end of the year

Christmas has come and gone... finally.  We had a very nice Christmas and it was good to spend time with family but I'm happy it's over.  I want to get the house back to normal, then I can start digging through paperwork for #2 and also get Parker's Certificate of Citizenship done.  Yes, more paperwork for Parker, this should be it though.  At least until he starts school! 

As 2010 ends and 2011 is set to begin I want to recap.  Just kidding, not much to recap.  I can say that we had a great year with Parker.  Watching him grow and learn new things, the words he has started to say.  One of the first ones, other than mama & dadda was squirrel.  The latest is cowabunga... thanks grandpa John!  He is counting steps with daddy, and counted to 13 the other night.  He uses a spoon with no problem, he hasn't quite gotten the fork down yet but that will come before we know it.  He continues to amaze us and make us laugh, even when he's being so naughty. 

We look forward to a wonderful 2011 and wish the same to everyone.

Happy New Year from the Cramblets!

waiting again...

I guess I can finally announce... we are adopting again!  We are officially on the "wait list" for #2 from Korea.  We are very excited to be going through the process again, even if it is a long one.  Currently the approximate wait time for a referral is 12-16 months after the home study approval date.  Of course that can always change.  I am going to try and stay on top of updating so please keep checking for any news.  I have started a time line to follow also.

Wish us luck with #2!

Christmas is coming...

We made it through Parker's 2nd birthday, Thanksgiving and I even did the "Black Friday" shopping thing for the first time!  The house is decorated, the tree is up, and now all we have to do is wait for Santa to come. 

I'm really looking forward to this Christmas.  Parker now gets the whole present thing.  Last year he didn't really care too much about presents, or unwrapping them but this year will be different.  He had practice on his birthday last month so when he sees the gifts this time he should know what to do.  I am so excited to see his face when he walks downstairs Christmas morning.  Although, right now he'll probably just want to stay in bed.  Fine with me!

2... really?

Happy Birthday Parker!


more pictures, updates and more to come...

October already?

I didn't realize it has been almost 2 months since the last post. The summer just flew by and I can't believe I'm trying to plan a Halloween costume already.

Parker and I took a trip down to see his cousins the first weekend of October. It was... interesting. Unfortunately it wasn't the trip I had planned but it was still fun. Parker was very clingy to mom. I'm not sure if it's because we were away from home, if it was because dad wasn't there or just the lack of naps. We did get to go to a pumpkin patch, a HS football game and out to dinner at Rainforest Cafe'.

This past weekend we went to Lewis Farms just north of us and had a great day. We met up with some other Korea families that we've gotten together with a couple of other times. Parker ran around with his friends, pet some goats and got to see a camel, a zebra and an elephant. After lunch we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out a pumpkin. Parker however had more fun pulling on the vines and playing in the dirt. One of these times we get together with his friends we will actually get a good picture of the three of them together.

August 18th

August 18, 1999 - Ethan & I started dating

August 18, 2001 - Ethan & I were married and became a family of 2

August 18, 2009 - Ethan & I met our son for the first time

and became a family of 3

August 18, 2010 - our very first "Family Day" aka "Gotcha Day"

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband.

Happy 1st Family Day to my beautiful son.

what's new???

Between working full time, being a mom to a 21 month old son, having a 15 year old dog, a 1 1/2 year old puppy, being a wife and trying to keep up on housework I've been neglecting the blog horribly.



Parker has hit the "terrible twos". Half the time we don't know whether to laugh or scold. He is so darn naughty and has learned how to push mom's buttons. He thinks it's hilarious to crouch down in front of the dogs' water dish, watch for me to come closer and then splash water everywhere. He loves both dogs and has learned that he needs to be very gentle with Stella but thinks it's okay to sit and bounce on Hank. Luckily Hank doesn't mind. Parker is talking quite a bit more now, one of his newer words is "butt" and of course he also shows you where his butt is.



