Mr. Personality

Well, we are finally starting to see who Aidan really is and let me tell you, he is one happy little boy! I've never seen a child so quick to laugh and smile. Here's some great pictures of him doing just that!

Also, I think the responsibility of being Aidan's Big Brother is starting to weigh on Andy...just this morning I caught him reading the Business section.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are feeling very thankful this morning!

Aidan is doing great! We actually can't believe how well he is taking everything. He is definitely still getting used to everyone & prefers to be held most of the time, but gradually is willing to explore on his own a bit. He has mastered crawling & can already pull himself up and take a few steps on his own. I think as soon as he feels comfortable w/his new home he'll be walking. He is starting to lose that "deer in the highlights" look and we are slowly getting to see his personality...peek-a-boo is guaranteed to bring smile, as is blowing raspberries and gently tickling him under his chin. He LOVES to eat and has already devoured two entire cans of Gerber Puffs. Surprisingly he has already adjusted to the time change and is sleeping at appropriate times. In fact, both nights he has slept over 13 hours! Of course, we know he may just be exhausted from all the changes he is experiencing and that this "honeymoon" period of good sleep may not last, but for now its pretty nice.

Andy is doing very well in his new role as the big brother. He has his moments of jealousy, but overall has been good. He constantly wants to be near Aidan and loves to make him smile. He brings him toys, gives him kisses & feeds him Puffs. He gets very upset when Aidan cries...the 1st night, Aidan cried for about 15 mins when Chris was putting him to bed and Andy was very worried and kept saying "Aidan sad, Andy sad". In the morning, when Aidan wakes up, Andy runs into our room screaming "Aidan, Aidan, Aidan...Hello Brother!!!"....how sweet is that???

Here are some of the best pictures from our 1st days home. I probably only have about 10 mins left with both kids napping, so I think I'll take a shower instead of writing comments for each one...I think by all the smiles you'll get the idea that the general feeling in the Gorski house is happy and thankful!

Its Official - We are a Family of Four

Aidan is home and is just adorable...we are busy getting to know each other, but I couldn't resist posting a few of our 1st pics together. I'll write more about Aidan once we are settled!

Meeting Aidan

Today was the day I had been waiting for since Kristen & I received our referral. I met Aidan for the first time. We were only together for an hour, but I had a great time with him. He is smiling, crawling, able to stand on his own. He will be back for good tomorrow morning for our flight to his new home. I can't wait for him to meet Kristen and Andy!

I'm keeping this short as it has been a long day and we have an even longer plane ride in the morning. However I did want to make sure I could post pictures as soon as possible, so here they are:

Seoul Day 1 - Sightseeing

We just finished an exhaustive day of touring Seoul by bus, subway and foot. Here is a pictoral breakdown of the day:

Our morning didn't get off to a "Korean" start...I was caught sneaking into my favorite coffee establishment in Itaewon.

We hopped on the Subway at the local station. The city of the Chicago could learn a lot from the Seoul subway system.

We headed to the top of Seoul Tower. Facing Chicago, I waved to Mommy & Andy.

Next, we took a walking tour of Changdeokgung Palace

While at Changdeokgung, we toured the palace's Secret Gardens. Despite my best effort, I could not find Bruce Springsteen or Jerry McGuire.




We spent the rest of the day walking around different Korean markets. We saw all different clothes, toys, jewelry and food (And no Nancy I did not eat anything with it's tail still attached)

By the time the day was over, we were exhausted. Tomorrow, we will be heading over to the guest house at the Eastern Agency for our meeting with Aidan. I will post lots of pictures!

Arrived in Seoul!

Well after a long 14 hr flight we arrived safely in Seoul, Korea. Due to the 15 hr time difference, my editor is fast asleep (hopefully because that mean Andy is sleeping as well) and I will be publishing unsupervised.

The flight was uneventful and consisted of several iterations of eating, watching movies, and sleeping. Finally we arrived in Seoul. We went through immigration, customs and headed to the currency exchange. At 1500 won per US dollar, I felt like a rich man leaving with a roll of 10,000 won bills. We hopped on the bus to take us to our hotel and then had a quick bite to eat. We will spend Sunday sightseeing and Monday we will finally get to meet with Aidan!

Here are a couple pictures (better than nothing...)

Our First Picture in Korea

Landing at Incheon Airport

Waiting for the Bus Leaving the Airport

(Honestly this is the best picture of the trip so far...

I will try to do better tomorrow...

