What does a family that has experienced the joys of Adoption look like??

This is a sample of what an adoptive family looks like.

Holden and his rubber ducky

He's Walking!

Our Holden is walking! He has been working on getting it down, this is a video of him walking and taking quite a few steps. He is getting there, seems all too quick but you can't hold a good man down!! LOL

Enjoy!!

Our Baby Shower/ Meet Holden Party

We were supposed to have our baby shower on Sat., July 24th. It was funny because my sister was going to originally do it the following Sat. and I told her, I really think you need to change it. You see, I had the date the July 28th in my mind. Well, we got our Travel call on July 16, we had to fly out on July 23rd so, the shower had to be post phoned.If you believe in signs, even if you don't or are skeptical, I know they exist, you just have to be willing to take a step back and put the pieces together. Why July 28th you ask, well, my Mother-in-law had passed away on that date in 2008 and I knew that she would find a way to be included in our journey. July 28th was the day that Holden was placed in our arms forever, some call this "Gotcha Day", "adoption Day", I like to think of this day as "the Day God gave us you". Anyway, my mother-in-law was very sick when she passed and I knew she would find a way to let my husband know that although she may not of approved of his adopting while she was alive, that she would let him know that she now understood and would send her blessing. This may be too deep for some or sound like a lot of jibberish to some but that is ok, I KNOW that she had a hand in this adoption, just like I KNOW my grandpa did.

Anyway, back to the shower, we had it on Aug. 21st and I will tell you, this child is LOVED. There were friends and family that traveled many miles to see him, from each coast here in FL. We also had someone send a gift from out of state to my sister to make sure we had it for his shower.

We had ladies who are great friends with my sister, they know us a little, go out of their way to help make sure our shower was put together and fun. We had family that helped, you could feel the love and just the blessing of having these people in our lives and now in our son's life. We had friends there who have adopted, too bad we did not get a picture of them all, it was like a Benneton (however you spell it) commercial!!

One of the games they played was they out a name on your back, it was a child star, these were people that could still be children or could be grown up, you could ask questions and the first to guess won. Well, I asked if I was a boy or girl, they said boy. I asked have I ever been naked in a movie or anything and they said no. So, I am just standing there and I said, it will be my luck I am Gary Coleman or something and they all started laughing and said, well, actually you are. I won a game at my own shower in a matter of a few minutes, I felt bad, I was just being a smart butt!!!

Well, here are some pictures from our shower, Holden had a blast, he was the hit of the party. I think I only saw my son for about 10 minutes, he is such a little social butterfly!!

The Last 2 weeks

The last 2 weeks have been crazy!! Even though I have been home, it seems like I get NOTHING done. I am constantly watching Holden to make sure he is not putting things in his mouth, pushing buttons he shouldn't, not falling and hitting his head, it is all exhausting. I have learned to take naps when he does, that is key in staying patient.

I have learned to put him on a schedule and he pretty much sticks to it except when bed time comes. He hates going to bed before everyone else, he does not want to miss a thing! He also knows who to go to when he has pooped in his diaper, good old Omma (mommy), gotta love the poppy diapers!!!

I took him to Disney and swimming this past Wed. He had a blast in the pool!! I think he is too young to appreciate Disney just yet. We took him on the Haunted Mansion ride and he slept through the whole thing! That's my son, he WILL have his nap when he wants it!

I am going to post a few pictures of his bath time, his room and just his cute little self.

Home

We are home and have been here for a few days. Sorry I have not kept up with the blog. There was so much to do and so little sleep to be gotten!! I will get everything caught up once I get more sleep. for now, here are some pics of our son!!!

Flight

So, we got up at4:30 AM and started our day. We had packed a smaller suitcase into our larger suitcase so we had plenty of room for things to bring back. Well, good thing we did, otherwise we would have had to pay $100 for the overage of the weight of the suitcase. We were allowed to have 2 pieces of luggage each, but not over 50 pounds per piece. We had to move stuff into the bigger suitcase to shift the weight.

Then...... I get pulled aside because I had a carry on that I had candles in. They pulled me aside to make sure it was just candles, note to self: bringing candles on a plane, pull them out and put in a bucket so they don't have to pull me aside.

We made it to Atlanta......... and of course, the flight from Atlanta to Seoul was delayed by an hour and a half. We had a 4 and a half hour lay over, UGH!!!

We get on the plane and Nicole and I had the worst seats EVER!!! There were some crazy box things that took up half of our foot space and the guy in front of Nicole practically had his head in her lap. It was so crazy, she managed to sleep and I have no clue how!! I was wide awake the entire flight.

We get off the plane and find the KAL limo, it took us to the Renaissance Hotel and dropped us off. From there, we had to go up this steep hill with 3 suitcases, carry-ons, and purses. We start looking around and of course we have no clue where we are going. Luckily some guy on a moped saw us and I guess he felt sorry for us pitiful Americans and asked to see our map and then showed us where to go. Thank God, we could still be walking around with suitcases in tow wondering where we were going!!!

