. So, naturally I think she will be dressed in her Hanbok or something we have sent. Wrongo!!! She has on sweet pink pj's with socks on. Mind you, it is as hot and humid there right now as it is here in TN. Poor thing looks layered and dressed for winter. Another concern was that she has a bruise over her left eye.
Well, my disappointment led me to email our international social worker. I know that they take 5 seconds to take those pictures, but for a parent who is on the opposite side of the world, a picture is ALL I have right now. It would be nice to see her smiling or some emotion on her face. They put her full Korean name on the bottom of the pictures (printed on them) and her last name is WRONG! Seriously! I know that this is completely nit-picky, but come on!!!! I sent an adorable smocked bishop dress that I thought she would have on if she didn't have the hanbok on, but nope....pj's.




Oh, by the way....I am whining and complaining tonight! If you are an AP and you have waited this long, you too can whine somedays, right?!





So, my email was completely polite, I was just asking questions. I didn't get any form of update. I got 4 pictures that all look very similar, and I think that is all I will receive until we get her in Feb.



I think I am particularly whiny because the reality has set in that we don't get to travel anytime soon. I say this now because all of the American paperwork is done, and at this point (if there wasn't a quota) we would be travelling within the month! February seems further and further away!




Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the pictures, I just wish they had been better and there was some form of an update. I DO realize that there are a lot of other families in this long wait boat and they too have days of frustration.

Well, I guess I have said enough if I don't want you all to quit reading my blog. Keep in mind that this is my journal (essentially) so I am going to be honest with how I feel. This is for me and Olivia, but it is also for those that have shared this journey with us, and I am extremely grateful for you! Some days are much harder than others, and I had built the pictures up in my head and got disappointed. I had even had a dream about them!!!

The thing I said I WOULD NEVER have....

is one of these.



However, I will plead my case. Apparently, this is the common way that Olivia is use to being carried. So, in attempt to make her as happy and comfortable as possible with her new foreign situation, I got her one. So, when you see an almost 2 year old on my back, DON'T LAUGH! These carriers are actually made in Korea and are suppose to be the ones that they use. They are designed so that her legs will not lose circulation and be comfortable. I am doing this so she has something familar during the transition. I think people look ridiculous when I have seen these, but I am trying to do what is best for her. Trust me, if I had given birth to her she would NOT have experienced this carrier, but this is what her foster mom says soothes her. So here we go I guess.
I have been reading some blog friends blogs and the coming home stories are heartbreaking, but very real. I am glad that they are posting and telling of the reality of it. Elizabeth and Kelly are both recently home and have had their fair share of trouble. Thank you girls for not making it sound like butterflies and daisies because it clearly isn't. However, Elizabeth is starting to see a glimpse of a brighter side. These are the two blogs that I have been checking in daily to read. They are a.e.i.o and jon & kelly + one. You guys are doing a GREAT job, and I am so thankful for your blogs.
So, back to my purchase....most of the AP's use some form of carrier, but when I saw that this is the one that the Korean's use I decided on it. It is not the most attractive piece, but we will use it. I asked John which one he liked and he said he didn't care. I picked one out and he said, "that one will show dirt." I said, "well we should get one that is gender neutral since we will both carry it." He said, "seriously, get the one you want. If I am carrying a cute little girl in it I don't care what it looks like." So, here is the one we settled on.


Do you think Oscar will let us practice carrying him in it? :)