Yes, We're Still Here!

We are so sorry it's been almost a whole month since our last post, but hey, we're adjusting to life with 4 kids. Things have been awesome, but busy. Jayne Riley continues to be the first thing everybody in the family wants to see when they come home. She is doing great adjusting to life as an Edwards! She sleeps great, she eats great (not that you couldn't see that in the pictures), and she acts great!

HER FIRST SURGERY
I can't remember the date (it's all a fog), but a couple of weeks ago, Jayne Riley had tubes put in her ears because they were filled with fluid and causing her a good bit of pain.
Here she is waiting for the nurses to take her back. She is being held by her grandmother, SueSue.



The surgery was successful and she came out of it beautifully. She responded by talking (her version, at least) and smiling a good bit more. We could really tell it felt better to her because she had been constantly pulling on her ears and now was no longer doing it.

DOMESTICATED WOMAN
She has been home now for almost two months and I felt she was ready to take on some household chores. She was reluctant at first, but as soon as we told her we would withhold a bottle from her, she was ready to begin. She is a quick learner, as I think you will see:

Whether it's cleaning the kitchen cabinets


or helping Jake out straightening his drawers



My personal favorite is how she joyfully goes and gets Daddy a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge


As you can see, she is fitting in nicely at home!

Now back to reality, our family could not be happier. To see the boys love on Jayne Riley and to see her light up when they are around is a complete joy. She has totally taken to her mother and Meg is enjoying every second of being with her. I think it should probably go without saying that she already has her Daddy wrapped. I hope to put some more pictures on the blog over the next few days, but here are a few more before I say goodbye:

Cute As A Button!

Today was Jayne Riley's first trip to church. She stayed in the nursery with Meg, but of course we're taking baby steps. I look forward to the day when she sits in the sanctuary and hears her Daddy's voice through the speakers and what her reaction will be. Actually, I won't be able to see it from the front, so I'll have to go by what Meg tells me she does.

Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures after Meg got her dressed for her big day. Notice the tights on her. We weren't sure our "big" little girl would fit in them, but she was just as the title suggests, "cute as a button".





One of Jayne Riley's new toys is a stack of small buckets that fit inside of one another. We were sitting around playing with her this afternoon and Jake put the biggest bucket on her head. Being the biggest, it has a handle on it that conveniently held the bucket on her head. She looks like our toy soldier, doesn't she?

Daddy's Girl

A couple of short videos that help you understand how she is winning over her Daddy's heart.

Watching college football on Saturday, I asked her what she thought of Alabama football. See her response below:

Atta Girl!

Then we were just talking, you know, peekaboo language, and this is her response. She kind of gets a little choked up with her Daddy, but can you blame her?

Mighty cute, I'll have to say!

more pics!

Here is one of Jayne Riley and her mama...taken by an amatuer (4 yr old) photographer!

I just loved her in these PJs...

still so sweet...can you believe it?

We are just in awe at what a sweet little angel Jayne Riley is. She loves to eat, sleeps in her crib, laughs outloud at the boys, has learned to crawl and pull herself to stand...all in three weeks time! It feels like we have had her forever...everyday that I look into those black little eyes, I am amazed that God picked her out just for us. That just three weeks ago, she was living across the world with another family and that she was inside of another mommies tummy for 9 months, and now she is ours! It blows me away to sit back and think of the gift the Lord has given us. I am gonna try and post pics, there lots of cute ones. thanks again to all for following and being excited and praying for us!

Here is a pic of her room, well part of it. My sweet neighbor painted the two wallhangings for her!

here is a pic of our sweet girl in a darling little dress that was given to us.

... because we have been loved

I saw this video on a blog that I love to visit by Justin Taylor, Between Two Worlds, and found it very moving. Orphan Sunday is November 8, 2009.

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Here she is eating her first meal at the table with the family. I am going to post some of my favorites since we have now been home one full week!


despite what it appears...she does smile, it is just really hard to get it on camera. we are so in love with our sweetheart. i will try to post more when i can. thanks for all the phone calls, messages,and prayers, we are so grateful.

pictures pictures pictures!!

I have officially been given the responsibilities of the blog from my sweet husband, which is so sad for all of you reading...i am gonna try and post some pics! She is an angel and is as sweet as she can be...pray for her as she is very under the weather right now!

We're Baaaaaacccckkk!

