Care Package #4

Care package #4 is packed and ready to go. I just need to decide if I am going to run it over in person next week or if I should just pop it in the mail. Decisions.... Decisions....

Henry demonstrating his sweet stacking skills!

Wordless Wednesday

New Pictures!

Hooray!!! We received some new pictures of Claire this morning! I was really hoping that we would receive some from her 11 month well baby check and we did! It is good for the soul to see new pictures, it recharges you.
Things that I LOVE about our sweet little girl-

How she sucks in her bottom lip in almost every picture.

Her teeny tiny little ponytail.

Her kissable little cheeks.

She is wearing a dress that we sent in her first care package.

Her sweet little hands.

That she put everything in her mouth just like her older brother.

That she is ours!!!

A Book for Claire

I started working on care package #4 to send to Claire. I started making a board book for Claire almost as soon as we received her referral. I made it on the a wonderful site called Heritage.Makers. They are all about telling stories through photos. It is basically scrap-booking on the computer. (I have a wonderful friend who is a Heritage.Makers consultant and can set you up on it. Just let me know!) I made a board book for Henry with his story in it and he loves it. It is very cool that he can just pick up his book and look through it anytime he wants to. They also do greeting cards, canvases and many more awesome things. The book I did for Claire is extremely basic since the point was for her to be able to focus on us and our faces. I blew up our pictures to cover every page. That being said I am so happy with the way it turned out and am excited to send it in the next package. The cover art was actually made by another Heidi who is also waiting to bring home her daughter from Eastern. Her little girl is just a week younger than Claire so I hope we can meet her in Korea! They also have a son who is a little older than Henry and also adopted through Eastern. They sent this in one of their daughters care packages and I loved it. I was very excited when she sent me a copy so that I could use it in this book!
It says Appa, Omma, Oppa, Ahgee and in the heart, Gajok. In English- Daddy, Mommy, Big Brother [of a little sister], Baby, and Family in the heart.
Here are a few of the pages

And some cute little toes

The Zoo

Jason, Henry and I had a great trip to the zoo this morning! We went right when they opened and it was so fun to see all of the animals so active. We have done that before and it really pays off to go early. We saw so many animals that were active and playing. We even were able to see some being fed. Another added bonus is that you miss the crowds at more popular exhibits! Henry and I had gone to the zoo earlier this summer and Henry enjoyed himself but was not to sure about all the animals. Lets just say the family farm scared the daylights out of him. This time he was super excited and he loved it! We talked about how we were going to go to the zoo last night before he went to bed so at 6:20 when Henry joined us in bed we were serenaded to animal sounds all morning. His bear call is pretty good. It sounds a bit like a dinosaur, lion, tiger or leopard. The bears were hands down his favorites. Their exhibit has water falls and a pool, Henry's two favorite things. We started and ended our day with the bears. He could have stood here all day.
They were a bit crazy with all of their wrestling.

After watching the snow leopard Henry turned to us and told us "More Bears"

Henry was working hard in the Tiger base camp.

How cool is this slide?!?!

Taking a little lady out on a boat cruise.

Splash Pad

Wow, splash pads are fun! This was our first time playing at a splash pad and Henry had a blast!! It took a little bit before he was warmed up and was comfortable but after that it was a grand time. The last hour that we were at the zoo we were chilling at the splash pad. We need to find more of these to visit this summer!

Henry was not quite sure what to think. Testing the water

Whoa! This is fun!

Giving the bear a big hug.

Showing of his sweet pipes, so strong!

Saying Goodbye to Nigh Nigh

This week has been a big week in our house. Henry has said goodbye to his nigh nigh. His pacifier has been with him through thick and thin. It was always there for him when he needed it. It helped him through when his little world was turned upside down. He loved his nigh nigh and was ready to say goodbye but it was still hard. The first two days were rough, we had a very sad little boy. We all survived and mom and dad did not cave. I am happy to say that today there were no tears when it was time to nap and go to bed. He was a little sad but told us "nigh nigh all done." And just like that it was OK.

This is a little photo montage that we dedicate to you pacifier. You will be missed.

(imagine sappy music playing)

Happy 2nd Birthday Brody

Care Package #3

We sent care package number three to our agency last week in hopes that it will make it to Korea before Claire's first birthday. It is crazy to think that our sweet girl is almost one! I am starting to think about that day and what we will do to celebrate. It is a bittersweet day but we still need to celebrate that milestone in Claire's life. I am glad that she will be able to celebrate it with the foster family who have loved her for the first year of her life. I am sure that she will have a beautiful Hanbok, Tol and Toljabee. I am excited to see pictures of her in her Hanbok. I need remember that for each day that passes we are one day closer to bringing her home. I just can not wait to hold her in my arms.

Still Happy Campers!!

We survived our first camping trip and had a great time! Henry loved camping! He was a rockstar the entire weekend and slept longer and later there than he does at home. We will have many more camping trips in our future. (In case you were wondering it took us almost two hours to get everything set up and it was not to bad to do.)

Happy Campers

We are attempting our first camping adventure with Henry this weekend. We decided to get a bigger tent this year to make it a more comfortable camping experience for everyone. We of course found it at cost.co and are pretty excited to have the extra space. The box says it only takes 20 minutes to set up. Hmmmm.... I am thinking it will take Jason and I with the help of a two year old about a hour. We will let you know! I have packed enough for a month but we will be fully prepared in any situation. I am not going to lie to say I am not a little nervous about taking our busy two year old camping but the good news is that we are not going to far from home and we can always come home if we need to. Lets hope that we are still happy little campers when we get home on Monday!