He's Ours Forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 2pm we walked into the Holt office and walked out 30 minutes later with the most adorable, happy, baby!!!!!!!!!!! We are sooooooooo in love!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a whirlwind meeting and pick up and before we knew it I was hugging Jae-min"s omma with tears in my eyes. The next thing I knew she pushed my into a cab and we were off. It all happened so quickly, yet I wouldn't change a thing. Jae-min fell asleep on the cab ride and awoke when we got back to the hotel and has been smiling and laughing ever since!!!!!!!!!!!! He's simply AMAZING!!!!!!!! He's napped great, ate great, and we even walked around alittle outside to get some pictures for him in Korea. He laughs so easily and its fun to know the tricks to make it happen. Things couldn't be better!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so happy and so in love. We hope to return soon to experience this all over again. It has been breathtaking.
Goodnight from little lamb shanks (Jae-min), his omma (mom), and appa (dad) We are so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Wonderful Day In Korea...........

Today we woke up early and got ready for another wonderful day in Korea. We had a tour planned through our adoption agency starting at 9am. We decided to be adventurous and take the subway there and when we got off to go to Holt we were facing in a different direction and we became lost in Korea for about 1/2 hour. Yikes!! We made it to the Holt office alittle late but everything turned out ok. We have had so many adventures on this trip and we think its going so well because we're just taking them all in stride and enjoying every experience. We met another family today that we've talked with online and did the tour with them. It was another fantastic day. They pick up their son tomorrow as well. The people continue to be amazing and gracious and today with our guide we all ate at a traditional Korean restaurant. It was delicious and Joe and Steve (the other dad to be) ordered beers and toasted their new arrivals.
Oh, and our social worker from Holt, DJ, has been trying to recruit me to come work in Korea for alittle while. They need developmental specialists. She kept bringing babies out yesterday for me to look at and trying to coax me into a job. Who knows?
So, tomorrow will be the beginning of the rest of our lives. We travel to Holt in the afternoon and have our pick up meeting at 2pm (Korea time). This is it. The moment we've been waiting years for. It still feels so surreal but I'm sure when we get back to our room tomorrow it will be a weight lifted off our souls. We can't wait. It's going to be the hardest thing we'll ever do to say goodbye to his foster family and take him away from everything he knows. Please say alittle prayer to heal his heart quickly and for everything to go smoothly.
We may not be able to post tomorrow, depends on how Jae-min does. So, light your candles tomorrow night and guide us home!!!!!!!! We need to feel your energy during our long flight.
See you on the other side of the world!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's Real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 10:30 this morning our hearts left our bodies and began walking around in the world, in little Jae-min!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our social worker walked in ahead of Jae-min and his omma and the world stopped. Life, and the next hour and a half seemed to be surreal and time stood still. Jae-min and his omma sat on the couch next to us and the next thing I knew she handed me our baby with a smile from ear to ear. Jae-min did wonderfully, looked at us with curiousity but quickly interacted and was very happy. We got lots of smiles and even some giggles from him!!!!!!!!! He's AMAZING and we really don't know how we got so lucky. He seems to love us already and we are completely in love with him.
His omma was the sweetest woman and told us that she knows Jae-min is going to the right family. I told her we knew instantly he was meant to be ours and she reached across took my hands, with tears in her eyes saying she did too. She thinks he looks like Joe and fits in well with our family!!!!!! We think she feels peaceful and her heart is content with us as his parents. She called him
Jae-meeenah which we think is darling. He responded so nicely to everything and we are just so in love we can't stand it!!!
We got to go to his well baby check and the nurse also loves him so much. He has been so well taken care of and it touches our hearts. We feel truly blessed to have come halfway around the world and found the baby which we were always meant to have. He's so easygoing and chunky, yup, today he weighed in at 20 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!! Chunky monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, after our restless night we feel peaceful again. Your all going to love him. He's absolutely, positively, perfect and we couldn't have asked for anything more.
We will officially take him back to the hotel Wed afternoon and are counting the hours. To say this experience has been amazing is true. Thank you Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're So In Love.............

