A very busy weekend.....

We are all exhausted.....it was a killer weekend! Maya went to the doggie spa on Saturday morning so Paul got to meet our friends at Happy Dog Bakery! Maya got her mani/pedi and bath - she looks and smells great now! The afternoon brought snow (seriously) and rain. We all went a little stir crazy......

Here's Paul in kid jail - how pathetic!

While we have had trouble getting Paul excited about taking a bath in the tub, he DID express interest in playing in the tub....fully clothed and with no water......

Check out Paul hamming it up for the camera.....that devilish grin!

"Who me??"

Our friend Jeff and his girlfriend Sisilia came over for a visit and then we went to the only Korean restaurant in town and had a wonderful meal. The owner fawned all over Paul....as did the little girl in the background of this picture. She is 5 and was also adopted from Korea as an infant. Paul ate so much that night, we thought he would pop!

Sunday morning brought our second trip to church....we made it through successfully and WITHOUT any puffies to bribe him! After that we trekked over to Gram and Pa's for a home cooked breakfast.

Paul ate his 2nd breakfast of the day!

Thanks Gram and Pa for our yummy breakfast! Sorry my shirt is all wet from my DROOL!

Sunday afternoon brought our highly anticipated play date. Unfortunately, one of the kids was under the weather so it was Paul and the twins - Jack and Grace. This was our first time seeing Paul interact with other people his size. They had lots of fun and I had a nice time chatting with my friend Laura.

Here's Jack and Paul......

And the 3 munchkins taking a break for a yogurt puffie snack.....

"Mom, you're the coolest for bringing me to play with my new friends"

Here's some video with Paul and Jack clapping - too cute.

When we got home, Paul had fun playing with Maya - we got some great video with cute giggles.....

After dinner, we decided to try a bath - this time WITHOUT daddy in the tub. It went well until it was time to rinse his hair....but overall a lovely bath time experience! We're on a roll.....

Can I fit the entire tub toy in my mouth?

What are you guys doing to me? How humiliating!

My hoodie towel and daddy's shoulder....what else does a fella need?

We had a busy weekend and lots of fun. Each day we see more and more of Paul's personality coming out. The end of the weekend is bittersweet as Jason returns to work tomorrow. Yes, that's right, I'll be flying solo this week! We will all be fine, but we have really enjoyed being able to spend so much time together.

We have several things on our social calendar this week, so that should keep us busy and out of trouble. We'll be thinking of the families that are traveling to Korea as I write this to meet their babies for the first time and bring them home.....prayers for a safe trip for them!

Love from the pooped out Marchik family!

Adult night out!

Still no new pictures....I promise we will make an effort this weekend to snag some cute new pics or video!

Had a nice visit today from Jason's boss Lauren. She brought over the cutest little step stool/chair with his name painted on it! The whole Black Hawk College IT crew was so thoughtful to send it over for Paul!

I went for cocktails with friends this afternoon and then Gram and Pa came over to supervise Paul after he went to bed........Jason and I went out to a movie tonight! We saw "I Love you Man" and it was a total riot. Complete toilet humor, but it was totally adult (far from Sesame Street) and some time away which felt great! Worked out well since we were able to put Paul to bed and then head out for a few hours.

The weather is supposed to be turning nasty tomorrow - cold and snow is coming and we are NOT looking forward to it. Maya is headed to the doggie spa tomorrow - she needs a mani/pedi and a nice bath! Our friend Jeff is coming into town from Cedar Rapids and plans to stop by to meet Paul. Potential play date with 3 other little ones about Paul's age on Sunday.....and when Monday rolls around, Jason will be back to the working grind and I will be flying solo on the kid front. Should make for an interesting week!

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful weekend....stay warm and pray for NO SNOW!

Stubborn little bugger...

No new pictures - we have been bad about taking pictures over the last few days! We've been laying pretty low the last few days - the weather has been cruddy so we can't go walking outside. We are still working on getting our routine down - Paul is sleeping like a champ at night but can't quite get the daytime nap to work out for him.

We went out for dinner tonight - an actual order off the menu restaurant. Earlier in the week, we went to a deli for lunch. Both restaurant trips went very well. Paul sat well in his highchair and kept pretty quiet the whole time. He ate his dinner tonight while we waited for ours to be delivered! We have really been trying to continue to live our lives and this is a great first step!

