Family

It is crazy to think that we have been home 3 weeks now

AND

this is our 1st family picture!!

I can't believe it never happened until yesterday.

I love it!

Lovin' Life

We are so lovin' life with this little guy!

I am thinkin' he is lovin' it too!

Everything is going so well.

He has some fussy times where really the only way to calm him is to "podegi" him....

aka using the carrier, which I love too!

For the most part though Andrew is a fun-loving, busy, super affectionate toddler.

Of course, we see some toddler kind of fits come out too.

Foster mom had said that when he didn't get what he wanted he would bang his head...

Yep, we have seen that!

We try to scoop him up, hold him, and love on him so he doesn't put a big knot on his noggin.

We celebrated Meredith's birthday last week with some family over and he did great!

She is such a blessing to us and all around her.

Outside time is like his all-time favorite!

He will stand at the door and just wait for someone to take him out.

He loves the slide, his new swing, wagon rides,

and the girls taking him around the yard in the Barbie jeep.

Foster mom had said that he really wasn't attached to any kind of lovey or blanket.

Well, this mama loves to have a blankie with me when traveling or going anywhere.

However, when we were leaving for Korea,

Steve didn't think it was so cool for me to take my cozy blanket along.

I love to have something to snuggle up to when anywhere.

I know, it may sound crazy but that is just who I am.

So, I thought I would get this blanket and I could snuggle with it on the plane then use it for Andrew when we got him.

Great plan right?

He wanted NOTHING to do with it!!!

As we were coming home on the airplane I would wrap him up in it

and he would just throw it right down.

Each time I hold him, to either put him down for nap, bed or when he is sad,

I literally swaddle him up like a newborn in it.

He actually lets me.

It is so cute how he just lays there ready for the swaddling.

SO, 3 nights ago when he started to cry at 3am,

I went to him and as I walked into his room he was standing up in his crib

holding on to this blanket.

It totally melted my heart!!

It may seem small to you all but it shows he is attaching more and more each day.

Steve noticed it too when he went to get him that morning.

I am telling you he is just doing so well.

He gives kisses and hugs all the time to us.

When we meet people he is a little shy,

which is totally fine but if we say,"give them High 5",

he does and then just grins really big.

One last photo.

Is he the cutest ever or what??

Who couldn't be lovin' life with this little, sweet guy?

Tidbits about Andrew

Thought we would share some things we have learned about our little guy.

First, he is little!!!

We thought that 18 month pants would work...ugh...NO!

~He is just a peanut!

~He weighs 19 lbs and is about 30 in.

~He is so curious.

~He is a very affectionate little guy.

If I say,"Omma boh, boh" means give mama a kiss,

he turns to kiss me. Super sweet! Totally melts my heart!

~He loves, loves bath time.

Steve has been doing the bath routine with all the bath toys and Andrew will throw them all in then before Steve lifts him out he asks him to hand him the toys again and he does.

~He is getting in a routine with bedtime and nap time.(for the most part)

He takes a bottle around 8:00pm while I rock him then I pat his back pretty hard....foster mom said he feels comforted by that. Thankful for that info because it is so true! Sometimes I feel like I am pounding him but is really soothes him anytime he is sad.

I lay him in his crib and he sleeps usually until 1:00am and wakes for another bottle.

I rock him again and he sleeps until 7:00 or 8:00am.

However, each night has been a little different with him waking to be comforted and then back down but for the most part this is the way it is.

~He doesn't really cry, just a really sad little whimper most of the day.

~He comes to me to be comforted and puts his hands out for me to pick him up.

~He loves the carrier...either to be on my back or front.

It can calm him when just holding him isn't doing the job.

~He is a little cut up! Making us all laugh so much!

Foster mom gave us a care package for him and these funny glasses were in it.

We have had so much fun playing with them.

He puts them on and off and then turns and puts them on us.

~He will talk in gibberish to us.

Too cute. Something like a mix of Korean and anything else you can imagine.

~He is a smartie:)

Of course this mama thinks so!

~He had his 1st haircut and did awesome!!

~He plays peek-a-boo!

Is that little hand the cutest or what?

So little and so sweet!

Oh yeah, his toes are the cutest too!

I am a feet person so on our 1st meeting with him I took his sock off to kiss his little toes.

He then lifted the other foot for me to take the sock off and do the same.

See, I told you he was smart.

By the 2nd meeting when I did this again, Steve said the foster mom and social worker were talking about it and cracking up.

He said that is probably something they don't see every day.

What can I say?

I love little toesies.

~He loves for us to put music on and dance around the room.

~He has taken to his sisters and they are all about him!

~He likes his car seat.

~He loves stacking blocks and putting things in and out of cups.

~He is a GREAT eater!!

Literally whatever we have offered him he is up for!

~ HE IS SUPER BUSY!!!

~He is a snuggler.

~He makes funny faces.

~He is a little movie star with so many!

My friend who is an amazing photographer took some photos of him last weekend and told me I could post the link.

