Just today Buggie went in to ask Jon if he could turn on a movie for her to watch. He said "I can't right now, I am working". Buggie then responded by saying
"Dad when a woman ask you to turn on a movie
you gotta do it".

Last week I was working with Jac on sight words. One of the words we were working on was the word THE. I asked her to sound it out, and try spelling it. A couple minutes later she said that she didn't know how to spell it, and didn't want to keep trying to sound it out. Buggie then says from across the room " its spelled T-H-E Jac, that's how you spell
the word THE".

My girls love Taylor Swift. I don't listen to her but, my sister does and she introduced them to her music. So yesterday the girls and I were cuddling in my bed and I was telling them that they both are the most beautiful girls in the world. Buggie then says" no mom Taylor Swift is more beautiful than us. She is a princess". And I said "Nope you are both more beautiful than even Taylor Swift". And then Jac said "Mom your wrong, we are beautiful but, Taylor Swift is the most beautiful girl in the whole earth".

The other day Jac got dressed and ready for school. She looked so adorable, and looked old to me. Maybe it was how I did her hair that morning but, she didn't look little anymore. It made me kind of sad. Then Jac came into the kitchen and said "Mom I feel like I look like a 1st grader". And I said "Why Peanut"? And she said " I just look so tall and skinny and cool". And then I responded with "Oh really"....

Also the other day Jac said randomly "Mom when I am a grown up I am going to live in a hotel in Paris with my Prince Hudson". Then quickly she said "actually I changed my mind. I am going to live in a hotel with Prince Hudson but, in Redondo Beach, so we can be closer to our family".

Anyong Haseyo Seoul (2)

So... Monday morning came quick and we were ready. Ready for Katy to meet her baby girl! We took a taxi to the agency and arrived about an hour early.

We sat and waited a while then went upstairs and had a buffet of yummy Korean food that the agency made for a bunch of families from the U.S that were adopting. After lunch it was finally time! They took us down to a playroom, and we waited for the foster mom and Gracyn to come in. It was only about a minute of waiting before they came in, the foster mom walked into the room while feeding Gracyn a bottle. Tears instantly filled our eyes, and our hearts were overwhelmed with instant love. Katy was meeting her baby girl. I sat on the couch watching in awe of what was happening around me (and of course took a million pictures). Gracyn instantly was interested in Katy. It was like she knew that she was her mom. The foster mom (who has had Gracyn her whole first year of life) was incredibly brave and emotional telling Katy that she is so relieved to know that Gracyn will have what she deserves, a family full of love. It was quite an emotional hour for all of us, and an hour we would never forget. Here just a few of the many pictures I took-









As we said goodbye the next meeting was scheduled for the foster mom to "give" Gracyn to her forever mommy, Katy. It would be wens. afternoon before we head to the airport to fly back to the U.S. They said their goodbyes and knew that it was not for long :) As you can imagine with all the emotions leading up to this meeting and during this meeting Katy was so relieved and on cloud 999! We had to go out and celebrate, and we did :) We went shopping, and ate a fabulous dinner with another couple who was also adopting and picking up their baby.

So... Wens. finally came. We packed our bags full of souvenirs for our kids, and Katy had to pack a HUGE diaper bag to prepare for a long flight back home with a baby on her lap. A baby that she is not familiar with. She had to think about all the things that she may need to resolve any sort of melt down on the plane. She did a great job. Here are a few of the MANY pictures I took of the day Gracyn became part of the Butler family-





After we said the final goodbye to the foster mom and agency (wow that was emotional! sheesh!), we got into a transport car that took us to the airport. They don't use car seats there so Katy got to hold her like (the picture above) the whole ride. She was the most perfect little passenger. She actually fell asleep on Katy about 2 minutes into the drive, and was asleep the whole ride to the airport (which was about 45 min). Katy just kept kissing her little fuzzy head. You could just see the delight, love, relief, and pure joy of finally being able to bring her baby girl home. A home that is filled with love and fun. A daddy that will melt when he see's her, and two big brothers to play with and get into mischief with :) It was quite a moment to just watch Katy with her baby girl and the journey her and her family have been on. It was worth it! Gracyn, is such a gift from the Lord given to the Butler family. She is perfect in every way and made just right. It was such an honor to be able to be part of this process. That Katy picked me to come with her across the world to pick up her baby girl. I will never forget seeing Katy see Gracyn for the first time, it was perfect. Just perfect. We said goodbye to the city Seoul as we were being transported, and anticipated what the flight home was going to be like with this sweet new being.



Katy giving her a bottle before we boarded



Mommy and her girl did a "quick change" before we boarded, and don't they look cute and happy? Both in their stripes.

So.. we had been on the plane for a while at this point. Gracyn had slept on and off, and Katy would try and rest when she was sleeping. When she wasn't sleeping she was either very happy or very sad crying for her foster mom and foster dad. It was heartbreaking. And then she puked. And that started a process of Katy giving her baby Tylenol, and 2 suppositories (that the airline stewardesses gave to her on the plane). She had a high fever most of the flight which made her also very uncomfortable. It was tough. It was hard on Katy to not know all the ways in which Gracyn feels comforted and loved, and hard to hear her cry out for her foster mom. It was hard on Katy because Gracyn was already feeling out of sorts and now to get sick. And to be sick on a plane with puke everywhere. It was hard on Gracyn too for obvious reasons. But, they did it! Both of them did.

