Christmas at Ryan & Tara's

We started our Christmas on Monday night at Ryan and Tara's new house! 

These kiddos were so super excited about opening their first gifts of the season!

Think she likes Justice?? ;)

The boys opened their gift from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Tara together...

A really fun swing from Hearth and Song to hang from a tree! We can't wait to get it up! 

Hehe :)

And as soon as we got home that night, their gifts came out for play!! 

December

I'm going try to finish December/Christmas with a few posts here, so I can jump right into 2014. :) 

We put our trees up in early December, and the boys think it's so fun to have one their room. They would leave it up all year if I'd let them :)

This was the Christmas card we smiled this year - designed by my sweet friend, Kara. :) I love the bright colors, Lennox's picture, my sweet smiling boys, and the image of South Korea that makes the O in JOY. :)

A few weeks before Christmas we spent the weekend at Jen and Tim's, and we watched Shaggy play in his last night school football game at the state championship. It was freeeeezing. 

This is how Beckett watched the game, but bless his little heart, I don't think he complained a time. 

It was so sweet to wake up on Sunday morning to the boys all asleep in the living room. 

Beckett sang in his Christmas program at school - he did great! I was so proud of him!

The kids loved all being home together. It was such a welcomed break. 

This is Brody's teacher, Mrs Inman. We had his Christmas party at school, and then he, too, was out for Christmas break. 

We celebrated with a night out for pizza and frozen yogurt!

I love when I find them being sweet :)

And you better believe it, we got in some baseball practice over Christnas break, too!

Goodbye 2013, HELLO 2014!

I can't say that I am sad to write this goodbye post to 2013. It really was a fun year, and we filled our memory bucket to the brim, but without a doubt it was a year of longing. We longed for our family to be complete. We started out the year very hopeful of bringing Lennox home at some point that year, but as the months passed, we realized the dream of spending Christmas 2013 with him was slipping through our fingers. The Lord definitely carried us through those months of no movement, and He eased our sadness by blessing us with a beautiful year with our boys.

In January, Brody impressed us with his basketball skills as we cheered on his team, the Cheetahs, every Saturday at the Upward games. This was his first year to play basketball, and I have no doubt that he loved it. Beckett, Levi, and I spent a warm Friday at the Boardwalk with Mimi and Pawpaw, shopping, eating, playing in Bass Pro, and riding the carousel. Mom and I took all of the kids to the Ag Expo in Monroe, Brody got his picture made with Arkansas Razorback coach Bret Bielema, and we received our very first picture update on Lennox!

We sent Lennox his Valentines Day care package on the first of February, and the rest of the month was filled with more basketball, trips to the allergist in Monroe, and celebrating Brent's 32nd birthday at Kozy Kitchen. This was also the month of the evil stomach virus that attacked our family around Brody's birthday. It hung around for ten days and caused two hospitilizations. We were so glad to see it finally leave! Amidst that awful bug, we did enjoy Brody's 6th birthday - Angry Birds style. :) Brody also rocked out the History Parade dressed as Lane Frost, along with his friend Eli dressed as Cody Lambert. They were so stinking cute, and I was so proud of their little performance. We also spent a weekend in Fayetteville celebrating Dustin and Stephanie's recent wedding at their reception!

In March, we had a wonderful Easter, celebrating and hunting eggs at our church, Brody's Kindergarten egg hunt at the park, Mamaw Agnes', and the Arboretum! It was a fun-filled weekend with friends and family. March also brought us our sweet baby Canaan! We ended the month on a high note as we mailed off our very last payment on Brent's student loan and finished our journey to financial freedom as we became debt free (other than our mortgage)! This was such a blessing for us!

The first weekend in April was beautiful, so Mom and I took the kids camping at Lake Claiborne! We played in the sand, grilled hot dogs, did a little hiking, slept in the tent, and enjoyed being unplugged and outdoors! We spent more time outside in April with my dad, riding fourwheelers/gators and getting our feet wet in a beautiful creek in the woods. We also received our first video of Lennox this month, and it was so special to watch!

May was jampacked with memories! It marked one whole year in the adoption process. We had been matched with our boy for 6 months, and we spent a lot of time that month reflecting on everything we'd learned so far. I was loved and pampered on Mother's Day, we were in the throes of Brody's first season of pitching machine, we had a blast at the Dillon International picnic at Burns Park, Brody graduated from Kindergarten, and Brent and I took a much-needed little weekend get-away to Branson! Tara and I also were able to join Ryan on one of his flights and spent a fabulous day on the beaches of Destin, Eden turned 2, and we all started enjoying pool time at Mamaw's!

