Sam and his new haircut and his scabbed nose

Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day. We all slept in so that was nice and then the kids and I just hung around the house most of the morning. The kids took a little nap and then our friend watched the kids so I could go exercise. I had another sleepless night. I was so tired but I just could not fall asleep. I had a million things running through my head. Most of things involved three little Koreans:)I have also been a little anxious about our finances, mainly getting Chloe's adoption paid off. We have several grant applications out to organizations but you just never know if they will be able to help. We will be OK, but I just do not like this much debt hanging over our head. Well, I finally drifted off to sleep and Emma woke up crying or should I say screaming. I went in her room and laid down with her hoping she would go back to sleep but she was mad that I did not pick her up. She kept crying and then she heard her daddy in the other room say, "Just bring her in here" and that is what I did. The whole time Emma was crying Samuel stayed fast asleep but as soon as I put my head back on my pillow I saw a little figure coming down the hallway. Sam comes into our room and said, "Hey, I cannot sleep by myself." So I got up and we went to Emma's bed to sleep. We then were up early because I had to be at work at 8. Tomorrow the plan is to clean, clean, clean. I was going to take our two cats in tomorrow to get spayed but I we are going to be gone all weekend and I forgot that they may need some extra attention so I rescheduled for next week. My parents are coming in tomorrow night and then we are off to Family Reunion on Friday. So, I will not be posting the next few days. The other night Sam and Emma found a dog costume in Sam's closet so they wanted to wear it. I have posted a short video of their silliness.

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Well I have decided that I can no longer take naps on Sunday afternoons. I took a great nap yesterday, but I think I slept 3 hours last night. I tossed and turned until about 2 am and I was just about to doze off and our bedroom door flung open (scaring me to death) and Sam announces he has to go to the bathroom. Emma realizes she is now in the bed by herself and starts crying. So, Sam and I went to their bed and Emma and Jeremy were in our bed. I then went back to sleep and had to get up at 5:30 to get to work. It was pouring down rain and so I had everyone covered up, two bags and my purse, and Emma in my arms. We are about to go out the door and Sam drops his cup on the floor spilling juice all over the dining room floor. I had to put everything down and clean it up. I got the kids to Gran and Papa's house and then got stuck in traffic on my way to work. Not exactly a great start to the week. I worked all day and then I met Jeremy and the kids at Wendy's for supper and Sam and I went and got a haircut. Sam's hair had gotten really long but my friend Jennifer cuts our hair and she is kinda busy right now with her new baby. So, I took a chance and I went to the walk in place in Wal-Mart. I cut my hair off. I was just so tired of fooling with it. Well my hair looks ok, but Sam looks kinda silly. I guess that sounds mean, but his hair looks like it was painted on. Thankfully his hair grows pretty quickly. He did very good sitting still during his hair cut. He also looks pitiful because he fell Friday at Gran's house and scrapped his nose. He has a big scab down his nose. It is weird because when you look at him from far away he looks like he missing his nose, it is really strange.Well I am going to bed. The kids and I are staying in most of the day tomorrow. It is supposed to rain most of the day so maybe they will sleep in tomorrow. 

We had a busy day yesterday. We left the house early. I actually left the kids in their pajamas when I took them to Gran and Papa's house. I worked all day and was pretty exhausted when I got home. We decided to go to Old Chicago Pizza for supper. We then came home and all of us ended up falling asleep in the living room. Jeremy was on the long couch and the kids and I were asleep on the love seat. I did wake up after about 45 minutes and we all went to our beds. I had to work again today so I got up and went to work and Jeremy and the kids went to the mall to Old Navy because they were having this sale on jeans. Jeremy said it was so crazy and he did not even stay in the store. He said the lines were ridiculous.  I just got home a few minutes ago and now I am starting my second job. I will be cleaning my own house. Well Jeremy checked our Fedex account and Chloe's papers were sent to Immigration on Thursday and were scheduled to be delivered yesterday. I did not think it would be sent until Monday so I was happy. Well, I have a million things to do so I better get off the computer.