We got into the guesthouse and then we decided to venture out for some food. By this time it was about 9pm and everywhere seemed to be closed or had no vegetarian food. We saw a pizza place and decided to play it safe. Their slogan was "Love for Women", you know it has to be classy!! LOL.

Pediatrician

Monday I wen and met with Holden's pediatrician. She is such an awesome person. She had a list ready for me with what I needed to take and dosages for medicines that he might need while over there, based on his age and weight. She spent an hour with me, her staff was great, they squeezed me in last minute.

So....... I have this list and I run and grab a bite and then head to Target. I was walking in and she was walking in at the same time. She asked me if I had anymore questions and I said, "no, I just have this list of things to get from the pediatrician I just saw." She laughed and said, "grab a cart and come on." I thought ok, this could get interesting. So, I did as she requested and she took me down the aisles and started tossing things in my basket saying, "you need this, you need this, gotta have this."

What did I think?? I thought thank God, I would have been here for hours trying to figure it all out. I thanked her once again and she wished me a safe trip and was on her way to do her shopping. All I could think was I don't know of any Dr's in today's world that would have done what she did. I feel so fortunate that I found her. She has been able to keep me level headed and focused on what to pack and what to do in different scenarios we could encounter.

Perfect.....

On Fri., I was at work. The Fed Ex guy came and had a delivery for me, it was the stroller we had ordered the week before, I knew it was coming so I expected it. My co-worker and I were assembling what little needed to be done and we were just zooming it around the office, checking it out, making sure the breaks worked. In the middle of all this, my phone rang. The # was a New York # so, my head went to the agency right away. I was thinking, this could be "the call" but it could just be that they needed to ask me something.

Anyway.......... on the other end was the SW (social worker), she asked if I had a few minutes, really do yo have to ask?, of course I do. She says, "well, you need to start making arrangements, this is your travel call." My head was racing, I start crying of course, my mind goes to, Oh no, my sister is going to kill me. She is having our baby shower next Sat., I even said that to the SW, she kept asking me how I felt, what I was thinking. Again, I am thinking, really, do you have to ask??

So........ I get off the phone with the SW and I call my sister. I preface the call with, "please do not kill me" (she had already moved the shower up a week because I told her I really felt she should.) My sister says,"why am I going to kill you?" So, I tell her the news, she screams in my ear, I am telling you, she is one proud aunt. She started screaming to her co-workers about it, my ear was about to blow!!!

Then........ I get off the phone with my sis and call my mom. I tell her and she starts screaming too, telling my grandma about her grandbaby coming home. My poor grams thought someone was hurt, by now, my ear is hurting my head is spinning. I am trying to think of all the people I had to call, all the appointments I needed to change.

Luckily......... I was able to change appointments for vaccinations,the pediatrician consulting appointment and a Dr's appointment. Thank goodness they all knew what we were doing and were all able to move the appointments up. I was so thankful that they worked with me.

Now....... my head still continues to spin with everything that needs to be done and what to pack. I have yet to get Holden's room ready, the new floors will be done on Tues. and then we can put his crib together. Cutting it close??? Yes and you know what? I would not have it any other way, this will definitely help the time fly by!! Stressed, yes, anxious, yes, nervous, yes, picking our son up and holding him in our arms, priceless!!!!

Wondering

I am just sitting here tonight, wondering how Holden is doing. I wonder what he looks like now, we have not received any updates or pictures from Korea. I am wondering if he has any idea of the changes coming his way? I am wondering when we will get the Travel call, I am wondering what to pack, I am wondering if I will have all the gifts we need? I am just wondering about my son and the journey we are going to undertake. I wonder if in 20 years, he will look back on his life and wonder how it could have been different?

I am just sitting here, WONDERING........................

Working Hard

Rob and I have been working very hard on getting everything done!! We worked on Holden's new closet system tonight, will finish that tomorrow, a week from today, the guys are coming to do the floors, that will be a 2-day thing. I can't wait to get those floors in so I can really get Holden's room together.

We have a lot left to do, I wanted to have everything done a month ahead of time and then just kick back and wait. I get questions all the time about why we are waiting until the last minute. I could say, because we were just waiting but truthfully, I did not want to have to walk by an empty nursery for months on end. So, my answer to that question is to keep my self preservation, some might not understand that and others will "get it". Each one of us walk this journey in different ways and having tried to have a child and then joining the adoption roller coaster, 6 long years later, I can finally do a nursery for a son that is OURS. He is waiting for us to come bring him HOME, that is one feeling I will never forget.

So, yes we put it off and put it off but by doing so, I have been able to stay sane and now I can really ENJOY the excitement of putting my son's nursery together. This is helping the days fly by and thank GOD for that or else I would be going crazy from waiting to hold my son!!!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog, we have decided to move our future posts here. We feel that since we have decided to name our son Holden, our other blog does not hold as much meaning as this blog will.

More posts to come soon.