They were here for lunch and she just started following him around and snapping.

http://dawnjohnsonphotos.com/viewing/?slideshowID=146098

~He is such a blessing to all of us!

It's Been a Week...since Gotcha Day!

One week ago tonight we were driving home in the pouring rain from the airport!

Andrew slept almost the entire car ride home.

It is so hard to believe we have been home for a week.

It has been a fun week.

I wanted to share more about our Gotcha Day.

So, here goes....

When we arrived at the agency last Friday we had all our luggage in tote ready for the airport.

It was a little bit of a struggle getting in the door.

We thought we packed light but still, sheesh it wasn't so light.

The plan was for us to arrive at 1:30 and then there would be a ceremony at 2:00 in which we would get Andrew along with 3 other families.

The agency had 2 vans ready for us to get into after the ceremony to take us all to the airport.

One van for all the luggage and one for us.

4 families adopting 2 boys and 2 girls.

So, as Steve and I sat there watching the front doors we spotted Andrew's foster mom, dad and Mr. Cutie walking in!!!!!!!!!

I was giving him big smiles and saying hello from across the way to the parents.

His foster mom immediately starting talking to him saying, "Omma, Appa, then something else in Korean."

She was preparing him to come see us.

They sat down next to us on the couch and I pulled out my bag of tricks again.

A ball, a truck, a book, and some snacks.

He came right over to us and began playing but still keeping a close eye on foster mom.

He was so sweet.

Yes, so sweet.

He was interacting with us.

As I sat next to foster mom I couldn't communicate

much but just patted her arm and gave her little hugs to say thank you.

Then Dr. Kim came in and she was going to go ahead with the ceremony and pray over all of the families before the children were handed to us.

I am so thankful for another adoptive mama that posted the prayer on her blog before we left for Korea. It was prayed in Korean but to know the words were so much more powerful!!

There were so many sniffles from the foster families and the adoptive families.

Here is the prayer she prayed.

"Precious lives, our angels, we send away these lives to foreign countries, with scarred memories of their homeland. Please forgive our sins and allow Korea to be a better country, so that we will be adopting children from other countries, instead of us always sending ours away.

We send them for care. So please protect these lives and help them lead a happy life in their new homes. Always provide them with grace and intelligence, lead them to live by the rules of Jesus Christ, to have luck, to help benefit others, and to return the glory to our Lord.

It is our sincere wish that these lives will not forget their home country and the love of the people who took care of them. Father, please remember the foster families who worked hard whether it is favorable or unfavorable conditions to protect these lives, and give them blessings for the benefits they provided with. By your blessings, these adoptive families will be full of love and be under your protection.

Now the children are leaving: Please make their way as easy as possible, lead them to the most pleasant life.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen."

We then said our goodbyes to the foster mom and dad.

We just hugged and she held so tight to little guy just patting him and kissing him and crying. It was so special to see how she had such a bond with him.

I am so thankful he had that his 1st 2 years of life.

It is what is helping him to create a bond with us now.

Steve and I were the first to climb in the back of the van.

The foster dad handed Andrew to me.

Foster mom stood at the sliding door and just watched and cried.

Then Andrew started to cry.

He was losing everything he knew...His Birth Country...all the smells, the food, the people, and the language.

We really realized that as we rode to the airport looking out the window.

We knew it before but it was SO real at that very moment.

We so want him to know his country and his people.

We want to keep Korea alive in him.

He screamed for over 50 minutes to the airport. He cried until he fell asleep.

When we arrived he was still sad but was just doing his little sad whimpering.

It is hard to believe that was one week ago today.

It is a day I want to forever remember and cherish.

We love Korea.

We love his foster family.

We love that God chose Andrew to be our child to raise to know and love Him.

We love that we get to spend our life with him.

We love this baby boy!

We are Home!

We are home!

I have so much to say about the last 2 days but I am

exhausted and really feel I should go to bed.

I want to share more about our Gotcha Day later.

I don't want to write about it quickly.

It was amazing!

It was hard!

It was surreal!

IT IS REAL!!

Our plane ride was so good.

He played in his seat for a couple of hours, ate, and then took turns napping on Steve and I.

We had a long ride from the airport to home but he slept most of the way.

When we arrived home the girls were eager to meet him.

He just observed them for a long time and then they led him to his room where there were toys.

He played with them for an hour or so and then we gave him a bath.

Foster mom said he loved baths and that is for sure!

He played and played.

He slept from 1-5:30am woke for a bottle then slept from 5:30-noon.

(I woke him up)

He then played and went back down for nap from 3:30-5:00.

He is sleeping in his crib and one of us is on the floor on a mattress.

He does a lot of wimpering but not screaming or crying hard like the van ride to the airport.

Forever Family in Korea and 2nd meeting with Andrew

After the day of shopping in Insadong on Wednesday

we had dinner with our exchange student's family.

We truly feel we have forever family in Korea with both our current exchange student's family and our student's family from 3 years ago.

