Off To Korea!!!!

...Not us yet, silly. This weekend we sent Jae-min's care package to Korea. We put many things inside...gifts for him as well as for his foster family. Then we put in extra hugs, kisses, and love, sealed it up and mailed it halfway around the world. We were alittle disappointed because we mailed it from the regular post office and they can't track international packages. We wish we had known this before they stamped it a million times, put it in their bin, and charged us lots to mail. Oh well. We have faith it gets there and Jae-min loves everything. Fingers crossed. With all that extra love we put inside it has to get there, right?
We also emailed our agency to make sure they received our BIG packet of paperwork and that everything looked good. Everything looked good to her and she mailed it to Korea on 12/22, so the ball is in full motion now!!! We wait for all the paperwork to be filed over the next several months and before you know it we'll be off to Korea.
For now our papers and care package are on their way.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

....to all. We had a great Christmas with family and friends and really enjoyed sharing our news with everyone. It was the first time we had seen many of you since the news of Jae-min, so thank you for your kind words.
Today we celebrated our last Christmas as a family of two (plus Marty). Jae-min was never far from our thoughts today. I'm not sure he had the extravagant celebration we had to celebrate the season and I found myself missing him terribly today. You would think that by knowing about him that it would have made the day easier, and it did, it's now just a different kind of longing. It's hard to wrap your brain around the fact that Jae-min is a living, breathing, little man somewhere and he's ours, all ours. I had made a comment to a friend the other day " I can't believe I'm going to have a son" and her response was "You already have a son, he just lives very far away" That comment gave me peace and of course made me cry. Because yes, we have a son and today we really really missed him.
A special thank you to all those that included Jae-min in your gift giving this year. He received so many wonderful and thoughtful things and those gifts and the gesture meant more to us than you'll ever know. Santa even dropped a little something off with Jae-min's name on it!!!
Merry Christmas sweet boy!!!!

That's My Boy!!!!

Last night we attended Joe's annual Christmas party. We were excited to go this year as many of Joe's colleagues are also his friends and we always have a great time. We printed smaller pictures of Jae-min and put them in a photo album to share with just a couple of people. When we arrived several close friends jumped up and congratulated us which was so sweet. I thought we would make the picture sharing low key when all of a sudden Joe begins to rummage in my purse for the photo book. The next thing I knew he joined a circle of his friends (all big, burly, macho construction/electrician guys) and began flipping through the book!!! I then heard the most magical words ever come out of Joe's mouth "IT'S MY BOY" The picture that followed will be forever etched in my brain. Joe standing there with the proudest, biggest smile on his face. In that moment I fell in love with him all over again. This moment was followed by all of these big, burly, macho guys leaning in for a closer look.... their faces softening, smiling, and just pure joy and congratulations and happiness for both of us. Joe has found so much support from these guys and to see him so excited to share "his boy" with them was priceless. I sat back and enjoyed watching. I don't think we've smiled this much in a very long time.
Tonight was Joe's night to feel proud, and boy did he look good doing it!!!!!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Today we mailed off our official acceptance of referral packet!!!!!!!!!!! So, hoping that nothing unforseen happens, this would mean Jae-min will be stuck with us forever. The packet was big, with lots to read, sign, notorize, and copy. It had to go in a specific order and mailed in a certain way. Ugh. Fingers crossed that we dotted the i's and crossed the t's so no hold ups happen. We meticulously went over each form over and over to hope it was all correct. This is the final paperwork that's in our hands. Now, we throw up our hands to the fates and more paperwork will be processed in Korea and the US. I'm a bit of a control freak so this is making me a bit nervous, but we hope we get very kind and competent people who's desk our papers pass and maybe when they see that adorable face they'll move things right along. Here's to hoping for a speedy travel call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I told my work yesterday about Jae-min at our annual Christmas party. Did you hear the screams from where you were sitting? It was such an amazing reaction and everyone is so thrilled. We have 3 pregnant people due this spring so it's fun to be waiting for our babies together (although ours just lives halfway around the world :) I got offers for a play group with an OT and PT in attendance so we'll have lots of fun!!!
Jae-min is so loved and real already it boggles our minds

Things Keep Getting Better!!!!!!

Today we got home from work, checked the computer to find the cutest little face staring back at us. We got updated pictures of Jae-min!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were nervous to look at first, but quickly got over that and saw the cutest baby ever..... We didn't think he could get any cuter but we were wrong. This proud mommy and daddy are just soooooooooooooooo in love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's perfect. We don't know how old he is in the pictures or any updated measurements, but we'll take what we can get. We stared at the photo so intently and know its him by the nose... it's the same as his referral photo. He's definately being well taken care of as he looks chunky (and short, he'll fit right in).

Of course its bittersweet to see him growing halfway around the world and we're missing it. But we have these pictures to hold us over and we are thankful to his foster family for caring for him so deeply. They will always hold a special place in our hearts.

So, without further ado, here's a grown up Jae-min!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cute huh?

Where's his neck? you ask. We're wondering that too Haha

The Best Christmas Gift Ever!!!!!

Santa came to our house early this year and brought the best gift ever....... On Dec 2nd we were matched with a beautiful baby boy from South Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can't believe it and it all feels so surreal!! Today we had an appointment with our agency to officially accept his referral. We met with the head of the Korea team and the first thing she said to us was "oh my, he is the cutest baby" with this huge smile on her face. I sat a little straighter in my chair with pride thinking "we think so too". He was born on 6/12/08, so just turned 6 months old. We think he's perfect.

We are over the moon with excitement and can't believe this is really happening!!!!! We have waited soooooooooooo long and when we saw his picture we instantly knew HE was the one we had been waiting for. All the tears, heartbreak, and worry (well, not really the worry, it's just a different kind of worry now) have begun to melt away and our dreams are coming true. Yahooo!!

We now have a pile of acceptance papers to fill out and notorize and then mail back to our agency. We are thinking to travel in about 3-6 months to bring him home. There are certain things that have to be completed before we get that travel call, but we'll be patient.
We can't believe how lucky we are!!! We can't wait to travel half way around the world and meet this little man!!! This is what we have been waiting for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 Years Of Wedded Bliss!!!!

Today we celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary!!!!! It feels like just yesterday we stood on that altar with butterflies in our tummy and made our promises. It has been a great 10 years and I can honestly say I love Joe more today than the day we got married. I'll never forget the fun we had, nor will I ever forget the smile on Joe's face when he opened that door for our blind date. He truly is my best friend. Happy Anniversary.. We're heading up north for some rest and relaxation, staying at our favorite B&B. We've had a very busy week, so we're looking forward to getting away for alittle bit :)


We attended our waiting family group last night and low and behold, a miracle did happen. They announced that the group will continue!!!!! I guess the reactions from others were a bit more than they could handle. We're very excited as we really have begun to connect with other families. Yay. Things are looking up!!!
We also got an interesting email yesterday from our social worker. It was very interesting because we had talked with her just the day before and she didn't mention anything. Apparently yesterday was her last day working there. That's it, no phone call goodbye or anything. We were alittle worried so contacted someone today and they assured us we wouldn't fall through the cracks, and we now have a new name for contact. Don't worry we're getting very good at standing up for ourselves when it comes to our kids so we won't let them forget about us!!!!

Off we go on a weekend getaway. We're planning to go to an island in Feb. for a big trip to celebrate as that's when the winter will feel long and we'll really need to get away.
Here's to 10(thousand) more years!!!!!