Yesterday we found out that there was some corrections that needed to be made to our homestudy. Our social worker called and said that they forgot to add something but I remember reading in our homestudy what they said was not in there (if that makes any sense). So, they found what they were looking for but they said there were still a few little phrases that needed to be changed. SO, our referral did NOT get sent yesterday. Our social worker was fixing the problems last night and was going to overnight the papers to Michigan and was also going to fax the corrections. We are still hoping to meet on Tuesday but it is definitely up in the air right now. We are hoping that the referral was sent out today, but if it does not get mailed today we are hoping it will be sent overnight on Monday and we can still meet Tuesday. We will probably not know anything until Tuesday. Well, the new bed in going good so far. The first night they both slept all night. Emma woke up at 5 but went right back to sleep. Last night Emma cried out at 2:30 but once again went back to sleep in the bed. They both slept until 6, but got in bed with me and we slept until 8:30. They both have not had a nap today so it has been a little crazy. Well Emma had a 30 minute nap but that does not really count. I have been cleaning and getting rid of a lot of stuff last night and today. I also have been moving furniture around in the kids rooms. My friend Jennifer has two girls, ages 7 and 4, and a new baby boy due in the next few weeks. She also has been getting rid of stuff, so she gave us this amazing play kitchen. The kids love it and they have kept themselves occupied themselves all day with it. I will try to get pictures later. Emma has been saying new words almost every day. She is starting to say simple words that Samuel started to say when he started talking so I think she is well on her way of building her vocabulary. Well, Jeremy should be home soon and I am going to go exercise. I wish I could always go in the morning but I guess I will work it in when I can.

We found out today that we are planning on meeting at our agency Tuesday at 2:00. The plan is for the referral to be sent Wednesday and a more experienced social worker is going to fill out all the paper work on Monday and then we will go in Tuesday to sign the papers and get all the information and pictures on Chloe. We still have to wait and see what happens tomorrow, but hopefully all will go as planned. Well I worked all day today. I did not exercise this morning because I had to be at work at 8. Jeremy has another new teacher class tomorrow but I am going to try and get to Curves in the morning. I work tomorrow but will be off the rest of the week so that will be nice. Emma's bed is set up and we are hoping that she sleeps good tonight. The bed looks pretty pitiful because there is not any comforter on it, only the sheets. I looked at several stores yesterday but could not find anything that I really liked for her room. Some of you know the drama at our house concerning the kittens. If you remember our three cats had kittens back in April. Well we have been trying for the past few months to catch them. They would come up on the deck to eat and I would try to grab them but they would take off. The ones I would manage to get my hands on would scratch me. The cat problem has been getting out of control. I finally came up with a plan. We put Maggie's cage on the deck and put the food in the cage. We have been trying to catch all of them at the same time but that was not possible. The past few days we have been trying to catch them but as soon as we opened the door they would run away. Well tonight we were finally successful. We caught two kittens and Jeremy took them away. Just a few minutes ago we caught two more. So we only have 3 more to catch. Maybe by the weekend we will finally be kitten free. 

Well, it looks like we will have to wait another week before we hear anything about Chloe. Jeremy e-mailed our agency in Michigan and they said they got our homestudy and the social worker will look at it Wednesday when she is in the office. I am a little frustrated because I do not understand why they were making such a big deal about the homestudy being faxed to them last week if they could not do anything with it. I guess after they review it on Wednesday they will then send the referral but our social worker is not in on Thursday and the office is closed on Friday. Other than this, we have had a good day. I went to Curves this morning and then went to work. Jeremy and the kids stayed home all day. I am actually having a bit of a sad night. We took Emma's crib down. Jeremy is on his way home right now with her new bed. The bed is not actually new. It is the full size bed that we had when her room was a guest room. Jeremy's parents have been holding it for us. We were not expecting to get it back from them so soon but we are hoping this will help with the sleeping arrangements around here. I better get to bed. I have to work again tomorrow and I am working a longer day than normal. I have posted a few more pictures from this weekend.

