Waiting

Nothing new to report on the adoption saga journey. Monday will be the beginning of our week 10 since our acceptance paperwork was sent to Korea. We were originally told to expect a 10-14 week wait. Our particular partner agency in Korea is s l o w e r than slow right now because they had some changes to staffing, so it is very probable that our wait will be closer to the 14 weeks if not longer.

Once we get that magical call saying Mary Kenzie is ready we will buy plane tickets to go as soon as possible. We will probably go based on whatever is the cheapest over the following days. We had debated over taking Riley or not but finally decided not to because he is so young and wouldn't really get a lot out of the trip at this point in his life. It seemed like a lot to take him on such a long flight...and then we will have meetings with Mary Kenzie's foster family and we will want to focus on her so it would be a lot for Riley to have to just sit there. There's nothing dangerous at all about taking him back to Korea...we hope we will have the chance to do that in a few years when he will remember being there...we just thought this probably wasn't the right time for us to take him. Instead, he will stay in town and be spoiled rotten by his grandparents!

Spooky Forest Snake Stories from the 3 year old

"Mommy, I was walking in the Spooky Forest and there were lots of snakes!"

"Who told you about the Spooky Forest?"

"Jesus did! He walked with me in the Spooky Forest and got rid of all of the snakes. And there was a green snake who bit me berry (aka "very") hard. And there was a big giant. Then there was another snake...a Nixie Knox snake...but he didn't bit me. He told his mommy, 'I don't want to bite Riley because I don't like biting.'"

(We may need to lay off of the Dr. Seuss stories for a while...a Nixie Knox snake?!?!)

Odds and Ends

*Nothing has changed in our status...I think at the least it will be a couple of more weeks and *hopefully* at the most a month longer until we get our Travel Call! Some people have asked if it bugs me to have people ask if we've heard anything new. This doesn't bother me...it makes me feel like people care about what is going on with our adoption process. I can promise you though that the minute we find out we can leave for Korea you will hear it states away!! ;)

*We have been in the process of re-organizing things around our house. I am in major nesting mode...I have become a crazy woman. This week I tackled Riley's room and the kitchen. Next week I have my sights set on our bedroom closet and finishing Mary Kenzie's room. Right now everything (whether it truly is or not) seems so messy, disorganized, and cluttered. I don't think this is reality...my house really is fairly organized and clean...but I feel like nothing looks right and it's making me crazy! ;) (Feel free to feel sorry for my poor husband who has to live with me!) :)

*Mary Kenzie...I expect that her whole life we, and then she, will have to correct people that she goes by Mary Kenzie not just Mary...but for the record we have given her a double name just like her grandmother Mary Karol. So, we will be calling her Mary Kenzie and we hope you will, too! ;)

*This weekend a special friend of our family...Tricia...is getting married! Tricia is more like a sister to our family than just a friend. Riley is the ringbearer, so we will take lots of pictures and post them soon!

Have a great weekend....and I personally will be counting the days until Monday when I know the embassy has re-opened and is processing paperwork! :)

Mistaken Identity

So, this morning I was getting my hair cut. Afterwards, I checked my voicemail at home (because I'm obsessive ) and the director of our agency had left me a message that she needed me to call her as soon as I could but it wasn't bad news. I didn't have the number (I need to put that in my cell phone!!) so I went to my in-laws to look the number up online and to pick up Riley.

Are you sitting down???

I talked to the director and she said that she was so sorry but that there had been a terrible mistake. She said that the pictures she sent me two weeks ago were NOT MARY KENZIE!

She said she was so sorry but she had been in such a hurry to email the pictures out because she knew everyone would be so anxious to see pictures of their babies, that she got us confused and sent us pictures of someone else's baby! Isn't that hilarious!?!?!?

I started laughing and she said she was so glad that I wasn't upset. I told her that I was sure it was an honest mistake and she must have seen a lot of babies so it was understandable. I was thinking *a lot* meaning 15 or 20 babies, and she said she had visited with 55 babies! Can you believe that????

Anyway, she had pictures of the real Mary Kenzie and a video! And, the pictures and the video show her opening up our care package which means so much to me! AND, she has enough hair for BOWS!!!! Bows are my favorite!!!

So, here are some of the updated pictures of the REAL Mary Kenzie--our beautiful baby girl!

