The kids at Family Night

Saturday I got Sam and Emma out of the bathtub and I first got Emma dressed and then I was ready to get Sam dressed but I could not find him. I called for him but he would not answer. I was walking all over the house and I could not find him. I actually walked right past him while he was hiding between the refrigerator and the counter. His black hair blended in with the fridge. 

We had a good weekend. My friend Jennifer and I and three girls from the youth group went to eat and shop Friday night at Opry Mills. We had a great time. It felt weird not having my kids with me. Th Children's Place was having this great sale on their clothes. I bought several things for Sam and bought a few more things for Emma and Chloe for next Spring and Summer. I tried to refrain myself, but I did buy them a couple of matching outfits. It was fun to shop for my kids. I have been so blessed to have so many people buy clothes for my kids and so I do not shop much for them. I got about 20 items for $30! The kids were staying the night at some friend's house and Jeremy was camping so I took the opportunity to clean my house Friday night. I know this might sound crazy, but I actually like to clean. There is just something about my house being clean that puts me in a good mood. I then planned on getting a goods night sleep since I had the house to myself, but Maggie decided she was going to keep me awake. She kept wining for a drink and then she had to go out and then it was something else. Oh well, I guess I will sleep later, like when my kids are grown. Saturday I worked for a few hours and then I picked the kids up. We went home and Emma napped and Sam played on his tractor. Sunday we went to church and then ate lunch and napped again. Last night we had Family Night at church. There were several inflatables and Sam and Emma had a blast. I will post pictures later tonight. Emma was fearless. She got in the bouncy inflatable and just jumped and jumped. There was also this one that was an obstacle course. Sam wanted to do it but he got to the middle and then wanted out. Later that night he finally did it. Well, Emma saw him and then she wanted to do it. Now this inflatable is not necessarily for little kids, but her Uncle Jacob took her through the obstacle course. At the end of it you climb up this steep set of stairs and then slide down. She came up over the side grinning from ear to ear. Of course she wanted to do it again. They had a fun night. We got home and I gave them a bath and they both slept great last night. Well I have to go to work but just wanted to update you on the weekend.

Sam and his tractor

           My beautiful kids

Emma and her blankie

We are having a pretty good day. We all slept until 7:45 (even though Emma was in our bed) and then we got ready and went to the store. We had to go to Sam's Club to get some food for the church's Family Night this Sunday and Jeremy and some of the teen guys are going on a camping trip this weekend that he needed to get food for. The girls are going to Opry Mills tomorrow night for some girl time. We got some lunch at Sam's and then came home to try to get the kids down for a nap. Well Samuel was too excited because we finally got a charger for his tractor. Some friends bought him this tractor for his first Christmas but he was scared to ride it. He rode it a little bit when we moved into the rental house but when we moved into this house we lost the battery charger. So, we finally ordered a new one and it came in the mail this morning. And Emma, well she is another story when it comes to taking a nap. She refuses to sleep in her bed. We put her in there today and let her cry and cry and cry. We finally got her out of bed and she went right to sleep on the couch. Have I mentioned that she is a mess? She is now doing this thing that if she wants something she will stomp her foot while she is pointing and crying for what she wants. Well they both slept for a little bit and we let Sam ride his tractor but the battery was not fully charged so he only could ride it for a few minutes. Emma got a ride in the back of the wagon on the tractor. I then gave Maggie a much needed bath and now I have to listen to Sam asking, "Is my tractor ready?" every 30 seconds. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was 1 year ago today that we got Emma's referral. It seems like a life time ago but then it also just feels like yesterday that we were first introduced to our little girl. 

Well I am going to try to get my house cleaned...AGAIN. I guess the kids and I will hang around here tonight. I have to work tomorrow. Yesterday was kinda a weird day at work. The family I work for had to put their dog (that they have had for 14 years) to sleep. He had bone cancer. So tomorrow I have to run a bunch of errands getting rid of the things that belonged to Jake (the dog). It was pretty sad. He was a really sweet dog. 

Well I also wanted to report that I have stayed within my calorie range the past two days. I hope you do not mind but I am going to use this to report how I am doing. Maybe I stick with it if I am letting people now my progress. 