I am sorry that I have not blogged for the past few days but we have been really busy. On Wednesday Jeremy had teacher in service all day and I had to work all day. Two girls from our youth group, Emily and Rachael, stayed with Sam and Emma. We all got home Wednesday changed clothes and went to eat at the Mexican restaurant and then off to church. The girls were going to watch the kids Thursday so they ended up staying the night Wednesday. Thursday morning I got up early and went to Curves. I had to be at work at 9 but I was getting off at 2. My parents were coming to our house on their way back from the National. My parents got to our house around 3. I decided to just make supper at home. I thought it might help Emma getting used to my parents better. She does so much better warming up to people when we are at home. My parents have only been around Emma a few times so I was worried that she would not have anything to do with them. By Thursday night Emma was sitting in their laps and playing with them. It was very sweet. On Friday my mom and I and then kids went to Clarksville and shopped a little bit. We then came home so the kids could nap and then when to my brother's house in Mt. Juliet to have supper with their family. We were at their house until after 11 PM last night. Sam and Emma had a great time. Emma fell down a few steps at their house and I thought she was going to have a fat lip this morning but it is not too bad.  Today we went to a couple of stores so Jeremy could get school supplies for his room. He is going next Friday to get his room ready. He then reports to school August 6th and the kids report August 11th. This summer has just flown by! 

Emma and the pacifier and her long bangs. 

Samuel and his favorite puppy

Well I guess if you checked my blog today you can probably guess that I do not have any more information about Chloe or when we are going to get our referral. Today felt very familiar to how I spent my days a year ago at this time. I had my phone in my pocket at work just waiting for it to ring with some information about my child. I did get a call around 3:30 from our social worker letting us know that they faxed our homestudy to AIAA and was putting the hard copy in the mail to AIAA, to us, and sending a copy to Immigration. She did not say when we would hear anything and I did not ask because I knew she did not know. Maybe we will hear something tomorrow. 

Well I was up early this morning. I made it to Curves at 5:50. After I exercised I had time to make a Starbucks run. I came home showered and got ready for work and then we went to Springfield to get the van. We switched the kids to the van and then I went on to work. I was about 10 minutes late and I was already tired, so it was a long day. I got home about 5:30 and finished up supper. I actually put a roast in the crock pot so supper was not too difficult. Emma found a pacifier in her room today and has been putting it in her mouth. She is not sucking on it she just thinks it is funny to have it in her mouth. We spent the rest of the evening getting the house cleaned. Jeremy cleaned the carpets today and they look great. Now we have to keep the kids from eating or drinking on the carpet. Well I better get to bed. I am working again tomorrow. Jeremy has a new teacher clinic the rest of the week so two girls from our youth group are keeping the kids the next two days. The kids will have a blast.

We had a good weekend. I worked on Saturday and the kids went to the Trotter's house to play. Jeremy had softball games. After work we went to Jeremy's game. The game was supposed to start at 4 so I got there about 4:20 hoping that I would not have to sit in the heat for very long but when I got to the field the game had not even started. The kids played in the playground. They got nice and sweaty and dirty. I had to get Emma out of the sandbox because she was eating the sand. We got home around 5:30 and they went straight to the bathtub. They both slept great Saturday night. After church yesterday we took our van to the repair shop and dropped it off so we would not have to get it over there today. Thankfully the air has been fixed and it was not too expensive. Well today I got up and went to Curves at 5:50 and then came home and got ready for work. I did not have to be at work until 9 so I was able to shower before I went to work. I know I keep saying this, but I really like working out at Curves. I guess because I know that the workout is really helping me be healthy and it is a lot of fun. Well Emma's new words are "knock, knock", "please" (minus the "l") "belly", and "hey". She has also started saying "da" when she is wanting Sam. She is not saying a lot of words but she definitely understands everything. She knows exactly what we are talking about when we say something or ask her to do something. She has also started shaking her head "no" over and over when we ask her something. Well, our social worker called and our homestudy will be faxed to AIAA in the morning. We still do not know for certain when we get the referral, but we are hoping it will be sent overnight tomorrow and maybe by the end of the week we will know all about our little girl. Well I am going to go to bed. I am going to exercise again in the morning and then we have to go get our van, all before I have to be at work at 9. 

Oh, some have made comments that they could not make a comment on my blog, well I had it marked on the wrong setting so it should be fixed now. Hope to hear from those who are reading my ramblings. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Emma offering me her cracker
I think Maggie wants to know where her treats went