June brought us lots more time at the swimming pool, more fun baseball games for Brody (including Brody's first time to play catcher!), a day of berry picking at Suzanne's, warm sunny days at Lake Claiborne, and a birthday bash to celebrate Lennox turning one and Levi turning two!

July got off to a great start when Brent's mom and dad treated us to a long 4th of July weekend in Gulf Shores! There's no place I'd rather be than the beach, so we were ecstatic when they called and invited us along! We also were so excited to spend a weekend at Lake Hamilton and Magic Springs with Ryan, Tara, Mom, and Brooke!

August was full of VBS, a Kids Club trip to Wild River Country and a Travelers game, a host of family birthdays, and the beginning of school - 1st grade for Brody and 4K for Beckett! We ended the month overwhelmed with thankfullness as we received a handwritten letter from Lennox's foster mother - something we will treasure forever.

We celebrated Labor Day at the pool the first weekend in September, Brooke turned 10, we went on a GT field trip with Brooke to Little Rock, had fun at the Union County Fair, and had a Planes party when Beckett turned 4! This was also the month that Beckett broke his collar bone and had to wear a brace for a few weeks.

In October, we went to a Razorback game with the Vinsons, decorated for fall, and cheered Brody on at his soccer games! We took the kids to the pumpkin patch, rejoiced when Eastern requested Lennox's file to prepare it for EP submission, spent a fun weekend in Natchez at the Hot Air Balloon Festival, and I was blessed to spend a weekend in Dallas with a group of friends also adopting at the Tapestry Conference. We also enjoyed a night out trick or treating with our baseball player, Batman, and a cute little pirate!

November was filled with small group hayrides, Christmas shopping, gathering Lennox's Christmas package, a Veterans Day parade at Hugh Goodwin, a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family, and a long weekend in Branson with Brent's parents!

We ended the year in December with a wonderful, but busy, Christmas season. I always enjoy this time of year so much, especially with small children at home, but I will say that as much as I tried, I couldn't shake that touch of sadness that hovers over me as we are still waiting for movement toward Lennox. On the 30th of December there was a large group of files submitted for EP, but ours was not one of the them. Even a few cases with ATK dates after ours were submitted. We don't have any explanation for this, so we are trying to continue to just trust in the Lord's timing here. To make matters worse, our agency called us on New Years Eve to inform us that Lennox had fallen in his foster home and broken his leg. We absolutely know that these things can happen so easily with toddlers, and that his foster family loves him and is taking wonderful care of him, but it's so hard to hear when you are thousands of miles away. He is currently in a cast, but we are so thankful that the break didn't require surgery. We are praying for quick healing and comfort for him!

We are excited to welcome 2014, and we are hopeful for the great things it will hold!

Our Longest Pregnancy Ever: Lessons Learned

{Written by Brent }

I laughed inside when the social worker compared the adoption process to being pregnant.  I thought to myself, Laura will not have morning sickness.  We will not have to buy any maternity clothes.  I will not have to eat Taco Bell four or five times a week.  A lot of selfish positives crossed my mind.  Lesson number one is that the adoption process is not about you or your selfishness.

With our three bio kids we had normal pregnancies. Most normal pregnancies are forty weeks with an all important due date at the end.  There were not any major health issues related to these pregnancies.  Laura had morning sickness, and I had the normal stress related to providing for another child. The adoption process is not normal when compared to our other pregnancies but does feel like a pregnancy.  It is the hardest thing to explain. With the bio kids we found out Laura was pregnant around six weeks. So, we would have about thirty-two to thirty four weeks left before the baby arrives.  Our application one was approved May 20th, 2012.  I consider that the day we found we were “pregnant” again. We had already been in the process about six weeks.  We found out we were pregnant at about six weeks in both the bio and adoption pregnancy.  Lesson number two is that there will be very few similarities between bio and adoption pregnancies.  

