wait, weight, and perspective

let me tell you, waiting stinks. BIG time. you know how they say time flies when you're having fun? well, time goes as slow as molasses when you're waiting. FO SHO.

so, here's the dealio on our timeline: when we first started our adoption process, we were told the wait time between your acceptance of a referral and when your child would be ready to travel would be about 4-6 months. which meant that if our paperwork was filed and processed on the earlier end of the timeline, we could go to korea to pick up choi boy in august, which would be ideal and pretty darn awesome. he would be home before his first birthday and we could go get him over my summer break, reducing the amount of leave i'd take from teaching. we were praying, praying, praying for august (still are!), but we heard 2 weeks ago that the wait to travel is about 5-9 months which brings us to september or even...january 2011. stinky, stinky, stinkers! there is still a slim chance that choi boy might be ready to travel in august (so now REALLY praying, praying, praying), but it looks as though it will probably be october-ish, which is for sure better than january, but we can't help but be a little sad at this adjustment in our timeline. we so wanted to celebrate his dohl (first birthday in korean -- a pretty big deal) with him -- the thought of him celebrating with just his foster family makes sad. :( i think we had our hopes set so high on august that we kind of just had it in our minds that that's when we'd be bringing our son home (OMG, we have a SON!)...

well, we found out today that the adoption agency our US agency works with in korea has now met its quota for the number of children they can process through emigration services. this means that all families whose acceptance dossiers were received in korea after april 4 will now have to wait until at least february 2011 to bring their children home...but thankfully, SO thankfully, we *just* made the cut-off and this even newer adjustment does not apply to us. praise the Lord for real! so, as hard as it might be to know that our little boy will probably celebrating his first birthday without us, i am thankful that we will get to see him shortly after and not the following year...it's all about perspective. and on that note, we will most likely have 50+ birthdays to celebrate with our little guy, so missing one in the grand scheme of things is not so terrible...

one of the things i'm doing to distract myself from thinking about this waiting is trying to really be on the ball about working out daily and getting healthier and more fit before choi boy comes home. i figure i'll have less time to exercise when he's home, so i might as well do what i can, while i can. i've been using jillian michaels' 30 day shred which came recommended by one of my most favorite people in the world, sylvie.


boy, that jillian michaels is BEAST. it is hard stuff! and it doesn't help that she says things like, "right about now, you should feel like you're going to DIE." awesome. exactly what i want to hear while i'm working out and hating it. but apparently, it works -- our senior PW has said that she's been using it for the last 3 months and has seen really great results. i'm slowly seeing results, but i'm on day 26 and it is *still* kicking my butt. phew! the funny thing is, korea is the only international adoption program that actually has a weight restriction for prospective parents. ha! those crazy, skinny koreans! (p.s. i'm only allowed to say that because i'm actually korean, btw) so, perhaps it's better that i'm channeling my anxious energy into exercising instead of eating...which i seemed to have been really good at this past winter, seeing as how i've gained 10 pounds since last summer...man, those blizzards got me good!

so, there you have it...wait, weight, and perspective on it all. :)

mr. sandman

mr. sandman, bring me a dream, make him the cutest that i've ever seen...
(random thought: does anyone else remember that episode of "family ties" where jennifer's in a band and alex makes them sing old girl group songs like "mr. sandman" and skippy dresses up like sandman while they perform? no? just me? anyway, that's what i also think of when i hear that song...)

ever since we saw little choi boy's face, we can't get him out of our minds...apparently, some of our friends can't either, because a few of them have told us they've had dreams about him!

here's part of an email i got from my dear friend, kathleen, describing a dream she had about choi boy:

sylvia & i went to visit grace (for some conference but wound up staying with grace) and it happened that grace's son came that day! it was so emotional. i was tearing up and wanted to document everything but didn't have a video camera. grace, your son was running around, smiling, and just having a good old time with peter. there were times peter would say, "appa han tae wa" [which means "come to daddy" in korean] and after 2 times, he ran to him and peter lifted him up. gosh, the dream was SO real. afterwards, we went to the conference (which was linked to the house somehow) but sylvia & i couldn't really concentrate.

how sweet!

then, another dear friend, vic, had a dream where choi boy had come home and was about the same age he is now (wouldn't that be nice!). she said as soon as she saw him, she scooped him and was playing with him, and then he looks up at her and says in a very articulate voice, "um, excuse me, auntie vic, i need to go do something i've always wanted to do." at that point, everyone gasps at how advanced he is in his speech and he scoots down to the floor, crawls over to me and into my lap, gives me a big hug and says, "mommy, i just love you."

i was laughing and crying at the same time hearing that one!

last night, i had a dream about choi boy myself. we were just hanging out, playing outside with piper roaming around us. i remember at one point, we were doing the "airplane" thing where you put the baby on your legs and lift him into the air, and choi boy was just laughing and laughing, which pretty was much the sweetest sound in the world! then the dream went on and it was one of those trippy dreams where things keep shifting, and at one point, choi boy was not a baby anymore but instead was a dachshund puppy...sure hope that dream isn't prophetic! :)

can't wait to meet little choi boy for real...but until then, i'll take him in dream form! if anyone else has any dreams about him, please share! :)

meet our chois-r-us kid!

