Here is my cute puppy dog and my little Thomas the Train and their Wendy's chicken nuggets. We were really rushed tonight because I worked today, so Jeremy went by Wendys to get the kids some supper. We tried to take the nuggets out of their hands to take the pictures but Emma threw a fit. They still look cute. The kids had fun tonight. We went to several houses of people that we know and then we went to church for Trunk or Treat. We then went to Jeremy's parents for a few minutes. Emma was not too sure of the whole thing. She kept getting mad because she wanted to eat every piece of candy that was put in her basket. So we had a few fits but not too bad. Well I think I am still in shock to think that Chloe will be home in 3 days. It still does not feel real. I also feel like I am not prepared because there really is not much to prepare. I have to work tomorrow for a few hours but I am planning on getting the house cleaned and get groceries for the next few weeks. I also need ...
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TRAVEL CALL!!!
Well we are just beside ourselves with excitement . We got the call today that Chloe is coming home on MONDAY!! Yes, she is coming home in 4 days. Chloe will be arriving in Detroit at 12:10 and we will be arriving in Nashville at 4:12. Our plane leaves at 8:30 on Monday morning. I will now be having my dental work done in a few weeks and Emma's birthday party has been moved to November 15 th . Well I will try to post some pictures of the kids in their Halloween outfits but I probably will not be posting over the next few days. I have so much do to for some reason:) So, I ask you will pray for a few things. Pray for Chloe and our family to have a safe trip on Monday. Pray for Chloe's foster mother. I know her heart is breaking. Pray that Chloe will have a easy adjustment to our family. Pray that Emma will also have an easy adjustment to a new sister. Thanks so much for praying for us and for following this amazing journey. Check out our family website, www.riggstribe.com on Mond...
We had a very busy day yesterday. Jeremy had a dentist appointment yesterday afternoon and thankfully he did not have any problems. After he was done the dentist wanted to go over everything with me concerning what to expect on the day of my appointment. I was in his office for about 30 minutes. As soon as I entered the office I was feeling bummed again. After the dentist we went to eat lunch and the I had to see the eye doctor again to make sure my contacts were still working for me. We finally got home at about 4:30. I got the house cleaned up and we watched the Titans game. The kids slept good last night. They actually have been sleeping good the past few nights. We got up this morning and went to Wal-Mart for groceries. I do not understand why Wal-Mart only keeps 2 check out lanes open? We waited in line to check out for 25 minutes. We were one person away from it being our turn and Sam informs me that he has to go potty. I told him he would have to wait because I was not getting ...
We had a great morning. Emma is officially a Riggs. The kids did such a great job. We did have a crazy morning and we were late getting to the courthouse. We were supposed to be there at 8:45 but we were about to leave and none of Sam's back dress shoes fit. We ended up changing his clothes and that put us behind on time. We got to the courthouse and there was not anywhere to park so we had to park kinda far away. We got into the courthouse and found where we were supposed to be and we found out that we were first. So we went over a few things with our laywer and then we went before the judge. Emma laid her head down the whole time. Our friends the Lewis' have a son from Korea and their daughter, Rory, came home two weeks after Emma so we did our court date the same day. After the hearing we went outside and took some pictures. Emma was not very happy about taking the pictures. It was also very cold outside. We then took the kids by McDonalds for a biscuit and we had to get the...
I thought I would go ahead and post some pictures from tonight. The kids had so much fun. They got nice and sweaty and are now in the bath and they should sleep good tonight. Emma took a late nap yesterday afternoon so she was still up at 10:45 last night wanting to play. I am going to get up and go to Curves in the morning and then we are going to the courthouse for Emma's finalization. Well I need to get the kids out of the tub. Enjoy the pictures!
