Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A few favorites of Christmas

A few of my favorite people!  Christmas morning-no makeup- just me as I am in the morning.  Kids in pj's from Christmas Eve.  The most special gifts were ones kids had created themselves this past week.  

All my boys! They outnumber the girls now.  Good thing we have some strong (and stubborn) girls in this family!  

Sister love.  Of course that is a complicated love as all love is in life.  At this point in life these two seem to get along just fine.  They have the same housekeeping standards, love to craft for hours, and are starting to have more of those sister "secrets" than in the past.

We are on our last few days of break. I am not at all ready for all the schedules and running around. Still trying to soak in these last few days of "freedom"!

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!  The day was good here. It was a quiet day at home filled with happy kids and family time.  Kids were up early but patiently waited for their little brother to wake up.  He is spending a good amount of night time awake so he was happy to sleep in:)  Everyone seemed happy with their gifts and quickly disappeared into their rooms for some time to play.  There was then time for a brunch like breakfast followed by "The Grinch"  movie.  It was cold and windy here, but there was still some football games outside.  I still can not believe I am the Mom of all these kids.  We are a great distance away from attachment with Luke Jee Seong, but I love to watch as we learn about each other as a family!

Thinking of so many friends and family today!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Time for Gingerbread!

As we adjust to five kids I decided we would decorate a gingerbread house this week.  There are plenty of leaders in our
house now, so I really had to just clean up the mess and keep a few of the design disagreements to a minimal.  

Luke was happy to play with some silly play dough like substance that Brianna had made.  It kept his little hands out of the bigger kids project.

I love these days of break. No schedules no running around just being together.  I have noticed I haven't even filled the van up with gasoline for quit awhile. That is a good sign of good family time happening!

We are getting ready to start the Christmas activities with mass this evening.  This will be Luke's first time at church so we will see how that goes. Then time to get ready for the man of the hour! They were still writing lists to Santa this morning??? Not sure what to think about that???

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Home for a Week

A week ago today we came home from Korea with this little man.  Since then our lives have not been the same!

Each child in this house believes the best new play buddy has arrived just in time for Christmas!  I would say that each child has done very well with the adjustment that has happened in our lives!

He is so very loved and seems to fit right in. We made a gingerbread house and there was no way he would not be part of all the action.

As with any adoption loss is part of what a child must go through.  We have seen it come and go in phases.  Brianna has become his second Mom for sure.  He is often found in her arms!  I am thinking at his 37 lbs she is getting some strong arms!

Little by little Luke Jee Seong is meeting people that are going to be part of his world. We are taking this slow but letting his world expand a little at at time.  Grandma and him have had some getting to know you times.

I can't believe it is almost Christmas.  I am as ready as I am going to get minus our card which is in the works.  In some ways, me being gone, has made it a simpler holiday and I am more than ok with that.  My Christmas gift is here and he is stealing my heart!  To have him to kiss and hold is more than I could have ever asked for!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Prichard number seven is officially ours!

Introducing Mr. Luke Jee Seong.  Today was a day filled with so many emotions and now he is with us.  He is a little boy that is full of energy and a lot of spunk.  My heart broke for his foster Mom and how hard it is to say goodbye.  

He has already taken to Riley and loves to play with him.  There are have been many laughs that go beyond the language barrier that we have.  

As in true kid fashion he found the snacks we had bought right away when we walked in our room.

It has been a long wait and we are so anxious to be home as a complete Prichard family.  Tomorrow we will have another long day of traveling and then it will be time for everyone to slip into their new roles in our family.  

That hair cracks me up and I fear Daddy may have to do a little trim sooner than I had hoped.

I feel very grateful for so many who have helped us through this adoption. We wouldn't know what to do with each one of you!

He found a Christmas tree today and found it to be so much fun.  Thinking of that tree at home and all the fun we will have:)

Tomorrow we have the day here and then we fly.  I miss my other kids and am anxious for us all to be together. We heard him say through translations that he asked about Brian!  Soon very soon!

Monday, December 14, 2015

One more day...Korea

The day is almost here when we become a family of seven.  Riley and I flew 7000 miles today and 15 hours.  We are both beyond tired and after some yummy dumplings are almost ready for bed.


We did make a couple of stops after we landed and found along the way some sights of Christmas in Seoul.  

There were a couple gifts that I wanted to give to Luke from Korea so Riley and I needed to get that done tonight.  

Tomorrow we will get Luke.  The time has come after two years of waiting.  It will be a day filled with many emotions for sure.
Need to get some rest before I once again am keeping up with a three year old. It has been awhile but I am so excited for it!