"Home again, home again, jiggity jig"

I love to travel and after being in Seattle 4 weeks ago, Disney World last week, and with our sights set on our trip to Korea (hopefully soon!) I feel like I am in a constant state of laundry, pack, unpack, laundry, pack, unpack, etc... I am not complaining though! My life feels like a whirlwind right now but with all good things!

We had a GREAT time in Disney! I honestly don't know how you could NOT have a great time there! Everything is so well done. The resort we stayed at was wonderful! It was so nice to stay in the park because our luggage was delivered from the airport to our rooms! We never even had to touch it once we checked it at the airport. It was also super convenient to go to the parks each day because we would just hop on a bus that picked us up right outside of our building. By the end of the week, the recorded messages onboard the bus got a little old, especially when a certain 3 year old would repeat "motorcoach" every single solitary time that the recording said it.

Speaking of 3 year olds, that's right...we now have a 3 year old in our home! On our final day at Disney, Riley turned the big 3! It is so hard to believe! He had a wonderful, although very untraditional, birthday celebration. Our flight didn't leave until the evening of our last day there, so we were able to spend one more day at a park--what a fun way to celebrate a birthday! As we were going through security at the airport Riley fell asleep and slept non-stop until our plane was landing. At that point, he woke up and asked if he had already had his birthday cake. HAHAHAHA! We laughed and told him "no" we would have some cake another day. Instead, he was treated to a Cook-out milkshake on the ride home from the airport. He was in heaven! That boy loves milkshakes!

I have so much more to write about...but it will have to wait. Here are a few pictures to tide you over in the meantime!

Riley and Daisy

The 3 Amigos: Riley, Jacob and Austin

On the infamous "motorcoach" :)

The whole gang (Michael's parents, sister Beth, brother-in-law John, cousins Austin and Jacob, and us)

Family pic (minus a certain sweet baby girl) in front of the Magic Kingdom entrance
The Whole Gang at the Grand Gathering Character Breakfast
Our Little Mouseketeer
Riley and Michael on Riley's favorite ride...Dumbo!

The only thing better...

...would be for my baby girl to be home!

WHAT AN INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL DAY!!! :)

We got our new pictures of our precious Mary Kenzie!! We cannot believe how cute she is! We are so in love with her and cannot wait for her to be home! We also found out that our next set of approvals happened yesterday and today (NVC in and out!!)!! The next big step is completed!!! We are getting close! And, tomorrow morning we leave for DISNEY WORLD!! AHHHHHHH....today has been unreal! And, now, what you all really care about...the pictures! Here are just a few of the many we got!! (Her little head wrap is what a lot of babies in Korea wear...it looks like she still doesn't have much hair!)

Snow Day!

We are still waiting for the newest pictures of Mary Kenzie. I don't think we're going to get them until next week. Bummer! But, at least we know there are some new pics out there that we will one day see!

Our area doesn't get much snow...we used to, but we haven't had a decent sledding snow in a few years. So, Sunday night we were thrilled when the beautiful white stuff started coming down. The next day we had a fun snow day which was extra special because it was our wedding anniversary! 7 years!

I feel so blessed to have Michael as my husband. There are so many things that I love about Michael. I love the way he loves God and pursues a deeper relationship with Him daily. I love his work ethic. He loves his job and really cares about giving his all to his work. I admire the way he cares about people and their needs. I love spending time with Michael because he is so much fun to be with, and he truly is my very best friend. One of the many ways he shows his love for me is by never being too busy or too occupied with the things he would rather be doing to jump in and help me with things around the house. Michael is an incredible father--the way he interacts and engages Riley is so fun to watch. I cannot wait to see him with our baby girl! These seven years have gone by quickly and so much has happened that we never would have dreamed when we said our vows that rainy March night. We never dreamed the many trials we would encounter in trying to add children to our family. But, we also would have never dreamed the way that God would draw us to Him and to one another and the amazing joy we would have through the adoption of our precious children! What a wonderful life! :)

Here are some snow pictures!
Our little snowbaby

Sledding with Granddad

Say "cheese"

Pops

Sledding with Aunt Beth

Uncle John

Sledding with Aunt Meghan

Cousin Austin

Having so much fun!!!