Jason has planned an evening out for the 2 of us tomorrow.....Gram and Pa are coming over to watch Paul although we'll put him to bed before we leave - their job will be easy. Jason and I will go see a movie - we are both looking forward to an adult night out!

And, some great news for 2 other families that we know through Lifelink....they are traveling to Korea on Sunday to pick up their babies! We are so excited for them and can't wait to see pictures from their trip and hear all about their experiences!

We hear there might be snow coming this weekend - ugh! I can't wait until the weather turns nicer so we can be outside more.

Love from the restaurant visiting Marchik family!

A rainy Tuesday....but we have cake!

Our week started with a visit from our adoption social worker bright and early Monday morning. She stayed about 45 minutes and just asked a lot of questions about what Paul is doing, how he is sleeping, what he is eating, etc, etc. She will come back 3 more times in the next 6 months to check up on us. GranJo stopped by for a little while in the afternoon and brought us yummy beef stew for dinner!

Today brought lots of rain and gloomy weather. Paul took his first bath this morning without shrieking the entire time - it takes daddy getting in the tub with him, but at this point we'll do whatever it takes! The afternoon brought a visit to Jason's workplace for Paul to meet all of his coworkers. They even did a video conference for the folks that work at another campus to see Paul too. They even decorated and had CAKE for us!

Here's daddy amongst the decorations with Paul......

Here's the yummy cake - this is the SECOND cake we've gotten since we got home....we love CAKE!

We hung out at Black Hawk for a while and then headed over to Gram and Pa's for a quick visit. It just so happened that Sue was over and had a present for little Paul!

Here's Paul trying to open his gift (it was a hoodie towel and washcloths which we needed!)....

Gram and Pa bought a fun new toy for Paul to play with at their house - he had fun hitting all the buttons!

And a shot of the 3 of us....

And here is Paul's new trick.....we should call him bottle opener! This was too funny - not sure how he learned this, but those teeth are coming in handy!

We're hoping for some decent weather - we REALLY need to get out and walk with the stroller - we are going through withdrawal! At least we are only getting rain - others are getting serious snow storms right now!

Love from soggy Illinois!

Our first foray into the church scene....

It's been a few days since the last post - the days just seem to get away from us and we aren't quite as good at getting something posted everyday! Sorry to disappoint Paul's adoring fans!

Let's see what's happened since Thursday.....on Friday, we layed pretty low in the morning and then headed out to GranJo's for an afternoon visit. Headed back home and snuggled in for the evening....not terribly exciting. Saturday was a little busier - we took a LONG walk with Paul and Maya (it was a beautiful day) and ran some errands. Jason was SOOOO nice that he gave me the night off so I could attend a fundraising event for the QC Animal Welfare Center (I am the President of the Board, so it was good that I went). He had his parents over and they hung out with Paul.

Today brought cooler weather and rain - not pleasant out there. We got up and headed to church - this was our first time going as a family. Overall, Paul did very well! He was very quiet right up until Deacon Jerry started to read the Gospel and then he let out a loud squeal (happy noises, but loud at a bad time if you know what I mean). We kept him entertained with puffies (his favorite) and some books. It is definitely a different experience to go to church with an infant - I think I heard every 3rd word or so!

Here's Paul dressed for church......

Since we couldn't walk outside today due to the weather, we headed to the mall to find Paul's Easter outfit. He had fun strolling around and checking out all the people. We scored a cute outfit at the Children's Place and then headed to Target and then home. We are anticipating an early bedtime since Paul is still struggling to figure out his daytime nap. We continue to patiently work on that. He is a GREAT nightime sleeper now - hitting over 12 hours each night now! We are blessed with that, but know he would do even better with a good daytime nap. Thanks to our friend Katie for that great sleep book.....

Here's a super funny and cute video of Maya and Paul. Things are going very well with the two of them.....she is pretty cute and gentle with him and always seems to want to be around him (unless he's screaming his head off and then we would all like to be far, far away!)

We are starting the last week of all of us here together.....here's hoping for some progress on bath time and diaper changing....both illicit much screaming from the little guy. We've tried different tactics - any new and innovative suggestions would be appreciated.

Love to you all!

Double the fun...Wednesday and Thursday!

We got pretty busy yesterday and didn't get a chance to post...so, today will cover 2 days in 1 post! Both Jason and I are sick with bad head colds, so we are having a great time keeping up with the short-round whilst blowing our noses and coughing! Here's the blow by blow:

On Wednesday, we headed over to Sue's house to hang with her and Gram and Pa too! We had a nice visit and Sue got to meet Paul for the first time.