I just need sleep)

FFF - Inside Games

Now that winter is upon us, we've had to give up our much-loved outdoor activities and find new ways to amuse ourselves during the L-O-N-G winter ahead. Here's what we've come up w/so far:

"Sink Glasses (pronounced ink glashes)" - Sitting in the sink, smiling at ourselves, wearing sunglasses
"Sink Glasses - No (pronounced ink glashes NO)" - Sitting in the sink, smiling at ourselves, not wearing sunglasses

"Animal Car (pronounced aminamal car)" - Squeezing all of Andy's stuffed animals into his car

Animal Car Storytime (pronounced aminamal car book) - Squeezing all of Andy's stuffed animals into his car and then reading them a story

I really need to dig out my "101 Games to Play w/Toddlers" ASAP or we're not going to make it 'til spring :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Well, we finally got THE CALL - Aidan is ready to come home!!!!!!

Chris & his mom are off to Seoul on Friday morning and will be returning on Tuesday. Doesn't it look like a fun place to visit? Hard to believe somewhere in one of those buildings right now Aidan is eating breakfast!

We are so excited and are running all over the place trying to cross all those last minute To Dos off our list so we can enjoy a little quiet time before Chris leaves on Friday.

Check back this weekend - Chris will be posting pictures from their trip.

Oh Man!

"Oh Man!"...that's what Addy's Dad (Uncle Brian) taught Andy to say this weekend when he knocks something over and it pretty much sums up how I feel right now.

Our visa appt did take place on Thursday...however, WE STILL HAVE NO VISA ISSUED :( That means our hopes of traveling this weekend and being home by Thanksgiving are getting smaller by the minute.

I know we are so close to the end, but I can't help but feel extremely frustrated. The visa should've been issued Friday...instead, Monday is already over in Seoul and we still have nothing...and no reason why and no estimate of when to expect it.

OH MAN!!!!!

FFF - Our Family of Three

I am finally letting myself get excited that we are about to become a family of four. WOW!!! For anyone wondering if it feels as amazing the 2nd time around - it does!!!

Of course, the beginning of our family of four means the end of our family of three and all endings leave me feeling a bit nostalgic. So I decided that on the eve of what is probably our last weekend together as a family of three, I would post my favorite pictures of the 3 of us.

Please Note: Most pictures of Andy taken in 2007 might lead you to believe the child never smiled. That would be false. Andy was a very happy baby, but for some reason was incapable of doing anything but stare blankly whenever the camera came out.

Andy's 2nd Day Home - July 2007

Our 1st family photo! When I look at this now, I can't believe how tiny Andy was...he couldn't crawl, roll over or even sit up by himself...now he can practically run as fast as I can (yes, I'm that bad of a runner). I also remember how excited/overwhelmed/happy/panicked I felt at the responsibility of being this little, helpless person's mother. There is definitely nothing as incredible as becoming a parent for the 1st time.
Andy's Baptism - Sept. 2007

Every time I think about Andy's Baptism, I start laughing. Here was this active, noisy 11 month old bouncing around in the pew, making faces at everyone sitting behind us and blowing spit bubbles at my Dad while all the other little babies were sleeping peacefully in their mother's arms. In his defense, the priest did give a really long homily :) On a serious note, this was a very important day to us. My sister's daughter Addy was Baptized on the same day and her parents are Andy's Godparents and we are Addy's. I remember thinking that if I never had another child, I knew Andy would grow up w/Addy and would never be lonely.
Andy's 1st Birthday - Oct. 2007

There was a time when Chris & I didn't think Andy would be home to celebrate his 1st birthday. At one point I was researching places you could order a birthday cake in Guatemala and figuring out how much time Chris & I could take off to visit him on his birthday. Having him home to celebrate w/family & friends was such a blessing. Oh, also this was my favorite outfit from Fall 2007 and its a size 12 month so my fingers are crossed that it will have a 2nd life w/Aidan.
Andy's 1st Time Sledding - Jan. 2008

When we bought our house 5 years ago, the 1st thing we noticed was that the small hill in our backyard would be perfect for sledding...and it is! We only took him once last year, mostly due to the fact that it took about a half hour to get him in snow gear and once his boots were on he would simply go limp and refuse to walk. Despite his displeasure w/the boot situation, once he got on that sled, he had the time of his life. My Dad had been dying to take Andy sledding and I honestly am not sure which one of them had the most fun that day. This year we are getting Andy & Aidan a double toddler sled and are hoping for lots of snowy weather.
Florida Vacation - Feb. 2008

We spent a long weekend in FL w/Chris's mom & her fiance and I swear Andy smiled like that the entire trip. He loved everything - the pool, the beach, having the undivided attention of 4 adults - it was a grea trip.
Moonlight Hayride - Nov 2008

I know I just posted this picture last week, so you already know how excited Andy was w/the tractor situation. Hard to believe this is our last family picture that won't have Aidan in it!

