Such a slacker!

First of all, happy 20 months to our little boy!!  You are growing up so fast...slow down, take it easy, we want to savor every moment and hold it, and you, close!

Okay, wow, have I really been out of touch with the blog for almost two months?!?!?  There really is no excuse, other than we've been so busy that when there is down time, the last thing I feel like doing is getting pictures ready for the blog...and now that I am, Photo*shop won't open on our new computer!!  So I'm going to write this in hopes that my dear husband can fix the problem this week and I can add the pictures later.  (He updated the software and yay...no more problems!!)  Forewarning: this post is overflowing with pictures and video.  :)

November 5 - it's official: we finalized J's adoption into our family!  We couldn't have been more excited, although he took it in stride.  Afterwards, he gave the judge a hug and a kiss!  What a sweet boy we have!!

Here are some more of our family pictures, from one of the locations.  I don't have very many of them downloaded yet, so there will be more to come in the future.

Thanksgiving was quite fun this year, what with it being the first big holiday that we got to spend as a family of three...and that includes traveling as a family of three and getting first-hand knowledge of just how. much. stuff. you pack to go and how much MORE stuff comes home with you!!!  We went to Chris' brother's house Wednesday-Friday of Thanksgiving week.  As soon as we got to their place, J HAD to open all his gifts and the child did not get to bed until 10pm!  I don't think he's been up that late since we've been home with him.  But he enjoyed it and loved playing with all his new toys!   Then the whole family went to a huge indoor water park near their house through Sunday.  The kids had a blast.  It took J a little while to get used to it, but he did have a good time...so did Mommy and Daddy on the slides for the grown-ups.  Oh, and I got to go see Burles*que with my two sisters-in-law...awesome movie...and the soundtrack, wow!  It's on my wish list, but all sold out.  :(

J's first piano.  He loves all the prerecorded songs to dance to!

A workbench toy with lights, songs, and buttons...heaven.

Tired out Thanksgiving morning.

Found them this way at home one day after naptime; doesn't look like they're done yet, huh?

With grandma, grandpa, and cousins

Kisses for Uncle Pat

A few more pictures of my little boy growing up.

being sooo gentle with Lexi!

in Mommy's shoes

chillin' during a football game

He looks so much like a little boy in this picture; he's growing up too fast!!

in Daddy's shoes

We raked more leaves and he got to play in them.

Getting into places he's not supposed to be.

yes...the dryer.  and yes...I watched him climb in, just to see if he would actually do it...then had to pull him out screaming and crying because he wanted to stay in it!!  Bad Mommy.  :)

J was being very quiet (never a good sign with him!) so daddy went to investigate what was going on...we have a fearless climber on our hands.  gotta keep a close eye on this little guy.  yikes!

kept on playing so we weren't aware he was up here, but he was having a great time!

Dancing, dancing, and more dancing...this boy has some moves!

Just some general silliness.

What a goof!

A bite from my donut...

...and then a bite from Daddy's donut!  Both yummy!!

We bought our Christmas tree and decorated it, with J's help, of course.  He had finally gotten the hang of taking the ornaments from Mommy and giving them to Daddy to hang on the tree, only to come back to me to find out all the ornaments had been hung.  Needless to say, he got a little crabby because HE was not finished decorating!!  Ha!  We've been snowed and "wind-ed" in the last few days here; rain on Saturday turned to ice when the temps dropped overnight and then snow Sunday on top of that with a LOT of wind.  Monday and Tuesday brought negative wind chill, so we are just snuggling down inside and trying not to go stir-crazy.

Sunday was a great family day, just the three of us.  We did brave the cold and wind and bundled up for a quick walk to the store for more stamps for Christmas cards.  When we got home, we started a fire that we had burning all day.  Our little man already knows that he is not to go near the fireplace when there is a fire burning; he stands back with one hand up and says "ot!"  That's right, sweetie-pie, it IS hot...he's a genius!!  J was in a good mood all day with barely any fussing, ate well all day (for once), and took almost a 2-hour nap!  All in all, an awesome day.  I'm looking forward to many more like that one.

Remind any one of a certain Christmastime movie???

And for some Christmas fun, we are hosting my family this year, which has grown by three people since last year.  It will definitely make for some good times with two toddlers and two babies crawling around!!  Any ideas on some yummy, but quick, breakfast breads for the occasion??

Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkin Carving and Family Pictures preview

October Adventures

October has been a busy month for us so far.  At the beginning of the month, the little guy and mommy took a 5-hour car trip together to see my two nephews be baptized.  He travels so well in his car seat and loves bopping to the music we play: Korean and English children's songs.  We have one Korean CD of songs that J's foster mother gave us when we met him the first time and we play it all the time!  I don't know if J still recognizes the words or not, but he loves to dance to it and mommy can sing along with them (although I doubt my pronunciation of the words it legit!).  We had all four cousins together and grandma and grandpa were thrilled!  Grandma tried to get all of them to sit with her, but with two toddlers and two infants, it was quite impossible to do in one shot...although I'm sure she won't stop trying!!!

grandma, Cousin C (back to the camera), his little brother E, and J

breakfast story with Grandma

C    up a tree!

Cousin C really wanted to hold J's hand, but he wasn't having any of it at this time...

 ...although a few minutes later, a hug was reciprocated!

