Ready to Relax

The paperwork is complete! Praise the Lord for my very motivated husband who took control yesterday when I was so stressed out that napping on the couch was all I could handle, and who got together all the documents we needed and filled out all the forms! He is superman!

The laundry is (sort of) done, the house is (mostly) clean, and the bags are (almost) packed! Tomorrow Brad and I head on a lovely and much-needed vacation! I look forward to many hours of reading, floating in a pool, and enjoying this view:

It is a long drive to Tennessee (and that is a very tricky state to spell!) but it will be worth it in the end :) We look forward to a week of relaxing and spending time with my parents, my younger sister Sarah, my sister Joanna and her husband Ryan. From there, Brad and I are heading to South Carolina to spend some time with an old college friend of mine (wow, when did I get old enough to be able to say that phrase??). I cannot wait to spend some time catching up with her!

And the day after we get back, our social worker is coming to update our homestudy! Hence the (almost) clean house. I must admit, this week has been a bit on the crazy side, but every time I pass Matthew's picture, I smile and remember that it is all worth it! We are very excited to be getting closer and closer to bringing him home!

Ok, I really must finish that packing...

Someone's Turning 30!

My dear hubby, Brad, is turning the big 3-0 tomorrow! I keep telling him that I can't believe I am almost married to someone who is in his THIRTIES! It's strange, it's such a huge birthday, but he is so unfazed by it. I feel like maybe I need to have a little meltdown for him or something :)

I have so many sappy things I could say about this man - he is the sweetest, most kindhearted, bravest, strongest man I know and I am so proud to call him my husband (oh dear now I've got myself all teary-eyed!). Every day I love him more and more, even though I keep thinking to myself, "I could not possibly love him more than I do right now!". He keeps me laughing, keeps me sane, and life is so much better with him around.

Happy Birthday, babe!

That Special Day

First of all, let me say that I am so sorry but I totally forgot to ask our social worker today if it is okay for me to put Matthew's picture on the blog...I emailed her when I got home and I hope that tomorrow will be the day!

Let me also share some amazing news about something that God has done (because really there is no other explanation for it!). The first step in the process after we officially accept the referral is called "Legals". I don't know much about this, but I know that it is something we need to wait for from Korea. Or at least, that is usually how it works. Today when we met with our social worker, she informed us that she had good news - they already have our legals!!!!! The first step is complete! When I asked "How?" and "Why?" she responded that she really didn't know, and that in her 13 years of working with the adoption agency she had never seen this happen. Wow, okay then!

So what is next? Well, mad paperwork is next! We have a whole stack of forms and things to complete by Friday because on Saturday we are heading on vacation for a week! The day after we get back from vacation we are updating our homestudy...which stresses me out a bit (I'm not sure about you, but my house is not that clean when I just get back from vacation!!!). Thankfully, one look at Matthew's picture and the stresses just melt away and I realize I CAN DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET MY BABY HOME!!!!!

I thought since I couldn't yet share pictures of my beautiful little man, I would share a few pictures from that amazing day. First a little background info. Brad and I knew that being matched last Friday was a possibility, as there were three babies waiting to be matched with families who were considered "waiting children" having been born a little early. We already had their pictures...and we had to wait a whole week to find out if we'd been matched. Let's just say it was the longest week of my entire life and if you are looking for a good weight loss plan, this one works well.

Friday rolled around, and we knew they'd be meeting, and calling us at some point to let us know...then in a cruel twist of fate, time decided to STAND STILL!!! Okay maybe I am exaggerating but seriously it felt like it!

My dear sister-in-law Karen came to wait it out with me, since Brad had been called away for work.

Around 4:30pm the call came in. I will never forget those words: "We have a baby!"

As soon as she told me his Korean name, I knew which baby was ours...and I knew it was exactly right. Matthew was meant to be ours.

I think the pictures say the rest.

It has been four long years. Many tears, many prayers, lots of questions, wondering when it would end. And now we know...or at least we know the beginning of the end :) What a beautiful story God is writing for us! How thankful we are for Matthew, and how we long for the day when we will hold him in our arms!

And can I just add that it was wonderful to see my dear husband become a father just in time for Father's Day? That was a gift in itself! He will be the best daddy ever!

The Waiting Ends...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days of my life.

The wait is over, and at long last I have seen a picture of my little boy.

Yes, you read that right.

WE HAVE A SON!

Yesterday afternoon at 4:30pm, we received a call from our social worker saying that we have a baby! I am almost at a loss for words as I am so overwhelmed with all that the Lord has done, but I wanted to at least share this exciting news with you!

Matthew James Seok-wu

is our precious gift from God

and we are so completely in love already!

We know that it will still be 3-6 months until we can go and bring him home...and though I want to go and get him today I feel so much peace knowing at last who he is.

I have much more to share, including pictures of our gorgeous boy, but I don't think I can do that until our referral is made official next Tuesday. Until then, picture this...super adorable, chubby, cheeks that make you want to reach right into the picture to squish them, fluffy black hair that just doesn't seem to want to lay down, gorgeous, almond-shaped black eyes...yep, I could stare into those eyes forever...are you dying to see a picture yet?

God is so good!

