Pictures

You know we live in MI when the kids get excited about sunshine. They were running in circles.

Isaac taking Cardale for a ride.

It looks like Cardale is going to get a shovel to the back of the head, I promise he didn't.:)

Trying to clear off the deck. Isaac and Cardale are helping the process.

Visiting the Shedd Aquarium

My husband mentioned that I haven't posted pictures in awhile, and looking back I realize that is true. These past couple months I've been in a funk I guess. I haven't taken many pictures in general.

We had a nice weekend trip to Chicago. We visited a children's museum in Naperville, IL and it was great. The kids easily spent a couple of hours there. If you do go, bring an extra pair of clothes! They have a big water area for the kids and Isaac was soaked. We spent one night at my grandparent's house (thank you!). We then drove downtown and visited the Shedd Aquarium. That was a mistake. The oceanarium section is closed for construction, and that is really the best part of the museum. So we didn't last long there. We took public buses which was fun for Caleb. We then spent a night at a hotel downtown. The hotel was nice, but none of us slept much. Isaac was up all night coughing. Thankfully we drove home the next day. Cardale did well over the weekend too. The family had 3 kids so he had lots of attention.

We also got a little update on Cardale's situation. I can't go into lots of detail, but it looks like the parental rights might be terminated in the next couple of months. Again, nothing is certain in foster care until it actually happens. If it does happen then he will be put up for adoption. And no, we're not planning on adopting him. Please be praying for Cardale's future, his Mom, and the judge- that good decisions will be made. We know God has a plan for Cardale, but it's hard to be patient and wait to see what the plan is.:)

The Terrible Two's- Early

There are many myths around parenting. One of the myths is that the terrible twos start when kids are two. Ha! Isaac and Cardale blow that myth out of the water. It seems like the two of them misbehave all day. Hitting is their misbehavior of choice. They also enjoy pushing, stealing toys and shrieking. Cardale also gets a kick out of running the other direction when I call him. We put them in a corner for timeout, but I really wonder if that is having any impact. I know I need to just keep disciplining, but it gets so draining. Any advice or encouragement would be appreciated.:)

They do have moments of cuteness and playing nicely together. They like to play ring around the rosy with me. We also have them give each other a hug after they've misbehaved and they look adorable when they hug. Isaac has started saying the word "mine" which is not a great thing, but it is so cute how he is determined to say it clearly.

This weekend Cardale will be staying with another foster family. We are going to take a little family trip to Chicago. We'll visit some museums and hopefully enjoy a little relaxation.

Korean party

This past Sunday we went to a Korean New Year party. The party was organized by an adoption support group. Most of the people there have adopted children from South Korea. The location of the party was kind of funny. It was in the basement of an Oriental store which wasn't bad of itself, except that the basement was tiny! There were about 20 of us trying to eat Korean food (with chopsticks) while standing and trying to make conversation at the same time.:) But, it was still fun! We tried most of the food and it was really good. Nate and I weren't brave enough to try the seaweed wraps. Something about eating seaweed just seems odd. We took Caleb with us and left the babies with a babysitter. Caleb didn't try any of the Korean food, but he had fun. We mostly wanted him to meet some kids who had been adopted from Korea. Most of the families there had adopted their children with Bethany's help. We met a couple who had just welcomed home their son 6 weeks ago. He was an adorable 10 month old. It was really interesting to hear how they were all adjusting. If Nate and I are honest, deep down we want a little girl. However, seeing such an adorable baby boy made me realize I would love another little boy too! We also met two couples who are a couple months behind us on the waiting list. We're excited to have some local adoption connections.

Random posting

During the week I usually think of things that are blog-worthy. However, they are usually a little thought or story that is not long enough for a full post. So, this post is going to be a compilation of various things.

First of all, Caleb went on his first friend sleepover last night! This was a very big deal for me and I was nervous. Caleb was not worried at all. I think it helped that his friend had already spent the night at our house last month. Nate and I had to be in Grand Rapids very early this morning to get fingerprinted for the adoption. We wouldn't have been able to bring Caleb to school, so he spent the night with his friend and went to school with them. It sounds like he had a great time. The only issue was that they boys took a long time going to sleep b/c they were laughing so much. That kind of problem I can handle.:) When I dropped Caleb off last night I was talking to my friend. Caleb ran by, saw me and said, "Mom, why are you still here?" I laughed. It's starting already!

I think I witnessed one of the most boring jobs ever today. We had to go to a special citizenship and immigration office to get fingerprinted. The work environment there is so depressing! There are tons of chairs lined up in a big room with little work stations along the wall and no decorations or background music. The employees stand there taking fingerprints ALL DAY LONG. Nate and I agreed we would go crazy working there. I know someone has to do that job, thankfully it's not us!

Another random thought, clothing stores should only sell little boy pants with REINFORCED KNEES! Caleb has gotten holes in so many pairs of pants this year. He received a brand new pair of cargo pants for Christmas and had holes in the knees by January. Yes, Mom DeMaster, it was the pants you gave him.:( Thankfully my mother and mother-in-law have been kind enough to patch all of his pants. He recently got holes in a pair of jeans that had already been patched. He informed me the patches needed to be fixed. I said, nope we are not patching patches.:) Now we need patches for the cargo pants.:) I bought a pair of jeans with reinforced knees, we'll see how long they last....

I just finished a very interesting book. It's called Seed from the East. It was written in the 1950's about the Holt family. They felt called by the Lord to help children in Korea after the Korean War. They were 50 year old farmers who had 6 mostly grown children and they felt God calling them to adopt. They adopted 8 children under the age of 4 at one time! They then continued helping children in Korea and eventually the Holt Christian adoption agency was started in Korea. This agency has been around for 40+ years and is big in South Korea. Bethany does all of their Korean adoptions thru Holt. Anyways, the writing in the book isn't great but the story deeply impressed me. It's so amazing to see how God worked thru an ordinary couple to change the lives of so many Korean orphans and how their faithfulness has trickled down over 50 years. Because of the steps of faith they took, we can have our own adoption story. God is amazing.

Another book I just read is called I Wish for You a Beautiful Life. It is a compilation of letters written by Korean birth mothers to children they gave up for adoption. The book is informative and heart-wrenching. It explains the Korean culture more and why having a baby out of wedlock is so shameful. Reading the letters also gives us a glimpse into how our baby's birth mom may be feeling. It will not be an easy decision for the birth mom and we pray that she feels God's presence and has people supporting her. It's exciting to think our baby could be born in March or April, but we feel for the birth mom as well. The baby's birth will be a bittersweet day that she will never forget.