We're official!

Well, it's been a long time since we posted anything on our blog - to say the least. On Nov. 13th we finalized Andrew's adoption, so we're official now. Of course it doesn't feel any different after 6 months of living with the little fellow, but it is nice to have the official paperwork. Now we are just waiting to get his birth certificate so we can get his U.S. passport and SSN. Then, we should get to rest for a bit - in terms of paperwork anyway.

We are looking forward to our first holiday season with a little one in tow. It will be fun!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all of you!

The Ervins

Two months home

This is quite the milestone week. On Monday we celebrated two months home with Andrew. He is such a joy in our lives. And on Friday, Andrew will turn 1.

In the past month Andrew has been busy growing and discovering new things. Here are some of the things he enjoys doing:
- signing "light" and "fan" and pointing out every single light and fan he sees
- standing up and clapping
- reading books
- going to storytime each Tuesday
- feeding himself
- swimming and playing in the sprinkler or with his water table
- and, of course, sleeping all by himself in his crib (ha ha)

Tomorrow, when Andrew turns 1 we have many things to celebrate. Andrew is home, is part of his forever family, and is doing wonderfully in his new home. But, it also brings some somber thoughts. We know that his birthday may be a hard day for his birthmother and foster family who love our little boy so much, so we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers this week.

Happy First Birthday, Andrew!

One month home

Yesterday marked one month since Andrew came home. In some ways it has gone fast. In others it has dragged by. It is neat to look back at photos from soon after he came home and begin to see changes in him. We can see how he is growing and see his first tooth starting to poke through. And, each day he becomes more confident and comfortable with us.

To celebrate, we took Andrew, who we have started calling Sir Smiley, swimming. He loves swimming! He enjoys floating, being twirled around, dunked under water and gets a kick out of watching us swim. He had a great time and came home and took a great nap, something we all enjoy.

Besides sprouting teeth, Andrew is keeping us busy walking laps around our house as he practices walking with us or pushing anything that will move. He also enjoys chasing balls or trucks, throwing plastic links or loops off the couch, pulling on the cats' tails (cats are less than thrilled with this one), examining the underside of toys (we don't understand either), playing the piano, learning to get finger foods into his mouth at a rate greater than a batting average, and trying desperately to get to any gadget we own.

Andrew is also showering us with a multitude of smiles and hugs, which has gotten us through many long nights with a little guy who doesn't seem to see a need to sleep in long intervals. We're hoping he understands the joy of sleeping soon in his very own crib through the night. His mom and dad would be overjoyed!

10 Months Old Today ... and Home!

Today, Andrew turned 10 months old, at home. We brought him home on Wednesday, May 13, and have been working to get all three of us on MDT since then. Gradually, we are getting closer.

We are having a blast getting to know Andrew. Each day he opens up a bit more and shows us just a little bit more of who he is. And, who wouldn't love that smile? The little boy we brought home who wouldn't leave our sides is becoming much more confident and starting to explore the house at high speed. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Happy 10 Month Birthday, Andrew! He looks forward to meeting all of you.

Growing up

Here are two newish photos we have of Andrew. Our agency sent them to us last month after they went to Seoul for the opening of a new unwed mother's home. He is nearly 9 months old in these photos. He will be 10 months old on May 17. We can't wait to meet this little guy. He is growing up so fast!

New generation of cloth

I have to giggle each time someone finds out we're doing cloth and their face squishes up, their eyes enlarge to dangerous dimensions or they say something like, "Oh. Gosh. Really?" I can tell images of the old rubber pants or being pricked by a pin are running rampant through their minds. Well, friends, those days are long gone. Welcome to the new generation of cloth. Here is a photo of some of the diapers we bought last week to use on Andrew (providing he comes home before he's potty trained. We haven't washed them yet just in case we need to take them back.)

The new generation of cloth diapering includes diapers like these in fun colors and prints. Some are all one piece, just like disposables, but without the harmful dioxins. Others require waterproof covers that fasten with velcro or snaps, similar to how disposables go on. Just rinse and wash. The little bit of extra water it will take to wash Andrew's diapers (and clothes) is very slight compared to what it takes to water our bluegrass lawn. This will keep thousands of diapers out of a landfill, and save us more than $1,000 per kid. I could go on and on. We can't wait for a chance to get these on our little man!

We are very lucky to live only 10 minutes or less from a woman who both sells and faithfully uses cloth diapers (http://www.modernmommygear.com/). Last weekend we went to a cloth diapering class at her house where she went over the five kinds of cloth diapers, the pros and cons of each, and how to properly use and wash cloth diapers. We were excited when we got home and discovered we had been using one of the few detergents without brighteners or fabric softeners added that is safe for cloth diapering. Arm and Hammer, way to go!

One month down, one or two to go

Today marks one full month since our P3 was sent to the Korea adoption agency, Eastern. Our agency is projecting that the wait is 2-3 months from the P3. So, that means we should be getting our travel call on or before Memorial Day.

I sure hope it's before. I have organized the heck out of everything in our house. You'd think we were moving from how clean our house is right now. And anyone who knows either or both of us that well knows that we are not typically tidy. Entropy may be more like it. I'm sure many people who have known us over the years could tell myriad stories about our systems of cleaning - putting spoons full of peanut butter in drawers or under the bed to hide them, or spreading everything out all over the floor then standing on the bed to find something.

If we don't get to travel soon I'm going to have to start breaking into my friends' and neighbors' homes to clean and organize simply as a way of keeping myself occupied. Do you think they'd mind?

On Tuesday another family from our agency heard that their child's visa interview had been scheduled. Their P3 was sent two weeks before ours. We have no idea if that means anything about our process, but at least we know Korea is still processing visas from our agency. It had been well over a month since the last visa for a family from our agency. That's enough to start all sorts of crazy thoughts.