We had a pretty uneventful day. We slept in a little bit. We got up and ate breakfast. I was able to get the kitchen cleaned and the sheets washed while the kids played in Sam's room. They were both really good today. Not like they are that bad, but they both played nice and Emma did not destroy one thing today:) They ate lunch and I put then down for a nap at about 11. Emma slept in her bed the entire time. Poor girl, here allergies are acting up again. Her little nose has been running the past few days. After nap we played outside in their pool. Well my Weight Watchers thing has not been going so great. I am not gaining weight, but I just cannot get back on the program. So a few days ago I just started counting calories and today I joined Calorie King online. The program online works much little WW online and I did good today with my calories (I guess the day is not over yet). I am hoping that changing things up will help me take off the needed weight. I am making supper and Jeremy will soon be heading out to his softball games. I need to start making a list of things I need to pack for our trip. I know we are not leaving until next Saturday but I have to pack for 3 people for an entire week and I tend to get frantic if I wait until the last minute. Well here are some pictures. Some of them are from Sunday morning. Emma had on an adorable dress, but she would not look at the camera. I kept chasing her around the house but I could not get a good shot. Her new thing is to get a book and climb up on Sam's chair to "read". Oh, they are so fun!

Well, not much to report around the Riggs' house. I worked all day Friday and then we had a teen activity that night. I worked Saturday and then we went to Clarksville to eat. Yesterday we went to church and then Sam, Emma, and I took a three hour nap. I felt great when I woke up, but I did not sleep much last night. I then went to work again today. I sure work a lot for being part time. Sam and Emma are doing good. Samuel is getting so big. He is always saying something that sounds so grown up. Emma is also becoming a little lady. She makes us laugh. I am sorry but I do not have any pictures to post tonight. Our battery in the camera is charging. Well, our homestudy for Chloe should be completed this week. We talked to our social worker today and they are waiting for a clearance letter from South Carolina. With the new adoption regulations they need police clearance from every state we lived in over the past 10 years. We also talked to our social worker in Michigan and she said we could get the official referral after our third visit which we are trying to schedule for July 17th. We are hopeful that all paperwork will be on its way by the end of July. With that said, please pray for me. I am starting to feel the familiar feeling of panic. We are trying to get our money together, finish paperwork, and buckle down for the hardest part of adoption...WAITING. I just feel like I have been in this process forever already. After the official referral they say it takes about 3 to 4 months for the baby to travel that puts us at October or November. We will be in the waiting period the same time as last year with Emma. I am getting anxious about the possibility of spending another Thanksgiving and Christmas without one of my children. I am also getting nervous about the fact that Chloe may be even older than Emma when she came home. Well I need to put the kids to bed. They have not been sleeping great the past few nights. I am not fighting this battle right now because we will be leaving in a few weeks out of town again so I will end up starting over again to get them to stay in their beds. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

We are having a good day. Jeremy decided not to go into school today. He is not getting paid yet so it was not necessary that he go. He has been going to get an idea of what to expect when school starts in August. Samuel and I made pancakes this morning and I have managed to get the kitchen cleaned, Emma's room cleaned and the laundry done (for now anyway). We will be leaving in a few minutes to pick up the car. Thank the Lord it was only the belt that was broken. Nothing else in the engine locked up. It cost more to get the car towed than it did to fix. Jeremy has a softball game tonight so the kids and I are just going to stay home this evening. I am going to try to get the rest of the laundry put away and maybe tackle another room in the house. Well here are the pictures of Sam and Emma playing with the blocks. This morning Sam built this really neat tower with a gate for his trains. The picture of Emma is her trying to take her nap. Since we got back we are having a time getting her back into her bed for naps. Her daddy is also not helping the situation. She cries for a few minutes and he goes in to get her. She finally went to sleep in her bed after lunch. Right now she is playing with her book and Sam is taking a nap. 

Not much to write today. I went to work and then came home, went to the Mexican restrarant and then off to church. Wednesdays are tough. When I got home I found Sam and Emma playing in Emma's room. Sam was playing with her baby dolls. Right now Sam is pushing Emma around in a plastic tote they put blocks in. I will post that picture tomorrow. I am amazed at how well they play together. Well tomorrow I plan on staying home and getting my house clean. Maybe it will stay clean for more than 5 minutes but I doubt it. Emma has said a few new words this week. She is now saying "shoe", "stinky", "up" and "basket". She has also been better at calling "mama" since we returned from our trip. Sam did not start calling me mama until he was 20 months old, so she is almost there. We did not hear from the mechanic about our car so we do not know the damage yet. Oh, one last thing. Our agency in Michigan cashed our application check so I am going to assume that everything with my medical forms was OK. I guess they would of called if there was a problem. Well here are a few pictures of the kids playing and one picture with daddy.

