Happy Father's Day and God Bless Jae-min!!!!

Today Joe celebrated his first father's day!!!! It was a busy day and Jae-min had fun coloring a card for daddy and getting him a special book Just like daddy. He (well mommy too) also got Joe a practice net for his golf swing for the backyard. Happy Fathers Day to our dads and to a great dad, Joe. The new title looks good on him, don't you think?Today we also had Jae-min's christening. It was a small ceremony with the priest who married us officiating, which made it extra special. He's a family friend so it was nice to share this special occasion with him. Jae-min looked mighty handsome in his outfit and had fun at his party.

We added a special necklace sent to us by his foster mom after returning home. It's of the Korean flag with his name in Hangul on the back as well as his birthdate. We thought that was a nice way to honor her on this special day. God Bless Jae-min!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Tol!!!!

Saturday we celebrated Jae-min's first birthday with family and friends. We had the traditional party outside and the Korean Tol set up inside. It was truly a perfect day!!! After stressing about it for weeks, the weather was perfect and everything turned out great. We really wanted to do his Korean heritage proud, which I think we did. He had a blast and was quite the little ham, clapping and yaying for himself. He even sat and looked at all the gifts as we opened them.He looked very dapper in his Hanbok and was really the star of the show. He chose the knife and dollar at the toljabee ceremony which means he'll be a chef and wealthy. Yahoo, a wealthy chef!!!! We said a small blessing over him and took a moment to remember his birthmom on this special day.

Our tol table was filled with fruit, candy trees, rice cakes, and cupcakes. We also placed his referral photo as well as a professional photo we had taken. His foster mothers photo was also displayed to honor her on this special day. All in all I think it was the best day we've had since we've been home from Korea. We feel proud to be able to share this amazing culture with our family and friends.

Happy happy birthday and happy happy Tol Jae-min!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Baby Boy is 1 and Home Three Months!!!!!

Today marks three months home from Korea. Wow, where has the time gone? Jae-min is such a different kid I was looking at pictures from when we brought him home and it really doesn't even look like him anymore. He's getting many more teeth so his smile is changing. He's begun to now pull to stand and is becoming a very fast crawler. He's also making so many different sounds which have a different ring to them. He's begun to imitate everything and will do a bear impression by raising his arms and sort of roaring!!!Today Jae-min also turns 1 years old!!!! Happy Birthday sweet baby boy!!! We had a fun day. Joe took the day off and we opened up some gifts and went to lunch. It was the first time out to lunch and Jae-min did great. Tomorrow we will celebrate his Tol with family and friends!!!!

Today I took some time to think of Jae-min's birth mother and what she must be feeling on this day. As I lay in bed last night I thought about how this time last year she could feel this little baby inside her, and then today her water unexpectedly broke. I wondered if she was scared
at that moment and all the moments after. I wondered what time Jae-min was born, what the weather was like, and if she was alone. I wondered if she remembers what today is and how she's feeling. I also wondered if she can feel just how much this little boy is loved by so many half a world away. I hope her heart has healed and she feels some peace. I also hope she thinks of Jae-min on this special day. We have decided to honor her each year on his birthday just the three of us. Because after all she gave him life and allowed us to share in this most magnificent boy we could ask for. So to her we again say thank you. And during this joyous time please take a moment and think of her and the most difficult decision she had to make. And how out of that difficult decision our family was born!!!!!

Slumber Party and First Dates

Marty and Jae-min had a slumber party early this morning after waking up. We've been trying to encourage Jae-min to stay in his crib alittle longer in the mornings so we've been going into his room when he wakes up and sitting on the chair and letting him sit in his crib and play. We're trying to make it a positive experience when he's awake. So.... each morning Marty peeps through the slats at Jae-min and they talk to each other. So this morning Joe and I were in the room and decided to let the boys have a slumber party. We hoisted Martin into the crib and they had a great time!!! They really are very cute with each other. Maybe we'll let Martin sleep in there all night. Maybe that will help with the night terrors HahaThis afternoon we attended a two year old birthday party of a friend's little girl. Jae-min decided to pick her up for a date in his pink car. Yes, that's right, a pink car. It takes a confident boy to pick up his first date in a PINK car (and to have his daddy pushing it). He loved the party.

Beep beep out of my way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooooooo Big.......

Jae-min has a brand new trick that he's very proud of!! If you say "How big is Jae-min?" He raises his hands above his head and you respond with "soooooo big". He thinks this is pretty funny and will try to engage you by raising his arms and waiting for you to say "sooooooo big". He's definately getting so big and loves crawling on the kitchen floor, making a straight line for those doggy dishes. Thank goodness for all these adorable tricks, as he still puts us through the ringer many nights, leaving this mommy and daddy in a state of pure exhaustion. I guess he tries to make up for it during the day with that little face.

Oh, he was "helping" me change his diaper by emptying the diaper caddy of all its belongings. But again he can charm his way out of anything!!!

He's On The Move!!!!

On Saturday night Joe had gone for a quick trip to the supermarket and I was getting Jae-min's dinner ready when I turned around and saw him CRAWLING from where I left him to the dog's water dish!!! I got so excited I grabbed the video camera and then called Joe at the store. When he got home we put Jae-min on the kitchen floor and lo and behold he crawled straight across it. Wow!! is all I can say. He crawls for motivators....the phone, dog's dish, and a jar of M&M's. But our boy is a crawler!!!!!!!!!!! To think when he came home 2.5 months ago he couldn't even sit up and now he's crawling is amazing. All of our hard work is definately paying off. Just look at him go!!!!!!! Way to go Jae-min.

A Boy and His Best Friend............And A Tree

For Mother's Day in addition to a beautiful necklace Joe (and Jae-min) also bought me a rose of sharon tree which is the flower of South Korea. They thought this appropriate to celebrate and mark my first mother's day to our little Korean cutie. So, this week my dad came and planted Jae-min's tree in a special place in the yard. We can't wait to watch the tree grow and change as we watch Jae-min grow and change. Many have asked how our first baby is doing with the addition of his brother. Martin had been with us for 8 years before the arrival of Jae-min so we were alittle concerned how it would go down, but we a pleasantly surprised!!!!!!!!!! Martin loves Jae-min and the feeling is definately mutual. They are truly best friends and we are so happy how well Marty adjusted. He has to say goodmorning each day to Jae-min and loves to be included in everything. And now Jae-min starts "crawling" toward Martin and talking to him in this high pitched sweet voice he only uses for Martin. We are very lucky they love each other so.

Oh, and no dogs or children were harmed in this wagon ride!!! Haha