It is Tuesday evening (11:20 pm, which is 1:20 Seoul time), and I am trying to put to words the experience of getting back home. Some words that come to mind are: long, emotional, hilarious, frustrating, innocent, disbelief, exciting, painful, fun, excruciating, sad, and on and on and on. I will try to explain most of those words, but suffice it to say, it was over 31 hours of exhausting labor, filled with beautiful reminders of why God uses difficult things to display brilliantly the good gifts that He gives to us.

I'll begin with DISBELIEF. We were about halfway to the airport when I realized I left my cell phone in the hotel room. How could I? I'll tell you how- I do it just about every day when I'm at home, why should this day be any different. We got to the airport and had to go to the Delta office to correct our tickets because we switched from flying home Tuesday to Monday. The ladies at the office were SOOOO helpful and even called the hotel and made arrangements for the phone to be driven to the airport by a taxi (an hour away!).

Next, is INNOCENT. We then went to check in for our flight and I now look at the following picture and think, "I had no idea what was about to happen!"

I look pretty innocent, don't I?

This is our gate, just in case you were wondering:


This is our monster plane:


Next, I might use LONG. The plane flight from Seoul to Chicago. The first three hours were a breeze and awesome. Jayne Riley was having a blast, entertaining everyone around her. Then came the next nine. It wasn't that she was being bad, but she had some tummy issues and she was hurting. She didn't cry constantly, just powerfully. Poor thing, she needed some TLC so we gave her all we could. It made the rest of the flight seem like an eternity. She did catch a few winks though in her bassinet. It was so cool, we got a bulkhead seat, which helped with legroom, and they attached a bassinet to it for her to sleep and sit and play.

Do you think we put enough things in for her to play with?




There was also a little bit of FUN in the flight. Before I left for Korea, I had been reading a couple of other blogs of people who had recently been to Seoul and then one couple who was also waiting to go, Rachel and Josh. A few hours into the flight, I recognized Rachel from the pictures on her blog walk towards the back of the plane. So I got up and went to the back and introduced myself to her and her son, Josiah. He is such a handsome little fellow and I'm not sure he's going to cry before he turns 13. He had such a sweet disposition. It was great to meet Rachel and then Josh as we shared such a great moment in our lives together. That was fun!

Next, I could use FRUSTRATING. It was very frustrating to get to the airport in Chicago and hear of severe weather in Atlanta that could possibly shut the airport down. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You can't do that to me! I've got to get home. I've been waiting to see the faces of all my family and friends who would come to see this precious angel in my arms. So we sat and waited for the news. Finally, we got word that we would board the plane and take off, of course though, an hour late. We boarded the plane, taxied out to the runway and all of a sudden we stopped. I have a baby girl in my arms who just fell asleep and we stop. "I'm sorry..." the captain begins. You don't want to hear the captain of an airplane start a message out by saying those two words. So we sat on the tarmac for THREE hours. Jayne Riley, thankfully, slept that whole time, but have you ever tried to hold a baby in your arms for three hours so that they will not wake up. Your body becomes contorted and you realize your blood is no longer in some of the limbs of your body. But we did take off and the flight was just over an hour and a half and she stayed asleep the whole flight as well. Can you believe that?

Next, I might use EMOTIONAL. Getting to the Atlanta airport was emotional enough after all that, but getting off and walking past thousands of people (the Atlanta airport did in fact close down for a few hours and every terminal was full and there were even planes sitting on the tarmac just waiting to find a gate to come into... people everywhere). They were looking at a tall, Caucasian man with a small Asian baby in a carrier, and their faces showed that there was something unnatural about that. It was a powerful moment for me, because I realized, with joy, the finality of the reason I had just traveled so long and far, and why we waited for 3 years to do this, but also the reality of people either not approving or understanding. So I asked myself, not because of doubt, but simply to remind myself, "Why have we done this?" Several reasons: because God has laid on our hearts, not because we are better than anyone else, but because he has burdened us with the privilege of loving a little girl born of another woman, and welcoming her with open arms into our family. I already see our boys loving her and accepting her in a way that is so sweet and (I hate to be redundant, but it's the most appropriate word) powerful. It moves me when I watch them and to watch Meg who has desired this for AT LEAST 15 years all love Jayne Riley with enormous smiles on their faces. To think of that unconditional, accepting love only reminds me in a more vivid (the word 'powerful' also works well here) way of the love that God has shown me through His gospel. I guess I didn't realize how big of a moment the ATL airport was for me...