Well it was back to life yesterday. I went back to work and Jeremy had some errands to run. Samuel and Emma went swimming. Samuel fell at the pool and scrapped his leg. You would of thought he broke is leg the way he was acting. His legs seem to hurt when he was asked to clean up his room or put his toys away. I put some medicine on it and a new Band-Aid and he seemed to be better. Today Jeremy had to go to school and then had new teacher orientation this afternoon. The kids and I were at a friends house staying with her two daughters. One daughter is a teenager and the other is going into 4th grade so I was basically there to make sure they got something to eat and was there just in case something happened. They have a dog named "Gracie" and Sam just loves that dog. As soon as we got there this morning he grabbed the dog and held her in his lap. He then moved to take his shoes off and let go of the death grip her had on the dog and the dog ran as fast as she could. He then cried and spent most of the morning trying to catch her. We were all in the kitchen getting lunch ready and the girls had the refrigerator opened and we turned around and Emma was sitting in the fridge. She is so silly. We also have a new nickname for her, "Linus". she walks around holding her blanket and sucking her thumb. We had a pretty good day until Jeremy called and said the car broke down. He heard a "pop" and the the car started to overheat. He made it to an exit and saw that a belt had broken around the engine. We had to have it towed and we are praying that it will be an easy fix. We are thankful that we can at least live with one car for awhile. Well, we are finally getting ready to eat supper. I am hoping to get to bed early again tonight. We are having a bit of trouble getting back to our night time schedule since returning home.

Here are a few pictures from today and a few more from the trip. We took Sam to Logan's for lunch. He loves the peanuts. We then went to the grocery store. I am little overwhelmed with all the laundry and getting everything put back in place. I guess I will pace myself. I also forgot to mention that I did not hear anything from our agency in Michigan. So, they either do not have a problem with my medical form or they have not looked at it yet. I praying that they do not have a problem. Well, I know it is only 7:20 PM but I think I am going to start getting ready for bed. 

Today is a very special day for us. Today is Samuel's Gotcha Day. Three years ago we became a family. The two years prior to Samuel were the most difficult years of our lives. We had so many questions of why we were chosen to carry this heavy burden. The moment I saw my beautiful baby boy all my questions were answered. This week in South Carolina was a mix of emotions for me. There is stretch of road on I-20 between Columbia and Florence that hold s many sad miles. We were up and down that stretch many times back and forth to the doctor. It is strange that I lost my identity and part of who I was, but I also found myself and found my purpose. I am so blessed that I have been chosen to be Sam's mom. It is amazing to think that because of the miracle of Samuel we also have the miracle of Chloe. Who would of imagined that three years after Samuel came home I would be the mother of three beautiful children. 

 

Well, we made it back from our trip. We got home about 9:30 last night. We got to bed about 10:00 and Sam and Emma were both screaming at 2:30 AM. I put Emma in bed with Jeremy and I got in bed with Sam. They both slept until 8:30. So, we were able to get some sleep. The trip was good. Samuel did great all week. He had so much fun. I am a little scared of what he learned from the teens this week. He has made a few comments that I know he heard a teenager say. Many have asked what Emma did when she saw us. Well, she smiled when she saw us but she did not seem to be bothered that we left her for a week. She did seem to be glad to be home.

Well we are here in Myrtle Beach, SC. We arrived Monday night about 8PM. It was not a bad drive here. We were making great time and in typical Good Springs Youth fashion we had a problem. We got about three hours away and our mini-van got a flat tire. We stopped at a gas station and Jeremy put more air in it. We then drove to Florence to get it fixed. We went to Sam's Club and they fixed the tire for free. There was a nail in it so they were able to patch the tire without replacing it. Samuel is having a wonderful time. The services at the camp are amazing. The preacher is so knowledgeable about the Scripture and the kids are just soaking it in. We spent the day at the beach yesterday and no major sunburns to report. Well we are getting ready to head out for the day. Pray for the teenagers. Some of them are at such a crucial point in their life. If they will apply what the are hearing this week it will forever change their life. Here are a few pictures from Monday night. Samuel's first time on the beach, a view from our hotel room and Sam in the hotel. 

Well I woke up this morning and started to panic about leaving Emma here this week. I actually decided for about 30 minutes that I was going to take her. I then realized that it would be a hard trip on her and us so with great reluctance I took her to our friend's house tonight around 6 PM. She is staying with our friend Lisa tonight since we are leaving so early in the morning and then Lisa is taking her to Gran and Papa's house after lunch. Emma just blew kisses and waved bye to me when I left. I really hope she does OK. It feels weird being at home without her. I cannot really remember what it was like before she came home. I miss her already. Well we are all packed and Samuel and I are heading to bed. Oh, this afternoon we had lunch after church and Samuel and Emma were running around the gym and of course I was also chasing them around. Everyone kept saying, "they sure keep you moving" and "you sure do get your exercise with those two around". I laughed and said, "somebody needs to tell my doctor, he thinks I need more exercise." 

