Latest and Greatest

Well, we received a 2nd child report from Holt International (the agency Bethany Christian Services works with in South Korea). With it we received some SUPER cute pictures!!! Oh man, he is certainly filling out and appears to be kind of a big guy. We received the report 7/31/09. Apparently it was taken on June 15, 2009. He has since gained a few pounds.

According to the report he was 25 inches long and weighed 16.8 pounds. From 6/15/09 to 7/13/09 he has grown. He is now 26.5 inches long and weighs 18.8 pounds. He takes about 5 ounces of formula every three hours and empties it without a break. He sleeps from 10PM to 8AM (which is 11AM to 9PM our time - what a joy that will be to fix!). He also wakes up once during the night and takes a whole bottle of milk (Anyone else watching me squirm as he's 6 months and still waking up in the middle of the night!). He takes a nap once before noon and twice in the afternoon. He sleeps one to one and a half hours at each time. He apparently is a little "fretful" (better than saying he cries loudly as they said before :) ) before he falls asleep, but falls asleep soon after the foster mother sings him a lullaby or gives him milk. He sleeps on a mattress on the floor beside the foster mother. That is good news because I was worried about the transition from floor to crib, but if he's on any sort of mattress and not a mat, then it should be a lot better.

He likes to be bathed, but doesn't like his head wet. Lewis also likes the outside. He seems very well attached to his foster mother. He has a new one. I didn't realize this, but he was raised in a foster home in Daejeon and transferred to Seoul on April 22, 2009. He babbles a lot and giggles when he is happy. He sucks his thumb and lifts his head up when placed on his tummy (yeah!!). He recognizes foster family and recognizes when his name is called and becomes happy. He also loves to be kissed on his cheek and tickled on his feet. He snuggles often with his foster mother.

I sent his foster parents a disposable camera, and hopefully they will take pictures with it for me. We'll see. I will send him an outfit from his Grandma Coni this week along with one of the stuffed animals that Audrey doesn't like. She said she didn't like a particular, small stuffed animal, so she said Lewis could have it. Nice of her.

Here's the prayer requests: that Lewis comes when he's supposed to come and we'll all be at peace with that. We have made the decision to take Audrey with us, so pray for safety and patience.

Also, here is what my adoption case worker said in regards to our status:

"Just wanted to let you kow your child's documents were submitted to the ministry this past week (that was the last week in July)! They are reviewed there which takes about 6 weeks. During that time we are getting your visa approval here (which usually takes a little longer) and then the major steps are done!" That's all the information I have right now, but it seems to be fast approaching. I went to get a ton of food today to make and freeze, so I'll have it ready. Wish me luck!! Any healty freezable food ideas would be MUCH appreciated!!

Enjoy the photos!

Korean Flag

This is for anyone who cares. I thought it quite interesting, but maybe you won't. Here's a picture of a bunch of South Korean flags. I found this information from a site called Enchanted Learning. I'm trying to get information on history and cultural things to put in Lewis' Life Book. Anyway, here's what they said about the flag:

"South Korea's flag pictures a red and blue Yin-Yang symbol, red (yang) on top, blue (yin) on the bottom, in the center of a white field. Four groups of three long and short black bars (called kwae) surround the central circle. This ration of the height to the width of the flag is 2:3. The flag is called Taegukki, which means "Great Extremes."

The white in this philosophical flag represents peace and purity. Symbolically, the Yin-Yang symbol represents opposites; it is the belief that all things in the universe have two, opposite aspects that cannot exist without the other.

The Kwae trigrams are from the I Ching; the broken bars symbolize yin (dark and cold) and the unbroken bars symbolize yang (bright and hot). The four Kwae represent: heaven (three unbroken bars), the earth (three broken bars), water (one unbroken line between two broken bars), and fire (one broken bar between two unbroken bars). The Kwae trigrams are placed in such a way that they balance one another, heaven is placed opposite earth, and fire is placed opposite water."