Sam and his new Thomas pajamas

We are now on plan Z to get our kids to sleep anywhere other than our bed. Last night they slept for a few hours in Sam's bed but Emma woke up screaming. Jeremy went in there and Sam was sprawled out on the entire bed. Emma was trying to push him over but he would not budge. So, she ended up in our bed. We did manage to keep Sam in his bed all night. In fact he did not wake up once. I got up at 5 and went to Curves to exercise when they opened at 6. After I exercised I then went on to work. I was almost to work and I realized that I had both car seats. We have been using the car because the air is not working in the van and the car gets better gas milage. I guess we are going to have the van looked at on Monday. Oh, back to the car seats, Jeremy and the kids were going to meet some friends for lunch so I did not know what to do. Our friends were coming into town from Alabama and we have not seen them in three years. I had to work but Jeremy was going to meet them. So I called Jeremy's dad and they brought the car seat they use to our house. I had to work an eight hour day so I am pretty tired. I was going to exercise tonight but Jeremy has softball tournaments this weekend so I decided to get it in this morning. After work I went to Wal-Mart for some juice and I found some new Thomas the Train pajamas for Sam. That child is getting too big. All of his jammies are getting too small. I came home to find the kids playing with a container that used to hold Maggie's dog treats. Jeremy washed it out and the kids have been playing with it all afternoon. They put sam's trains in it and then try to take turns sitting on it like a chair. They have a thousand toys and they want to play with a dog treat container! Well we are just hanging out at the house tonight. I have to work tomorrow so I guess I will try to get to bed early again tonight. I am going to try to exercise tomorrow before work but I am kinda sore. I guess I will see how I feel in the morning. Oh, Emma has learned how to gargle. That is why her shirt is wet in most of the pictures. She will gargle her juice or milk and most of it then runs out of her mouth. Fun times.

We had a pretty rough night. I think we were up about every two hours. Samuel kept waking up and screaming. A couple of times he had to go to the bathroom and then he was scared of the curtains in his room. Jeremy took the curtains down but then in a few hours he was "scared" of something else. Emma cried out once but I think she was aggravated at the night light. She does not like to have any lights on while she is sleeping. We did sleep a little this morning. We got up and I made some breakfast and then I went to Curves today. I called Tuesday and made an appointment to rejoin. I loved going to Curves last year and I was in the best shape I had ever been in. I have been saying for weeks that I wanted to go back so I finally rejoined. I am actually going to a different one in Clarksville because it is closer to my house. I went this morning and that facility is actually a lot nicer than the one I had been going to. They have about 5 more exercise machines and the surroundings are much better. I loved working out there and I am glad I decided to rejoin. After I exercised I came home and Jeremy and I went on a date. We took the kids to our dear friend Ms. Cathy and we went to see "Get Smart" and then went to eat all by ourselves. We have been home about an hour and we are getting settled to go to bed early. We are going to try to put the kids in Sam's bed again tonight.

Ok, I have some better news then yesterday. Jeremy called our agency in Michigan (AIAA) and they said that our agency here could fax them our homestudy and the third post placement report and then we could get the referral. Everything should be faxed to AIAA on Monday and we are hoping that by the end of next week we will have the information on our precious Chloe. We were also reassured that there are not any known delays with Korean adoptions right now. Our social worker in Michigan did not understand why we were told that there were delays. Now we know that things can come up but for now things are moving as planned. Our case has been passed around so much and I think there has been some miscommunication between social workers. So, please pray that everything is properly done on Monday and that we can get the referral next week. 

Emma and Nana

Well the kids and I had a pretty good few days. I worked all day Monday, we went grocery shopping Tuesday, and I once again worked today. The kids slept with me but we all slept great so I did not mind. Jeremy got back this afternoon from his trip to Knoxville. He said it was pretty boring but he got to know the teachers he will be working with this coming school year. 

Well I had a pretty frustrating day. We met this afternoon for Emma's third post placement visit. Our new social worker is nice but I am VERY nervous about our case. After we were done with Emma's questions I asked her about our homestudy and she said that she had not finished it yet. I was pretty mad because we were told two weeks ago that they received all the paper work and that it was finished. She then said something about we had to wait the 6 months (which would be August) before we could do the referral. We stated that AIAA said we could do it after the visit and after our homestudy was finished. I left really frustrated because no one seems to know what is going on. She then called me on the way home and said that she found our homestudy on her desk and that she thinks it is finished. She is meeting with the director tomorrow to make sure everything is correct. We were also told that another social worker would be doing our referral because it would be difficult for the new social worker but we were told today that the new social worker would be doing the referral. We are already getting a dozen different answers from different people. I was also aggravated because when I talked to her on the phone today she said something about a family that is adopting from Korea got their referral two weeks ago and that they were told that there was some sort of delay in their child coming home. Of course I started to panic and I asked her what the delay was and of course she did not know. So why even mention it! Not very encouraging to a family that has just suffered through a horrible delay in getting their child home. I just do not know why they are being so secretive about Chloe's information. I understand about the paperwork being submitted at certain times but I do not know why they will not tell us anything about her. I think Jeremy might call AIAA tomorrow to see if they can give us some answers and maybe they will know if there are any current delays with Korean adoptions.