Good night from Seoul!

Friday, December 11, 2015

Almost time....

The time is almost here to fly back to Korea.  I am excited to go back.  I am excited to bring Luke home.  I am excited to complete our family at five children and two very outnumbered parents.  It will not be an easy journey. It is a fast trip and the truth is we are going to upset our little boys' life for awhile.  Time, trust, patience, and a bunch of siblings to play with should help.  I have been thinking so much about his foster Mom.  How she must feel after having him for so long with her.  How hard the word goodbye is in so many parts of life.  Riley will be joining me for this adventure.  I know he is ready to help me with his little brother.  It wasn't easy telling the rest who we had chosen to go.  There were tears shed over that decision that Brian and I made.  I can say the child who cried the hardest about not being able to go is the same who helped me pack his clothes tonight.  She is also the one who wondered if she can help with his first bath in our home and pick out his pj's.  It is all going to be okay once the fog of jet lag ends and hopefully Christmas gets at least mostly finished:)  We have waited two years for this and I know when we see him they will just slip away into the background.  

Wishing for Stillness


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

The Tree and Travel

December 6th was about getting our tree up and decorated.  To say it is a "Charlie Brown" tree is a nice way of saying it.  That being said the kids love it and were happy to pick just some of their "favorite" ornaments. This will help guarantee that the tree will not fall over due to so much weight!  
As for me the next day was filled with work. My list is long this week as I prepare to get Luke. I want to make sure my businesses are well taken care of before I leave.  It will be soon that Riley and I will be on a plane to Korea.  My mind is so filled with emotions, dreams, and thoughts of reality as I become a mom of five.  One also can not forget the Christmas "to-do's" that are consuming a lot of my mind!

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Dec 5th Looking for a tree

Yesterday was the time we had to go find a tree.  It proved to be a little more challenging this year as the forest service has cleared a bunch of the little ones out of our usual spots. They were all in stacks in the forest.  However, we did succeed.  It was great weather and when the kids were bored from looking for a tree a sledding hill provided great entertainment.  

Dec 4th


Part of our holiday traditions has become Katie playing in our communities Christmas show.  This year Deck the Halls was her chosen piece with a little improvising in it.  I LOVE Christmas music and when it comes from my daughter it is that much sweeter!

Friday, December 4, 2015

December 3rd



Time to decorate. Our main elf is Brianna.  She loves to find all the goodies from the following years and create her own space of joy in our home.  I love how she gets everyone involved.  Truthfully, Brian would have waited for a warmer day to put lights up but Brianna gave him no choice!   With all the snow we have had they do create a magical feel.  


Thursday, December 3, 2015

Wishes and Korea


Day two of December brought with it many wishes along with some dreams that are finally going to be fulfilled. Trying to not procrastinate to long this year I asked the kids to make lists for Christmas.  They took Brianna's lead and created not only lists but a little bit of art work.  I do believe Katie helped her older brother "decorate" his!

Today was a day of big news on finally getting to bring our little guy in Korea home!  We learned that I will be going back to Korea very soon to bring him home! He will be home for Christmas!  That was my wish list and now it is reality.  I can't believe that the time has come for me to be able to kiss him and welcome him into our family.  I know that there is so much to this transition as well as deep grieving that will take place. I also know that all of us must adjust as our family grows for the last time.  Sometimes I can hear his laughter as we played with him in October and very soon I will hear his voice again.  This month it has been two complete years of waiting. There have been many emotions over those past two years, but I know when I get him all the hard waiting time will melt away.  I can't wait to be able to share photos of a little boy that melts my heart!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

December Daily December 1st

December has come and with it a goal for me.  I am not always the best "December" person.  It seems like a lot of extra pressure and so many obligations.  However, this year I decided to join Ali Edwards in her December Daily project.  I love her style of storytelling and wanted to do this for my family.  The goal is one story per day on what this month means for our family.  A photo or two that represents what the season means to us with holiday themes as well as everyday moments.  I am not sure what the month will hold for us but hoping by Dec 25th my kids will have an album of our story!

"Snow" much fun!

Thanksgiving was filled with all that is good.  Our house was full of family and the sounds of eight cousins running around.  There was plenty to eat and a feeling of thankfulness for all that we are blessed with.  There was also a LOT of snow!  

There was a mad rush to find all our winter gear, realize how tall we have gotten when we put on our pants, the forever problem of looking for matching gloves, and at least fourteen inches of snow to play in.  There were trees to climb and steps to sled down.  I love to watch them all play, laugh, and be together.

 
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