Peanut

Jac has been a kindergartner for almost 4 months now.
It has been more of a difficult transition than I would have imagined for her. I knew that "change" and "transition" can be hard for her but, once she gets the new "routine" or "reality" she tends to be just fine. She is also similar to myself where naturally she keeps all her emotions and worries inside ( I have been on the road to not internalize now for quite some time but, it still can be hard). She has a hard time talking about school, or how she feels about school (not because she can't articulate it but, because she would rather just keep it inside) With the stress she continues to carry regarding school, you can see her worry and burden and just want to just take it all away! FYI- She has an amazing group of friends and teacher, and I love the school.
Well... tonight she was having a hard time going to sleep. I came and checked in on her and it was one of those moments in time that I will remember. I caught her in a time where she wanted to talk about school, and wanted to talk about why kindergarten is so hard. I was able to listen to her fears, hear her thoughts, and then speak truth into her words. While talking and snuggling in her bed you could see the relief that my words brought to her heart. Having to tell her that the 2nd grader that keeps telling her and her friends that they can't play in the "tree circle" is just him teasing her. And that even if Madison says she doesn't want to play with her at recess, doesn't mean she doesn't want to be her friend. And that it's awesome that all the girls in her class want to sit next to her. And next time when Gabrielle says "shut up" just tell the teacher.
I love my Jac. My sweet girl is such a rule follower, and has gotten so stressed out over this whole thing called Kindergarten. Both Jon and I have no sense of worry or fear for her and her ability to not only succeed and excel in school but, know that soon (and hopefully real soon) she will love school!
And as I write this she is now fast asleep in her cozy bed, dreaming away.
Sweet dreams to you :)

I am not sure why I have not blogged more these days but, I think it comes down to being busy with life and having fun with my family :) I am so glad that we have now entered November! Summers are brutal here so to be able to see the mountains, and know that there will be lots of snow on them soon is exciting. Between both girls being in school, helping out in their classes and all the many activities that come with that, plus the church it was a crazy October. Entering into November feels good. This month we will be in Colorado twice (this weekend the girls and I are going, and then in 2 weeks our whole family including Megs and Jared will all be there for Thanksgiving). When were not in Colorado visiting the folks I hope to be enjoying Redlands, sewing for my Etsy account (hoping to post things mid November), and going to Disneyland as much as we can. Here is some of what's happened the last couple of weeks through pictures, enjoy :)

Buggie went to an Apple Farm with her class. I love fresh pressed cider! It's so good!

Feeding a crazy chicken

Jac with Hudson and Gracyn. Doesn't she look like a "who" from Dr. Seuss, with her little curl on the top of her head? So cute, that girl!

Buggie at the Pumpkin Patch. I felt like we went so many times but, at least it was a different one each time.

Jac's first time riding a bus. She was so excited not to go to the pumpkin patch but, to ride a bus! She freaked out that she didn't have to put on a seat belt. It was pretty funny.

In awe of the bus

Feeding goats at the Pumpkin Patch

Buggie was a Ladybug for Halloween

Jac was a dragonfly. But called herself "a dreamy dragonfly".

I was also a butterfly.

Trick or Treat!

I caught this picture walking to our car after all the "Halloween Hoopla". They were so tired, and we were too.

After we trick or treated in downtown Redlands, we came back to our house to host our 3rd annual Murder Mystery Party with our church, Restoration. It was a ton of fun! Jon decided we wanted to be Magnum P.I. Will maybe post pictures of that soon. Let's just say I am not a fan of his bushy mustache :) But, I do love him :)

Happy November!

Fall

Its Fall!
Even though the temperature outside hasn't quite dropped to "chilly" yet, in my world/house I have made it Fall. Just wanted to share what crafty or Fall things I have done around our home. It's been fun, and know my mind is one to fun decorating ideas for Christmas :)

Happy Fall to you!

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.