They took us to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.

The food was great and actually nice to have a little bit of home!

We had great dinner conversation and learned so much more about them.

Below when I asked them if I could take a picture this is what they did so we did the same!

Famous Korean pose.

Later we took the subway to a market and then had coffee in a coffee house.

It was a very special evening

Our second meeting with Andrew was so great!

It was Thursday afternoon.

We were sitting in the little lobby of the agency waiting for our appointment when foster mom and Andrew walked in.

She immediately started talking to him in Korean and saying "Omma, Appa" and pointing toward us for him to come and see us.

Omma is Mom and Appa is Dad.

He came over and looked at us and I started going through my bag to see what toys I had that he would like. I pulled out a little firetruck and pushed it on the floor.

He chased after it.

We had given him some snacks the day before so she had brought those again and she gave them to him and told him to feed Appa. He walked to Steve and put it in his mouth.

It was so sweet.

We just had so much fun interacting with him while waiting for our "official" appointment.

He is giving his appa high fives!

This is one of our cutest pictures I think.

I love his little pants.

Foster mom brought a bag to give us.

Below is what she brought.

A spoon and chopstick set for Andrew,

Pororo sketch pad and markers.

She says he loves to write and use anything that marks on paper.

Also she brought 2 Korean board books.

The social worker read them to me so I can read them to him.

The little phone in the picture is his favorite toy she said so she wanted to send it.

Then in the bottom of the bag was a photo album of pictures of him since she first started to care for him in June 2009.

I started to cry.

To have those sweet pictures is a treasure to us.

The picture that it is opened to in this photo is the day he came into her care.

There are pictures with foster dad, Andrew's birthdays, times he was in hospital when he was one and several others.

Also, she returned the monkey lovey that we sent to him.

On Thursday evening Hayoung's family took us to see many sites and then to dinner.

Her father is a pastor so they took us to see his church.

It is not like American churches which are spread out on large amounts of land.

The church was in a tall building on the 6th floor.

We went in and Seungho, her brother, played the piano and we sand some hymns together.

This is a photo with him.

The took us to see the Olympic Park.

Liked this cafe's name.

After seeing some different sights we met some of their friends for dinner at a family style restaurant. It was very much American buffet style.

We had steak and so many other yummy things.

Even thought it was like American restaurant there were great Korean foods on the buffet.

I loved the green tea yogurt!!

After dinner they asked if we would like to see Korean apartment.

I think Hayoung told them I did.

It is just awesome to see how their culture lives.

So we went to the apartment of the family that was having dinner with us.

They lived on the 12th floor.

I was wonderful to have so many experiences here.

Photo with the family and Hayoung's family.

Their father was unable to meet us.

I told the family if they ever want to be exchange student,

they have us as a family in the USA.

At the church.

This is Steve, I just wanted to add that this experience has been the greatest journey that God has ever taken us on. We have laughed,cried, and prayed many times during our stay. The families of YooJin and HaYoung are the most amazing and kind people. We truly have family here in Korea!! Also, I have been so fortunate to have been on this life journey with my absolutely amazing wife.

Thank you all for your prayers!! Everyone of you have helped us navigate our way.

Most importantly, Thank You Jesus.

Great Day in Insadong

Today we hit the streets of Insadong.

Famous for traditional Korean items.

It was SO SO much fun!

Before hitting Insadong we took the subway to a place called Myeong-dong.

It had many places to shop and was recommended by our former exchange student.

It was cool to go through the shopping mall there and also walk the streets.

We got on the subway and sat down,

a few minutes later 2 kind elderly ladies were pointing to this sign and laughing.

Yep, we were sitting in an area specifically for the elderly, women with children or disabled.

Boy, did we feel goofy.

They were so sweet.

They just laughed with us and we stood up the remainder of the trip.

Insadong was awesome! We found so many cool traditional Korean things.

We bought some things for Andrew to keep and give him as he gets older to celebrate his "Gotcha Day", which will be Friday, March 4th.

I was so lovin' all the celadon pottery that Korea is famous for.

I would have loved to have brought a huge vase home.

That wouldn't pack too well though and would cost too much.

We got some really nice pieces though.

This kind man posed with me for a photo.

We bought pottery at his store.

Actually the piece I am holding!

Also there was a place that was selling these beautiful paper lanterns.

As we talked more with the man we learned he actually makes them.

They are absolutely beautiful!!

We loved all the different choices and just the cool streets.

It was just a very enjoyable and very surreal day!

Steve loved the guys that were roasting their own beans on the street and using a hand drip way of brewing. It was really good!

This lady was roasting chestnuts.

Tonight our exchange student's parents are taking us out for dinner.

Tomorrow we will have lunch with Dr. Kim and other adoptive parents at the agency and then we will have some time in the afternoon alone with Andrew.

Tomorrow night our former exchange student's parents are meeting us for dinner again.

It has been such a great experience meeting both of their parents.

We never would have had that opportunity if we had not traveled here.