When we landed in LA it was such relief to Katy knowing everything was going to be ok, and soon they would be home. Home for good, no more waiting. We went through customs and immigration without any problems or much of a wait. It was amazing.

And so Katy finally got to introduce Gracyn to the rest of the Butler family. Many friends and family were at the airport waiting with anticipation and excitement. Gracyn has many fans already, and could not be more loved. The Butler family is now officially 5 (instead of 4), and what a journey it has been for them:)
They did it!

Anyong Haseyo Seoul (1)

(Part 1)
So... Katy go the call on a Monday morning, and by Monday afternoon we had our flights booked for that Thursday evening. Crazy! Seoul, Korea here we come! We took an overnight flight in hopes to sleep some, (we both got a couple of hours of zzzzzz's). We arrived in Seoul at 4:30am on Saturday (they are 18 hours ahead). Then we took a bus to our hotel (Sommerset Palace) and arrived at our hotel at 7 am. Little did we know that we weren't going to be able to check in until 3pm! So we had 8 hours to kill! The hotel was very kind in trying to accommodate us in any way they could but, there was literally no extra room for us to have. So we left our luggage and decided to hit the town greasy, tired, and cranky. Seoul is an incredible city filled with much to see so, there was no shortage of things to do. Before we did anything we needed to lift our "spirits" a little bit so... we went to Starbucks. We have never been so happy to be at Starbucks:)

Katy being our "navigator" and then we hit the town.

Our first stop was nearby it was the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Built at the begining of the Chosun Dynasty when the Yi Dynasty moved the capital to Seoul, this palace remained the main seat of power for Korea kings throughout much of the time to the present. Anything that is painted in these pictures is hand painted. This palace was massive! It was so massive that my feet ached like we were at Disneyland.

Posing with a traditional Korean soilder

The entrance gate







We finally did get into our hotel, and it was was only 2pm. So... after 6 hours or so we were happy to be in our room.



Our hotel



Our room. We were happy that they put an extra bed in for me because, Katy is a cover stealer, and I am a kicker :)



Our view from our room. That happens to be the palace in the background.

We did end up doing more sightseeing that day and the following day. We had to keep busy because Monday was Katy's day to meet Gracyn and the nerves were getting to us. Between the nerves, the jet lag, the climate change (it was hot and sticky, plus would rain and the drops would be the size of baseballs all day long), and the emotions and stress of what was happening and going to happen we did need to stay occupied. In our hotel there also happened to be many other families that were also adopting so, that made for quick connections and conversations as well as company throughout our week. It was such a gift for especially Katy, to be in constant conversation with other families going through the exact same thing as her and Matt. And we did meet some amazing families who adopted precious kids. Here are just a few more pictures of our sightseeing throughout our trip that week. They are in no order.

School Kids



A local market place









These are dumplings that are each the size of an apple.



Dumpling soup before it's cooked.
And it was super yummy. Our best meal there :)

Part 2- is all about Gracyn
I will post hopefully tomm.

The summer ended for us August 12th, that is when Jac started kindergarten. We tried to prepare her as much as we could but, she still felt quite a bit of anxiety. She is not one for change, and transitions tend to be hard on her. I was feeling quite anxious myself because she was so anxious. Once the first week was down all of us were quite relieved. She has now been in school for about a month and still doesn't love it. She says that they have to do too much work, and not enough play time. It has been quite a shock compared to preschool. She has on average 45 min of homework at night, and its KINDERGARTEN! So all to say this has been a big transition for her and us, but know that it will be a great year, we just need to give it time :)

She looks so little



So... my parents were in town for a couple of weeks and it was perfect timing in so many ways. They got to be there for Jac's first day of school, for one of their favorite Volleyball tournaments that Megs plays in, and Megs and Jared also had a 4d ultrasound done to find out what they are having. Both of their families were there, and it was such a special moment to be apart of.







Hooray! A boy, finally! My sister was shocked, and Jared was relieved :)

Then... Buggie started school. She couldn't have been more ready. She is quite the opposite of Jac in almost every way. She couldn't sleep because she was so excited, the night before she had her outfit picked out down to her shoes and socks. We took her to school, and she just waved goodbye and wanted us to leave. It was pretty cute.
So now twice a week for 3 hours I have time all to myself! It is an amazing feeling :)





Then... the waiting began. The waiting for what you may ask? Waiting to get the phone call from my dear friend Katy. Her and her husband have been in the process of adopting a baby girl from Korea, and she asked me to go with her to Korea since her hubbie, Matt needed to stay behind and watch their boys. We new it would most likely be late August early September so, we were preparing as much as we could to "be ready" for the call.



This is a paper crane mobile I made for Gracyn's room. Each origami has a prayer/blessing written in the inside by one of Katy's friends for Gracyn.





This is Katy's oldest Hudson, (Jac's best friend and "prince")





Buggie sometimes wants to give Hudson a kiss too. I love Hudson's face in this picture.

And... we got the call! That will be my next post :)