Apple Picking Pictures - Great Family Fun Day

Home Sweet Home

Pictures are forthcoming. AJ just turned 3 last weekend and Will is approaching his 2nd birthday in just 3 weeks. Also Antoinette is closing in on a 0 birthday. Needless to say the Snyder house is one big party. The Boys are 100% Percent brothers. They are constantly asking for each other and then go at it once they are together. They do hug and pinch noses which may be the cutest thing on earth. AJ is definitely the aggressor and Will does not realize exactly how big he is yet. Once he does we will see if AJ continues to be the aggressor.  We went apple picking on Monday and they are the pictures that are coming. Antoinette is home full time with the boys now and is defintiley working harder than I am. My amazing wife is an even more amazing mother. Life is awesome and God is in control because we certainly are not.

The American Tour

It has now been one week since Will's arrival home. And I guess there really was life before Will, I can not imagine what that life was like. They are brothers. They share, they laugh, they follow, they fight, they hug, they swing, they scream, they push, they play, they stare, they watch, They are brothers, Will and AJ. AJ is doing well considering that his Universe has been invaded. AJ is now no longer the center of the universe and I know that is hard adjustment. Will is amazing, he is pleasant, funny, adaptive, active, curious, friendly, cute and more.
Wake Up
AJ wakes up around 6:30am and wants to play
Will wakes up around 8:30am when AJ goes in to see his brother
Mornings and Breakfast
Will eats, AJ picks today however we all had eggs and pork roll
Playtime
Always fun, they play rather well, with moments of brilliance and moments of battles
Lunch Time
They both eat and eat well
Nap Time
Depends, we have been on what feels like a World Tour. An incredible amount of love has been poured into these two boys over the last week. However, that love has come at all times and in all places so we have not exactly set a routine. We do know that Will can sleep in the car seat, the stroller, on the beach, on the floor, in a bed and on your shoulder. AJ sleeps in a bed. This current World Tour has added to a lot of challenges with naps and sleep.
Dinner Time
Very Good - the boys eat at the table. Will in a highchair and AJ in a big boy chair. They eat pizza, chicken, pasta, meatballs, hot dogs, noodles, macNcheese, chips, pretzels, wings just about whatever is in reach
NIGHTTIME
Work IN Progress  Eventually however they do fall asleep
Potty Time - Whenever
Will really is pretty good with being Potty Trained not 100% but close to 90%
AJ is not 100% and not really close to 90% either but he does ask for pull ups, he asks for diapers, he asks for big boy pants - he is not really sure about all the work it takes going in the potty.

Life is and now always will be FULL with these 2 gifts from God. We try to keep that perspective, they really are two perfectly placed gifts.

There is MY LIFE! Isn't is Perfect! We'll keep you posted. AJ starts school 2 days a week. And Will still has a lot of firsts to come.

The First Night and Grandparents

As Will settle's into being a member of the family, the Grandparents can not hide their Joy or their Smiles.

Their first night together - ALL the "rules" were broken. Will fell asleep first around 8pm. Home free, Antoinette took AJ to the store for some special AJ and Mommy time and Daddy helped by cleaning the Asian Tsunami that rolled through our house Day 1. AJ got to stay up a little late because he was such a good big brother. Just before AJ went to bed around 9:45pm Will woke up. I did not hear Michael Buffer yell "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" but BOTH boys heard it. Will woke up screaming and it was a contagious scream. AJ began screaming. Will cried AJ cried. And the Battle began. Antoinette tried to lay with AJ and me with Will, then we switched, then switched back, then we all went into one bed, then we separated again, then we all went into Mommy and Daddy's bed, then Daddy got MAD. We went back to the original stations, Mommy with AJ and Me with Will. We held them down, let them scream and at 11:45pm. We WON the war. We lost just about every battle along the way but we held our lines, fought back and WON. Will woke up around 3:30am for a little milk but went right back to bed. AJ woke up at 7am and Will woke up around 8am.  We have a better battle plan lined up for tonight. Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. We are Ready!

The Journey has just BEGUN

I know I have said this before but this experience can not be described using words. The wild roller coaster of emotions is beyond expression.  I can also say the LOVE we have received from our family and friends through this experience is also beyond words. The comments, the posts, the emails, the FaceTime, the Skypes, the texts, the thoughts and the prayers have made this entire experience even that much more special. I know the saying "It takes a village to raise a child" is absolute garbage. It takes a family to raise a child. The village supports the family. We promise you that we will raise these boys with unconditional love and devotion. Please continue to follow the blog. The trip was just the beginning of the journey, now the real work begins. Building our Family. We need your continued support. We LOVE you ALL!!


As I end the Blog, Antoinette just received a phone call from United Airline. They found the luggage and are delivering tonight.

Once again - God Answers Prayers!! Thank-you Jesus.  You really are MORE than AMAZING!