 

The paperwork is in the mail. We went tonight to the FedEx store and sent off our final paperwork to our local agency and our agency in Michigan. I guess I will know by the end of the week if there will be any problems with my medical form. We also went this morning to the Immigration office and got our fingerprints made for our I600A form. We had to be there at 8AM so we are all pretty tired. After we finished we all went to Shoney's for breakfast and then I went on to work. The Immigration office is by the airport and Samuel once again asked if we were taking Emma back to Korea. The kids had a long nap today and then we got their pool out and they played in the water a little this afternoon. I am trying to get the house cleaned and packed for our trip. We are leaving at 6AM Monday. We have Homecoming at church tomorrow so we do not have church tomorrow night, so that should give me a little extra time. I have posted a couple pictures of Emma "talking" on her cell phone. She is so funny. She will act like she is dialing a number and then she says "Hi, hi, hi" and then just jabbers. Well I guess I better get to bed. I am so tired. I worked over thirty hours this week and I usually work about 18 hours. I will try to post while we are gone, but I am not sure if I will have time. So, as you think of us this week please pray for Emma (and me) and we are away from her. I am getting really nervous about being away from her for so long. Please pray for our safety while we are traveling. Please pray that as our paperwork arrives at our agency that there will not be any problem with my medical form. 

Well I actually had a pretty crummy day. I still have some congestion and I have been blowing my nose all day, but that is not what has upset me. On Tuesday when I went to the doctor the whole physical was about me being overweight. I know that I need to lose some weight, but it is not as bad as he was making it out to be. During the whole physical I just listened to what he said and I tried not to let it upset me too much. I know that I have come along way in my weight loss journey and I have recently got back on Weight Watchers. I gained some weight during Emma's adoption ordeal and I am really trying to get back on track and get the weight back off. I actually lost three pounds before I went to the doctor so I was happy. Well, I had to go back today to get the forms that needed to be filled out. On the form for our local agency everything looked great and he stated that I was healthy and there were no medical concerns. On the form to our agency in Michigan he used the words "mildly obese" and his concern was that I needed to exercise and needed to lose weight. What makes me mad about the exercise comment is that he did not even ask me if I exercised. My answer would have been yes. I walk two or three times a week with the kids and I wear a pedometer at work and I take at least 12,000 steps that equals like 4 miles. Some of you remember that the agency in Michigan and Korea has a weight restriction and is very strict about weight issues. So, I was horrified. I am 20 pounds under the weight restriction so I am not worried about that part but I am not sure if something will be said about his other comments. I asked the nurse if she would remove the comments because of the situation but she just added that I was healthy to the end of mildly obese. I guess I am just surprised that he would put that information on the form. I guess I will try to lose a few more pounds in case there is an issue. 

Well, Sam and Emma woke up at 7:30 this morning. We had breakfast and made a quick run to Wal-Mart to finish up getting things for our trip. After the store we came home and I took the kids to our friend's house to swim. They had so much fun. We got home at about 3:30 and they both were out. Emma just woke up a few minutes ago and Sam is still asleep on the couch. Jeremy has a softball game tonight. I am kinda glad Sam is still asleep because I did not want to go to the game, it is too hot outside. I also have another early morning and long day at work. Thanks for letting me vent.

Today seemed like a very long day. My throat feels better, but I feel very tired. The kids were wild for Jeremy today. He might be finding a babysitter soon. They just hang all over him and they do not want to play in their rooms. He has a headache tonight. 

I forgot to mention last night that when we were at Wal-Mart getting my medicine the lady at the check out was looking at Sam and Emma and she said, "They look just like my brother and sister when they were little. We are half Korean, too." She thought they were my natural children. It is so cool when that happens. Well, I thought Sam had finally accepted his new sister, but this afternoon we were walking to the mail box and Sam said, "Mom, when are we going to take Emma back to the Korea? Emma misses it there." I told him that Emma wanted to stay here with us and he seemed OK with that answer. I have posted some pictures taken tonight. You can see that Emma's hair is getting long and it is now a source of irritation for her and me. When she first came home I was just putting a bow in it, but she would pull it out in 5 seconds. So a few weeks ago I got those little ouchless rubber bands and have been pulling her hair back. For a while she left those in and I could usually catch her before she pulled them out. Well, she has gotten fast at pulling them out. I will have her hair perfectly pulled back and when we are about to get where we are going she has pulled it out. Then her hair looks all crazy. You can also see that Emma is using a spoon by herself. She is a very messing eater. She almost needs a bath every time she eats. Her new thing is sticking her tongue out at people.  Well, Emma is asleep and I need to get Sam to bed. Tomorrow the kids are going swimming and I am going to try to get our stuff together for our trip.