I am feeling a little better today about all the events of Thursday. It is weird though how my teeth are now hurting since I know that they should be. I also think they are hurting from the dentist digging around in my mouth. Jeremy had a lock-in at the church last night and I was planning on going so we made plans for the kids to stay the night at Gran and Papa's house. Well we then decided that it would be a really crabby weekend if we both stayed up all night so I decided not to go to the lock-in but I still had the kids stay the night at the grandparent's house. I got a couple of things done around the house and then went to bed and enjoyed a full nights sleep. I slept until about 8:30 and then got up and got ready. I went to get the kids and then we went to the store so Jeremy could get some sleep at the house. We went to a few stores and just looked around. I did get pretty annoyed at a lady in one of the stores. I know I have mentioned before how annoying it gets for peo...
I have had several people call wondering about my dental appointment so I thought I would write the bad news and maybe I will feel better. I have several issues going on in my mouth that will require 3 root canals and a couple of other things. I have a little infection in a couple of my teeth and if I do not get it taken care of it could become very serious. I was OK with the diagnosis but I lost it when I found out how much it was going to cost me. I am very frustrated with money right now! I called Jeremy and was obviously upset and he reminded me that it is not the end of the world, it is my teeth. Anyway, I am scheduled to go in on November 5 th to fix everything at once. I need to have everything done before Chloe comes home. I called the visa center today and nothing else has been happening with Chloe's paperwork so I do not think she will be home before the 5 th . Please say a prayer for my spirit. I am pretty upset.
We have a busy day today. I am going back to the dentist to find out what I am going to need done. I am a little nervous and I am hoping that I do not start crying when he tells me how much I am going to have to pay. On Tuesday when he said he would find out how much I would have to pay out of pocket I choked tears back as I explained that we have paid for two adoptions in one year and our budget is pretty stretched. I am also a little more emotional these days. I am only going to talk to him so I should only be there 10 minutes or so. After the dentist we are going to the grocery store. Our family goes through milk, cereal, and juice like crazy. I also need to get some things for the kids lunches. I struggle almost every day what to feed them for lunch. I want to do somewhat healthy meals but it is so hard and I do not want to feed them mac and cheese every day either. Well I know I mentioned that I was a little worried about how Emma was going to react to Chloe. The other night in th...
We had an interesting night. After church we came home and the kids were so wound up. They were running around like crazy. We got them in the pj's hoping that would settle them down but Sam wanted to wear one of Jeremy's shirts from school. Jeremy let him wear it and he thought it was so funny how big it was. Sam was saying he was a scarecrow. He came running by me and I said he looked like he was in a choir. He then broke out in song singing, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah." The child is really cracking me up these days. He says the funniest things. We all got in our bed for story time and then the kids started crawling around on the bed and being goofy. It was all in fun until Emma fell off the bed. I had a pictures frame by the bed that I have been planning on hanging and she smacked right into it. I was really scared because her lip was bleeding pretty bad. It finally stopped bleeding and thankfully it was not as bad as it looked. I gave her some Tylenol and she slept go...
The pictures came a few hours ago so I decided to make a run to Wal-Mart. I cannot believe how old and big she looks in the pictures! She also got a haircut. Jeremy and I both agreed she needs a bow or something. She still looks really sweet. It is weird when you get new pictures and you realize that you forget while you are waiting that your child is growing. It is kinda a shock when you get pictures every few months and you see how much they change. It looks like she will have the same complex I had when I was growing up, looking older than my big sister. Oh well. Hurry home my sweet Chloe.
Well I just wanted to let you know that the pictures of Chloe will probably not be posted until late tonight. I was hoping to go to the store and get them scanned and put on a disk after I got back from the dentist but they have not been delivered yet. We have revival tonight so we will go before church to get the scanned. Well about the dentist, it was worse than I expected. They were super nice but I have a couple of issues. I am actually going back on Thursday just to talk to the doctor about what I need done. He was kinda weird about just telling me what the issues were that I was getting kinda nervous. So I asked him if I was going to loose my teeth or die or something. That is how weird he was acting. He said he wanted to look at all the X-rays and pictures again and get a plan for me before he just started saying what needs to be done. Sam also had a few cavities so they referred me to another dentist. I guess that is what I get for not going to the dentist in so many years. The...