Here's Paul checking out Pa..... And he actually let Gram hold him for a short while....

After our visit, we headed over to see a few Trinity friends that we missed on Tuesday. We had a ball playing on the floor of Tammy's office.

Paul's getting the hang of this sippy cup thing.....

Tammy had some fun beads in her office to play with.....

And he let Tammy hold him - it was a red letter day for new people and new things!

We headed home for a little while, took a nap and then decided we needed to head to the grocery store for a few supplies. This was Paul's first trip to HyVee.

Not so sure about this shopping cart thing, but learned to like it (with the help of some puffs along the way)......

Thursday morning brought the dreaded blood work at the lab....and since we needed a poo sample too, we had to line his diaper with plastic wrap (lord knows the poo can't touch the diaper or it will be contaminated - remember that we are talking about poo here!). And the poo must be delivered to the lab within 1 hour or it's no good (once again, we're talking about poo). We got our requisite sample, got dressed and went to the lab. It took 3 different techs to get the blood sample that they needed and poor Paul screamed the whole time. It was pretty rough on all of us.

Here's pathetic Paul with his hand bandaged from the blood draw (he also had another bandage on his other arm)......

We were so tired later in the morning, we just crashed. First in daddy's arm.......

A few moments later, he crashed on the floor...Bears blanket cradling the fall!

We were very busy checking out the kitchen today. The handle on the fridge makes a perfect bar to help Paul walk around. Check out my toothy grin.....

After lunch, we went over to Gram and Pa's to meet Maya for the first time. It went well and we brought her home.....that just leaves the cats to come home.....probably in the next week or so. Here's some fun video from a short time after we got back home.





Maya feels right at home amongst Paul's toys....she's not so sure about the screaming and crying, but I think we'll all have to get more used to that!

It was a busy couple of days - hard to believe that as of tomorrow, we will have been home for a week now! It's amazing how much progress Paul has made in such a short time.

We still haven't had to cook a meal since we've been back - everyone has been so great and generous with food, support and gifts.....we are overwhelmed by it all and so appreciative.

Love from the Marchik family....furry and all!

Tuesday...another day of firsts

It's fun to be able to post the daily happenings of the Marchik family as we get settled into our new lives together. Last night was horrendous - AGAIN - but we were up at 10am today instead of closer to 11 or noon! That's progress baby.

We had a 2pm appointment with Paul's pediatrician - Dr. Brodd. He took a quick stroll around the neighborhood before we strapped into the car and headed over. The office is only 5 minutes from the house which is nice. As expected, Paul didn't enjoy his first interaction with the doctor....we took some cute pictures, but something happened and they didn't save on the flash card in the camera....bummer. Spent a solid hour at the office and then came out with some American formula to try and a long list of lab orders for poor Paul. That will be our adventure for tomorrow or Thursday - trip to the lab for more screaming as they draw lots of blood!

When we left the doctor's office, we thought Paul would want to go home and chill, but he seemed up for an adventure - so we headed to Trinity to visit some of my coworkers. He was the HIT of the hospital! He did so well - we let him crawl around a little (even though I shudder to think of the dirt and germs on that carpet) and he stole the hearts of anyone that came near. We must have spent a good 90 minutes there and he was in a great mood until the very end.

Headed home, had some dinner, played a little and then tried to take a bath. Our first attempt a few days ago was a failure - so this time we tried in the kitchen sink. Still wasn't successful, but we'll keep trying. He is mesmerized by water so you would think this would be a slam dunk. Maybe next time daddy will hit the tub with Paul. I was at least able to wipe him all over with a washcloth - that's something!

And, the biggest FIRST of the day.....we talked to the pediatrician today about when it would be ok to try the crib. We don't want to screw up the attachment phase, but I must admit that the hours of shrieking in our ears is tough as is the lack of sleep that we get while keeping one eye open when Paul is in bed with us. He is a very restless sleeper which makes co-sleeping very tough. We have also found that if it is time to go to bed at 9:00 then we must ALL go to bed at 9:00. It is hard to have ANY quiet time when we are constantly either carrying him around or trying to sleep in bed with him. It can't be restful for him either.

