Happy Henry Christmas

We got a huge, happy suprise in the mail today -- 9 mos. pictures of Henry!! I don't know why we got them (maybe because I'm visiting?) but we're so thrilled to have them. There was no written information included, but Henry's happy face says a lot! Just like in his 7 mos. pictures that sweet Foster Mom dressed Henry in an outfit that I sent over in a care package. This is the first time we've seen his smile. I just can't wait to get my hands on that boy. :)

Christmas Package

I found out that an online friend, Sandy, was travelling to pick up her son (finally!!) over Christmas. She had an extra long wait and I'm so glad she finally got her travel call. Anyway, I of course wanted to send a package to Henry and his foster family. It's hard to pick gifts for people you don't know. I settled on a ladies watch and ladies pair of leather dress gloves. I thought the foster mom and daughter could choose what they wanted. For the foster dad and son I chose black leather gloves and a black scarf. Since Seoul is so cold in the winter I hope that the warm things will get used. For Henry I send a teddy bear with a rattle inside that used to be Lydia and Trixie's. I also sent a Christmas card that makes me laugh every time I look at it. I took a picture of Lydia and Trixie kissing a doll and then their picture was photoshopped onto Henry's picture so that it looks like they're kissing him. I hope Henry's foster family has a sense of humor because I think that picture is the cutest thing! Thanks fo my friend Caroline's dad I was also able to send a couple letters translated to Korean. He was so nice to do this in a hurry for me. This is my third care package that I have sent over. I love making the connection with the foster family. The next time I'll be taking things in person and it'll be my turn to take care packages for others. I can't wait!! Hurry up and get here, Jan. 17!

Trip to visit Henry!!

Many of you already know this, but I'm going to visit Henry this January!! I can't believe the idea never occurred to me before, but once the idea of a visit to Seoul was planted I couldn't let it go until I made it happen. Turns out that Brent and I had just enough miles for me to go round trip to Seoul for free. The very first availability is on Jan. 17 so I'm taking it! I leave on Jan. 17 and arrive in Seoul on Jan. 19. I leave on Jan 23 and return back on Jan 24. I even get to have a one night layover in Tokyo on the 18th. Brent laughs that I'll be in the largest city in the world all by myself, but I think it's a bit exciting. I know I'll get to visit with Henry once maybe even twice. I'll also have time to explore Seoul, do some shopping, take lots of pictures, figure out the money system and figure out the subway system. My friend Beth Ring will be there with me since she's adopting a boy who is 10 days younger than Henry. We get to stay at the Eastern guest house and I'm excited to see some of the workings of the agency that we're adopting Henry through. I have to admit that even though it probably won't happen, I'm secretly hoping that Henry would get his Visa issued while I was over there. Any extra prayers in that direction would be greatly appreciated.

Another care package!

I'm extremely late in posting this (if I had 2 extra hours each day I might have gotten to this earlier!) but way back in early November a sweet family finally got their travel call to pick up their son in S. Korea. Sweet Stephanie graciously took a care package over for me. I knew this would be my last chance to send a care package before Christmas, so of course I had to send a Christmas outfit. I had always hoped to get Henry before Christmas, but since I can't I figure I can at least dress him for Christmas. :) I also sent some mixed nuts for the foster family (evidently nuts are a real treat for them), another disposable camera, a family picture of us at the pumpkin patch, a teddy bear that we recorded a message for Henry , a letter translated to Korean, and Lydia made Henry a Christmas picture. I took a picture of where she signed the picture because it was so funny! Lydia is starting to get interested in nicknames, so she put nicknames on the picure. I love it!! She wrote From:Lydia (the Lyd) To: Henry(the Hen)

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.