We had a good weekend. We went to eat at Logan's for Jeremy's birthday supper on Friday night. After we ate we went to the store. I wanted to find an outfit for Chloe to wear on the day we get her. I found a really cute outfit but I am not sure what size she is right now. I guess I will bring a couple outfits in different sizes. We all slept in on Saturday and then I went to Curves to exercise. Jeremy took the kids out for lunch so I could get the house cleaned and then they all came home and took a nap. We then had 6 teens from church come over for a Bible study. I took the kids to a friends house so I could actually participate in the Bible study. I picked up the kids about 9:00 and I thought they would be fast asleep by the time we got home but they were wired. So they did not get to sleep until after 10. I woke up Sunday with a massive headache. I was also sick to my stomach. I do not know if it was sinus stuff or what. After church we ate lunch and then came home and took ...
More Good News!!!
Ok so I know I said I was going to call the National Visa Center on Monday to see if we were logged in, but I could not wait. I knew it was a long shot that we would already be logged in at the Visa Center but I was going to give it a shot. I called this morning but the wait time to talk to someone was 20 minutes so I decided to call back. I just got off the phone with them and we were logged in on October 15th and they actually processed our paperwork and it was sent to the Embassy in Korea TODAY!!! Can you tell I am excited! Once the paperwork is received in at the Embassy our agency in Korea will go to the Embassy and give whatever paperwork in necessary and then they will set up her visa interview and then she will be home. I am still not sure of the exact time frame but WOW this is going better than I had expected. Continue to pray.
We just got home a few minutes ago. I went to the eye doctor this morning. I took the kids to Gran and Papa's house. I went to a new eye doctor and he was really nice. I ordered some new glasses and I switched the kind of contacts that I wear. The new ones fit my eyes so much better than my old ones. The doctor did do something new and it was really weird. When you go to the eye doctor they usually have that machine that blows a puff of air in your eye to measure it or something. Well this guy actually put some drops in my eye to numb them and then actually put some kind of tool directly on my eyeball. It was strange. It did not hurt but I did not exactly like the feeling of someone poking my eye. After the eye doctor I was going to go vote because I thought early voting started on Oct. 15th. Well it started in Nashville but Pleasant View does not open for early voting until the 20th. I was hoping to vote while I had some time and when I did not have the kids. Right now Emma is tak...
I600 APPROVAL HAS ARRIVED!!!!!
Well my very uneventful day has become a very exciting day. I checked the mail box like 5 times this morning hoping the mail had finally been delivered. I had a weird feeling but that would not of been the first time I felt that way and nothing came of it. I went back to check it at about 12:30 and I saw that we had mailed. I pulled the letters out and I saw that we had an envelope from Immigration. I was hoping that it was not another receipt or a letter saying we needed something else for the approval. I opened it up and saw that it was indeed the approval for Chloe to get her visa and finally be home. I obviously started crying. Most of you know what a relief it was to get the approval. I came back inside and got myself and the kids ready as fast as I could and headed out to fax the approval to our adoption agencies. We got back a few minutes ago and the reality of the situation is setting in. I am not sure how long it will take for her travel call but maybe I will find out more at ...
Well once again we have a very uneventful day planned. I need to get out and go to the bank but I am not sure I want to load the kids up for one errand. I am going to try to exercise when Jeremy gets home but it depends on when he gets home. He has report cards due tomorrow and it is taking him forever to fill them out. He might stay after school to work on them. The kids are doing good. Emma is still saying new words every day. Samuel is just growing up so fast. I know they have their moments but I am very blessed to have such sweet children. Well not much more to say. I am going to work on the laundry a little today. I am also going to attempt to get the kids summer clothes packed away and see what I have for them for Fall. It is raining today but thankfully it has cooled down here. It has been so warm the past few days. Still no word on our I600 approval or when our new pictures of Chloe will be arriving. Hopefully soon! Well Emma just spilt her Cheerios all over the floor so I bett...
