A Dream Come True: Day 4

Day 4 was mostly for Trent.  Trent has loved fish since he was about 2 1/2 years old.  It is a fascination that has not diminished.  I hope his love of fish lasts his lifetime.  It just seems to be part of who he is.  He can tell you about almost any fish you can think of and then some that you can’t.  A sweet man at our church, found an old ”fish encyclopedia” at the library that they were getting rid of.  Nothing could have made him happier.  So, we knew that it was a must to take him back to Sea World while we were in Orlando.  Thankfully, complimentary tickets to Sea World were also included from Give Kids the World.  What a blessing!

From the moment he saw this sign, he was all smiles!

So much of Disney World was a little too much for my sometimes timid, Evie Kait.  However, she LOVED Sea World.

We saw some of God’s most amazing creations.  Tropical fish, sharks, rays, starfish, sea dragons, dolphins, and of course, Shamu!

The dolphin show was amazing!  Dolphins have been one of my favorite animals for as long as I can remember so I was just as excited about the show as the kids.

Evie even let herself enjoy some of the kiddie rides even though “she no want to like it”.  (That’s what she said about anything new)

I have no idea what she was pouting about but I couldn’t help but put this in here.

Sneaking in a nap while we rode Atlantis

 As I’ve mentioned before, the Give Kids the World button got us lots of amazing experiences and it continued to do so at Sea World, including front row seats at the Shamu show!

Thankfully, we had ponchos for the kids

It was absolutely amazing seeing these magnificent creatures from the front row!  It was unforgettable!

They weren’t kidding when they said, ”splash zone”.  We were soaked!!!

Oh, how I love these 3!

My 2 Silly Girls

This beauty is one of the baby dolphins still in the nursery and he/she was gorgeous!

Maggie and Trent absolutely loved feeding the dolphins.

 and petting Lilly!

I won’t be surprised if we spend a lot more time here some day.  Trent has added Sea World to his ”what I want to be” list.  That’s ok by me!

A Dream Come True: Day 3

Day 3 might have been my overall favorite.  We met some fun characters, we watched our favorite parade, and ended the evening with dinner in a castle.  How will I ever top that?

ready for the day!

Waiting for “Dream Along with Mickey” to begin

Evie loved this show!

I think this is when the magic came alive for Maggie.  She loved this show when she was 2 years old, and enjoyed it even more this time.  She smiled as her favorite princesses took the stage.  I had a hard time watching the show because her reactions were priceless.

Maggie’s face beamed as she saw Princess Aurora and Prince Philip dancing

Dancing with Papa before the parade

We made sure we had the perfect spot for the “Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade”.  The characters are fabulous and I knew the kids would absolutely love it.  What I didn’t know was how much extra attention Maggie would get.  The characters are AMAZING!  They spotted Maggie’s “Give Kids the World” button from far away, and intentionally gave her some extra love.  The best part was that Maggie didn’t have a clue how they knew who she was, but they most certainly made sure she felt like a princess.

Snow White even blew her a kiss

Maggie also got dirty looks from Cinderella’s wicked Step Mother and magic sprinkles from her fairy godmother’s wand.  It was absolutely unbelievable!   I would give anything to relive that moment one more time.  After the parade, it was time for our special dinner in the castle with the princesses.  What a treat!

Evie L-O-V-E-D the princesses!

Trent and Ariel talked about fish. Shocking! I know!

Maggie was a little disappointed that Belle did not have her ball gown on, but she quickly got over it.

In case you didn’t know, eating ice cream like this is perfectly acceptable in Cinderella’s Castle

 

There were so many moments when I missed having our sweet boy with us. He did manage to get a couple of souvenirs including his very own Mickey hat. We miss you sweet Reid.

As the ferry pulled away from Magic Kingdom, we said goodbye to the castle, we will hold our magical memories forever.

A Dream Come True: Day 2: Magic Kingdom

Trent decided they needed their pic by the strawberry every morning. It turned into a fun start to our days.

Happy to be on her way to Magic Kingdom

Our first glimpse of the Castle!

Ready for the Celebrate It Street Parade

Trent was not into dancing in the parade so one of the guys came to see him on the sidewalk!

Dancing with all her heart!

Evie watched the parade from a distance and was not a fan. “I no like it,” she kept saying.

The first characters we saw were Aladdin and Jasmine.  Their line was closed but the attendant let Maggie, Trent, and Maggie stick around for a special visit anyway.  So fun!

Evie loved all of the princesses! She was just fine as long as she could see a real face!

Evie was such a trooper and took a nap almost every day just like this. Thank you, Mammie, for putting her to sleep each day!

A special surprise from Mom and Dad. Now to get dressed, princess.

Make a Wish sent Maggie to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for her very own princess makeover complete with hair, nails, and makeup. She loved every minute!

Bibbidi Bobbidi BOO!

A hug for her Fairy Godmother

 

Now, it’s time for some rides!

Dinner with Pooh and Friends

A magical ending to a magical day!

