AMAZING!

Sorry this is sideways--it won't rotate.

Notice that he's standing on top of the bus to reach something. Looks like something his big sister Addy has been known to do around here...

LOVE that smile! I also love that he's wearing one of the bibs we sent him.

This picture means so much to me--it's the only picture I have of our little guy sleeping. Plus, we sent him the blanket he's covered up with.

Easton's handprint and footprint! Priceless!!

I checked the mail today and was surprised to find a small package from our adoption agency. I could hardly wait to tear it open and see what was inside. I was SO THANKFUL to see that Easton's amazing foster family sent us seven pictures of our sweet little guy as well as his handprint and footprint. Remember the package I sent last month? I included a picture of its contents including a little kit my mom sent him to take his handprint and footprint. I am so grateful his foster family took the time to do it, but that they actually sent it to me! I didn't even consider the possibility that they would do that for us. I'm so thankful for their dilligence in sharing as much as they can of Easton with us.

New Picture!

Today was a good day! I went and got my fingerprints renewed today for USCIS. I walked right in and got it done in less than 10 minutes. When I got home and checked my email I was thrilled to see a new picture of Easton with the most recent package I sent! There's nothing better than getting a new picture of our precious son. He is now just shy of 14 months old.

Zoo

Colton loves riding the train!
The girls and Nana on the train

Happy girl

Always a favorite

Colton trying on a mask at the gift shop

Silly guy

Colt and me on the safari sky ride

It feels higher when you're up there, trust me

Self portrait. Thank you iphone4s. You are my new bestie.

Colton loved the safar sky ride (maybe even more than the train)

Natalie enjoying some sugar snap peas (her expression is due to the sun in here eyes, not the peas, I assure you). This girl can slam some veggies.

Natalie adores Nana. Who can blame her?

Sweet Addy Hope

The kids and I have made nearly half a dozen trips to the zoo in the last month or so. This winter has been incredibly mild. This past week, for example, it's been in the 80s. I feel badly for Matt that he's missing the nicest winter we've ever had! It's only snowed once this year and it melted the next day. Usually, there are several snow and ice episodes each winter. Anyhow, we've been spending a lot of time doing outdoor activities due to the awesome weather. Our favorite place to visit? The zoo.

In addition to the animals, the kids loves the playgrounds, carousel, train rides, tram rides, and the most recent addition: the sky safari. It's a lot like a ski lift--it's about 40 feet in the air and takes you for a ride over the Africa portion of the zoo. It's pretty wild to take a ride right above zebras and rhinoceroses! We rode it for the first time this past week and Colton, who I thought would be the most fearful, loved it. He enjoyed it so much that I rode it with him a second time before we left. Natalie, on the other hand, was very nervous about the whole thing and vowed never to ride it again.

The hilight of Addy's day on our most recent visit was visiting the lorikeets. She got a kick out of imitating their sounds.

The weekend is going to be beautiful, so we're headed back to the zoo on Sunday!

Random Cuteness

There's really no story to tell here. I just felt like taking a picture of the kids the other morning and it cracked me up for various reasons. Natalie is smiling so big because she's excited to get in the car and start reading a new book. I always keep a STACK of chapter books in the backseat for her because she reads every time we get in the car. This girl LOVES to read.

Colton is looking cute wearing his favorite hoodie--it's a dinosaur if you can't tell. He adores this hoodie! Now why won't he smile for me? This is somewhat odd because he's an extremely happy little guy, but lately he doesn't want to smile in pictures.

Oh Addy Lou, you are cute and rotten right now! She is into absolutely everything but this girl seriously cracks me up at the same time. Ornery and adorable, that one.

On a side note, the top picture is of the girls walking on post after leaving the Transportation Office. What's that, you ask? Well, before you make a military move, there are some *hoops* to jump through. Nothing too major: just an online pre-move training program that takes two hours and multiple calls to technical support to complete, two trips to the Transportation Office, and coped of orders, Power of Attorney etc. The good news? I actually got it all done! Yippee! Everything is all set for our cross country move in a few months.