Korean Cuisine

This week I decided it was finally time to try our first Korean meal, so I used this recipe to make Bulgogi, which is grilled marinated beef with vegetables and rice...let me just say, it is now one of our favorite meals! Absolutely delicious! We were very excited that there were leftovers, so we got to enjoy it two nights in a row. I'm looking forward to trying some more Korean recipes soon!

Brad's chopsticks abilities are pretty impressive...mine need some work!

And as an added bonus, not relating at all to this post...a picture of my dog in a life jacket! Just because it's kind of funny. The first time we put it on her she would not even walk. We are hoping to take her out in the boat soon and we hear that Basset Hounds have a hard time swimming, and nobody wants a sinking Daisie!

Adoption Update - Smiling Today :)

First of all, let me say that this is NOT the post where I share that we have gotten our referral. Just wanted to get that out of the way before I got anyone's hopes up!

BUT we did get some exciting news today :) I was on my lunch break, and the phone rang. I expected it to be Brad, but saw that it was our adoption agency...which is weird because really, they don't often call us.

Our social worker was calling to let us know that they had received an updated list, and we are currently #10 on the list for our agency! Which is pretty exciting news, because we had no idea where we were at. Last week our agency received 6 referrals...for some reason, they seem to come in batches. Now they probably will not get any more for a while, and it will most likely still be at least a couple of months until we get our referral...but it is so exciting to know that we are getting closer!

After she called, I was so excited that I couldn't even finish eating my cookie (and if you know me, you know this is serious!). But don't worry...I finished it when I got home! I have been smiling like crazy all day just knowing that the day really is coming :)

"Enjoy this time..."

I read a blog post recently from someone else who is "in the waiting", and she made a comment that I can totally relate to. For some reason, when you are waiting to have a child for longer than normal, it seems like everyone in the world has one piece of advice for you: "Enjoy the time you have as just a couple."

Now, I must admit that these have not always been exactly the comforting words I wanted to hear. There have been times when I have had to bite my tongue, grit my teeth, and smile...because I know that the words were not meant to hurt, but to help. Sometimes it's hard to have that perspective right now, but lately I have been thinking a lot about this period of our life, and I have come to be so thankful for the here and now.

It is so easy to always be looking forward to the next thing, whether it be going away to college, or getting married...or having children. To think that when I get to that point, then life can really begin. Our Pastor actually gave a sermon about this very topic on Sunday night to the graduates going away to college. It struck home with me because it is the very thing I have been thinking about.

"Wherever you are, be all there." - Jim Elliot, missionary

This has been a favorite quote of mine since high school. With the adoption and the infertility, it has become easy to miss the beauty of this time in our lives. It is wonderful to be just me and Brad :) We have been able to get to know each other in a much deeper way these last few years, and every single day I look forward to coming home to him. Life is full, and we are blessed with family and friends and opportunities to serve...and I don't want to miss this because I am just looking forward to what lies ahead. Do I ache for my baby? Yes. Am I learning to surrender that? Yes.

So that's why I haven't been blogging...because I am busy enjoying this time :)

As Eluded To in the Previous Post

Last weekend, a pretty exciting event happened in our lives.  

We were given a BOAT!  With an engine and everything!

It has been such a fun week as we've been getting Big Mama ready to go out (that is the boat's name by the way - I don't know why but I called her that the day we got her and now we seriously use it in every day conversation - "Don't forget to unload Big Mama!", "When can we take Big Mama out?"...it's kind of funny!)  I haven't actually been out yet, but we are getting a hitch for our car (hopefully tonight) so that we can take her out soon!  I can't wait!

(Don't worry, I am aware that boats go on water.  This was just to show you what it looks like!)

The funny thing is that I just love boats.  I didn't grow up having one or anything, or near the water, but for a special treat when we were growing up, sometimes when we were on vacation we would rent a boat similar to Big Mama (only a bit bigger to fit the whole family) and go out for the day.  I remember those times being so much fun, so I was ecstatic to think that we would have our very own boat!  

And of course, I have to share a couple of pictures from those family vacations...

This is from when I was 12 (I'm on the right in the bright yellow wind breaker.)  I love the look on my one-year-old sister, Sarah's, face...she looks like she's wondering if anybody is noticing that the life jacket is swallowing her!

Now, there were some moody teenage years for sure, but I'm pretty sure this was just a cold day!

Brad's new hobby is fishing.  He and his buddy Chad went out last Saturday and caught two fish, which Rachel deep fried for lunch - yummy!

My new hobby will be relaxing and sunbathing on my very own boat!!!!  Now if only the sun would come out again...

And the Days Go By...

We're still here!  The last few weeks have been sooooo busy that I haven't even thought about posting.  I can't really complain, though - all of the things keeping us busy are fun things, and with people we love!  Spring is flying by and the days are getting crossed off, which is good as well as it brings us that much closer to our little one!

What have we been up to?

Fireworks watching

Campsite visiting

Hotdog grilling

Catching up with family

Backyard parties

Lots of campfires

Too many smores :)

Running, rollerblading, and biking

Praying for baby

Dreaming of next summer...with baby

Wondering when we will see baby

Do you see a theme?

And a new exciting "hobby" that I will share about tomorrow.