Well there is not a lot of excitement around here. I worked all day yesterday and the kids went to some friend's house. My in-laws are out of town so I have had to find babysitters this week. Jeremy had parent teacher conferences yesterday and did not have to be at school until noon. One of our friends was able to watch them yesterday afternoon. I actually am working tomorrow instead of Friday because the family I work for will be out of town. Another dear friend will be watching the kids tomorrow and she is actually gracious enough to come to our house to keep them. It makes it so much easier not getting them up and out of the house. After tomorrow I will have a nice four day weekend. I got an eye doctor's appointment Friday and Jeremy's birthday is Saturday so I am sure we will do something for him this weekend. Well I got back from Curves a little bit ago and now I need to get supper going. Oh, we got an e-mail from our State Senators office today. They got an e-mail fr...
Today was pretty good. I woke up this morning and was going to take about a 45 minute walk before I had to get ready for work. I got up and started my walk but I did not get far and two dogs started chasing after me. They were nice dogs but it was kinda annoying. It was also very smoky outside. We have several tobacco barns near our house and it is the season for the farmers to smoke the barns to dry out the tobacco. The smoke is horrible. I could not stay outside very long because I could not even breath. I only stayed out about 20 minutes. It was also a weird walk because one of my cats followed me out on the road and walked along side of me like a dog. Anyway, I went on to work and it was pretty boring. I got home about 3:00 and for a minute a thought I had received very good news. I checked the mail and I saw an envelope in there from Immigration. My heart was racing because I thought it was our I600 approval for Chloe. I opened it up quickly and I realized it was just another rece...
It is hard to believe but my little Emma will be 2 years old in one month. She is doing so good and is very sweet. We have our court date scheduled on October 27th to finalize her adoption. I am hoping that she does not mind a new baby sister. I think she is going to have a rough time sharing us with Chloe. Well it was a pretty tiring day. I was pretty much out of it today. This morning the lady I work for sent me on a few errands. I went to Whole Foods which is about 20 minutes from their house and I have been there a dozen times. Well on the way back to the house I was in my own thoughts and I looked up and realized that I did not know where I was. I had totally missed my turn and I was not sure where I had missed it. I was kinda nervous because I was driving in this rich neighborhood and everything looked the same. I just kept driving and turning down streets that I thought sounded familiar. Well thankfully I came out on a road that I knew but I was about 20 miles from where I need...
What are cafe au lait spots?
Here is a simple explanation of the spots that I found in case you are wondering exactly what I am talking about. Chloe now has three spots that are 0.5 cm. The spots are located on the right side of her chin, her right forearm, and now on her right flank (between her ribs and hip). We have pictures of the ones on her arm and chin and they are very tiny. They just look like birthmarks. cafe-au-lait spots Cafe au lait spots are flat, sharply demarcated, evenly pigmented flat spots that are more or less oval, with the long axis situated along a cutaneous (skin) nerve tract. They are light to medium brown, as reflected by the name - which of course means "coffee with milk" in French. They are usually present at birth, but may arise later in the first few years of life. They are much more common in black infants. To have a few such spots is totally normal. However, more than six such spots of greater than 1.5 mm in diameter prepubertal or greater than 5 mm in diameter postpubert...
Another cafe au lait spot
We just got an e-mail from our social worker at AIAA and she sent a new Class B waiver for us to sign. A new cafe au lait spot has been found on Chloe's right side. She said that we have to sign a new waiver including the new spot. She also said that Korea is sending new pictures and she is hoping to get them next week and then will send them to us. It is just a weird feeling to know that she has another spot. I read on line that it is common for babies to develop a few more spots before they turn two years old. Based on the size it does not seem to be much of a concern. Korea is so particular about every thing that they make it seem worse than it usually is. I just wish I had her in my arms and could let our doctor look at her to confirm if there may be some kind of problem. It does not matter how big or small the issue I just would like to know exactly what to expect. I am however excited to get more pictures. Maybe they will give me the extra boost for the next few weeks.
