Henry Weekend

After God kissed me by giving me the unexpected update and pics from Henry we bought a new car the next day. We have to have a bigger car than our Rav4 because when Henry gets here we'll need room for 3 carseats. I researched and test drove and narrowed down the choices to the Toyota Highlander and the Chevy Traverse. The Highlander gets better mileage and is smaller and the Traverse has room for the double stroller and other stuff but gets 1 mpg less than the Highlander. I decided on the Traverse and when we went in to talk to the dealer about buying a Traverse we walked away with the exact car we wanted. Lydia and Trixie were so surprised!! It's a beautiful care and has a lot of great features -- it's just way bigger than anything I've ever had. I guess when a small car kind of gal gets a big family she has to change into a big car kind of gal -- I just hope I don't run into anything or run over anyone! Now whenever we bring Henry home we can drive him home from the airport. At church of course we showed off Henry's new pictures. Yep! It was a Henry Weekend all the way around. :)

Surprise Update!!!!

I can't believe it!!!! I have been telling everyone when they ask (and believe me it's often) that I wouldn't receive any update photos or information until I pick Henry up. Well, today in the mail an envelope comes with these 2 adorable pictures and information about Henry for a 7 month update. The paper said that Henry is 7.7 kg (about 16 lbs.) and enjoys time on his tummy but is not crawling yet. He sleeps with his foster mom through the night from 9 p.m to 8 a.m. He grabs at toys, says eomma (mom) and eobubba (piggyback) and likes to play games. It also said that he is learning to relax a little and not tense up quite as much around new people (this was an issue earlier). The outfit Henry is wearing in the picture is the one I sent over in his care package -- I thought it was really sweet and thoughtful that his foster mother dressed him in that. I'm looking forward to having a chance to tell her that in person. =) Henry sounds and looks delightful and I'm just a bit more in love with him every time I look at his picture. Please, please Lord make things go quick and smooth and bring on the travel call!!

Lydia's lost tooth

I couldn't resist putting this in the blog. Lydia lost her very first tooth!!! It has nothing to do with Henry, but it's a huge humongous deal to Lydia. The look on her face says it all. The only thing it doesn't show is that she had happy tears because she was so excited. Yes, the tooth fairy visited her and left a golden fairy coin (worth $1). Lydia was so excited you'd have thought Santa Claus paid her a visit.

Wishing for Henry!

Lydia and Trixie love to throw pennies into fountains and make wishes. Well, today we had lunch out at the Snows and there was a fountain with Mary and Baby Jesus. Of course they needed to throw pennies in and make wishes. Lydia will not tell her wishes because she wants them to come true, but Trixie says hers out loud as she throws the penny in. Her very first wish was that "We get Henry soon" Lydia then told me that she had wished that, too. I'm so very, very glad that my sweet girls are as anxious to get Henry as I am. Well, almost as anxious as me!

Henry's Care Package

We sent a care package for Henry over to Seoul! One of the families travelling to pick up their child, Rachel and Josh, were gracious enough to take our care package over for us. Rachel and Josh have waited extra long for their travel call so please say extra prayers for them that everything goes smoothly. In the care package I put an outfit for Henry to wear, a lovey that our family slept with to try and get our smells on it, a picture book with pictures of Brent, me, Lydia, Trixie, and each set of grandparents, some coffee for the Foster parents, a disposable camera (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the foster mom will use it!), a letter to the foster parents, and a picture that Lydia made specifically for Henry. I know that Rachel will drop the care package off at Eastern and that the foster mom will receive the package. I just hope she uses the items in it and shows the things to Henry -- especially the pictures. I wish Henry could feel all the love that was included in the care package!

Referral!!!

We got our referral!!!! I can almost hear the Hallelujah Chorus now. Carol actually called and told us about Henry yesterday, but she sent us the pictures of him today. We will meet with her tomorrow to take care of paper work.

Our Henry was born on March 10, 2009, and he was 7 lbs. 4 oz. His Korean name is Joon Seong Lee. Seeing his picture makes it very real that someday -- maybe Jan. or Feb. -- we're actually going to get our son!!!!

When Carol called yesterday she had to leave a message and she called Brent at work. He actually found out before I did. It's pretty ironic because for the last month whenever my phone rings I drop everything I'm doing to rush to the phone hoping that it will be Carol. Yesterday I heard the phone, but I was in the middle of singing Trixie her songs to put her down for her nap. I wanted Trixie to nap early because I have to wake her up early so we can pick up Lydia from kindergarten. So when I heard the phone I thought, "That won't be Carol!" and ignored the phone. I'd say God has a sense of humor and a sense of irony. We told the girls about the call over supper and for a minute I thought Lydia was going to cry because she was so happy. When the girls saw the pictures tonight they kissed them and carried them around and looked and looked at them. We are all so happy! :)

Solace in a sunset

I have been finding the wait for a referral increasingly difficult. Today I was at a breaking point!! I know, I know there's nothing I can do about anything but wait and how could I get to a breaking point?! Well, I just felt like I couldn't handle it anymore and I don't know what I was going to do but I felt like I would die or explode -- one of those two! Then as I was driving to pick up the girls from Julia and Ella's bible school crying and feeling sorry for myself that God wasn't making things go quicker for my family, I looked at the sky and was breathless. There in the sky was the most beautiful, breathtakingly fabulous sunset I've seen in a couple years. (That's saying a lot because I'm an avid skywatcher and look at sunsets, the moon and stars everyday.) I wish I could have taken a picture because it was so gorgeous. In looking at the sunset I felt God put his arms around me and let me know that He was right there with me and that He was in complete control -- I just need to trust Him and get over myself. I had the thought that God is GOOD, He can make amazing sunsets, and He can give referrals and travel calls at His perfect time for us -- not Our perfect time for us. That sunset just calmed me and helped me feel that everything was going to pe fine. Aahh ... the feeling of peace is like no other. :)