Saturday at the Ag Expo and roller skating!

Saturday, Mom and I took all of the kids (plus a friend of Brooke's) to the Ag Expo! My boys loved all of the animals and had so much fun exploring all of the big tractors! It was a beautiful day out, and we were so exciting to be doing something fun! Then, we took the kids roller skating...it was Brody's first time! If he fell once, he fell two hundred times. And I know it had to hurt falling on those skates. But by the time we left, he was a skating pro! I was so proud of him! He is one determined little dude.

Brody's Night Out

We wanted Brody to know how proud we were of him for making all A's his first semester of Kindergarten and for having good behavior, so on Friday night we took him and a friend to Monroe for a fun evening out!

He invited his friend Eli, and I picked them up early from school so their fun day could begin a little early! We dropped the little boys off with grandparents, and headed straight to the mall...the first place they wanted to go. They shopped around Dick's Sporting Goods, taking in every inch of the hunting department, the baseball department, and the camping department. We are definitely going to spend a lot of time camping this spring and summer camping! I can't wait! They also talked Brent into getting into the hurricane booth with them. It was hilarious!

After they'd had enough of the mall, we went to eat at Brody's favorite restaurant - Longhorn Steakhouse! My kind of guy ;) We all enjoyed steaks and baked potatoes...and those little boys can put away some food!!

We ended the night letting them shop around Toys R Us and pick out a prize. It seriously took them over an hour to decide what they wanted. But we finally headed home with two happy little boys, with new swords in one hand and Sonic ice cream in the other. :)

I hope Brody's good behavior and good grades continue, so we can have another little outing in May!

Making me proud...and little friends

We've been having a great January so far! Last Monday we got to keep a sweet baby girl for some friends. She's just a few days younger than Lennox, so it was fun to be able to see the things he is probably doing now...and imagine what it would be like if he were able to come home now. It was also fun to have a little pink in the house! :) She was such a sweet girl!

Bath time with my boys has always been one of my favorite times. But Levi has not been a fan lately. He's never liked to have his hair washed, but a few days ago Beckett fell into him in the tub, knocking him over. So now he doesn't want to go anywhere near the tub. He seems to be just fine bathing in the sink though, so that's what we've been doing! I forgot how much fun sink baths are with babies!

Brody had his awards program on Wednesday, and I'm just so proud of how well he is doing. He received an award for being on the principal's list for having all A's and an award for having an A in Citizenship. I'm so thankful that Kindergarten is agreeing with him so far...I can only pray it continues! My little sister's awards program was the next day, and she received the same two awards in addition to being recognized as the top AR reader in the entire school! I couldn't be more proud of our Brookie. For her academics, but also for her kind little heart. She's just the sweetest, most caring little girl. She cares about other people's feelings, she treats everyone with kindness...and my boys couldn't be any more blessed to have her as their aunt!

I also got to have lunch with Brody one day this week at his school. I enjoyed it so much! He has the sweetest group of little boys in his class, and we had the best time visiting at lunch. So thankful for this little group of friends that God has placed in Brody's life! I've got to make a point to go eat lunch with them more often! :)

Lennox Chan {7 Months}

Our little Korean cutie turned 7 months old Monday, and we were so blessed to receive new photos of him yesterday! His case worker in Korea left her position at the agency, so a new one took over his case, and we were told not to expect an update this month. I was so disappointed, as we hadn't seen his face since November. But The Lord blessed us with the sweetest surprise. I was just in tears as those sweet pictures popped up on my screen. Y'all, he is just the cutest little thing. He has the chubbiest cheeks and these little puckered lips, and he has a hat on, but I can see that long hair poking out from underneath. He is just beautiful. And he has changed so much!! He was wearing a sleeper and a hat that we sent over in our first care package, and he was holding the photo album with all of our pictures! In one picture, he has his little hand on our family picture. It literally made me melt into a puddle. And Beckett thinks its super cool that his Lennox is looking at a picture of him! I'm just so thankful for these little provisions from God...makes me feel a little bit more connected to our boy. Our son. I just keep staring at the pictures and thinking "This BEAUTIFUL little baby boy is our son. This is my boys' brother. When God decides its time, we will fly there and scoop him into our arms and bring him home." And my heart just bursts when I try to even imagine the joy he will bring. Whatever the journey, no matter how long we have to wait, we will eagerly await the day this sweetie gets to come home.

We didn't get a detailed update with these pictures, but we did get updated measurements. He weighs 16.9 pounds and is 26 inches tall. I think that puts him in about the 25th percentile for both, so he's a pretty small dude :) And he has two bottom teeth!!

Happy 7 months, Lennox Chan! We love you so very much! 

{On the Boardwalk}

Last week Brody got to spend the whole day with Pawpaw hunting and doing all kinds of other guy stuff. Beckett wasn't too thrilled that he had to sit it out, but we really do try to let them each their own special day with grandparents. Pawpaw assured Beck that he would have a special day soon, and that seemed to satisfy him...although he's been asking every 8 hours since that day if its "his" day yet. Well today was the day! Pawpaw took Beckett to spend the day at the Louisiana Boardwalk! Mimi, Levi, and I joined in for the fun, but Beckett still had a special day, nonetheless. It was beautiful today! 70 degrees and sunny. In January! We truly couldn't have asked for a prettier day. We spent most of our time in Bass Pro - Beckett's favorite store! We played duck hunting games, pretend drove the four wheelers, toured party barges, ate at Joe's Crab Shack, rode the carousel, shopped, and did pretty much whatever he wanted to do! Other than Beckett having a bout of carsickness on the way down, I think it's safe to say that "his" day was a success!

