We Aren't in Kansas, I mean Korea, Anymore!

I want to let you know right off the bat, for less than 2 weeks in, we are doing better than we deserve! Truly, we continue to feel so blessed by HOW God brought Emma Hope to our family, and that He brought HER to our family! She is so sweet and everyday getting more and more comfortable with all of us. Lots of kisses and hugs are shared all day long, so we are so thankful that the dreaded flu (of any kind!) has stayed away from our home. We trust the Lord knows how much we can handle with His help!!

So all that said, we definitely have room for improvement! We are realizing that had it been possible, it would have been helpful to go into her foster home in Korea and see how they do the basic daily things. Meaning, Emma Hope seems overly irritated by the normal stuff; getting wiped off after meals, changing diapers or clothes, taking a bath, laying down for bed, etc. So either this is just how she is, or more likely, we do all these things so differently than how she is accustomed. For example, her foster mother told us she likes bath time. Well, not so much now! We do know that in Korea the whole family sleeps on a pallet/s on a heated floor, all together. So, we have tried to kinda modify that concept by laying on the ground with her on a sleeping bag or bringing her into bed with us. But those don't seem much more successful. And how much do we try short-term fixes, that in the long-term will have to be changed again? Currently, she seems to have fallen into a pattern of sleeping 11:30pm-2:30am, taking a bottle, then 3:00am-7:30am. We are trying to regulate her naps during the day to try to adjust the night-time sleep. It is a work in progress for sure! Maybe the biggest part of the adjustment is Brad and I functioning on less sleep now!!!

So, we are reminding each other it has only been 2 weeks, the first week of that being shrouded in jet-lag/time change! So, again, in the big picture, all is well! The challenges seem to be things that will work themselves out with time. Compared to what we could be dealing with considering she was labeled "special needs", this is a cake-walk! If we could, we would kiss the feet of whoever gave her that label. As a result, we were given another opportunity to trust God in faith and receive our precious girl even sooner than if she had been on the regular track!

Last night, since our "Sweet Cheeks" was wide awake and happy till 10:30ish, Alyssa was up with us making a final decision on her life Scripture verse. We have been talking this through for some time and finally landed on Psalm 71:14-15...

"But as for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise You more and more.

My mouth will tell of Your righteousness,

of Your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure."

There were so many verses we love, so many directions we could go because of her story, but we are pleased with the simplicity and longevity of this one for her. It was a great way to end a challenging day, with the truth, the anchor, of God's Word.

A few more cute pictures...just because we can!

As much as we have written about Brad's and my thoughts/feelings regarding this whole wonderful adoption adventure, our four older children have some strong emotions of their own! They are crazy about Emma Hope! She gets hugs and kisses all day long! Today the girls have even volunteered to tough out the nightly crying fits as well since they are all sharing a room! EH takes great daily naps in her crib but we have had her in our room in the pack-n-play for nights. Well somethin's gotta give, so we will try having her in the girls' room tonight.

Lest you think our kids are saints, here is a quote from almost-5 Parker, as we were tucking him into bed a few nights ago: "Why does she cry so much? Why can't we just take her back?" Stifling laughter, I was trying to analyze if he was voicing his first words of jealousy or just irritation about typical baby fussiness. It might be a little of both but based on his overall sweetness toward her, I think he just could do without the periodic wailing!

Well, speaking of wailing, I just heard our precious girl awake upstairs, so I'll sign off for now! Please pray for a chunk of sound sleep after a bottle!!

Home Sweet Home

So sorry we completely fell off the Blog Planet! We were doing so well keeping up and then we got home and have been in a jet-lag induced fog ever since! Not to mention having a precious PRECIOUS new baby girl that is right on track developmentally for an 8-month old but has the sleeping habits of a newborn! Or at least right now she does! So hard to know at this point if it is still the time change for her or if she is still really grieving her losses or even the difference in how her foster family slept compared with our customs, but we are hoping to see some good nighttime sleep real soon! Thankfully, the older kiddos are responding with love, hugs and helpfulness.

So back tracking a bit, last Saturday we said good-bye to an incredible, blessed week in Seoul, South Korea and began the long journey home! Because of the time difference we got to have another Saturday as we flew and tried to keep Emma Hope happy on the long flight to Chicago. Thankfully, she is truly characterized by being a very cheerful little girl but no matter who you are, she didn't know us yet and it is just plain long! Also thankfully, our travel agent had arranged for us to have the bulkhead seats where there is room to connect a bassinet to the wall, so Emma Hope did sleep some in there. If only Brad and I could have rested more while she did! But in the end we made it to Chicago and we would highly recommend Korean Airlines! They are all about customer service!

After quite a layover, we boarded our quick flight home to Northwest Arkansas! Emma Hope slept the whole flight and we landed 20 minutes early! Love that tailwind! We gathered up our carry-ons one last time and were greeted by SUCH AN INCREDIBLE WELCOMING COMMITTEE!! WOW! We could feel the love even in our zombie state! Thank you so much to everyone who was able to be there and all who wanted to be there : ) It was so great to hug our kids, family and friends! I think there are great pictures but not on our camera so maybe we can post those later.

Anyway, the last five days have been vacillating between foggy and fun, frustrating and fabulous! It is hard to describe how amazing it is to have Emma Hope home, part of our family and the wonderful bonding that is taking place! And then night comes again... it has been really hard to help her settle into deep sleep for any length of time. At the beginning, she was emphatically preferring Brad over me, physically pushing me away in fact. But I am so thankful we have turned the corner on that and Emma Hope and I are now tight too! We trust that as we figure out a schedule and long-term sleep solutions, everything and everyone will start falling into place!

Again we can never say enough THANK YOU's to the Lord for the GREAT things He has done! And THANK YOU's to the entire army of people He has gathered to pray for us, support the process, encourage us, bring us yummy dinners, hug us, shower our kids with extra attention, give us gifts of time, skill, $, and darling baby girl things! We will always stand amazed at the last year and a half and know that God in His sovereignty made all the pieces of this beautiful puzzle perfectly fit. Only He could do all He has done!!!