Ethan and I have been crazy busy trying to put together our very first golf scramble. We started Seoulwish, a grant program "helping build forever families". Our goal is to help families adopting from S. Korea ease the financial burden, if it's $1 or $100. While in the process of adopting Parker, we were given $100 anonymously and will never forget that. We are holding our 1st Annual Golf Scramble for Seoulwish on August 21st at Terra Verde Golf Course in Nunica, MI. Check us out at http://www.seoulwish.com/ .

I'll try to better about keeping things updated!

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day... I'm sitting here watching the best little boy in the world snuggle up with dad on the couch with his blankie and Mike the stuffed puppy. I got to lay in bed for an extra 30 minutes this morning...thank you Ethan for that.

I have been putting off writing anything down about Mother's Day, hoping that something profound would strike. Well nothing has. I have dreaded Mother's Day for so long, not wanting to even think about it let alone celebrate the one thing I wanted so badly but had yet to experience. Now as I finally have my turn I can't help but feel sad again. I feel sad for Parker's birth mom, thinking about her even more so over the past month, wondering if she thinks about him, misses him, wonders about him and his new family. If she pictures what he might look like or what he is doing. Did she think of him on his 1st birthday? I don't know the answers to these questions and probably never will. In a few years from now when Parker starts asking questions about her, I won't have the anwers to those either.

I will never be able to express to her how her selfless act made such a huge impact on me and my life. I am a mother. She will always be his birth mom and one day I hope Parker will honor her as he does me on this day of mothers. Yesterday we went and picked out a tree that we can plant in honor of Parker's birth mom. It was a day that is known in the adoption community as "Birth Mother's Day".

I also think about Parker's foster mom. A woman who took care of him, changed him, fed him and loved him for the first 9 months of his life. I don't know much about Parker's foster mom either but I am sure that it was very hard for her to say good-bye to him. I hope one day we will be able to take a trip to Korea to meet her and say thank you.

So, on this Mother's Day May 9, 2010 I am not celebrating the fact that I am a mother, I am celebrating the two other moms in Parker's life and without them I would not be the mom I am today.

7 months, 6 days

On Wednesday March 24th, 2010 Parker David Cramblet will be ours forever. We have a court date set and it will finally be official.

....and then there's Hank

We had our final home visit 2 weeks ago, and other than Parker falling after Ethan commented on how well he is walking, things went very well. Parker was teething again so his balance was a bit off. We now are waiting for some final paperwork to be finished up and a court date. I can't believe it's been 6 months since we picked Parker up at the airport.

Parker had his 15 month check up last week and he is doing great. He wasn't too happy with the doctor, or the nurse for that matter, and I think everyone on the 3rd floor heard that. I think it was the most difficult visit for him yet...he just wasn't happy at all. He now weighs 22lbs and is 30-3/4 inches tall. He is working on teeth again and has a total of 13.

And now to the matter of Hank. I'm not too sure what we got ourselves into, but we adopted a dog a week ago! We weren't really looking at getting another dog right now, but in passing time and looking at Petfinder I found Hank f/k/a Alex. Hank is a black lab that was found as a stray. We aren't too sure how old he is, but we're thinking somewhere around 9-12 months... so he's still a puppy! Hank has been a little bit naughty but with time he is going to be a very good dog.

I guess when it's February in Michigan and you don't have much else to do, get a dog! It sure has made life interesting.

nothing much happening

Winter in Michigan... what else can I say? There is not a whole lot going on.

Parker is growing like a weed; he has 11 teeth at 14 months old! His personality shows more each day and he is quite the little comedian and a huge camera ham! We can't get enough of him either. He has us laughing all the time with everything. He still loves music and loves to dance. Lately he has been dancing with his stuffed animals.

We are getting closer to having him legally ours forever. We have a home visit next week, then it's court. I can't believe he's been home 5 months and we'll be going to court soon! I can't wait.