9 Months Home!!!!!

Today marks 9 months since we met Jae-min. I have thought alot today about this pivotal number...9 months. The same amount of time that Jae-min spent in his birth country. The same amount of time a typical pregnancy lasts, yet in Jae-min's case he was with his birth mother for a shorter amount of time due to his early arrival. It saddens me slightly to think that from this day forward Jae-min will know his new life longer. He will always have those previous 9 months with his birth mother as well as with his birth country, but will never move past that number....9 months. I continue to thank God every day for these last nine months, but never want to forget the nine months before. They made Jae-min into who he is today and I am grateful for those 9 months.
Today we celebrated by picking out our Christmas tree as a family of 3 and then meeting Elmo. Yup, Jae-min met Elmo!!! He was in complete awe and loved loved loved him.

Just look at those eyes staring up at ELMO. I think he was thinking wow, is that really you?

Jae-min gave a big cheer when Elmo walked in the door. I think Elmo found his number 1 fan.

Which tree are we picking mom because its cold out here?

Happy 9 months sweet baby boy. We will always remember where you came from and the people who loved you for the first 9 months!!!!

An Early Gift

Today we received an early Christmas gift, one that we have longed for and dreamed about. Today we spoke to the lawyer who is handling our finalization and we have a court date of Dec 22nd. That's right, in a few short weeks Jae-min will be officially ours. We will finally step off this adoption roller coaster and just live our lives like other normal families. There will be no more worries related to paperwork, timelines, home visits. There will just be us as a family. This day means so much to us as its the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another. We know that Jae-min is already our son, but it will be nice for the courts to acknowledge it too.
We've come a long long way. But to finally be at the finish line is unbelievable!!!Do you think these two are on the lookout for Santa or what?

One Year Ago Today.....

we received the call that would change our lives forever....we had a son!!! I will never forget that day, being at work and getting into my car from a client's house seeing I had 2 messages. One from our social worker and one from Joe. I called Joe and pulled to the side of the road. He told me we had a son. I kept asking if he was sure and he kept saying yes. I don't know how we did it, but we finished out our workdays and then celebrated when we got home. The feelings of disbelief after years of waiting, the feelings of pure shock that Jae-min was matched with us!!! It was a whirlwind 3 months until our travel call. Updated photos and baby checks were our lifeline to our boy during that time.
To say that day was magical is an understatement. There are no words to describe it!!! One year later, we decorated the house tonight with Christmas decorations. We had a little helper this year. Last year we knew him in photos, but this year we could snuggle him and hear his sweet little laugh. The year has flown by and so much has changed. Looking back we know we wouldn't ever change a thing. All the heartache was so worth it!!!Jae-min's first time fingerpainting. He loved it!!

This is the first picture we ever saw of Jae-min. This is where I fell in love. From this picture I could tell he was a sweet angel and he was ours. We had to wait for the doctors opinions because he was such an early preemie, but secretly I knew!!! He was our son!!!

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!!!!!