Mommy, J, and Cousin C (what an armful!)

Mommy, J, and Cousin J (little less of an armful, but more squirmy!)

J is climbing into his chair that was on the floor...ready to eat!!

At a stop on the way back home.  "Mom, I'm bored!  Turn on some tunes, please!"

We took J to the sheriff's office so that they could serve him his papers.  This is another step that we have to do in order to finalize his adoption and he was so polite when the policeman gave him his papers.  We also told J that that is the only time he is allowed to be in the sheriff's office, unless he is working there!  The nice man let me take a picture of them during the 2 minutes it took to complete:

A few random pictures from this month:

Playing the piano at grandma and grandpa's house. (no pants, once again. sigh.)

Our little monkey-boy!  We just adore these pj's.  J likes them too, but he really just wanted to be picked up here and NOT photographed; hence, the pouty face.  I just want to laugh and kiss that pouty little mouth when I see this!

Rock on!!

He climbed in the wagon great-grandpa made to watch a little TV.  Not sure if he looks comfortable or not...

Yesterday, the three of us went to a Korean reception being held in Chicago where J's Korean SW was one of the honored guests who had come over from ESWS (the adoption agency in South Korea).  It was amazing to meet with her again.  She remembered J and was calling him by his Korean and English names.  J was more interested in trying to climb on the coffee table than in paying attention to the adults around him that were so focused on him!  The SW stated that she now knew how we felt when we saw J for the first time; he has grown up so much in the last 4 1/2 months that he was like a new little boy to her.  She did tell us that his foster mother had taken a couple months vacation after we picked J up at the end of May, but that she talked with the SW after that and said she missed J so much that she needed another little one to take care of.  I am thrilled that she will continue to foster other children; even only having met her twice, we know what amazing people she and her family are to open their lives and homes to these children who need their love and nurturing until they are able to be placed in the arms of their forever families.  It has got to be so hard to take these babies in, knowing that at some point in the future they will have to give them back, possibly never to see them in person again.  I hope that, at some point, we will be able to see J's foster mother again and show her how well J has blossomed in our home as our beloved child.  I believe that part of the reason for J's easy transition into our lives was because of his foster mother.  She helped give our family a wonderful gift and words cannot describe how very much we will always appreciate her.  Here is a picture of J giving his Korean SW a hug (after a single prompt from his mama):

I think we were both holding back tears at this point.

Our family with J's SW from Korea.

It was a wonderful day and I also got to meet a few of my bloggy friends in person for the first time.  There was also yummy Korean food and a pretty intense Tae Kwon Do presentation that I didn't get any pictures of because I was so mesmerized by watching them!  After getting back to town, we ate dinner at a favorite Chinese restaurant.  J had a wonderful appetite and we had no leftovers once he was finished.  I let him walk out of the restaurant where we had to walk down an aisle between booths to get out.  My little guy, who is usually shy around strangers, was waving bye-bye with his hand above his head at everyone as we were leaving...and of course, everyone was laughing and waving back at him.  What a little ham!!!  Too cute.  I wish I had a video of it, but the camera was in the car.

I do have some video of J with his new broom (he would not let go of this broom even to let the check-out lady scan it!  She had to bring the little hand-held scanner to the cart, he had such a tight grip on it!) and him jamming in his chair.

I'm getting him started early with cleaning.  Next up...dusting!  :)

We are planning on getting our first set of professional family pictures taken next week, hopefully while the fall foliage is still in color.  I am really looking forward to this; it is another thing that others may take for granted, but I have been longing for for years, not knowing if it would be something that would happen, at least with a child involved.  Our little family of three, but a whole lotta love!!!!!

Guess who's 18 months old today??

I can't believe we have an 18-month old toddler in the house!  The past 4 1/2 months have had their share of ups and downs, but it has been a dream come true for me and Chris.  We have dreamed of having a child for years and J has just fulfilled that dream completely.

We love watching him walk all over the house.

We love his hugs and kisses.

We love the way he says "uh-oh!" when a timer goes off, or the cell phone beeps.

We love the way he waves goodbye with his arm stretched up over his head.

We love the way he squeals and gets soooo excited when he sees Dada come home and toddles over to him as quick as he can.

We love the way he laughs and giggles (it's very contagious!).

We love this little 18-month-old so much that words cannot express how very thankful we are that he is the one who came into our lives to complete our family.

We love you, Baby J!  Forever and ever and always.

(more pictures and video coming soon, probably after the Korean celebration this weekend.  J's Korean SW will be there, so we get to show him off to her and meet a lot of my blog friends in person for the first time...I cannot wait!!!)

What a difference a year makes

One year ago today, we received The Call about our Baby J.  I remember exactly where I was when the Brahm's lullaby started playing on my phone...the ring tone I gave to our SW.  And what a year it's been!  More waiting, picture updates, one written update, two baby showers, two new nephews, more months of waiting, and then, finally, that other coveted phone call, the one telling us that our son was finally ready to travel home!!  And now, four months later, we are finally starting to feel like parents to this wonderful little boy who came into our lives so sweetly.

We are so lucky to have you in our lives, Baby J.  You have grown up so much in the past year and we adore the little boy you have become.  We can't wait to see what the next year brings!

We love you, forever and ever and always.