well, we were going to wait until we had settled on a name to post pics, but seeing as how my mom already showed nearly half our church pics of the little guy (grandma instincts totally kicking in!), i thought i might as well go ahead and share them on here!

here's one of the first pictures we got of choi boy. i think he's almost 6 months in this picture:

we loved his little mouth! :)

want to hear a story that will totally give you goosebumps and make you tear up? on april 2, my parents went on a trip to korea for the first time in nearly 40 years -- my dad visited once shortly after he immigrated in 1969 and my mom had never been back since she immigrated in 1974. it was a trip that was going to be filled with lots of visits with old friends and to familiar places.

well, after we officially accepted our referral of choi boy, we found out that it might be possible for my parents to visit him while they were there! after giving the agency a number my parents could be reached at in seoul, we were waiting a few days and then received a call from my dad last thursday night at 11pm (12pm friday korea time) saying that they would be meeting him that afternoon! we were so excited and instructed them to take tons and tons and tons of pictures and video. it was so awesome that this trip my parents had been waiting to take for so long was made even more memorable by the fact that they got to meet their grandson! i can't post the videos for confidentiality reasons that agency gives, but in the video where choi boy first comes into the room, my mom pretty much takes him from the foster mom and starts to wipe away her tears as she holds her grandson for the first time...so precious.

i have to admit that i'm a little jealous that my parents got to meet him first, but i am SO thankful that this was even made possible for our family!!!

here are some of my favorite pics from their visit:

grandma and grandson meet for the first time


before my parents left, we gave them a care package to give to choi boy in case they did get to meet. one of the things we put in there was a chewable photo album filled with pics of us. i just love this pic...it's kinda like our first family picture :)


we also sent a stuffed monkey/little blanket toy which i've decided to call bananas :) i hope he sleeps with bananas every night and comes home with him!


i'm so glad my parents captured pics of him laughing!


for some reason, this is one of my favorites...love the pouty lips :)


grandma, grandson, and grandpa :)


seeing these pictures makes everything even more real...we can't wait to meet him and hold him in our arms. and we can't wait to really introduce him to everyone!

HURRAH!!!!

guess what?! we have great news!

WE GOT A MATCH!!!!

we have been matched with a child for our adoption and officially accepted a referral from korea for a baby boy!

at this point we are waiting for the adoption to be completed on the korea side so we can't give too many details about him until it is officially official, but we can say that things are moving forward and if everything works out smoothly and continues on the expected timeline, it looks like we should be able to bring him home between late summer and early fall!!!


here we are sending off all our acceptance paperwork to our agency!

eeek!!! we've actually known for a little bit but had to wait to share until things were official, so we're so excited to let you all know!

more info and pics to come soon!!!

(there are way too many exclamation marks in this post, but i just don't care!!!!!) :)

"you can be a single lady if you want to!"

many of you have probably seen this awesome video on youtube or the today show or the early show or msnbc :)



too cute, right?! as i was watching it i noticed that losiah, the little boy who so desperately wanted to be a single lady, didn't exactly look like the rest of his family. so, i used my keen internet stalking skills (c'mon, you know you have them, too!), and found his dad's blog as well as his mom's blog. it turns out that little losiah was adopted from korea and joined the whittaker family in november 2006. how cool is that? not only that, but his dad, carlos whittaker, also happens to be a pastor at buckhead church, which is one of the campuses of north point community church (andy stanley's church) and is doing some pretty cool stuff with worship music. doubly and triply cool. :)

you can read more about losiah's adoption and watch several videos of their journey to korea to bring him home here. it is so beautiful...i pretty much sat in front of my computer, watched the videos and cried watching their family come together.

it's so rad how this silly and fun youtube video is being used to bring people to carlos' and heather's blogs and bring the story of their adoption into light. love, love it. :)

gratitude.

goodness, april already!

for the first part of my spring break, i had the chance to have a short girls weekend getaway and meet up with some of my dearest friends in boston and nyc. it was so refreshing to spend time with these sisters and eat, and laugh, and eat :)

here are some pics from the ny portion of my trip (so sad i didn't get any in boston, sylv!):


grace-squared stuffing our faces at milk and cookies


grace, me, and chris at gottino...photo taken by the owner who spent quite a lot of time on the terrace on his phone with a towel on his head...i love ny. :)

this trip was just another reminder of all the good things and great people that peter and i do have in our lives. we are so thankful and grateful for all the support, love, and encouragement we have received from our friends and family throughout this journey. we would be lost without your prayers and your presence in our lives! i'm so sorry for not replying to all of those beautiful and uplifting emails i got in response to sending out the link to this blog -- things have been crazy in kindergarten world! but, i did read and cherish each of them, really and truly. :)

thank you for being such blessings to us! it is a good friday indeed. :)

the title of this post reminded me of one of my favorite songs, "gratitude" by nichole nordeman. it's a song that always reminds of those sprinkles on top like i talked about in the last post...you can listen to it and read the lyrics for yourself, and i promise you'll be blessed.



Gratitude by Nichole Nordeman

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . .