Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! Last night reminded me or my childhood days, not being able to go to asleep, full of anticipation and excitement. Last night's sleeplessness wasn't for me, but for Noah and probably a little for Hannah. I wish she was here to share this beautiful day with us. Next year will surely be a whirlwind of excitement with both Noah and Hannah.

Since Noah has been in hearts, I feel a strong connection to Mary the mother of Jesus. God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus and I feel God has chosen me to be Noah and Hannah's mom. I just can't comprehend the joy Mary must have felt Christmas morning. I know the minute Noah was placed on my arms at Detroit Airport my life changed. I thank Mary for being so obediant and be so willing to be the Mother of Jesus.

In just a couple of hours our home will be filled with family. With the hustle and bustle of opening gifts and preparing food it will be difficult to focus on what the first Christmas morning was like. But, for a moment in my quite home, I can feel the wonder and awe that Mary must have been feeling. So much joy to be blessed with a son and yet a little anxiousness of what was to come.

I pray for today that God fills our home with joyous conversation and we all remember the true meaning of the season. As we are teachign Noah, "Today is a great birthday party, it is Jesus's birthday."

Happy Birthday dear Jesus!

Visa Approval!

On December 19, 2006, Ryan and I received our Visa Approval for in the UNCIS. Now Hannah is ready to legally enter the United States. Our paperwork is now on the way to the consulate to South Korea. It is still going to be a few months before Hannah arrives, but this is another important step in the process that is completed. We are so blessed that we have another step completed in bringing our baby girl home.

An Update!!!!

We received an update today of pictures and an update report on Hannah Soo Min Cook. the update and pictures are from November 10, 2006. At that time she weighed 14.74 pounds and was 24.49 inches long. We got a great report and she seems to be happy and healthy! Enjoy the pictures!

So Thankful

Last Sunday as our Pastor gave the sermon he encouraged us to have some time alone during the week to write down all the things we were thankful for. As I thought about that, I silently prayed I would be thankful for one moment alone to just start my list. Here it is, early Wednesday morning, everyone still in bed, but me and I do have a quiet moment. I am so thankful for so many things. I could sit and make a list a mile long. I first and foremost so thankful for my loving and patient God. God has blessed me with so much and continues to do so. Many people ask how I do it with my baby girl on the other side of the world just waiting. I am not sure myself other than I know it is God giving me the peace and strength I need to get through each day.

I am so thankful for my husband, Ryan, he amazes me everyday. I am so blessed with his business and financial mind. He is an awesome daddy who adores Noah as much as I do. Words cannot describe the gratitude I have for Ryan for staying at home during the days to watch and care for Noah.

Next is Noah. I can't believe how one little boy can change your life. For once I am not talking about the sleepless night we are still enduring. Noah is the light of my life. He is such a wonderful little boy that I feel so blessed to call my son. I will never forget the day he was put in my arms on June 8, 2005. Everyday since, he has touched my heart in such a special way. I love that he now gives hugs and kisses and is really is starting to communicate with us through his new words he learns everyday. He is going to be such fun this holiday season.

My daughter, Hannah Soo Min, is miles away, but I am thankful God has blessed us with a healthy little girl that we can call ours while we wait for her arrival. I am thankful she is at KSS receiving great care. I have so many questions about little Hannah. How much has she grown, what is her personality going to be like, and ohh so many more. I have to be honest, I pray for Hannah daily, but I don't dwell on Hannah being in Korea. It hurts too too much. I have to be thankful what I have at the present and I am thankful for each day that passes because that is one day closer for Hannah to be put in my arms. And that will be a another day in my life that I will never forget.

I am so blessed to have my family and Ryan's family close to us. They have always been there for love and support. They have loved Noah from day one and they are just as eager as I am for Hannah's arrival.

The birthmother's of Noah and Hannah also hod a very special place within me. They have each given a gift of life to our family that I will be forever grateful. I think of them often and how there most me a part of them that is so sad. I pray they feel peace and realize their babies are so loved and are growing up in a safe and caring environment.

My job as a teacher is one I love. I am so thankful God directed me tot he path of becoming a teacher and have blessed me with a teaching job for the past 10 years. I love what I do and I can honestly say I have enjoyed everyone of my students in some capacity or another. I am so thankful for this year's class. Two years ago as we were going through our adoption process for Noah I was teaching second grade. Everyday the class would ask, did you get the pictures, did you get the call? They were so excited for Noah to come home! This year I teach 4th grade and have many of the same students. They were so excited when I came in with Hannah's referral pictures and now they are patiently waiting for her to come home. My students bring me such joy and there is never a dull moment during my school day.

My post could go on and on and I am so thankful I have had this quiet time this morning to be thankful for so many things. I here Noah stirring and we need to get ready to sing Happy Birthday to Daddy!

I wish all a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Tabitha

Noah, our little boy is growing up.....

I finally got around to taking Noah in to get his 2 year old pictures. I was only two months late! Everyday he amazes me. I can't believe God has given me such a wonderful and precious gift. Last night as we were starting to put up the Christmas tree and directions, he was so excited to see the lights and he loved watching mom put up the nativity. I can't wait for the holiday season this year just to sit back and watch Noah. I wanted to share a couple of his pictures.

It's a Girl, Hannah Soo Min

Ryan and I first met Hannah Soo Min, Saturday, September 9, 2006. Our social worker called earlier that Saturday morning and said she had a referral for us. My heart felt as if it was going on overload. I was so overwhelmed that the day was here I was going to meet my daughter. The moment I opened the envelope and caught a glance at my daughter I was immediately overtaken with emotion, whenever I think about the day, tears till come to my eyes. The first thing I said was, "She is so beautiful." I remember feeling that I didn't deserve such a beautiful and perfect daughter after being blessed with Noah.

Hannah Soo Min was born on July 6, 2007. She is currently staying at Korea Social Services. She will be going out to a foster family as soon as there is room. At the present time our Social Worker won't speculate when Hannah will be arriving home. We are praying that she will arrive home before Easter. Please join us in praying for her health, safety, and that she fills our love across the world.

Her big brother, Noah, is getting very good at recognizing his sister's picture. He know her name and says she is in Korea. I can't wait for the day to meet our dear Hannah in person and for Noah to meet his baby sister.

Homestudy Approved

It has been over a month since I have last updated our blog, time has been flying by this summer. There is a side of me that is partly sad that the summer is half over, but another part happy that the days are going fast. Our homestudy was approved the end of June and we received our official letter that our homestudy has been approved from our adoption agency. This means we are officially waiting to receive a referral. We have been told my the agency we could be receiving a referral call in the next couple of months. There are no little girls waiting to be placed at the moment. That is a great thing, due to our baby is going to be younger than we first anticipated. Our agency is bringing home January and a couple of March referral babies this July. Things are just month from month regarding the number of visas that are given to our agency. Please pray these visas continue throughout the rest of the year. Last year around this time, the visas stopped.

We are so blessed to have Noah in our lives to keep us busy. He is the love and joy of our lives! He is learning so many new things everyday. He has been enjoying the summer by playing outside, swimming, and reading books. It is so hard to believe that is less than two months our baby boy is going to be two years old!

So as the days of summer go by, the Cook family is waiting to hear the phone ring with news that we have been matched with a baby. We can't wait to see our daughter's first pictures and to learn when she was born.

A Cook Family Weekend

What a great weekend! We left Friday afternoon to head to the hills of Southern Ohio. It wasn't long until the entire family had arrived. Noah loved playing "tractors" with Matt and Jake! Despite the rain Saturday morning we all went out hiking around Old Man's Cave. Grandpa and Grandma fixed wonderful meals! Saturday afternoon we had a great time Putt-Putting. Let it be on record that Tabitha and Chantress beat Ryan and Aaron. Chantress made me excellent smores as I was inside rocking Noah to sleep. Sunday we awoke to sunshine and a beautiful day! We all pitched in and cleaned the cabins and packed our bags. Soon it was time to head back to Marion! Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Cook for an awesome getaway weekend!

One Year Ago

I can't believe one year ago we were in Detroit, Michigan picking up our son, Noah from the airport! The year we have had with him has brought us such tremendous love and joy. He is a true gift from God! Yesterday, we had a beautiful day at the Columbus Zoo. Noah seemed to love all the animals, but his favorite was the elephants! Ryan and I are very proud to be called Noah's Mama and Dada, and we thank Go daily for the son he has given us!

May Update

It has been awhile since I have posted any sort of update. We had our last homestudy visit on Monday, May 15th. So, now we are waiting for our Social Worker to type up the report and get everything turned in for approval. After this happens we will be waiting for our referral. When we get the referral we will get all her information adn pictures. I am getting excited to be able to see my little girl for the first time. In the meantime, the Cook's have been very busy with Ryan playing softball, Tabitha finishing up the end of the year at school, and Noah learning new words everyday. His lastest and greatest word is "Hannah". I can't wait to show him the pictures of his dear little sister!
I continue to ask for prayers for us while we go through this long waiitng process adn for Hannah in Korea. We pray that she is healthy and feels our love surrounding her. Hopefully, I will have new news to share in the next couple of months!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! What a great day yesterday was getting to spend it with family. Noah loved the idea of his Easter Basket and loved the two balloons the Easter Bunnt brought him. Inn my mind yesterday, I kept thinking...next year there will be two little ones to get up and ready and two Easter Baskets!