We found out with our bio kids at about eighteen weeks whether it would be a boy or girl.  We found out with all three because I am planner and Laura needed to decorate the rooms.  With the adoption we found out what we are having at thirty-two weeks.  Lennox’s referral came to us November 28th, 2012.  During the bio pregnancies, there was a point when I realized another child will be in our house.  This happened for the adoption when I saw Lennox’s referral picture.  I went into protective father mode and stress levels spiked.  I know he is being cared for unconditionally, but you still worry about how he is doing.  Lesson number three is you need a stress reliever to make it through the process. Running was my stress reliever, but now that I'm out with a knee injury, I'm on the hunt for a new one. Laura's stress reliever is talking and relating to her adoption friends she's met and become close with over the past year or so. 

Our bio kids were born within a couple of weeks of their due date.  The due date gives you guidance of about when the new child will arrive.  Well, with the adoption, there is no due date.  For a planner, that can drive you insane.  You have no idea when your child will come home.  Not even a good guess, to be honest. I really wished I could tell people a specific date. We are approximately eighty-eight weeks into this pregnancy.  Lesson number four is that you do not control the timing of each step.  You have a general idea, but that can and will change at a moment’s notice. And you just have to learn to be ok with that. 

We are still waiting, and we hope to bring Lennox home by June.  I have learned many lessons throughout the process so far.  Don’t start a journey like this unless you want to learn a few things about yourself.  We felt strongly about adding to our family through adoption, but I never realized how much it would change me.  It will break down barriers.  It will help you parent your bio kids better.  Overall, you will gain more knowledge and better yourself.  

Ultimately, God controls the timing of when Lennox will come home, and it will be the right time for us and him.  We started our journey by stepping out in faith, and our faith will see us to the end of the journey. Lennox is loved by a host of family and friends already.  We are all trying to learn things that will help us care for him and make him feel more comfortable when he gets here, and we will share some of those things as we get closer. In the meantime, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. They mean a lot to our family. 

Still waiting...

We are going on 8 weeks now since our file was requested for prep...and we are still waiting to be submitted to the ministry for EP. The 4-6 week timeframe in which we'd hoped to be submitted has come and gone, and I am growing more and more anxious to get this next step out of the way. We have now celebrated the one year anniversary of our referral...yet we still wait. We sent Lennox his 2nd Christmas package this week...and we wait. We will still be waiting as our son turns 18 months old soon, and as we bring in the new year. 

We had really really hoped to have him home by this Christmas. I've known for a while that probably wasn't going to happen, but it still stinks. I wanted to see him toddling into the living room Christmas morning and see his little face light up. Not stuff his Christmas goodies in a box and ship them across the ocean. 

But I do find peace in knowing that we are nearing those final months of this journey. I'm hopeful that we will at least be submitted sometime next month. And on a positive note, the cases that are currently being processed are receiving EP approval rather quickly, and it seems they are receiving court dates a bit faster than normal as well. This means that if we are submitted in January, it's still possible for us to have a court date by May. Which means we still could travel before Lennox turns two! 

There are still a lot of ifs and maybes involved, but guessing is really the only thing I can go by right now. Seeing as how we didn't make the 4-6 week timeframe for submission, here's another guess at a timeline. 

If we get submitted by mid-January, we could get approval my mid-March (this is just based on an 8 week average we've been seeing). We could be submitted to court within 2 weeks after approval, so say end of March. After that, we will just wait for a court date. Families recently have waited an average of 3-4 weeks to be notified of a court date, so that would put us at mid-late April. The court dates have been set 4-6 weeks out, so possibly late May/early June?? At that point we would travel to South Korea for about a week to ten days to meet Lennox and appear in court. We would then return home for 3-4? weeks while the courts finalize everything, then fly back to Korea to receive custody (!!!) and obtain his Visa. Again, this is just a blind guess. We are praying we fall into the shorter time frame on those averages, but you just never know. Anything could happen at anytime still, so we just ask for your continued prayers for a smooth process from here on out. We are asking that The Lord prepare Lennox's little heart for all of the changes he will soon endure. His little life will be turned upside down for a while as he adjusts. As amazing and wonderful as adoption is, there is also great loss involved, and my heart aches as I think of everything Lennox has lost/will have to lose in order to have a family. 

We've received several new pictures lately, a video, and a written update. These help tremendously!! Our boy is growing and thriving, and I have no doubt his foster family is covering him with love! 

I will continue to keep you posted as we wait, and as we hear any news at all. We are so ready to meet and love on that little boy, as I know so many of you are as well.