Well we got our I600A approval today in the mail. I faxed it to our agency this morning and I am hoping that they sent the paperwork to the Immigration office in Memphis. We then came home and we took a nap. I have not been sleeping well that past few days. I am so exhausted but when I go to bed I cannot go to sleep. Well I posted a video of Emma but I have a better one of her but it will not post tonight for some reason. I will try tomorrow. Well we are all off to bed. We all have to leave early in the morning

Welcome to the Roller Coaster Ride

Well I actually have some GOOD news today. I e-mailed the Immigration office in Memphis last night hoping to get some information on if they had all our paperwork and to maybe get a time frame on when we would get our approval. I was not expecting much information from them because they were not helpful during our ordeal with Emma and were very vague on all information. Jeremy had the computer today so I did not check my e-mail until this evening and I had an e-mail from Memphis saying that our I600A was approved on August 7th and were surprised that we had not received it yet. They then sent me a second e-mail saying that they just discovered that our approval had actually been returned to them on Friday because they mislabeled the envelope and our address was wrong. They were very apologetic and said they corrected the problem and it was sent back in the mail today. I think it is pretty crazy that they already messed up on mailing something but I am glad that it approved and we will only be two weeks later when Chloe's paperwork will be sent back to the Memphis office for the I600 approval so her visa can be issued to come home. The turn around time was pretty impressive for the I600A so I am hoping that the next approval will be less than the 8 weeks they are saying. 

Well today started out really weird. I woke up this morning and I felt really hungry. So I got up and drank some water, took my vitamin, and ate some cereal. About 5 minutes after I ate I felt weird and I knew that I was about to get sick. I went in the bathroom and sure enough I got sick about 8 times. I did not feel bad and my stomach was not even hurting. I had some things to do today so I decided to go ahead and get ready and the kids and I went to the store. I have not gotten sick anymore so I do not know what the deal was. I went to the Fedex store to make copies of all of Emma's legal paperwork and sent them to our lawyer so we can finalize Emma's adoption. The kids usually go crazy in that store but they were good. We then went to Wal-Mart and Target and then we came home. I got caught up on my laundry and realized that we have way too many items of clothes. So I spent the afternoon going through my closet and drawers getting ride of clothes I do not wear anymore. I then started making supper and when Jeremy got home I went to Curves and had another amazing workout. Well the kids need to get out of the bath and then to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow. I have to be at work at 8. This is my last week of working three days. I go to two days a week starting next week so that will be great. 

Disappointing News

Well I have some disappointing news about the time frame of when Chloe will be home. I got a call from our social worker TODAY saying that we need our I600A approval before our I600 form approving Chloe to come home can be sent to Memphis. Now do not get me wrong, I am not upset at the process. I understand that there is certain steps and certain papers that need to be filed and such BUT I am pretty upset that we have spent all week thinking that Chloe's papers had been sent to Memphis and they have not been sent. I am frustrated that we were not asked the day of the referral if we had our I600A approval or why we did not get a call last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. or Thursday about this issue. We sat in the agency that day of the referral and were told that it would be sent to Immigration. So, here is the new scenario. Our papers were sent to Immigration on July 22nd for the I600A and they say it could take 8 weeks so we are only on week three. After we get the approval we then can send Chloe's paperwork which will be another 8 weeks if we are lucky. We actually got our I600A approval with Emma in about 3 weeks so please pray we get the approval this week. Please pray for me. I actually feel like someone has punched me in the stomach. I have been a little emotional the past few weeks anyway so this kinda adds to my sad mood. I also did not sleep much (if any) last night. I do not know what my deal was but I could not go to sleep. Well I just got home from Curves and I am sweaty and tired. I started a new program tonight at Curves. Each machine is like my own personal trainer. I actually burned 450 calories so I think I will have some ice cream tonight. Once again I just ask that you will say a special prayer for me. I just cannot believe how bumpy this journey has been. I cannot share all the details but the ups and downs of us adopting Chloe started back in December and I guess I am just weary from the emotional strain. 

I forgot to mention that our precious Emma came home 6 months ago today. It is hard to believe that it has been that long. We are so thankful that we have been chosen to be her parents. Here are a few pictures of our first days with Emma.