We have made some progress on the adoption front. Ryan and I both had our BCIS fingerprint appointment last Monday, the 10th. We have been assigned a Social Worker and we have even scheduled our first of two homestudy visits! So things seem to be moving along!

Things in Korea seem to be about hte same as far as only letting 10 babies out each month. I hope to have more news when we meet with our SW on Saturday.

Enjoy your week!
Tabitha

Our Application is Turned In!

Now the wait begins! Yesterday as we were in Akron, OH finalizing Noah's adoption we turned in our two and a half pound application for our daughter, Hannah. Turning over the application to Karen at FAC brought a great feeling of relief. Don't get me wrong, I know this is going to be a long hard wait, but I would rather me the one waiting than, someone waiting on me to get something in.

Over the weekend couples with completed homestudies were given the option of getting a referral now and their travel would be in December, or they could wait until August to get their referral and travel would be early in 2007. So, while we are waiting we are going to enjoy our little boy, Noah and keep in our prayers and thoughts of our little girl in South Korea. Please join us in praying for her health and that she feels our love surrounding her.

Tabitha

Happy Adoption Day

What a wonderful day! Noah Han Cook is officially the son of Ryan and Tabitha Cook. He is also an official U.S. Citizen. Our court hearing was at the Summit County Courthouse in Akron, OH. We were happy to share the day with Grandpa and Grandma Fetter and Grandpa and Grandma Knapp. We were happy to see Noah's foster buddy, Wes and his family at the adoption finalization hearing. After the hearing we went out to eat at the Crowne Plaza at Quaker Square to eat in a train car. What a great day, full of memories. Noah, we are so happy you are finalized! Congratulations, baby!

8 Months Ago

It is hard to believe 8 months and a day ago we were in Detroit, Michigan for the arrival of our son, Noah Han Cook. What an incredible 8 months. He brings so much joy to our lives. He has learned so many things in such a short time! In 18 days Noah will be officially by the terms of the government our son!
I can't believe how the time has flown by. It seems just like yesterday I was packing up my classroom and packing up the diaper bag. The summer was a flash in my mind. Noah began learning right away, sitting up, holding his own bottle, and learning who his mom and dad were. School started and Dad was now the main guy and boy, Noah loves his dad. They play so hard everyday! Now look at our little Noah, he is not only walking, but running! Loves to play with his tractor and truck! No more baby food for Noah, he loves mommy and daddy real food and sometimes I think he eats more than his mommy and daddy (okay, just his mommy). Noah, you are a very special boy and mommy and daddy love you as well of lots of family and friends!
Where has the time gone? I have a feeling the next eight months will fly by as well!

Korean Adoption Changes

As we are in the middle of of our paperwork stack we are hearing things have changed a bit since we began the process with Noah. Korea is a very proud country and having children being born to unwed mothers is a total disgrace to their country. They have been trying for years to promote intercountry adoptions, but there is so many kids! We were blessed that Noah's process was smooth and took 6 months from start to finish. Last year there were 30 babies that had US families identified, but stuck in the visa quota. I feel for the families that are still waiting today to hear when their baby will come home. Some families have been waiting 7 months!

Yesterday waiting families received a letter from our adoption agency saying the Korean government is still limited the number of passports given out each month. Until the agency can get all the waiting babies home they are not giving out any more referrals. This is such sad news, there are so many babies waiting and many families waiting to receive their babies first pictures and information.

We now know we will be waiting much longer for our daughter's process from start to finish and she will more than likely be at least a year old. We feel very led by God that Noah needs a sister to complete our family and she needs to be from Korea. Our agency is the only Ohio agency for a healthy child. Korea has strict rules and only allow Korean adoptions in certain countries.

Last night it was hard to sleep knowing that my plan of getting our baby girl late this summer or even early fall would not be a reality. I was rocking Noah early, early this morning and tears came to my eyes, letting go of "my" plan. As I was thinking silently how sad it was for those babies to be getting older and older everyday without their forever families, Noah reaches up and grabs my hand. At that moment, I realize that God brought us the perfect Noah into our lives in His perfect timing. Noah holding my hand will be a great reminder that God is in control and He has a perfect plan for our daughter as well.

Tabitha

The Cook Family Adoption Journey

The Cook Family Adoption Journey

We wanted to keep everyone updated as we start the adoption process for our second child. Ryan and I thought a blog might be a good idea. At the moment we are working on getting our reference and employer letters out and complete. We are slowly working on getting all the paperwork of the application filled out and completed.