Pennsauken

Remember the story of Line 0 and the free service of getting your luggage from one airline to the next in Hawaii. Or have you thought at all about us flying into Newark and how far that actually is from Pennsauken. Have you ever heard of nothing is free or you get what you paid for? Well at baggage claim we only got one of our two pieces of luggage. Since we did not check it in to United we have no baggage number so we need God to answer one more prayer and that is to return our clothes to us. Secondly, our escort from Newark to Pennsauken got lost twice. First time, we almost went into the Holland Tunnel because he was looking for 95 not the Turnpike. The second time he drove right past exit 4 once we were on the Turnpike. I woke up with Antoinette saying just take 168N and we were in Brooklawn. THANKS Dad for the ride. In all honesty we did appreciate the and what the heck add a little more travel on the trip. Side Note, Will threw up all over himself on the car ride home.


We did make it home and it was PLAY TIME!

Believe it or not this is a Hug and not a choke hold.

The nose honking was hysterical.

Here are the new brothers. 

Another Quiz:

1.) 1+1 = _______

2.) 1X1 = _______

3.) AJ and Will = ______

      a. Chaos 

      b. A Tornado of Toys

      c. A lot of laughs

      d. More work than we imagined

      e. All of the Above

The Family of 4 is Together at Last

FINALLY, after 30,000 miles travelled and 90 hours spent by the Snyder family in the air, we arrived safely in Newark, New Jersey! Who was there at the Gate to meet us - our AJ. He ran around the gate to meet us, jumped into Antoinette's arms yelling Mommy. Then ran back to get the present to hand it to Will. It was more than precious. Here is the first picture of our newly completed family. The four of us just hanging out on the airport floor.















Ahhhh the journey half way around the world to pick up our second son is finally complete.
POP QUIZ
It is now time to __________________________.
A. Rest
B. Relax
C. Explain to the kids that Mommy and Daddy are exhausted
D. Get to work!

Travel Time

As we left you last we were Blessed with our own row of seats from Korea to Hawaii.

What do you think, did AJ take advantage of the space? He slept the ENTIRE flight from Seoul to Honolulu. All 9 hours he was out. We let everyone, deplane and had to wake him up in Hawaii. Since, Hawaii was his point of entry in the United States of America, we had to check his passport at a special First time Immigrant desk. The officer took his paperwork and stamped USA. After the Immigration check was US Customs and no problem at all. After US Customs, we were going to go up and check in with United Airlines for our 7:30pm flight home, it was only 12:30PM. The airport actually offers a line 0 were they take your bags and check them on to your connecting flight for you. We took advantage of that free service so we did not have to lug the bags through the airport. At the United Check In counter, I was informed that our priority seating which we paid an additional $218 was no good. We did not get the seats we selected. After some discussion, they refunded our money and we had to keep just the 2 seats together. Enough of that. A quick 40 minute taxi ride and we end up on the Waikiki Beach in Honolulu Hawaii

 Since we are true blooded Americans, what was his first American Meal?

You guessed it McDonald's!! I'm Lovin' It

The 40 minute cab ride on the way back to the airport took over an hour with traffic just to add a little drama for check in but not much. The flight from HI to NJ was packed. With Antoinette and I together and Will on our lap it was 9 hours HOME. Antoinette had Will duty for the first 4 hours and handled him like the phenomenal mother that she is. The next hour the plane handled Will, yes he woke up and was wide Awake for an hour. The plane did not do nearly the job Antoinette did. Which meant the last 4 hours was Daddy duty. NEVER pray for Patience because God like he has all trip answer my prayer by showing me what patience is all about. Will was really good, as good as a sleepy 2 year old can be but boy does Antoinette make it look easy. Next STOP NEW JERSEY and AJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Journey Home

Now our journey home begins!

One last venture in Seoul for some more keepsakes and souvenirs in the morning. Yes! That is the Nike Store. 

Walking further than we had walked before, venturing to new parts of Seoul. Here is Will in the Heart of the city,he is such a great shopper!

After shopping it was back to the Somerset Palace, our temporary home in Seoul, Korea.

At the Somerset, it was to the playroom for an hour until our Escort to the airport. We made some new friends, a family from DC, 3 kids 5, 3 and 3months old who just got stationed in Seoul for a 3 year tour. Thank-God for our military, their service, their families and their sacrifice. Our freedom is not free and we got to meet first hand the cost of our freedom.

From the playroom, to the Escort, to the airport. Here we are at Icheon International Airport. We are flying Asiana Airlines from Seoul to Honolulu. Check-In with a 2 year who weighs 38lbs, does not speak our language, who took his nap on the ride to the airport, does not understand lines or weighting or helping and has been testing our faith and patience. 

Because we serve and Awesome God and I have an Amazing wife, our Faith was rewarded. We stood at the check in line for longer than we wanted. The 2 ticket agents speaking Korean and looking at us and smiling and talking ............................. (all the dots for dramatic effect) got us our OWN ROW. 4 seats across just for the 3 of us.  If you do not believe in Miracles, then just think about that. We passed on buying Will his own seat because it was going to cost $1765 so we bought a lap ticket for $216. And God who is able to do exceedingly more than we could imagine gave us our own row. That is an answered prayer and a miracle. Thank-You LORD - just when we were about to break - you parted the sea and gave us seats. We are on our way to Honolulu, Hawaii. Can't wait for those pictures.