Basketball and the sickies...

Things haven't been too exciting around our house lately. Beckett and Levi have been sick with upper respiratory infections for the past week. They've had fever on and off and still have these terrible croupy coughs that will not go away. So, we've been missing out on a lot of church and activities until they are better. Nobody wants a croupy baby in the nursery.

We did get to eat at Ryan and Tara's one night, so the guys could watch the national championship game. The kids sure enjoyed being able to get out of the house for a bit, and they always love playing with cousin Eden!

Brody is back in school, and Beckett is missing him terribly. He asks at least 10 times every day when we can go pick him up. Brody also started Upward basketball this week! This is our first time to be associated with this program, but I think it's going to be great. They practice for about 30 minutes, rest and have a devotional for about 15 minutes, then finish out the rest of practice. I'm so excited for Brody to be a part of it this year! He didn't get on the team with his best friend like we requested, but thankfully Brody is quickly friends with pretty much any kid he meets, so once he got over the initial disappointment, he's been fine. Looks like we will be spending Saturday mornings in the gym for the next two months! Go Cheetahs! :)

On a different note, these three littles have been a bright light for me this week. We found out we wouldn't be getting an update or picture of Lennox this month. A new social worker took over his case at the agency in Seoul, and they sent notice that there would be an interruption in his updates for a "while". Who knows how long a while is. They are just wanting to give this new social worker time to get the hang of everything. But I will be honest...I was really disappointed when we got the email. Since we didn't get an update after his December appointment, I have been looking forward to this January update for weeks. There's nothing I can do but pray that he is being taken care of and hope that we get an update as soon as possible! I just can't imagine how much he will have changed already. He was only 5 months in the picture we got in November, and if we don't get a new picture until after his Feb visit, he will be 8 months old! I can't wait to see him again :) Beckett asks about him daily now. It's so bittersweet.

Speaking of Beckett, I think he's getting ready to drop his nap. He is showing signs of not needing an afternoon nap anymore. This mama is sad. I'm not giving up yet...that 2 hours when they nap together is much-needed. But I see it ending soon.

Here are some iPhone pics from the last couple weeks!

Good News for Korean Adoptions!

{Edited 1/7/12 - As I was hurriedly trying to get this post out yesterday, I completely left out an entire step. It is added below, in the 6th paragraph.)

The Korean adoption world got a bit of good news this past week. After several months of everything being on hold, things are finally moving again! Those families that I mentioned earlier who have been waiting for over a year and thought they'd have their little ones home by Christmas, are finally getting good news that their children's EP's (Emigration Permission) have been approved! They just have a couple more steps (Family Court review and then travel clearance), then they'll be able to go get their babies! It was very encouraging this week to see the Korean government moving forward with these cases so early in the new year!

For those interested, I do want to take a little bit of time to explain in detail what has to happen now before we can go get Lennox. I get tons of questions about why it takes so long. And while I certainly don't have all of the answers, I hope this will help some.

When we mailed in our acceptance papers for Lennox, our agency then forwarded them on to Eastern (the agency in Korea that our US agency works with), and that put us in the final waiting period. While we did receive our referral in November, our papers didn't get to Korea until December, so we will actually be considered a December ATK (Acceptance To Korea) family. Meaning we weren't actually "placed in line" for travel clearance until December.

Now we begin the wait for Lennox to receive his EP (Emigration Permission). Because of the fact that the Korean government only allows a limited number of these to be approved every year, there is a MAJOR backlog of children waiting. This is where the holdup is. Remember those children I mentioned above who are just receiving EP approval? They are November and December 2011 ATKs. That tells you how far backed up they are.

The timeframe we were given in our paperwork says we could expect to wait 9-13+ months for this to happen. However, this is just an average based on past cases. It could possibly take even longer. Say they use all of their allotted EPs before they get to December ATK cases (which we are) then we'd have to wait until 2014 to receive EP for Lennox. Hope I'm making sense.

Anyway, when this does happen for us, whether it be sometime this year or next, our agency will notify us when Lennox has been submitted for his EP, and then again when it has been approved. Submission to approval usually takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks. Following the approval of EP, Lennox's case will go to Family Court for review. This is the newest step in the process, and the families currently receiving EP approval will be the first families to go through this process. We have no idea how long Family Court review will take, but hope to get a better idea as these first few cases are processed. Once Family Court approves Lennox's case, Eastern will begin the process of obtaining him a passport. This usually takes a couple weeks. They will also work to obtain Lennox Visa approval during this time. Once the passport has been issued and visa approval is at the US Embassy in Seoul, they'll call us within a couple weeks to let us know we can book our flights to go get our sweet boy!

So, as you can see, once things get moving, they move pretty quickly. It's just a matter of PRAYING PRAYING PRAYING that we are able to be included in these 2013 EPs. We certainly don't want to have to wait until 2014 to get him!

So, I hope I cleared things up a little at least. Lennox will go in on the 14th for a monthly check-up, and we hope we get an update and new pictures of him then!

I've included the picture of me and Beckett sending him care package #2!