One Year Ago Today....

we got the call. We saw our baby's face for the first time. What a wonderful day it was!


A referral picture and Eden looking at her referral picture


More to come on how we celebrated our first referral day anniversary. For now... I am too tired to post anything more than this. :)

17 Months old and 8 Months home

Our sweet, smart, beautiful girl is seventeen months old today. She is a ball of energy, funny, and way to bright for her own good. She can be trouble with a capital T... going from one "no no" to another... like she has a radar for things she is not supposed to do. She has the BEST smile in the world and nothing on the Earth feels better than her little arms wrapped around you. Here's more....

* She is just too dang smart and determined. Her goal each and every day is to find a way to escape from her play area. Mind you.... it is our entire family room. The room is basically her play room.... just a couch, chair, TV and about a million toys. She has the run of the place. There are several large gates blocking the three entrances into the room (darn open floor plan) to keep her in a safe area in the house. Well, from the moment she is in the room she is looking for a way out... and she has found several. One is to just ram her way out with all of her body weight and strength. This will bust open one of the sides. I now have to wedge a chair into that corner to keep it from happening. She will also slowly move her entire toy bin out of the way and fit through a tiny not humanly possible opening between the gate and stairs. My personal favorite though is that she will drag her chair over to the side of the gate and stand on it and try to climb over. I couldn't believe it when I saw her do this!!!! Without the chair she will find other things go drag and stand on. It's nuts. One day I set her in the family room and ran upstairs to put some clothes away. I am upstairs in her bedroom and the next thing I know... I turn around and she is standing right behind me... smiling of course. She broke out, went all the way up the steps (alone!), and found me. Scary.
Here she is caught in the act...


* She makes the same noise for all animal sounds. She growls. So if she sees a bird, dog, fish... whatever... she says, "grrrrrr".... so funny. Our chiropractor has a full size spine model in his office which she thinks is an animal because she growls at it whenever we are there. :)


* She is repeating everything now and learning lots of new words. She knows when we say, "Say....." that she is to repeat the word. It is so cute. Some new words are... apple, please, cracker, up, Hero (our dog), outside


* She now waves to everyone as I bring her upstairs for bed or nap. It is so cute.

* She gave her first kiss!!!!! It wasn't for me and in fact she hasn't kissed me ever... but it couldn't have been sweeter. My sister's daughter Mia was over. Mia is six months younger than Eden. She got so excited to see her that she ran over and started hugging her. Then, she pulled back, puckered up, and kissed her right on the lips! It was so adorable! Up until that point I had no idea she even knew how to kiss. Sure.. she gets kissed about a thousand times a day... but she had never given one.

* She still loves Barney and really likes Mickey Mouse. She says "Baaaaneeee" and will sing "I llllaaaaaaaa" for the "I Love You, You Love Me" Barney song. She will say "Meee Mooouuuu" for Mickey Mouse. It is adorable.


* She understands just about everything you tell her. If you tell her that we are going bye bye, she will run to the front door, try to put on her shoes, and pound on the front door. She usually adds, "Ouuusiiiii" while doing so.

* She attracts a ton of attention. People are always stopping to talk to her and complementing on how cute she is. I am amazed at how many people stop us who have adopted or know someone who has.

* We received her new birth certificate. It lists her birthplace as Korea but lists us as her parents.


* She is still a screamer but less often. I think she is catching on that she doesn't get what she wants when she screams.

* She loves babies... real ones.

* She is still better with bath time. She is not crazy about getting water on her head.. but overall she is much better with it than a few months ago.


* She thinks that she can do whatever the boys are doing... which is hilarious and scary at the same time. She wants to play what they are playing, go where they are going... and when she can't... look out!!!!! She gets mad.


* She is still a great sleeper. She hardly ever protests going to bed.

* She has been home with us eight months now. This is the longest she has lived in one place in her life.


She is full of happiness and joy. You can't help but feel it when you are around her. She makes me laugh all the time. I continue to be in awe of her beautiful face. Ron thinks she is the most beautiful baby in the world and is always saying, "just look at her" and stares in amazement. He thinks she should be on posters and agency advertisements for adoptions... "If she were on the advertisements, there wouldn't be any babies without families." I love that.

With all of her beauty, it is hard to imagine her being anything but a perfect little angel. We know better. This girl is trouble. She reminds me of the Elvis song...

You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But i got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh yes you are
The devil in disguise

but I wouldn't have her any other way!!!!! Wellll..... most days. ;0)

Taylor Nicole

Introducing my new precious niece!!!!! I have not seen her in person as they live in Canada... but will very soon!!! I can't wait to hold her! Congratulations Tommy and Niki!!!!

Adoption Day

12 Year Anniversary

I so wish I could rewind and live this perfect day all over again.