A Dream Come True: Day 1

Maggie’s Make a Wish was most certainly a dream come true.  Each day was filled with so many surprises and adventures, I most certainly do not want to forget a single detail. When we started planning this trip, Ryan and I decided quickly that it would be very nice to have a couple of extra sets of hands.  So, my parents came along with us, and we were so glad to have them.  They were so helpful with anything we needed, and it was so nice to have a professional photographer there to capture every moment.  Our trip would not have been the same without them!Maggie was the last one to wake up on the morning of her Wish Day.  She came out of her room with a huge grin on her face and the smiles didn’t stop until it was time to come home.

The limo wouldn’t come all of the way to our house so we met it in Eureka.

When the limo pulled up, the kids didn’t have a clue it was for us!  What a fun surprise.  The driver stepped out and said he was there to pick up Maggie Mahoney.  She thought she had to ride by herself so she was not so sure about it.

Once we told her that she was not riding alone, she was super excited!  We had a fun ride to the airport and made it through security and got settled at our gate.  Trent got to watch some F-18′s do some practice flights so he was one happy boy!

The kids were all wonderful on the plane.  Maggie was a trooper with her oxygen, and enjoyed a little bit of extra attention.  Evie sat with Mammie and took a nice little nap once the excitement of her first plane ride wore off.  Trent was a happy camper sitting with his Papa and loved trying to figure out what he was seeing out the plane window.

The moment we stepped off our plane, Give Kids the World made Maggie feel like a princess.  I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful Give Kids the World is.

The Greeter Waiting for Us at the Airport

Our greeter escorted us to our rental van and then we were on our way to the Village.

Maggie’s first surprise from GKTW. This little guy would be very important later in the week.

A volunteer showed us around the Village and took us to our Villa.

That’s right! We slept in a castle!

There was a gift for Trent, Maggie, and Evie waiting for us in the Villa. Every day, the kids came back to a new gift from GKTW! So Spoiled!

After we got settled in our villa, the kids played a little on the Candy Land playground and then we headed to the Gingerbread House for dinner.  The first night was a Winter Wonderland theme.  We had a Christmas dinner, sang Christmas Carols and visited with Santa Clause.  So fun!

Singing Jingle Bells with a Highschool Choir that came to the Village for the kiddos

We did our best to end each night with ice cream from the Ice Cream Palace.  The word “no” was not used much this week!

Maggie went to bed with a full heart and no idea of what was to come!

Delivered with Love

I was thrilled when I received the email that said we could send a care package to Reid.  I immediately started planning what could go in it.  The kids had so much fun picking out special gifts for their baby brother.  We even inlcuded a teddy and truck that Mammie and Papa gave him for Christmas.  I am most excited about the photo album we included.  It has a picture of our family, and individual pics of each of us, and a picture of our home.  I hope this will help him adjust at least a little bit next year.  Maybe we won’t look like complete strangers.  I’m also including a little gift for his foster parents and a note expressing our thanks to them.  I know that there’s no way to express to them how much we love our boy and how thankful we are with them, but I do hope they know that a lot of love went into this small gift.

I wish it were me.

Reid,

Today I received another well baby report from your doctor in Korea.  You are growing so quickly.  At 13 months old you are 31 inches long and weigh 23 pounds.  You are not far behind your peanut of a big sister.  Sweet baby boy, you are across the world from me, but I’m most certainly your mommy.  My heart swelled with pride as I read that you are walking, talking, throwing balls, playing patty cake, and peek a boo.  However, I wish it were me telling the doctor all that you can do, comforting you after your shots, telling you that you will be ok.  I wish it were me hearing your giggles and getting your good morning snuggles. I wish it were me you called “Mommy”.  Oh my sweet boy. Oh how I wish it were me.

So fun!

Maggie was invited to be a part of Cardinal Glennon’s Homers for Health Telethon festivities last week.  It was a crazy, busy morning full of lots of fun events.  The hospital opened their brand new playground, and Maggie got to be one of the first children to try it out.  It is an amazing space that I’m certain will bring joy to so many children at just the right moment.  Tim Ezel from Channel 2 News was there bright and early to get a sneek peak.  The girls were on the news off and on throughout the morning: playing on the playground and hula hooping.  We had so much fun spending the morning with some of our heart friends, but the highlight of our day was when Maggie got to get her picture taken with Matt Holliday from the St. Louis Cardinals!

Waiting with Tim before the playground was opened!

part of the fun featured Tim "bribing" the security guard to let the kids in before the official opening.

The Rally Squirrel pushing the kids on the merry go round. Evie did NOT like Rally!

Hula Hooping for live television!

Matt Holliday! Maggie informed me later that "he was so handsome, especially his bald head."

It’s Legal!

We received Reid’s legal documents today!  His legals state:

1.  Parental rights were given to Holt Korea (kind of the sister agency in Korea to our agency).

2.  Reid received his own family register thus severing all ties with parents and establishing him as an independent.

3.  Guardianship was transferred from Holt Korea to Holt International (our agency here in the U.S.)

4. His parents relinguished their rights and gave their consent for him to be adopted.

So, in a nutshell, everything is in order for Reid to be legally adopted.  This does not mean that we are close to bringing him home.  We’re just one step closer, but there are many steps left.

