It's Official -- He's Ours!

This morning we headed to Sarpy County Courthouse to finalize the adoption of our wonderful blessing, Elliott James. YAY! It's official and it feels GREAT!

One Year Ago Today....

The phone rang early in the morning as I was sitting at work booting up my computer. It was our wonderful social worker, Bonnie, who said "ARE YOU READY?" Was she CRAZY? Yes -- we'd waited for this call!!!! She started talking about him generally -- date of birth, where he was born, health, name, etc. - and then she sent us these pictures and we were IN LOVE! So worth the wait....

Happy Halloween 2011 and 18 months old...

Trick or treating at daddy's workplace resulted in tons o'candy before Halloween so, of course, we went back for MORE on Halloween night in our neighborhood.

EJ is now 18 months and weighs in at just over 20 lbs. We thank God each day for him as we are so blessed to have him in our lives. Thea shows moments of liking him....we're making progress, right?

Loving Fall!

Fall Update:
We celebrated Grandma Linda's birthday and Cousin William's birthday this Fall. We had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Duey. During the visit we all went to Pooley's Pumpkin Patch with Uncle Dan and Aunt Amy. It was so fun! We've been blessed with fantastic weather and will be sad to see it go.

Thea and EJ are looking forward to Halloween (especially Thea, she's been asking about it for a month). There are lots of yards with Halloween decorations in them in our neighborhood so we often go for walks at night and look at the "spookies" as a family.

EJ had ear tubes put in last week and we think he can hear better! He said "mama" and "MATT" so we're hoping for more words soon. He finally weighs 20 lbs. Can you believe he'll be 18 months next week?

Ah That Delicious Sweet Corn

It's Almost September ALREADY

Here's the latest and greatest, folks!

• I am to work (almost) full-time. I missed my clients and co-workers and it's good to be back.


• EJ is adjusting very slowly to daycare; we're thankful my schedule is a bit more flexible so I can be around more as he makes yet another transition.


• Since June EJ gained almost a pound and grew one inch! He's almost to 20 lbs. now and isn't even making the charts.


• Thea had her preschool open house last night and officially starts preschool tomorrow. She'll attend two days a week in the afternoons. The little backpack I bought for her is too small according to the preschool director so we'll look for a bigger one that won't tip her over backwards. I'll try to hold back the tears tomorrow...


• Matt is keeping busy with work, honey-do lists, the kids and his favorite hobby -- making and reloading bullets and pistol competitions!


• Next week we have our second home visit from our social worker. One more and we will be able to finalize our adoption.

More later!!

The Heat Is On!

It's been hot here in eastern Nebraska and we've been doing our best to stay cool. Lots of popcicles, sprinklers and ice cream going on! The last few weeks have been busy. EJ met his cousins, Sidney and Jesse, and Aunt Laura for the first time. Then EJ went on his first big trip to Papa and Mutti's in Scottsbluff with Mommy and Thea. Daddy Matt met us a few days later at the Duey cabin (aka "Mountain Time") in Colorado. Getting out of the humidity and heat was WONDERFUL! Thea and EJ loved the horse, Frosty, and the kitties in Scottsbluff. They loved the chipmunks in Colorado, too.

Lots of folks ask how Thea is adjusting to her baby brother. She has been very challenged for attention, as most older siblings are when the new one comes along. It has been harder for her, most likely, because EJ is mobile and gets into her things. We are hearing "send him back to Korea" less and less and catching a few sweet moments between them -- I've caught them holding hands in the car several times! We have a ways to go with Thea -- we think she is getting better. She starts preschool next month, which she is more than ready for.

EJ is doing great! According to Dr. Duey he has 12 teeth and is getting his canines now. He loves most of what we feed him and is gaining weight. My goal for August is to spend a lot of time getting him used to his new daily routine at daycare with his sister. I start work again on August 24th.

We had our first post-placement visit and it went well. (Bonnie, our social worker, is the coolest.) We are HOPING to finalize the adoption yet this year. For Korea we have to have three post-placement visits and then finalize the adoption through the court system.