So, we decided to go against the "normal" adoption grain and try the crib out tonight. He didn't get his second nap today, so he was pretty tired earlier than normal. We started to nod off a little before 7:00, so Jason got him good and asleep and we put him in there. It only took 25 minutes of screaming - with each of us going in every 5 minutes to reassure him - and then he just konked off. Jason and can now enjoy an evening together which is good for everyone's mental health. We'll see how long it lasts in there, but we're hoping he stays crashed for a while. Neither one of us want to mess with our ability to attach with Paul, but this seems like a natural progression and so we'll try it. We can't second guess ourselves too much as we learn how to be both new parents and parents with a child that is grieving the loss of his foster family.

It was a busy day - hopefully we will all get some sleep tonight! Tomorrow is cleaning lady day (thank goodness for Tina) and Gram and Pa (Jason's parents) are coming over. We'll see if we make it to the lab for Paul's bloodwork or wait until Thursday. The days all run together at this point.....ack!

EDIT: Added sleeeeepy video...



Love from the newly crib sleeping Paul and the taller Marchik's too.

Monday....a good day....

The night was horrendous again - those are the hardest times for Paul right now. We didn't get a lot of sleep so we stayed in bed a little extra this morning (until 11am). But, after a rough night came a great day. I got a shower, makeup on my face and curled my hair....whoo hoo! GrandJo (my mom) came over and the 2 of us took Paul on a walk in his stroller so Jason could have some mental health time. We walked for a good hour and Paul did well - fell asleep for a while.

GrandJo and I figured out how to install the car seat in my vehicle - that was NOT much fun. But, we thought it best to get it in there and go for a trial run. Once she left, Jason and I loaded him into the car and took a spin - he did so well. A few small fusses when we put him in, but not too bad. We ended up driving to Toys R Us and had our first family retail experience. He had a blast in the store checking everything out! We drove around a bit more and then headed home for a nap.....

If we could just get this sleep thing down we would be golden....he was so happy today - he ate well, played on the floor on his own and even had a smile or two for GrandJo.

Tomorrow is Paul's first US pediatrician appointment - I don't expect that he will enjoy it much, but we'll see. Here's hoping the rest of the day is similar to today.....we know they won't all be great, but we can dream, right?

Hugs and drooly kisses from the Marchik family!

Sunday....baby steps....

First of all, the good news is that we think we are starting to get more on a sleeping schedule that would allow us to sleep at NIGHT instead of during the day! We went to bed last night around 10pm and got up this morning around 10am.....certainly that was not sleeping the entire time, but at least we were able to get some rest during the dark hours of the night. Baby steps.....

Grandma and Pa brought over a few needed supplies today including some frozen teething rings - we think Paul is trying to cut his 2 front teeth and that is only adding to the discomfort and rough transition. He isn't so sure about those rings, but we'll keep trying. Baby steps.....

So far, we have had to feed Paul while Jason is holding him. We decided to give the highchair a try and start the transition to Paul sitting on his own. He isn't so sure, but when you are shoveling food into his little mouth, it tends to distract him a little. Baby steps.....

It was such a beautiful day today that we decided to get out and go for a walk. So, we bundled up the little fella and strapped him in the stroller and off we went. He wasn't happy when we first put him in, but about half a block and he was in heaven. He just zoned out and stared at everything - an occasional clap and squeal. Now, if we stopped to talk to someone, that's another story! We got to talk to our neighbors across the street when we came back - well, I got to talk and Jason had to keep walking in a circle so Paul didn't scream! All in all, we walked for about 45 minutes and I think the fresh air did ALL of us a lot of good. Baby steps....

We came back to the house and played for a while on the floor. Paul is getting more comfortable sitting on the floor to play, but still tends to cling to Jason when he's unsure. Baby steps....

Paul LOVES his singing bunny - a Christmas gift from Unky Tiss and Auntie Bev. Thanks guys!

My boss Kevin and his wife Jolene brought over a very nice meal for us tonight. Everyone is taking such great care of us. We haven't had to cook a meal yet! The supportive emails keep rolling in too. You all have been so great to us and we really appreciate the support.

It's almost 9pm and Paul just fell asleep on Jason's shoulder. We think we'll let him sleep that way for a little while and then take him back to bed and call it a night. Here's hoping for a more restful night tonight. Baby steps.....

Love from all 3 of us!

