A Place of your very own...

We, meaning my mom, Libby and I, have worked very hard getting Ty's room ready for him so he would have a place of his very own.  What started as a simple project turned into something much bigger...doesn't it always happen that way!?!  There was a sports border around the top of the room and I wanted to remove it.  I was hoping that the previous owners had painted all the way to the ceiling before putting the border on, I wasn't that lucky!  So, my mom and I had to paint a perfect strip all the way around the top of the room.  I must say, we did a darn good job! 



My IKEA find...




This dresser cost me $5.00 at a moms-to-moms sale.  I am a little like my dad, I like a good bargain.  My mom and I painted it blue to match the strip on the wall.



Big boy bed!  We have a crib and a bed in Ty's room (I think I'll be spending my nights sleeping in this bed).  The headboard was junk picked by my sister and painted by, you guessed it me and my mom!  LOVE the train bedding!!!



Lib set up all the toys for Ty.  These use to be her toys and she had no problem giving them to him...she has moved onto bigger and better toys!




Tyler and Libby have matching painted names in their rooms. 



 My next post will be Libby's Bedroom...She did a Dr. Seuss theme and it is adorable!




Time Seems to Stand Still...

Why is it that when you want something so bad, time seems to stand still?  Last Saturday we met with our Social Worker to update our homestudy and she informed us that the last child that came home from Korea took 8 months from referral date.  If that timeline remains that puts us closer to October to travel to get  Ty...Why or why?  We're really hoping for the orginial timeline of 4-6 months having us travel in July/August!  Other than that news, our update was pretty painless.  It was home study update 4 and dear God please make it our last! 

The good news is that yesterday we got a new Well Baby Check Report and picture of Ty.  OMG, he is so cute!  He looks so different from his last pics.  He has thinned out and has the cutest look on his face.  We just wanted to reach through the computer and squeeze him!  The picture was a pic of him and his Foster Mother.  She is beautiful, ageless.  She is a 68 year old woman who looks 50!  What was really touching was that in front of him was all the stuff we sent him in his care package.  It's so nice knowing he got these things and will now have pictures of us to look at.   The Well Baby Check says that he is 8.3 kilograms, which is equilivant to 18.6 lbs.  Looking at him you would never think he weighs 18.6 lbs., he looks so little! 
Anyway, the rest of the report was good.  He will be 8 months old on the 27th and is developmentally at the age of a 6 month old, that's expected with him being a preemie so no worries!

We truly wish we could post his pic. so you could see him...sorry you're just going to have to take our word that he is so adorable... truly a Ty,Ty, special guy!  Libby calls him Ty, Ty, Super Guy...he's her super hero!

I'm feeling Motivated...

Instead of giving up something for Lent, I decided to do something...create this blog!  It took me until nearly the end of Lent to do it, but I finally did it!  So now I need to keep it current, and I'm already at least a month behind...oh the pressure. 
Since we got our referral we have gotten some additional medical reports on Ty.  At first we were a little concerned about some of the findings but after talking to our neonatologist, aren't we fancy we have our own neonatologist on speed dail :), and getting more info. from Korea on Ty our concerns were eased.
With Ty being a Preemie, born at 35 weeks weighing 5 lbs., they tell us he is a little delayed, about 2 months.  To us this is nothing, Libby was always at least 3 months delayed until she reached 2 years old.  The delay is expected and something that will disappear quickly.  Overall, he is in good health.  He lives with a Foster Family just outside of Seoul.  His foster mother has been fostering children for 27 years, what a wonderful woman.  It must be so hard for her to let these little babies go. 

I wish were could post a picture of Tyler but we have been told that we cannot post pictures or and identifying information on the web.  We understand this but we so want you to see how cute he is.  He has chubby little cheeks and looks so serious in his photos.  You will just have to wait to see him...it will be worth the wait, I promise!

Last week we sent Ty a care package with some special little things for him and a letter.... 

April 5, 2011

Our Dearest Son,

On February 25^th we received the news we had been waiting to hear for the longest time, that you were our beautiful son!  It was a day of sheer joy for our family.  When we saw your picture all we could do was smile.  You are so cute and we can’t wait to hold you in our arms.  We know that you are in good hands with your foster family.  We are very grateful to them for all the love and care they give you. 

          You have a sister in Michigan waiting to meet you.  Her name is Libby and she is 5 years old.  She is so excited to have a little brother.  She has been helping us get your room ready and pick out new clothes for you.  She can’t wait to play with you and teach you things!  You also have a little dog named Reggie.  He is very sweet and you will love playing with him. 

          Daddy and I plan on traveling to Seoul to pick you up.  We are so excited to see the country where you were born and learn about your culture.  We are also very excited to meet your Foster Family.  They must be very special people with big hearts.  We are anxiously waiting to get our travel call so we can meet you and bring you home to Michigan to live with us forever. 

          Know that Mommy, Daddy and Libby all love you very much!  We will see you very soon…

* Enclosed are a few little things we wanted you to have.  One is a little photo album book with pictures of our family.  We wanted you to be able to see us before we came to get you.  We also enclosed a blanket for you to cuddle with, a few little outfits, and Libby picked out a cute little rattle toy for you to play with.  For your special Foster Mother we sent some body lotion and bath gel as a token of our appreciation and thanks.  

Another Small Package

The old saying, "Good things come in small packages,"  sure does apply to our family!  On February 25th we recieved the news we had been waiting for for nearly 2 years... we were getting a little guy from Korea!!! Of course, he was a preemie, just like our daughter Libby.  Reggie, our dog, Libby, and Ty's weight combined at birth equaled 8 lbs.  (Reggie weighed in at 1 lb, Libby at 2 lbs, and Tyler at 5 lbs)  WOW...most people have just one kid that weighs that much!  Needless to say him being a preemie and weighing only 5 lbs. didn't scare us in the least... we probably would have been more afraid of a full-size baby. :)  

We got our referral call on a Friday night.  It was funny how it happened.  Lib and Chris were thinking about heading to the Plymouth Whaler's hockey game and I was planning a quite evening alone reading my book.  For one reason or another Chris and Lib stayed home, and it's a good thing they did.   To back up a little, earlier in the day I had put in a call to our social worker because I was upset after reading the Korean Blog (I follow that blog like a hawk).  The blog mentioned that 3 families recieved referrals.  I knew we were at the top of the list and wanted to question why we weren't one of those families.  At 8:00 our social worker called back.  Normally I would have been excited to see her name come up on caller ID, but since I had called her earlier in the day I figured she was just returning my call.  I answered and apologized for bothering her on a Friday night.  She said no worries and asked if Chris was home?  I said "why, are we one of the families?  Are we one of the families that got a referral?"  She again asked, "Is Chris home?"  I finally got Chris on the phone and she told us the wonderful news about our new son!  A nice relaxing Friday night turned into Chris, Libby and I all sitting on the couch listening to our social worker on speaker phone telling us all the details about our son.  Lib was so excited because she was determined to get a brother...and she did!  I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Friday night! 

Then came to task of naming him.  We hadn't really talked about names because we decided to wait until we found out if we were getting a boy or girl. After much discussion we decided on a name.  If you know anything about me you know I like nicknames, I think they are endearing.  Libby is short for Elizabeth, and I even shorten Libby to Lib most of the time.  Well, my only stipulation was that we pick a name that had a nickname....thus Tyler and I'll call him Ty.  Ty, Ty...Special Guy!

Much more to come...