I know that was a long post - thanks for reminiscing w/me. My next post will either detail our travel plans or my growing anxiety regarding our lack of travel plans...either way, prepare yourselves for lots of exclamation marks and all caps.

The waiting is the hardest part

Tommy Petty sure knew what he was talking about when he sang that song!

Aidan's visa appointment at the US Embassy is scheduled for today. That is great news and means his visa should be issued Friday or Monday. Unless there are some unusual circumstances, that means Eastern (our Korean agency) will be notifying us that Aidan is ready to travel early next week!

You'd think we'd be feeling less anxious now that we are so close to the end, but this part seems the hardest. We know that most likely Chris will be traveling about a week from now, but there's still the small chance our travel could be delayed. Everything here is pretty much on hold until we know for sure when Aidan will be coming home. Also, Chris can only take 2 weeks total off of work, so we are really hoping that he can fly out Friday of next week and come home on Tuesday. That way he can spend most of his days off at home w/us helping everyone get settled.

Please keep us in your prayers that the travel call comes tomorrow or early next week and that Chris can fly out a week from tomorrow.

On a side note, we have decided that Chris & his mom will travel to Korea and that I will stay home w/Andy. Although Andy did well on his practice overnights w/my parents, he did have some trouble sleeping in the days afterwards. We have worked really hard on making sure Andy feel safe and secure w/us and also on getting his bedtime routine in place. After giving it a lot of thought, Chris & I both feel the best thing we can do for both of the kids is to keep Andy on his schedule so that Aidan can come into to a calm & peaceful home. I am very disappointed that I will not be going to Korea, but I know in my heart we are making the right decision. Plus, Chris will still be able to go & meet Aidan's foster family & see his birth country & that is very important to us.

Anyway, hopefully my next post will be telling everyone Aidan's official homecoming date!

Favorite Foto Friday - "IG TACTOR!!!"

AKA "BIG TRACTOR!!!" for those of you not fluent in Andy-speak.

Last Saturday night we went on a moonlight hayride w/my parents, sisters & their families. It was the perfect night for a hayride...all the leaves have turned colors, the moon was out & it was the kind of night where the tip of your nose turns red & you need to snuggle up, but its not so cold that your fingers & toes go numb. Andy is very into all things farm-related right now (Thank you Baby Einstein's Old McDonald DVD) and was beyond thrilled to sit on hay & be pulled around a field by an enormous tractor. Definitely the perfect finale to our Halloween weekend and we got some of our best pictures of the year.

Finally a good family picture! We've tried posing in the pool, on the beach, at the park & w/the cats, who knew all I needed was a tractor?

Andy's so fascinated by the tractor he is willing to keep his hat onLaughing w/Papa as we bounce around
With Andy sitting on Papa's lap, Mommy & Daddy take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy some hot apple cider and get a rare picture of just the two of them

Andy's Halloween: A Story in Pictures

Oh Halloween, such a confusing day. On the one hand, how can you not love a day when its socially acceptable to wear a kangeroo costume everywhere you go? On the other, my mom is already taking pictures of me and I am not even dressed yet. I am sensing its going to be one of those days where every 5 seconds that woman is screaming "Andy! Andy! Look at me! Andy - Smile! Andy - Say Cheese!". Well Mother, I REFUSE to smile, so you can just put that camera away and get to work on getting me in this costume...we're due at Papa & Daddy's office in 20 minutes and I don't want to get there after Addy. I hear she's going to be a lady bug and I don't want her arriving 1st and stealing my thunder.Not kidding about the smiling thing, Mommy Dearest. If you keep this up, you're going to have an entire day's worth of pictures of me looking miserable. How will that look in your precious photo album???

I'm not smiling at you Mom, its just Papa deserves it for spinning me & Addy so fast in his chair. Besides, I'm sure that 5 year old camera can't capture my grin while we're moving, so HAHA.

Seriously Mother. Camera. Down. Now.

OOOHHHH, Josie the dog is dressed like a bee!!! Okay, temporary truce on the whole picture thing...get one of me giving her a kiss!

Not so fast, the temporary truce applied only to pictures of me w/Josie. You already have enough pictures of me w/Will, I refuse to pose for another.

Fine. I will smile...but you never said anything about keeping my eyes open.
Just so you know, this is not a voluntary smile...I'd like to see you try to keep a straight face when you're jacked up on sugar.