Thankful

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving. A day to give thanks for all the blessings in our life. We are thankful for our families and friends as well as our health. But...... as we sat around the tables today with both of our families we think we were all thankful for the same thing...Jae-min. He has brought so much joy into our lives and we still pinch ourselves that he is really here!!!He looked pretty suave on his first Thanksgiving. Gosh, he looks so grown up!!!

The happy family. The way it was always meant to be!!

We also gave thanks today to Jae-min's birth parents and his foster mom (omma). There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of these selfless people, but today we are thankful for the sacrafices they made. They brought us the most beautiful gift. So, thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The Three Amigos!!!!

Yesterday we met up at the Children's Museum in the city with our friends we met through our adoption agency. It was so fun to see Allie, Ryan and Jae-min play together. After going through the tough times of the wait and the tough times of the first few months home with these families, it was fun to just have a day of FUN, and oh what fun we had!!!!! The kids loved the different rooms to play in and they played hard. The parents played, chatted, laughed, and played some more. It was so nice to really not have a care in the world and just all truly enjoy ourselves. The kids were so cute together and we all talked about how we think its so important for them to grow up together. So they'll know of other families that look like them and they can talk about stuff as they grow. It's also great for us parents to have others to talk to too. The kids have all gotten so big since coming home. It was an awesome day. We can't wait to see what the future holds for these three amigos!!!!!!

Me, Jae-min, and Joe outside the museumJae-min enjoyed the jack hammer and daddy was very happy!!!

The three amigos. Jae-min, Ryan, and Allie. We think there might be some trouble in the future. Just look at those faces!!!

On Saturday we had gone to the Thanksgiving day parade in town. Jae-min was mesmerized by the bands and floats and had fun clapping to all the music. This little guy loves everything and is always up for a good time!!!

8 Months Home!!!!

Today is our 8 month anniversary as a family of 3. What was life like without Jae-min? It's hard now to even imagine. Our days are so full (as are sometimes our nights) with this little guy. We thought to celebrate this 8 month milestone we would share a snippet into our day. So, if you spent the entire day with this little family we have 8 things that you would most likely hear:
!. If you stop at a stop light for too long you will hear this from the little man in the back seat..."GO, GO, GO" until the car begins to move again!
2. To distract Jae-min from mischief, I often say "Lets go find Martin" to which his response is "brabra(brother)" and he takes off on the hunt to torment him!
3. If you're ever at our house and Joe asks you if you want "death role" just say no. Trust me on this one. We have mommy death roll, doggy death roll, and Asian death roll. You can use your own imagination on this one. Just say no thanks.
4. If Jae-min is near Martin's food and he has a silly grin on his face with his lips pursed together you would often hear "Are you eating Martin's food?" followed by a finger sweep and extraction of the goody.
5. Did you seriously poop again? How many times can these little creatures poop in one day?
6. At the end of a meal you may hear "CRACKER" shouted numerous times until you open the cabinet and retrieve one for the little guy whose got his pointing finger poised toward the cabinet.
7. You may also hear "No touch" often to which Jae-min will point his finger and wave it, and then of course touch it just the same.
8. But the best sound of all that you would hear would be laughter, squeals, "lets snuggle" to which Jae-min would rest his head on you, "good morning" to which you'd hear a delighted sound, and an "I love you"!!!!Our days were once filled with quiet, where now there filled with noise, laughter, and fun.

Our focus has changed as has the joy we find in each day. This little face is the reason!!!

If you had told us 8 months ago Jae-min would be this well adjusted, happy, secure, and loving we may have been doubtful as we walked off that plane. We attribute this to the ways in which we've parented him these past 8 months and we honestly wouldn't change a thing!!!
Happy 8 months home Jae-min!!!!

1,2,3,4!!!!!!!!!

That's the number of steps Jae-min has taken on his own this week. That's right, you read that right!!! At the beginning of the week Jae-min was taking 2 steps to walk between Joe and I. As of today he has taken 4, count them 4, steps between us as well as to get to something he wants in the room. Its kind of funny to watch him plot out his move in his head and then go for it. He's becoming more confident that those little feet can take him somewhere. I had taken him to visit my work today and he was "walking" all over the place,4 steps at a time. So............. it's just a matter of time until he walks all the way across the room!!!Go Jae-min. You can do it!!!!!