Blanket

So I'm attempting to make a blanket for Lewis. My "new" sewing machine came with a table, so the machine folds down into itself. I can't figure out how to get it out. I also don't have any pins to pin the material together to sew it. I find that I often do this. I just dive right in with an idea and come across all these obsticles and sit there baffled as to why in the world things aren't easier than they are. Because in MY mind, it should be perfectly simple to make a blanket. Mind you, I've never made one before, but that shouldn't be a problem, right? I've watched my mother make one, I went to college, I consider myself relatively smart. But no, all that college education can't help me when I can't figure out how to get my sewing machine out of its self-made cage!

We have a name!

So......drum roll please.....sorry to all of you who wanted Owen, Todd went with Lewis. So his name is Lewis Ju-han Boerman. Audrey and I have been calling him Lu-Ju all day long, so that just might stick.

NAME

I was just informed that we have to have a name a lot sooner than I thought. Our little guy's court papers have to be filled out with his adoptive name and sent in to Bethany the week of the 22nd of June. So...you all can bug Todd about a name!!

WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, they said that it would be about a year from when we sent out paperwork over to South Korea that we would get a referral. I guess I didn't keep my hopes up, but lo and behold, Thursday we got our referral. We have a son waiting for us in South Korea. His name is Ju-han Im (Im being his last name). He was born January 25, 2009 at 9:16 PM. He was about 7 lbs 4 oz and was about 19 and 3/4 inches long. The crazy thing is that he was born at 37 weeks and 3 days, so he was a big guy for being born a little early.

He had jaundice, but in this 1 month picture, it looks like it is gone. We'll get more of an update on his health I think at the 6 month check up.

Because he is not 6 months yet, we can't process his paperwork. So we have to wait until July to even process his paperwork. From there it will be a little while until we get him. I think it will be around October, but who knows. October 25, he'll be 9 months old, and that's kind of young to come out of South Korea. We were expecting a 12-14 month old. Hopefully he'll be here for around the holidays.

I've been reading, and apparently, for the first month, or so, I have to be the primary caregiver. Even before Todd because little Ju-han needs to be able to for attachment bonds. It's going to be a different kind of parenting style than I'm used to, so the prayers for that would be much appreciated.

Also, if you could pray for finances, that would be appreciated as well. This economy stinks. I tried to get a part-time job, but to no avail. I put in 6 applications and sent my resume to 12 different professional services. Todd's job is holding steady, so we are so grateful to God for that!! Lastly, if you could pray that we make a decision on if we are taking Audrey with us or not. We are really leaning towards taking her, and we just want God to give us confirmation on that. THANKS!!

Like Father...Like Daughter

Audrey was in the bath yesterday. I am one of those anal parents who is constantly in the bathroom with their child as they are bathing because they could drown. I like it much more when she showers, so I can go about my business, but I shouldn't complain because it affords me reading time. Yesterday, however, I was on the phone. I went to go hang the phone up and I heard, "Help!" coming from the bathroom. I panic and run in there and notice that her face is bloody. I tried to calmly ask her why her face was bloody. I asked her where she was bleeding from, and she held up the (old and rusty) razor. She probably saw the panic in my eyes as I'm thinking she sliced off the tip of her tongue, or will have to have reconstructive surgery of some sort, so she started to cry and try to get out of the tub to see her face. I explained that she did not want to see her face right now, but that I would show her in a minute. It's hard to keep a slippery, soapy 4 year old panic-stricken in the tub when blood is dripping down her face. I figured out, in between sobs that she was trying to "shave her face like Daddy." Thankfully, she only got a few marks on her upper lip area, and only nicked her actual lip a little. It could have been SO much worse. After I realized that the damage was not as bad as the blood would have had me believe, I relented and let her see herself in the mirror. BIG mistake - huge. I think my ear is still ringing from the crying. The blood tipped her over the edge (as it had previously done to me). She looks like she has tiny railroad tracks between her lip and her nose. Thankfully she is all up to date on her vaccinations that she isn't in any danger.