Well we are going to try and get Sam and Emma to sleep in Sam's bed together tonight. They seem to sleep great when they know someone else is in the room. We are willing to try anything to get them out of our bed. Well I do not have any pictures to post tonight but I will try to put some on tomorrow. I know those of you that read this blog pray for our family but please say a special prayer for me and this adoption process. I know that my life is crazy right now and I know that having three kids is going to be hard and I still cannot believe that all this is happening, but at the end of the day my child is across the world and I do not know anything about her. I also do not want to spend the rest of this year feeling like I did this time last year. I just need special grace during these uncertain times. 

The kids slept good last night. It was storming so everyone was in our bed, but oh well. Sam and Emma and myself are about to take a nap. Jeremy is leaving for Knoxville today for a teachers clinic and he is taking the computer so I will not be blogging the next few days. Hopefully I will have some more news about Chloe after our meeting on Wednesday. 

Well we got back about 5 PM. We had a great trip. We worked hard all week and we are exhausted but it was worth every minute. We took 12 amazing teenagers on this trip. It is still amazing that these kids pay money to work themselves to death. We left OK yesterday and stayed in Memphis last night. Sam and Emma slept until almost 9 AM so I was thankful for the much needed rest. The kids also did great staying with Nana. Sam and Isabel had a ball. They played outside, swam in a little pool and watched cows that somehow escaped into Kristy's backyard. Emma fell on the front steps so she had a few scratches on her face but she is doing good. Sam and Emma both were happy to see me. We went and got the kids Thursday night and they stayed with us at the church we were staying at for the night. They both will not let me out of their sight. Friday morning Sam was with Jeremy and I was packing up and for some reason they did not know where I was, Sam asked Jeremy, "Did mommy leave me again?"Emma will not let any one else hold her for more than a few minutes. She also had a pretty rough ride home today. She had several breakdowns. She also had a rough morning. I was getting ready this morning and I had my straightener up high enough where see had to work pretty hard to get to it. Well I caught her a few times going towards it so I was very firm and told her not to touch it. I even spanked her hand. Well I was getting Sam dressed and I turned around and she somehow got the straightener and burned her hand. She has a pretty nasty blister. I put some cream on it and she does not act like it is bothering her. Well it is getting late so I better et everyone to bed. We have not downloaded the pictures yet so I will post them tomorrow or later tonight.  Here are few from last Saturday.

Well we have arrived in Clarksville, Arkansas. We are staying the night here and then on to Oklahoma tomorrow. We are staying at a really nice hotel. It is a Holiday Inn Express and it has only been opened a month. The kids (my kids that is) have our own room so I should get some good sleep tonight. Sam and Emma did great on the trip. Emma was not fussy at all and she did sleep a little bit. Sam also did good on the trip but he did not nap at all. We got to our hotel around 5:30, we ordered pizza, and swam for a few minutes. A big storm came through so the teens are just hanging out in the common area. Emma and I are back in the room. It is just about Emma's bedtime. Well I was reminded this morning of something Emma did yesterday. In the mornings when I am getting ready Emma likes to be in the bathroom with me but I have to really watch her because I have caught her trying to put something in the toilet. If the lid is down she does not bother the toilet. Well she also likes to go into the bathroom while Sam is in there so we try to keep her out of the bathroom because my dear Sam has a bad habit of not flushing the toilet. Yesterday I was in the kitchen and I heard Sam say to Jeremy "I have to go potty". I then heard him using the bathroom and then I heard him at the sink washing his hands. Then I hear sam say, "Emma, no no". Then I hear, "Emma, your in big trouble!" So I come out of the kitchen and Sam is walking down the hallway with my favorite hairbrush dripping wet from being dropped in the toilet (dirty water may I remind you). Jeremy was laughing but I did not think it was very funny. I washed the hairbrush in the dishwasher so I am hoping all the germs have been washed off. Have I mentioned that Emma is a mess!