Pictures from the trip back home

Since I was too pooped out to post pictures earlier today - here are some shots from the trip home. As I write this post, Paul is screaming bloody murder back in the bedroom and Jason is trying to get him calmed down enough to go to bed....not really bed, probably more like a nap, but we'll see (yes, I know it's 9:30 at night and should be bedtime but we are still on Korean time here).

Here we are in the Incheon Airport with Rebecca holding Joseph and her friend Kathy. Doesn't everyone look ready for a 12 hour flight?
This was from the first 4 hours of complete bliss on the flight. These are the fabulous bassinets that they have on the airplane for infants to sleep in.....this was during the 4 hour snooze that we wish would have lasted the whole 12 hour flight!

Look what was in our front yard when we arrived....thanks to Tim and Nancy for putting this up as such a welcome surprise! Paul LOVED the plane's spinning propeller.

And Mimi had a cake delivered this morning to welcome baby Paul.....the whole family depicted in icing - nothing better.

The flower arrangement that my mom left for us - how cute in the Little Tike's car......

And the new V-Tech camera that Auntie Jen gave us at the airport - we love toys that sing to us! Daddy makes a pretty good backdrop, huh?

We made it through the first 24 hours plus and we aren't totally crazy yet! Poor Paul misses his foster mom so much - he just cries out for her and screams and screams. We aren't too sure what we can really do to help him, but we just keep loving him and trying to comfort him. We look forward to the day that he can relax and move into a more regular routine - one without the constant shrieking!

We made it home

I know that many of you were sending such wonderful thoughts and prayers to us for the long flight home.....we made it back to Chicago yesterday (Friday) morning and were greeted by our parents and my sister at the airport. The flight was a LONG 12 hours - Paul slept for the first 4 hours and then played and ate for a while....and then it turned south! He was so upset and overtired that he just shrieked and shrieked. We walked with him and tried everything we could. Finally the flight attendants took him, strapped him to their back with a blanket and told us to go back to our seats to get some rest. They got him back to sleep and then brought him to us - God bless them for all that they do!

We had a wonderful time at the airport with Paul meeting more of his family. He did very well - ate some lunch and then we jumped in the limo to head back to the QC. He slept the entire ride home which was a blessing. We came home to a nice welcome sign in the yard, flowers on the counter, food in the fridge and now an Olde Towne cake being delivered - life is good!

The afternoon was great - the night was pretty rough. Jason stayed up most of the night with him and let me get some sleep - we ALL officially went to bed at 6:30 this morning (which is 8:30pm Korea time). I got up a few hours ago - Paul and daddy are still in bed and will stay there until Paul is ready to get up.

We know these days are going to be tough - Paul is a completely new place and is missing his foster mom so much. My heart aches for him, but I do know that this means he will also bond to us this strong at some point. We are tired, and sore (he is a heavy little bugger) and overwhelmed with emotion, but feel blessed to finally be home with our little man.

Too tired to post pictures but will try in the coming days.

Much love to everyone!
The sleep deprived Marchik family

And baby makes three!

We are officially a family.....and it was a rough start. The meeting at Eastern with foster mom was hard. She was very sad which made me cry too. She is such a sweet lady and has taken such great care of him. I am sure she is really hurting right now.

The ride from Eastern back to the hotel was pretty rough - he screamed the whole way. We rode back with Rebecca and her friend Kathy and Rebecca's new son Joseph. He didn't scream quite as much, but he was crying a bit too.

We got into our room and had an all out scream fest for a good hour and a half....he was crying for "ohma" which means mother in Korean.....very sad when there is nothing you can do to comfort him. We took turns rocking and walking and trying anything we could. He didn't want food, didn't want down, but didn't seem to want to be held either - tough situation. Plus, we are trying not to disturb our neighbors. He finally fell asleep on Jason and we all napped for a little over an hour. He is now just chilling on Jason's lap - kind of out of it from his nap - not totally awake and not totally asleep.

Jason is doing so well - he is such a good daddy. We've waited a long time for this day to arrive and while it has been tough at times, we feel very blessed.

Paul woke up from his nap and ate some food - lots of puff snacks and some chicken/rice soup stuff that his foster mom sent with us. He's busy playing on the bed and making Jason run around to keep him on it....too funny.

Love from Korea -

Jason, Katie AND PAUL!!

PS - Jason is very proud of his little man that passed gas so loud I thought Jason did it....like father like son! =)

Here we are with Paul's foster mother - how cute is his outfit!

The sweet victory of sleep after the hour plus of screaming.....