Next, if you'll allow me to reuse the word LONG, I would appreciate it. We had to wait, since we missed our initial flight out of Atlanta, for 7 hours to board and take off for Jackson. Don't get me wrong, I was extremely thankful to finally take off. It just capped off a very, very, very long day (actually days!).

I think I would best describe the flight from Atlanta to Jackson as HILARIOUS. How, you might ask? Well, I needed a little humor by this time, and it came. I was seated between two men. One on my left who in April had a pacemaker and a mechanical valve installed. The man on my right had a newspaper. No, that is not the funny part. The funny part began when Jayne Riley started reaching for the man's newspaper and I couldn't tell if his reaction was sincere or if he was nervously laughing. Then she began to grab the arm of the man on my left. She would rotate between each man and there was nothing I could do in my twenty two inch wide seat to completely stop her. About a minute into the flight, she decided it was time to use the restroom. So she began to grunt a little bit, changing the complexion of her face, which I'll have to say was very cute. It was at this time, I just began to laugh. Oh yeah, the man sitting in front of me was the only person on the plane that didn't hear the captain say to leave your chairback in the forward position. So if you notice me sitting upright in the picture, it is because the metal braces of the seat in front of me were digging into my knees. What a trip :-)!!!!! So I had a not-too-sweetly-scented little girl who was revolving between harassing two men, metal digging into my knees, and me being humored by it all. Thank goodness the flight was only 55 minutes. Otherwise, my laughs probably wouldn't have lasted. But I had the flight attendant take a picture because I really wanted to capture the moment- sorry it is dark, but I didn't want to use flash and wake up all around me. What you can't tell in the picture is that Jayne Riley just took a breath from crying. I sneezed, which startled her, and we've learned that when she is suddenly startled, she responds with crying hard. So here I was, having a blast in the back of an airplane, and I wanted to share it with you:


Next, I might use SAD. We have waited for this day for three years and the moment finally came to arrive at the airport where our family would be brought together for the first time ever. Because we arrived after midnight, the boys just couldn't make it. They tried to stay up, but their bodies couldn't go any longer. Mom got us two hotel rooms in Jackson and Meg, SueSue, and the boys were all in bed. But sadness would not take the night. So Mimi and I got off the plane, got our bags and drove to the hotel. I called Meg to tell her that her daughter was just a few minutes away. She anxiously awaited. When we arrived at the hotel, Meg had recruited the desk clerk to take video and pictures for her. I hope they will turn out. So I don't have a picture on my camera of Meg with Jayne Riley for the first time, but it was such a sweet sight. Meg was obviously very emotional, yet controlled. She couldn't believe how beautiful her daughter was (that still blows me away, our DAUGHTER... Wow!). She couldn't believe her daughter was HERE!

We then took her upstairs to meet her other grandmother, SueSue, which was very EXCITING. SueSue was overwhelmed as well, very sweet. Jake was sleeping in the bed in the room and we tried not wake him up, but we couldn't keep her quiet and she ultimately prevailed.





Will & Hudson got to meet her when they woke up Tuesday morning. She has really taken to them and they to her. The boys have prayed for her for so long and have patiently waited and are as cute with her as I had expected. We are blessed and excited and thrilled and overwhelmed with joy.


She even had her first conversation with her 'Grandaddy'


We all drove back to Starkville Tuesday afternoon and showed Jayne Riley her new home and her own room:

We all played with her and had a great time:



Her first meal at home:




One of the things the boys were excited about was to see what I brought them home from Korea. I had fun buying things for them, though it wasn't near as much as I bought for her. Meg and I wanted to have some things for her as she grew up that would teach her about her homeland. So I bought a few outfits, artwork, chopsticks, books, and a few other things I hope she will enjoy. Back to the boys, it felt like Christmas all over again, and I even look like Santa bearing gifts in the picture below:

Can you tell they are anxious?



Well, it is now almost 8:00 on Wednesday night and I am about to finish the post (almost 24 hours later!). Sorry to keep you waiting for it. It has been a wonderful homecoming. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have been so supportive. We will try and keep you up to date on how our family is doing.

I'm tired and I'm out,

Jason

Our Last Day: :-) & :-(

Sunday is our last day in Seoul. I am tired and ready to get back to my bed, but I am soooo thankful for the opportunity I had to come over here and pick up my daughter. She is a beautiful little girl and I can't wait for Meg & the boys (and all of you) to meet her. We waited for three long years for this and now comes the reality of adjusting to life with a new baby.