We had a good day. We woke up around 8:00 and then I made a big breakfast. We ate around 9:30 and then Emma and I went down for a nap at about 10. I did not mean to sleep so long, but we woke up 3 hours later! I guess my body knows that it will not be getting much sleep the next week. After we woke up we went to Wal-Mart for a couple of items and then we went to the church to get one of the vans for our trip. When we got home I took the kids car seats out to wash the covers on them. Well the kids thought it was so neat to have their seats in the house. They sat in them while they watched TV and ate some chips. They played in the seats for over an hour. Well I think I am all packed. We are leaving at 9 in morning. I am very excited to see my sister. My brother-in-law, Aaron, has not met Emma yet so he is in for a treat. We are taking 12 teenagers with us. We will be working at a Homeless Shelter next week . These trips are very tiring but very rewarding and fun. We are only going 6 hours tomorrow and then stopping to stay the night and finish the trip on Sunday. Sam and Emma are staying at my sister's house with Aaron's mom while we are staying at a local church in Oklahoma City. Well I will not be able to post while I am gone but 

Well not much going on here today. I had to work and Jeremy and the kids had to run a few errands but hung around the house most of the day. Emma slept almost 4 hours today so she is still going strong. After work I came home and then I took Emma to a friends house so Sam and I could go to Jeremy's softball game. I felt bad because I have not been to any of his games and Sam really wanted to go. There was no way that I was going to sit at the ball field with two wiggling kids in 90 degree weather. Jeremy actually has two games tonight but we did not stay for the 9 o'clock game. I am trying to pick up around here and finish packing. We are staying in tomorrow so I guess I finish everything then. We usually go downtown for fireworks but we are not going this year. We were also thinking about going to a Sounds baseball game but we do not want to be out late since we are leaving Saturday. We also do not now how Emma will like the fireworks so we will wait until next year. Fireworks actually make me kinda mad because I think about how much money was wasted each time one goes up and becomes ashes. I know they are pretty, but it still makes me a little mad. 

Well we found out yesterday that all our paperwork as come in and our homestudy should be complete. We were assigned a new social worker and we are meeting her July 16th. We are a bit confused because post placements are supposed to take place at our home, but Jeremy got an e-mail from her to confirm our visit but she said we were meeting at the office. Our social worker is not in today so we could not ask if there was some mistake. We are holding on to a little hope that maybe we are meeting at the office so we can do Chloe's referral:) I know that may be wishful thinking but wouldn't that be great. I am trying not to get my hopes up because she may want us to meet at the office because she is new. I will let you know as soon as I know something. Well Emma is finally getting tired so I guess I will put her to bed. Here is a cute picture of Sam trying on his daddy's glasses. 

Sam wearing Daddy's glasses

I finally admitted something yesterday. I had been ignoring it for a few weeks because I new it meant that my little girl was growing up, but I admitted that Emma no longer needs a big diaper bag. She is past the age where I need to carry bottles, formula, several changes of clothes, and toys everywhere we go. I have been just grabbing a few diapers and her wipes when we go to the store or other short errands. She is now at the age where she needs a few diapers, wipes and her cup. The last few weeks when I have taken her diaper bag there really is not anything in it. So, yesterday we ended up going to Wal-Mart and I found this little Princess backpack. The backpack can easily fit the things she needs and the bonus is that she can actually carry it. We got home and she wanted to wear it so Sam got his backpack and they played with them until bedtime. This morning the backpack was the first thing she wanted. Well Emma is taking her morning nap and Sam is watching some cartoons. Jeremy is finishing up his classes this week so the kids and I are going to get out the house for a few hours so he can write a paper and take an exam. I think I will take a trip to Target. It feels weird not going to work today. I feel like I am skipping or something. I am going tomorrow to work instead of today. I am then off until July 14th. 

Sam and Emma writing on the Aqua Doodle

Well it is July. I woke up this morning and was actually kind of sad. Sometime this month Chloe will turn one. I thought it might be easier not really knowing when her actual birthday is, but I am not so sure. Every day I will wonder if today is her birthday. We talked to our social worker yesterday and they are still waiting on my clearance letter from TN concerning my fingerprints. It is kinda weird because Jeremy's clearance came a few weeks ago and we had them done on the same day. She was going to  re fax something to the TBI yesterday. Hoping our homestudy will be done this week. We also got some good news concerning Emma's final adoption cost. Our friend's daughter came home two weeks after Emma so we are going to do our court date the same day. The lawyer we are going to use is going to split the fee so the cost will be about $400 less than what we thought. Well we all just got out of bed a few minutes ago. Emma is sitting on the couch with her blanket and Sam is drawing on his Aqua doodle. I need to get packing today for our trip on Saturday. We are leaving Saturday for Oklahoma. Well the natives are getting restless, they want breakfast. Well I weighed in today. I only lost 1 pound:( But I did lose a few inches. I really like using this program. Why doesn't weight come off as easily as it came on? Well I will try to post some pictures of our day, that is if they stay still long enough for me to get their picture.