NEW PHOTO!!!

Hey! Here is a new photo of Lewis! He's so cute. He's in the 75% for weight and less than the 50% for height. He is 26.91 inches and 20 pounds! He drinks 5.3 oz every three hours. If I'm reading the well baby report, he's got two teeth on the bottom. He rolls over now! He also plays peek-a-boo and prefers mama. He also says, "umma" when he cries. He still has a flat head, though, so pray for that.

I think this is his foster mother in the photo. You will also notice the blanket I made for him. I think the blue fabric in back of the blanket and in front of Lewis is the Lion's onesie we sent him. Getting anxious!

New Info

Crazy happenings over here - well, I should say over in South Korea. All of our paperwork that was sent to South Korea is finished. It was supposed to take 6 weeks, but it didn't. Our caseworker said that us and another family's paperwork was the fastest she'd seen coming out of Korea! So, that being said, here's what is going to be happening next, and what you can pray for:

We are waiting on the legal documents to be signed by the Department of Human Services in Lansing. That should be accomplished some time this week. Those documents will then be delivered via my caseworker to Ottawa County Court for our petition to adopt. That should take a day or so. Then all of that information and documentation and, of course, some sizable checks will be mailed to Immigration so they can issue Lewis his visa. Apparently Immigration, while it's a slow moving machine, is moving quicker than it has on other occasions. Once the approval for Lewis' visa is issued, Immigration will cable that information to Seoul. Holt International (the agency over there) will get that information and then give us the call to go get him!

Again, things seem to be moving quicker than I had anticipated (whether right or wrong). Please just pray that Immigration will not be the hold up. I've known a lot of USCIS Agents, and granted, they're on the criminal side, but it's like anything, over worked and understaffed.

THANKS!!!

Theological Questions From a Kindergartener

Audrey and I were just talking about Heaven and Hell. We were discussing her Children in Worship story about being a fisher of men. She didn't understand what that title meant. I, being the good Reformed Baptist tried my best to explain it to her. She was asking very good questions. One of which was, "Is there sin in Heaven?" I said that there was no sin, or crying, or pain in Heaven. She said, "Because God is there?" I indicated that that was correct. She then said in a very matter of fact way, "Well, I can make myself cry." What does one say to that?! I told her that that was kind of like lying, so you shouldn't make yourself cry. We continued on the conversation which included many questions about what Satan looked like, is Satan mean, and why did Jesus go to Hell for us. Then she came up with, "Is Satan like Batman's friends?" You have to realize that all of her cousins love playing Batman. They have the action heroes and figurines. Audrey just plays along with them. I asked her what she meant by her question and she clarified, "Well, Joker's mean, and Satan's mean. Is Satan like that Joker?" I told her he was worse than the Joker and her eyes became huge. Apparently the Joker is the worst being she's ever come across.

Stressed and Working

Well, over the last two weeks I've worked double time on getting things done around my house in preparation for our little guy. I am officially stressed, but the stress level is diminishing. I've cleaned out every cabinet, closet, counter top and cranny of my house. I've never been so organized - except for when after my father visits. Meanwhile, I've had my computer crash, we've taken a mini vacation up north, and I've made 20 freezable meals. I'm tired and thankfully Todd is with Audrey so I can take a much needed rest! All I have to do this week is clean my house and enjoy my daughter! Tomorrow she is 5!!! CANNOT believe it! We'll have pictures soon.

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!