There is not much going on around here today. I am going to get the house cleaned and try to get caught up on the laundry. Sam and Emma love just staying home and playing. I am feeling much better this morning, physically and emotionally. The chiropractor could not believe how knotted up ALL my muscles were last night when I went to get adjusted. I think he cracked every bone in my body. I am still a little sore but nothing like I had been feeling. I am also more at ease about Chloe's paperwork. I feel better that higher up people will also be making sure that everything in done properly. I also feel better because at least this time we know exactly what to do if we have a problem. I forgot to mention that I talked to the doctor yesterday about those cafe au lait spots on Chloe. I also brought in the pictures of the spots so he could see them. He was very confident that based on the size and that she only had two spots there should not be any problems. He said it is very common ...
Sorry I have a lot of posts today but I just wanted to tell you that Jeremy got an e-mail from one of our Representatives office and they are going to contact Memphis to try to get some information on our case. So that is encouraging. I guess it helps in an election year when you need something done:) Hey they will get my vote.
Well the doctor's visit went good. I went to Wal-Mart before the visit and bought them a Color Wonder's book. Emma just sat in the chair and colored. Sam was a little crazy. I think Sam was trying to show out for the doctor. He also had to wear a little gown and he thought it was funny to twirl around and let the gown go up. He is very healthy and is growing at a good rate. He is 38 inches tall and finally weighs over 30 pounds (but only by a half a pound). He grew three inches from last year and has gained 4 1/2 pounds. He was current on all shots but I did go ahead and get him a flu shot. He was not very happy with me. We got home about 30 minutes ago. Emma is taking her nap and Sam is watching a movie. I am going to the chiropractor tonight before church and I am hoping it will make me feel better. Well Jeremy went ahead and e-mailed our state representatives about our situation with Memphis. We thought we would go ahead and give them a heads up incase we do have issues in a...
Well Memphis e-mailed me this morning with a very generic message. All they said was they could only give me an approximate time frame based on their work load. They said our paperwork would be reviewed in the next two to three weeks and then we would be notified if any additional information is needed or that a decision has been made. Which only means that nobody at that office looked up our case to see the status. They just gave me an answer based on the 8 weeks time frame. Oh well, I guess I will e-mail them at the beginning of next week and make sure they give me the one to two week time frame. At least they e-mailed me something. Well we all just got up a few minutes ago. It is raining so I am not looking forward to getting out with the kids today. Sam's appointment is not until 1:30 so maybe the rain will stop by then. I am going to call the chiropractor to see if he can get me in today. My back and neck have really been hurting this week. I think that is part of the reason I...
Still no response
Well it is getting harder to keep my cool. Memphis did not e-mail us back today. Jeremy and I both e-mailed them throughout the day but we still did not hear anything. They are really starting to annoy me. So please just pray that there is not some kind of problem. Well we stayed in today. It was kinda raining and gloomy so we just stayed home and relaxed. The kids took a 2 hour nap and I got the living room and kitchen cleaned and then just watched TV. Tomorrow I am taking Sam to the doctor for his 4 year old check up. I have to take Emma with me so I am hoping that it is not too crazy. Well that's all I got for today. I have a few pictures from the weekend but have not uploaded them. I have been feeling pretty lazy today. Actually I think the word it bummed but I hope to feel better tomorrow.
I am very disappointed. Memphis did not bother to respond to my e-mail today. I decided not to e-mail them again tonight but I will e-mail them back if I do not hear something in the morning. I guess it is pretty busy on Mondays in their office. We have decided that we are going to contact our state representatives if we do not hear anything back from Memphis. I guess I am just frustrated about the e-mail they sent me on Friday. They sure were quick to send me an annoying e-mail. I am still pretty calm because at least the time frame given is not over yet I am just trying to make sure that does not happen. Well not much more to write tonight. We all are pretty tired from an early morning and a long day so I guess I will write more tomorrow.