I cannot believe that is already Saturday evening again. Last week was like a whirlwind.  My friend Jennifer had her little boy Thursday afternoon so we went to the hospital around 7:00 that night. Sam was so sweet with the baby. He wanted to kiss and love on him and we was very interested in everything the nurses were doing to him. Jennifer's daughter are Olivia who is in 1st grade and Sarah who is the same age as Samuel. Well, Sarah has been talking the past few months that she has two boyfriends, Samuel and a little boy that lives next door to them. So Thursday at the hospital Olivia and Sam were playing together and Olivia had her hand on Sam's arm and Sarah marched over to her sister and said, "Hey, he's MY boyfriend!" We laughed so hard. Samuel was oblivious to what she was talking about, it was pretty cute (well it's cute right now). Friday I got up early and went to Curves. I was pretty proud of myself. My alarm went off at 5:20 AM and I got up and reset the alarm and went back to bed. I laid there for a few minutes and I some how convinced myself to get up and exercise, so I did. I then worked all day and came home last night and tried to clean the house some. Today we all went to the park. Jeremy is training for a half marathon so he went to the park to run and the kids and I walked (the kids rode in the wagon) about 1.5 miles and then played on the playground until Jeremy got finished. We were planning on staying longer but it was too hot. Jeremy was worn out from running and I was worn out from pulling them around. I think my arms got a better workout than my legs. We got home and I showered and Sam and I went to Wal-Mart for groceries. Jeremy and Emma stayed home and took a nap. My goal tonight is to get all my laundry washed. I am not promising to put it all away, but I would like to get it washed. Well I better get something together for supper and I guess my laundry will not get done on its own. Enjoy the pictures.

Sam at the park

Emma at the park

Emma getting caught with her hands in the goldfish bag

We have a busy day ahead of us today. We got up about an hour ago. We have all eaten breakfast and  are all getting ready to head out the door. I have a few errands to run so I am taking the kids to our dear friend's house to play. I am also going to go exercise while I am out. I was going to exercise after Jeremy got home from school but my friend Jennifer is having her baby today so we are going to the hospital this evening to see her baby boy Eli. Jennifer and her husband Frank work with Jeremy and I at the church with the youth group. They have two girls and now a boy and I have the boy and two girls. A few weeks ago we were somewhere together with our kids and Jennifer reminded me that we would have 6 kids between us. We both laughed at how crazy that will be. We will need a church van if we all want to go some place together. I keep forgetting to post that Emma has learned how to say "thank you" in sign language. They were watching Blue's Clues a few weeks ago and she copied Blue so Jeremy started working with her and she actually does it say "thank you". Samuel these days is all about his birthday even though it is over a month away. He is however getting an early birthday present. We are going in a few weeks to "A Day out with Thomas". Thomas the Tank Engine is coming to Nashville so we are taking him to ride the train and what ever else will be going to with he event. Well I better go Emma just bit Samuel. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a kid to stop biting? I am sure my mom is laughing right now because I was the biter among her kids. I guess this is what I get for all the times I bit my sister and anyone else I could sink my teeth into. Oh, sorry I have not been posting any pictures of Sam and Emma the past few days. Jeremy has had the camera at school. Here are a few more pictures of Chloe that had not posted yet.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. We stayed in most of the day. The kids and I got out yesterday for a little bit. We went for a walk in a neighborhood about 10 minutes from our house. I took their wagon and I walked about 30 minutes. I usually walk in our neighborhood but it is so hilly and it is very hard work pulling 50 pounds in a wagon. It is a good workout but it is not very fun. The kids played really nice together and we had a very relaxing day. Today I went to work and the kids went to Gran and Papa's for the day. Emma is so sweet. She is calling me

momma all the time now and it just melts my heart. When I went to pick them up after work they were both asleep so I went in the room and she slowly opened her eyes and sweetly said "momma". 

It is crazy to think that we were in Korea six months ago this week. Thursday after we got Chloe's referral I was thinking that the past six months have flown by and it is strange to think about what our lives will be like six months from now. I have been thinking a lot today about time. I know that sounds weird, but I have been thinking about what I do with my time. I have always been guilty of living from one event to another and it just seems like when I live like that I miss all the details of every day life. It is crazy that we waited 8 months from the time we got Emma's picture to when she came home and it was a hard wait but it actually went by really fast. I just got so caught up in the wait that I know I missed very precious moments with Samuel and with my family. I do not really remember anything significant about those 8 months but the waiting. I do not want to be guilty of that again while we wait for Chloe to come home. I definitely want her to come home soon but I do not want to wish that time goes by fast. I want to treasure every moment I have with Sam and Emma. The only thing accomplished by wishing time to go by quickly is lost time. 