I'll be back soon with pictures from the zoo--we've been four or five times in the last three weeks or so. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL here lately. Today? 80 degrees and sunny. Some Winter.

Swim lessons

The kids (especially Natalie) have been begging to take swim lessons since last summer. Great mom that I am, I just enrolled them for the first time this month. The Army really does an awesome job of offering support to spouses and children of deployed service members where we're stationed. One of the many benefits we're eligible for while Matt is away is access to all sorts of free classes on post for the kids. So, I finally went ahead and enrolled the big kids in a private swim lesson together. They go twice a week on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. You can practically feel how giddy Natalie was by looking at these pictures! She was beyond thrilled to go the first day.

As far as the actual lessons go, they're doing great. They've neither one had much experience in the water, but they're progressing just fine and having fun learning different things in the water. Adelyn gets a huge kick out of watching them from the viewing room window and yelling "Natalie," "Colton," "Swim," and "Water." I've told her time and again that they can't actually hear her, but she hollers at them to try and get their attention repeatedly. Silly girl.

The only downside? The water is FRIGID. I don't mean slightly chilly. Or cold. I mean FRIGID. The poor kids chatter and shiver the entire lesson and when they get out they're both a lovely shade of bluish/purple. They look like little human popsicles. I have no idea why they keep the water so incredibly cold, but it hasn't dampered the kids enthusiasm much, as they were still very excited to go back despite the water temperature.

Thanks Army for the free lessons!

Walkers + Winter

This past week, we've had the enormous blessing of spending an extended period of time with my adorable niece Winter. She is three years old and my kids just adore her. Her parents (my brother and his wife) are on vacation, so we've had the pleasure of being able hang out with Winter. Some of the hilights from our time spent together include:

-a trip to the zoo (this was a big hit!)

-a trip to the mall complete with punch balloons (courtesy of Nana) for everyone

-Winter and Natalie went to work with Nana for a day (and had McDonald's afterwards--don't tell Colton)

-we helped Winter celebrate her third birthday with cake, ice cream, balloons, and presents

-we took a trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart (yes, a trip to a furniture store is exciting when it's NFM)

-we went to Cabella's to admire all the fish in the tank and to see all the other animals on display

-lots of time spent jumping in our bounce house in the basement

We've had such a fun time with Winter this past week. She fits in seamlessly with her cousins and they treat each other like siblings, lots of love with a few squabbles throw in occasionally. We love her dearly!

Package #3

Well, it's that time again. Time to send Easton another care package. Since this is the only tangible way we can invest in Easton's life right now, it's something we really enjoy doing. This package was especially fun because my mom bought some things to send Easton as well. She sent:

1. a plush monkey that plays a lullaby

2. a placard with ink for prints of his hand and foot (excellent idea--I'm hoping his foster family will do this and save it for us when we travel to Korea)

3. a monkey hooded towel with three washcloths

4. an I Love Mommy soft bear lovie

Thanks Mom!

The kids and I sent him:

1. multicolored Goldfish crackers

2. a bib that cracked me up (it's supposed to look like a shirt and tie)

3. a blue bunny puffer ball (it's so much fun to squish!)

4. an Elmo snack container

5. two outfits with pants, shirts (one long sleeved and one short), hoodies, and socks

Love you sweet boy! Wish I could crawl inside the care package and send myself to you!

SURPRISE!

Isn't he handsome in his traditional Korean hanbok?

Love his smile!

My favorite!

Bless his sweet foster mother for bringing this Leap Frog cake toy we sent him to the party! Now I know that he received his birthday package--I didn't know that for sure until I saw this picture.

Doesn't he look like a prince in this one?

As I checked the mail today, I was surprised to see that there was a somewhat thick envelope from our adoption agency. I thought it was odd because I wasn't expecting anything in particular from them. Imagine my surprise (and elation!!!) when I opened up the envelope and found TEN* adorable pictures from Easton's first birthday party in Korea. Holt Korea throws all the babies born in a given month a traditional Korean first birthday party or Tol. They went all out for this party! Easton is wearing his traditional Korean hanbok. Isn't he just breathtaking? I think so, too. :-) *I didn't post the three pictures of him and his foster mother for privacy reasons