Egg-cellent Adventures

I am a huge fan of Easter, not only it is the most important holiday for us Catholics, but it has the best candy. Right?

I have great memories of getting up and hunting for Fannie Mae eggs and our baskets. Parker went to a few egg hunts, the weather has been horrible here and so he was in a winter coat last week. He loves rabbits and calls them "hop hops" however, he refused to go by any of the costumed bunnies. In fact he told us one was "scary" and it led to him attempting to sing Thriller when we talked about the bunny. (There is a ridiculous you tube compilation of Thomas the Train to Thriller that he watches over and over)

town egg hunt, Jim said it was "brutal"

In our neighborhood

At the Church, he was so cold he was shivering. When he opened the eggs he would say "Oh, Wow!" Poor boy, we ate his candy during nap time.

We went to church Easter morning and spent the rest of the day at home because one little boy came down with a fever, so we missed the egg hunt with his cousins.

My Mom has promised him an egg hunt in a few weeks. He is going to think "hop hop" day lasts for weeks.

Hope everyone had a great Easter. For those waiting for your children my thoughts are with you!

Another Level

Our basement is almost done (the bathroom is not completely finished, we need some tables, bar stools, and there are shelves and glass holders that need installed by the bar) so we decided to invite some friends over to celebrate!

Eating before his guests arrived

What a helper...yes, he promptly spilled the ice bucket after I took the picture! Jim did this all himself (with my Dad and some of his friends' help)

Go*se Island Wheat on draft! My vote was for Stella...

We finally moved the furniture down

Just part of Parker's playroom

As you can see I took no pictures after people arrived...Parker played so nice with the other children (besides one incident where he hoarded his trains and said "MINE, MINE") He was talking like crazy even with people he did not know-rare!

This was a HUGE accomplishment for Jim, we had started the basement and expected we had a year and half before we got a referral...2 months later we saw Parker's picture for the first time, so the project got postponed.

Playing Catch Up

I have been a poor blogger lately, and I need to keep up because I want to have these memories of Parker. We have not been up to anything special, just working a little bit extra and preparing for a half marathon...32 days! Jim has finsihed everything in our basement, except the bathroom. I need to post pictures, he has finsihed his bar with built in keg draft, he will never come up during sporting events! Here is what's new with Parker:

Trying a Turkish Apricot...he loved it. His obsession with fruit remains, I hear him call out Mama, Daddy in the morning then apple, blueberry, apple.

He's drking out of a "new blue" cup. He is working on colors, he's got blue and yellow, but that is about it. He loves to count things, anything really but he says "two, five, two five" Same with the alphabet..."S, D, I, S, D, I" He loves to do everything himself, if he doesn't he will burst into tears and say "Me, Me" He assume eveything should be his level, every bathroom we are in he says "step stool?" He still loves babies and asks to see them on you tube at least once per day. He loves other children, especially older ones. I am trying to get him in a mother's day out for next fall. I want to find some more play dates too. Let's me be honest, I need it, for sanity. I have no family here, we do not use sitters often, and I need some time to get things done. I went to my third baby shower of the past month, this weekend. It was my sister-in-law's sister. Nicole did such an awesome job!

My brother and sister in law made this table, a copy out of PBK, they are so talented!

Pink Champagne cupcakes!

Birthday Boy

This weekend we celebrated Parker's second birthday! We decided, instead of a big party to put money towards a train table (or as P would say, "Choo, Choo") I have a feeling there will be a return on investment. Does anyone else believe Thomas is like a narcotic for children? There are days Parker will wake up talking about that train!

We had immediate family over for lunch and cupcakes. (Immediate family still means a total of 7 children!) Parker was such a good sport, after the party we headed to the children's museum and he skipped his nap and was still in good spirits. He did not want to go to bed that night because he was so excited about his new toys. He got a sushi set and spent Sunday feeding some of his animals sushi with "sticks". I am not sure if I mentioned but Parker wants to eat every meal with chopsticks. He will pinch his thumbs and forefingers saying "sticks"...I figure it is good for fine motor..so why not break out the trainers?

I have mixed feelings about Parker turning 2, I love the new things we can do together and that he can communicate! However, it makes me sad that he is no longer that sweet baby (I hear "No, Mama at least 20 times per day). This year was even more difficult as I thought of his birth mother...I was reading Every Year on Your Birthday (thanks Julie!) and had to stop because I was crying towards the end. I think of his birth mother often but this day was especially painful, as I thought of her and his future birthdays.

We went to the doctor today and Parker is healthy and was in great spirits...he used to cry hysterically from 15-18 months at the sight of his pediatrician! He kept imitating the doctor by checking my reflexes when we got home.

Here's some pictures of our two year old (not so big...he's hovering around 20th and 24th for height and weight, respectively.)

He blew out candles like a champ..due to our practice!

There were many to open

New table

Showing off his new sock monkey, he told me this monkey was a blue baby...

Having fun in his new play room, thanks to Dad and Grandpa for finishing up the basement remodel!

Good News

I got an email today stating we had been preapproved and put on the waitlist at out first choice agency! What this means:

-In 4-6 months we can start out homestudy (paperwork, finger prints, govenment approvals etc.) They do a waitlist so there are not numerous familes waiting MANY months for a referral, and spending costly updates on homestudies and government paperwork.

-After that is done 6-9 months until referral! (Could be longer times can change, this is what today is running)

-This agency works with a different agency in Korea (there are 4) last time Parker was placed through HOLT. So this will be new to us, new places in Korea, this agency allows you to visit the foster familie's home!

-We can request a girl referral. We decided this would be best for us, since this will be our last adoption. Jim has said "No" to me shopping for girl's clothes (okay, I guess I don't know size and season..) but I can start the room (after our exisiting projects are done...we still have a few.)

I am beyond thankful to be starting this process again!

One year ago (well, one year and one month)

Even if I try, I cannot imagine my life without Parker. We reached a huge milestone last month, he has been home one year. One year ago, Jim and I sat, terrified, at the Somerset hotel waiting for the time to leave to get Parker. We barely spoke, and if we did it was some attempt at humor to diffuse the situation. We knew we had a rough road ahead. Our son was so very attached to his foster mother, yes, this is what we wanted...healthy attachment. But watching a 10 month old grieve is torture.

Look at my scared little boy. I had bought this beautiful new shirt for the day we picked him up. Yeah, never took my coat off at HOLT, and it had to come off after he soaked it in tears. He would cuddle up to me and cry as he scanned to room for his Omma.
Finally, exhausted he slept on his Dad.

We got back to hotel and after 2 hours of tears and screams, he just gave up and got down on the floor to look around. Finally, I tried to feed him dinner. he took one spoon of pears and said "OOHHH" This is my favorite memory of that day, it meant so much. He was going to let me care for him! Today when I ask him about the pears and what he said..he responds OOOHHH. Well, I tell the story lots!

The next morning, DJ (HOLT Social Worker) was at our hotel for a meeting, she found us at breakfast and reached for Parker. He refused and clung to me. She said "Good! I was worried!"

I was talking with a friend about how we will explain to Parker about his story. I told he we do it every day, in small ways. When we see and airplane, when he meet another baby from Korea etc. I also practiced telling him the story since he was little.

Happy one year home Parker!

"Because I knew you I have been changed...for good"

For Good- Wicked

Wordless Wednesday: Birthday Warm Up