Like yesterday, she dictated the schedule. I guess that's probably a good indicator of what life with her will be like from here on out. She slept late, until around 8:20 and then she got up, ate and played a little bit, and around 10:15, she was ready for a nap. She slept for two whole hours. I wish I could have done that!

We went to the Lotte Mart today which is an enormous shopping department store with 12 or 13 floors. We had to venture up to the 7th floor for the infant section to finally find diapers. We couldn't find any in Seoul. We left there and went to another famous market, the Dongdaemun Market, which is an indoor and outdoor market where there is only clothes. I walked around for about 3 miles looking for last minute souvenirs, but there were only clothes. I have jokingly told Meg that I was going to finally buy an HDTV and lug it around the streets of Seoul on my back to bring it home. I didn't even SEE one, in a city where Samsung and LG are from... pretty amazing.

Mom and Jayne Riley went back to the room while I did all that walking and I'm not sure I've ever been that famished before. We haven't been able to eat any Korean cuisine due to having her with us the majority of our time here, so most of my meals have been a candy bar here, a sandwich there, or nothing at all. So as I was in a taxi driving me back to the hotel, I saw a McDonald's as we were passing it and I said in a very quick and excited voice for him to stop the car and let me out. I was able to work my way through an order and I got two Big Macs (one for mom) and a 10 piece Chicken Nugget. When I got back to the room, I scarfed them down and they were just like home. Absolutely AUsome! (did you think I would fail to put AU somewhere today with a nice victory?)

Well, it is now almost 10:00 pm Seoul time, my bag is picked, Jayne Riley's bag is packed, and I believe mom's is as well.
Our driver for the airport will pick us up bright and early at 7:30 in the morning and we begin our trek back to the states a day early. because we changed flights, we have now picked up an extra flight. We now fly into Chicago THEN Atlanta to Jackson, instead of straight to Atlanta. Oh Well, please pray for Jayne RIley's plane ride, that she would allow her daddy to keep his same shirt on the whole time (no spit up) and that he wouldn't have to apologize to the whole plane for a loud, crying baby.

Because it is late and I am quite tired, I will put some pictures in here in the order I just described above.

thanks for keeping up with us on our adoption journey. It has been wonderful and we have a little bit to go before a whole new chapter begins. I'll try to let you know how the flight went.

You can see the building on the right goes down as far as you can see... and the market goes with it. The amazing thing is it is not just one row, it is inside that building as well, several stories of little stalls where people are making their livelihood every day.


I know Meg really wanted one of these, but I resisted!


Can you see what's in this picture?

Let me zoom in a little more for ya!


Good night!

Saturday

We laid low quite a bit today. Things change when an infant is brought into the picture. For some reason, I thought I could cart her all over Seoul as the wind blew through her hair (did anyone notice it sticks up :-) ?). But not so! She dictated just about everything today.

Here is a picture of Jayne Riley in her new baby carrier-


We finally left the hotel around 2:00 pm and went to the Seoul Tower, which is a tower sitting atop Namsan mountain (I guess that's the name of it, it's right in the middle of Namsan Park) right in the middle of Seoul.

We are ready to tackle it!

An elevator takes you up to the observatory where you have a 360 degree view of the city and beyond. Jayne Riley couldn't get enough of it.



On each window, there were mile markers (actually, kilometer markers, to cities all around the world



One of the neat things at the tower is the locks that go around the base of the tower. You can't see them, because I didn't think to take a picture of them, but there are literally thousands upon thousands upon thousands of locks all around the tower. Pretty cool! People bring their own or buy locks at the tower (tourists like me) and if they can find a space, I believe I heard someone say a couple would write their names on it and lock it to the fence and your love will flourish like a never ending stream (or something cheesy like that). So I bought one and wrote our family's names on it and attached it to the fence. Voila!



We rode the cable car down the mountain and I was so glad the cable didn't break (it always seems like you hear about that happening), so I was glad it didn't happen while we were on it.


We then took a taxi to Namdaemun Market, a huge Market that sold just about everything under the sun. We bought a few souvenirs and then went back to the hotel.




Mom gave our little princess a bath


Jayne Riley turned in around 7:30 and the time between then and 9:30 or 10:00 was a bit fuzzy. It was an exhausting day, but fun to be with mom and Jayne Riley.

Good night!