We had a pretty good weekend. We actually all slept a lot. Saturday we got up and went to Sam's Club for a few things, mainly diapers and wipes. It actually makes my stomach hurt a little when I think about how many diapers I will be going through when I have two in diapers. We went to eat lunch and then we all came home and took a nap. We all slept three hours. We then just hung around the house the rest of the afternoon. I tried to get caught up on my laundry. Tried is the key word. After church we went to Jeremy's parents for lunch and then we all took a nap Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately Jeremy and I did not sleep good last night. I finally went sleep sometime after 12:30 and I am not sure what time Jeremy went to sleep. The kids cried our at 4:45 and then I got up at 5:20 and went to Curves. Jeremy had his first official day of school. I think he had a good day. He had a few rowdy kids but he said most of the kids are really sweet. One student already got in trouble today and they were only at school until noon. Sam and Emma went to our friend Lisa's house today. They had a great day. They went swimming and went and got ice cream. They also came home with two very noisy toys, thanks Lisa:) Emma is saying a new word every day. Her favorite word this week is "car". Every time she sees a car she says "car" and then makes the noise of a car. Imagine how excited she was the other day in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. Well I am going to get the kids down for bed. We are planning on staying in tomorrow. That will be nice.

MORE PICTURES OF CHLOE

Chloe is 13 months old today. It is weird that we kept thinking all of July that she was 12 months old and just like that she is already 13 months old. Today it has sunk in that I am going to have three children. Everyone always makes comments about how young I look and I told my sister today if these three kids do not age me I guess I will look like a teenager forever. I also have been very excited today thinking that this precious little girl will be apart of our family. I did not expect to be this excited the third time but I am. We are just trying to sit tight for the next few months and pray that everything goes smoothly. It is interesting that it was a year ago today that Emma's paperwork was sent to the Immigration office in Memphis. A lot of people say things about how much we are missing and how much we have missed but I actually just miss her. It is a strange feeling missing someone you never met, but that is how it is. Well I worked all day and Jeremy had his last day of in-service. His students report on Monday. The kids went to Gran and Papa's today. They went to the park and to Sonic for ice cream. I am off tomorrow so it will be nice to spend time together. It has been pretty crazy around here all summer. Believe it or not I have some more pictures of Chloe that I did not post last night. I am also posting a few of Sam and Emma from yesterday. We went back up to Jeremy's school and Jeremy has this cabinet and Sam was hiding in it and Emma was shushing me so Daddy would not find Sam.

Chloe Mee Riggs (HA Meeyoung) was born July 8, 2007 and weighed about 7 pounds. In June she weighed 20 pounds and was 29 inches long. She is about the same size as Emma. She is developing very well. She is very mild and loves to laugh and play. She has been living with her foster family since November. She was hospitalized in June for something called Cellulites or something like that. It was a big confusing. Everything got kinda mixed up in the translation. She was treated with medicine and it seems like everything is OK. I will be calling our doctor tomorrow to let him look over her paperwork. We were surprised to see that the letter from Korea sent to our agency about Chloe's condition already had us named as the parents. We were also happy to know that her legals from Korea were already in the referral papers. This means that are wait time has been reduced by about a month. Our paperwork will be sent to Memphis (Immigration Office) on Monday. The Memphis office is stating that their process of the I600 is taking 8 weeks. We are praying that we do not have the same nightmare we had with Emma's paperwork. We are going to TRY not assume when she will be home. It makes it hard when you start trying to speculate when she will be home. We are still praying that she will be home before Emma's birthday. Enjoy the pictures of our sweet Chloe.

THE REFERRAL HAS ARRIVED!!

I just got a call from our social worker and Chloe's paperwork has finally arrived at their office. I will post ALL the details tonight!

Disappointed is the word today. We got a call at 1:30 saying that our paperwork had not been received at our adoption agency. Our social worker said that even if the referral came in this afternoon they would not have time to go through it and do what they need to do this evening. So we made plans to go tomorrow afternoon. Our social worker said she would call if the papers came in today. Well I got a call at 2:30 from our social worker saying that she talked to AIAA and they did not even send the referral yesterday like they said they did. WHAT? They did say that the papers were sent today and are scheduled to be delivered at our agency at 10:00 tomorrow morning. So, we should be good for tomorrow but who knows. Jeremy had a change a plan today at his school. He is now teaching the fourth grade instead of first grade. The fourth grade teacher took a different position so the grade became open. I know Jeremy would have done great teaching 1st grade but it was going to be difficult and and totally different than what he was used to teaching. Fourth grade is a little closer to junior high. I guess the new 1st grade teacher had a nice clean room that we spent two days cleaning and getting ready. The other fourth grade teacher actually goes to church at The Donolson Fellowship so that is neat. Well I need to get something together for supper. I was not planning in being here tonight for supper. Then we are off to church. Here are a few pictures of my precious Sam and Emma. Oh, they slept ALL night in their bed, Yeah!