We have had a good day. After church we came home and had lunch at home today. The kids took a short nap and I just rested on the couch. The first Sunday night of the month we take the youth group to the Ronald Mc Donald House to make supper for the families that are staying there. We took about 20 kids. Sam and Emma spent the evening with Jeremy's sister Janna and her boyfriend Brandon. It was nice to be kid free for the night (at least kid free from my kids). It is really difficult going on youth outings and worrying about my little ones too. We had a good time. Some of our kids are really hurting right now and it breaks my heart when I think about the things they have to deal with at this time in their life. Well I am going to get ready for bed. We have an early start tomorrow. Please pray for me tomorrow as I anticipate a response from Immigration. I am so nervous about what they will say. I do not want to go through the hassle I went through with Emma's paperwork. I am not...
We had a good day. I did not get to Curves this morning but we did get out and went to the library and to Target. Emma woke up at about 5 this morning but thankfully she went back to sleep in our bed. Samuel woke up a few minutes after she did so I got up and went to lay done with him. We all slept until about 7:30. Well last night I wore a long sleeve nightgown to bed. I do not usually wear nightgowns but this one is really warm, well this morning when I got up Sam looked at me and said, "Mom, just look at yourself." I asked him why he said that and so he said, "Mom, just look at yourself, what are you wearing, where is your pants?" I got so tickled. I do not know where he heard the phrase "just look at yourself". He sounded like a grown up. After we woke up we went to the library for about an hour and then on to Target. We were not gone very long. We came home and we all took a nap. We just ate supper and I am hoping to get the laundry done and maybe get...
We had a pretty good day. I am a little frustrated with the Memphis Adoption Unit. They sent me a very annoying e-mail because I am not sure what they meant. I got an e-mail this morning and all it said was this "When did you file the I600?" My first reaction was freaking out because I interrupted it to mean they were not sure what I was talking about. I e-mailed them back giving them the date that is on our receipt but they did not e-mail me back today. I am trying not to panic because it is probably a thing were they will not check on it if it has not been adequate time since it was filed. It may also be someone answering the e-mail that just does not what to do their job. I learned from the experience with Emma that you get all kinds of different responses and answers when you e-mail them. When I got home from work I sent another e-mail to them stating everything that was on our receipt from their office. I also made it very clear that I am not going to sit back and let th...
We all slept great last night. Sam and I slept in the kids bed and Jeremy and Emma slept in our bed. We just started out there so we could all (mostly Jeremy and I) get a goods night sleep. My headache is better today. Last night I put Vicks all over my face to relieve the major sinus headache I have been having and I think it helped. Well we all slept until 8 and then we had an exciting situation. Jeremy opened the back door to put Maggie out and one of the kittens, which is not much of a kitten anymore, ran into the house. Have I also mentioned that the kittens are completly wild. Well the cat ran into Sam's room and was going CRAZY. It kept jumping all over the room knocking things down. I kept trying to corner it but I was afraid it would attack me. We all just kept chasing it around trying to get it back to the door. It was making the weirdest sound. I guess it was meowing, but I never heard a cat sound like that. Well we finally got it back to the back door but instead of goi...
We had a pretty good day. Emma fell out of the bed last night so she ended up in our bed and I slept with Sam. I actually slept pretty good once I got settled. The kids slept until 8 AM. I still have a major headache but I am feeling better than I have been the last few days. The kids and I stayed in today until church time. We went to church and then we got home just in time to see the Cubs lose the game. It is a little tense around our house since Jeremy's baseball team the Dodgers is playing the Cubs in the first round of the playoffs. We are trying not to be mean about it :) Jeremy took the day off tomorrow so I am going to try to get to Curves in the morning. Well I guess you can tell that it is pretty boring around here. I have posted some pictures of the kids playing today. I love the last picture of Emma. She is so sweet.