I have very mixed emotions about this.  I am thrilled because this makes things much more official than just having a picture of him, it is one more step to him becoming our son, and I can now start working on some more paperwork (yes, I’m happy about this.  I like when I feel like I’m doing something to bring him home).

However, with this paperwork came emotions that I did not expect.  Before Reid can become my son, he had to become an orphan.  An orphan!  Someday, he will go through hurt and pain because of this.  Someday, he will have very difficult questions for us.  I also hurt for his birth mother.  She made the most difficult, self-less decision of her life.  I can only imagine what she feels when she wonders where he is and what he is doing.  I pray that God grants her peace and comfort and that somehow she will know she has done what was the very best for her beautiful son.

I also know that my God works all things together for good.  I know that we are following His plan and He will bless that.  We will most certainly have highs and lows on this journey but He is guiding and will continue to guide us as long as we are following Him.  I am so thankful that God gives us the ultimate example of adoption as He adopts us as His sons and daughters.

5 Years Ago

5 years ago, my hospital room was packed, Maggie’s going home outfit was laid out on the hospital bed, and Ryan and Trent were on their way to bring me and our new baby girl home from the hospital.  They had just come to get Maggie to complete her routine discharge exam.  Minutes later, Dr. Krafcik came in to inform me that he had heard a heart murmer and they would be taking Maggie for an echocardiogram, shortly.  I thought nothing of it.  Lots of babies have murmers… no big deal.  30 minutes passed and in walked a Dr. I had nevre seen before.  He introduced himself, “Dr. Bruns from cardiology”.  He, then went on to explain that my daughter who I thought was perfectly healthy had a very serious heart defect.  My mind went fuzzy, I heard bits and pieces of what he said… “your daughter is misssing a ventricle”… “she has to have surgery before she can come home”… “this is serious”… “are you ok?”

Then he left.  Another cardiologist would be coming to speak with me soon.  I sat down… My world falling apart all around me…  I tried to get a hold of Ryan so he wouldn’t bring Trent up to the hospital… they were getting on the elevator.  I called my Mom, unable to talk through the tears, and tried to explain that something was VERY wrong with Maggie.  Before I knew it, in walked Ryan with my sweet 19 month old, Trent.  Trent walked over to me, climbed up in my lap, and began rocking me.  He knew I was sad, but he didn’t really know why.

It wasn’t long after Ryan arrived that the other cardiologist, Dr. Goel, came to explain things to us.  He drew a picture of Maggie’s very sick heart and wrote down the explanation:  “Double Inlet Left Ventricle, Transposition of the Greater Arteries, Interrupted Aortic Arch”.  He informed us that Maggie was in the NICU and was very stable, but that she would be transferred to St. Louis Children’s Hospital within the hour.  At this point, our room was filled with family: my Mom and Dad, Alissa, and our pastor.  Then, walked in our pediatrician and long time family friend.  She sat down on the bed across from us and we handed her the picture with the diagnosis.  While I had not understood much before this moment, her face said it all.  I knew that my Maggie Jane was very sick.  She explained that it was definitely very serious but that she had patients who had made it through.

We walked to the NICU to see Maggie before she was taken to SLCH.  She was hooked up to the monitors and had an IV through her belly button.  Other than that, she still looked like our healthy baby girl.  I wanted to scoop her up and run out of that place.  I wanted my carefree life that I would never know again.  I knew that inside her perfect, scarless chest beat a heart that could not keep her alive without a surgeons’ hands.  I had no idea what our life would be like after this day, but I knew it would be so very different from anything I had ever imagined.  I simply prayed that God would let me keep my Maggie Jane.

April 7, 2007 was the worst day of my life.  It was excruciating.  By that evening, I had heard Maggie’s heart explained to me and listened to my Mom or Ryan explain it to so many friends and family on the phone that I couldn’t hear it anymore.  Hearing those words over and over made me want to puke.  There was no turning back.  Our life had changed in just a few moments.

What I did not know on that day was the joy that would come from the life God had chosen for us and for Maggie.  He had so much more planned for our daughter than we ever could have imagined.  While we still do not fully understand the why’s, we know that He works all things together for good for those who love Him.  I am so thankful that He gives us a glimpse in to His good plan every once in a while.

A Special Celebration

Before medical care improved in S. Korea, most infants did not live to celebrate their first birthday.  Because of this, the Dol (1st birthday celebration), is a very joyous occasion and one of the most important birthdays in Korean culture.  Even though Reid was not here, we still gathered to celebrate with some of our closest friends.  We shared a meal of traditional Korean food with some American food mixed in, and Reid’s Daddy took time to pray for him and for our family.  What a blessed celebration!

This was a very hard day for me.  It was the first day that I truely longed to have Reid with me… the hardest day in our adoption journey, so far.  I had a knot in my stomach all day.  However, his celebration was perfect, and I couldn’t have asked for a more special evening.