I just thought of something about posting Chloe's pictures tomorrow night. I guess it will depend on when we get out of our meeting with the social worker. We will have to get the pictures scanned and uploaded to a disk at Wal-Mart but since we have church tomorrow night we may not get the pictures on the disk. So, if the pictures are not up tomorrow they will up Thursday but hopefully tomorrow.

We are supposed to meet tomorrow at 3:30 to get our referral. Our agency in Michigan sent it this morning. I hope the meeting will happen this time. Well we had a very tiring day. We were at Jeremy's school ALL day again. The kids were really good and we actually got a lot done. It is still pretty overwhelming for him, but I think he is getting a handle on his room. We just got home a few minutes ago and I am now making supper. Emma just got in trouble (from her daddy) for hitting Sam in the head with a train. Well the kids slept good last night. Sam woke up once to go to the bathroom so Emma woke up for a few minutes but they both went back to sleep in their bed. The pictures posted are from this weekend. I tried to post them last night but it would not let me. Check back tomorrow night and hopefully there will be pictures of our precious Chloe.

Well I am pretty frustrated. We have no idea what is going on with Chloe's referral. We were told that we would know when our agency in Michigan was going to mail the papers and still nothing today. Jeremy called our social worker here and she e-mailed Michigan but she never got a response. So I am doubting that we will be meeting tomorrow at 2:00 like we planned. You would think that the third time around would not be this complicated. This is already crazy and we have not even started the hard part of this journey. I guess it is possible that the referral has been mailed and will arrive tomorrow but I am not counting on it. We are all going back up to Jeremy's school tomorrow to work on his room. He starts in service on Wednesday so he wants to get most of his room done tomorrow. Well our sleeping situation is not going great but it is better than it was. Sam and Emma have been falling asleep in their bed but Emma has been waking up at 2:30 every morning. Jeremy will go in to get her and bring her to our bed and then Sam wakes up so I go get in their bed. At least now when they wake up we have an actual bed that we can sleep in. Emma has been a little constipated so that may be why she has been waking up the past few nights. We got her some medicine today to help with her constipation. I am actually really tired tonight. I did get up early and went to Curves and then I had to be at work at 8:00. I did not get off work until 4:30. I got home at 5:30, made supper, and Jeremy had to leave for a deacon meeting. I am now just trying to settle down for the night. The kids are watching "Finding Nemo" so they are being pretty calm right now. I need to get the beds remade. Samuel had an accident in the bed this morning so Jeremy washed those sheets. Jeremy put Sam in our bed for a nap and he wet in our bed too. He got up from his nap and was standing in the kitchen (we did not know he was wet) and Jeremy was telling me that Sam had wet this morning. Well I just wanted to hold Samuel for a minute so I said, "Sam, come over here and see Mom". Sam looked at me and said, "What are you going to do with me?" He thought he was trouble and he did not want me to know he was wet. I also want to brag on Sam a little. Last night the kids had their Patch the Pirate program at church. He did such a great job. He sang and said his verses like he was grown. It was very sweet. 

We had a crazy day. I was going to exercise this morning but I was too tired. It is weird. When I know that I already have to get up early I do not mind getting up earlier to go exercise but when I know I can sleep in a little I cannot get motivated. So we all got up at 8 and we got ready and went to Jeremy's new school to work on his room. We were there ALL day and still there is a lot to do. It was a little difficult because Sam and Emma were with us and they just kept making a mess. They drug everything out. Emma also had a few tantrums. I cannot remember the whole little poem but my Grandma used to say this thing about a little girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid. That may seem mean but that is my little Emma. She does not seem to have an in between in her moods. Thankfully she is sweet more that she is horrid. When she gets upset she just screams for a few minutes and cannot be consoled until she is done being mad. I hear this is very common with girls. She did have an amazing vocabulary day. This morning she pointed to a sore on her hand and said "boo boo". She tried to repeat everything Sam said today. We went to Chick-Fil-A for supper and she grabbed my piece of chicken and said "hot" while she was fanning her hand. I was sitting down and she came up to me and patted my leg and said "lap". She wanted me to hold her. She also has been saying "backpack" and "go". I have posted some pictures of the kids playing today at Jeremy's school.

Sam and Emma in their new bed