With Korea!!!!!! We've been busy the last few days exploring this beautiful country and are loving every minute of it!!!!!!!!!! I have been trying to pay close attention to all the little things like the sights, sounds, and smells to convey to Jae-min as he grows up. The people here are amazing and we just are so honored that our son comes from such a wonderful place. Yesterday we went on the Seoul city bus tour and saw lots of sights. Today we went to an open air market Namedum, and it was a very interesting experience. We also found a bookstore (I know leave it to me) and bought Jae-min some books in English and Korean. We have also visited many palaces which are breathtaking. We've been very busy soaking up the culture and having an amazing time!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today we realized that in just a few short hours we will be experiencing the real reason why we're here.... to meet a handsome little boy!!!!!!!
Jae-min is never far from our minds and to think we're just a cab ride away is amazing. My eyes fill with tears when I look at all the young men of Korea to think that Jae-min is leaving this place. I know that he'll be a wonderful man from all the wonderful men we've seen so far. We've seen some children and it makes us so eager for tomorrow to come.
So, at 10:30 (Korea time) tomorrow our lives will never be the same. We will lay eyes on our son for the first time, talk to his foster family, and play with him. It will be difficult to say goodbye, but we've come this far. So tomorrow is the day we've been waiting for. We'll wrap our gifts tonight and call a cab in the morning. This will be an experience of a lifetime and we are more than ready.
Love to you all from our last night as a party of two. We'll be a party of three very very soon!!

Greetings From Korea!!!!!!!!

We made it!!! We're in Korea!!!!!! It all still feels so surreal but we are here. The flights went well, just really really long. After about 10 hours I started to get antsy and feel alittle panicky. But it took 10 hours which I thought was pretty good. I listened to Joe's ipod filled with my adoption songs and calmed right down. We basically dozed on and off and prayed the time would go fast and whala, here we are. We're exhausted as we haven't slept in 24 hours but we'll make it through. Korea, its people are amazing. We encountered culture shock right on the plane when just about everyone was Korean and speaking in Korean. Oh well. The ladies were gorgeous and so helpful. We're alittle panicky about bringing Jae-min home on the same flight as the seating isn't as big as we thought and we only got him a lap ticket. Oh well, we shall see. Two more days till we meet the little man. My eyes welled up as we took off from Boston today and again when we landed in Korea. To know we are here, in his homeland, seeing all these beautiful sites and expereincing all these amazing people is priceless. And to know after all this time here we are. We are in love with Korea because it is part of Jae-min!!!!!!!! Good night from Seoul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Packed And Ready To Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two years ago we dreamed of this day. The day when we would have all of our bags packed heading halfway around the world. The day is finally here. It may be a slightly different destination and a slightly different picture of who our first child would be, but we wouldn't have it any other way. This is exactly how it was destined to be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jae-min is meant to come to us from Korea and our trip around the world was always meant to be there!!!!!
We leave bright and early tomorrow morning and will make it to Korea around 5:30 Friday. We meet Jae-min on Monday so thoughts and prayers are needed. We can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our last day as a family of two is coming to an end and we are so ready to become parents. Parents to the most adorable boy in the world. We'll try to update from Korea. Love to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're Off To Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's official. Our travel itinerary was approved and we leave this Thurs 3/5 and return next Thurs 3/12. We're soooooooo excited, we're just in a fog. We can't believe after all this time we are 3 sleeps away from getting on a plane, flying halfway around the world, to meet our son!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. The best part is we meet Jae-min on Monday morning at 10:30 (Korea time, remember we'll be about 14 hours ahead of you). Can you imagine this time next week Jae-min will be real. He won't just be an adorable picture any longer. He'll be real and we'll have held him, kissed him, and heard his sweet sounds. We'll have talked to his beautiful foster mom and seen much of his beautiful country. I just can't believe it. There are few moments like these in a lifetime and we plan to take in every second and appreciate it for all its worth. It's been a long time coming and we will never take it or him for granted. We know how lucky we are.

This weekend was a whirlwind with a beautiful baby shower to honor Jae-min. We have been busy washing and organizing everything. Thanks to all those who played a part in planning an amazing day. It honored Jae-min, Korea, and us beautifully.
We also got a special blessing yesterday. We began attending church faithfully every week right before our referral came. After our referral every Sunday we would go to church and I would feel so close to Jae-min. Its hard to explain. Well this Sunday we told the father (whose wonderful by the way) about Jae-min and our impending flight. He couldn't have been nicer, hugging us and asking lots of questions. Then he took us in his circle and said a beautiful blessing over us. Of course I had tears streaming down my face. He's excited to meet Jae-min and share in his homecoming.
Through this process many doors have been opened and we've gladly opened our hearts and gone right in. After this weekend I have a sense of peace in my heart and mind. A peace I have never known before. A piece that says you are exactly where you were always meant to be!!