Finalization Tomorrow

The "adopting" chapter comes to a close tomorrow. I couldn't be happier. Although, adoption will always be part of our lives, the days of paperwork, social worker visits, waiting, waiting some more, etc... are finally over. I would do it all again in a heartbeat... but... I am thrilled to be stepping off this insanely wild roller coaster ride and just getting on with life.

Tomorrow is such a very special day. Tomorrow Eden legally becomes our daughter and a United States citizen. I hadn't given it much thought about finalization day until recently. I had spent countless hours envisioning our referral day or the day we finally would meet Eden... but not this one. I am not sure why. Maybe it's because the thought of this process actually being completed was out of the rheum of what I thought possible or something. Now that it is actually here, it is more special than any of the days leading up till now. Sure the referral was super exciting. One of the best days of my life. The day we met Eden and the day we brought her home are up there as well. However, each of those days were such a mix of emotions.

The referral was a day of disbelief, relief, excitement, happiness, along with a shot of off the charts adrenalin. I was high as a kite... and then the anxiety set in. The what if's, the worry, the obsession with the time line to bring her home. I hardly ate for days and would be so hopped up on anxiety and adrenalin I would get the shakes. I suddenly didn't feel the need to sleep. I lost my mind a little bit.

The day we finally met Eden was so surreal. I remember feeling numb. My emotions were on overload and just sort of shut down. Sure, I was super excited and happy... but it just didn't feel real. I remember riding to the foster families home and Ron taking some video. He turned the camera on me and asked, "How do you feel?" I remember wondering why I was so eerily calm. It was like I was watching what was happening in front of me like it were a movie. I wasn't really there.

The day we received Eden is one that is one that I had thought would be the most exciting... and it was exciting. This was the day I had waited for for three and a half years. However, the last moments we spent with her foster mother were excruciating. It was a tearful goodbye that left everyone in tears... including our caseworker who does this for a living. We all met at the SWS office... us, our case worker, and Eden's foster mom. Eden's foster mother's demeanor was different from the first time we met. She was more standoffish... like a little wall had grown overnight. She wasn't unfriendly, but not the warm bubbly person we had met the day before. I know that she was probably trying to distance herself, protect herself from the hurt that would be coming... trying to be strong. We signed the required paperwork, went over Eden's schedule, went through the bags of items Eden's foster mother gave to us, and asked some specifics about how warm she likes her bottle, how she likes to be held... things only a mother knows. We then entered the hallway where the elevator was. Eden's foster mother carried her. I was told to take her from her arms. Her foster mom started to cry. We took one last picture together. She came over to Eden and through her tears talked to her. I wish I knew what she said. She stroked her face. I wished so badly to be able to talk to her, hug her, assure her, console her. I felt so cold just standing there holding what felt like her child while she said her goodbyes. I now wish I would have tried to do or say something. I wasn't expecting that moment. I wasn't prepared. I don't know what I thought was going to happen. I didn't expect to feel so guilty. I just stood there frozen. We were told to get into the elevator. The last image was of the foster mother bending over crying and one of the workers trying to console her. The doors to the elevator closed. Ron, our case worker and I were all crying. The sadness was so thick... it was hard to breathe. Then Eden laughed. She laughed her Woody Woodpecker laugh as if she knew she had to do something to break the tension. She was smiling her dimpled smile and then we were all laughing and crying at the same time. Sooooo this is hardly a day I would say was the best.

Each of these days has been bittersweet. Such a mix of thrill, love, excitement, happiness, anxiety, worry, and... loss. The day we received her referral was the day she lost the opportunity to be adopted within her own country, her own culture. The day we received Eden was the day she lost the only family that she has even known. The day we brought Eden home was the day she lost her country, language, everything familiar. So much loss. And that loss will never go away. It will always be there, always be felt... if even just a fraction.

But tomorrow is different. Tomorrow is not about loss. Tomorrow is about GAINING a forever family and another country. There are no goodbyes, no unknowns, no fear...


This is what makes tomorrow so special... and the happiest day in our journey to Eden.

16 Months Old

Another month come and gone. Here is what Eden is up do now....

* She is a climber! She has discovered that she can climb up on the couch and chair. She tried to climb the gate as well. Oh boy.

* She is the complete opposite of the baby we brought home seven months ago. My quiet, contented, take anywhere baby... has been replaced with a insanely loud, active, easily irritated, fiery, into everything toddler. She has a mind of her own and can throw a tantrum like nobody's business. SHE IS SOOOOOOO NOT AN EASY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!



* Her language development has sparked over the past month. She has added "all done", "up", and "e-i-e-i-oooooo" into the mix. She will try to repeat lots of words I say but most come out not sounding quite right. She will get the sing song pattern of what I am saying but will just use "ma" as the word.

* Bath time is now fun!!! It only took seven months but we finally convinced her that she doesn't need to scream bloody murder! I have proof....



* She weighs 22 pounds and is tall for her age on the American growth chart.

* She has figured out how to unzip and take off her sleep sack. She will have it totally off when I get her out of her crib in the morning. Oh, and she likes to take her diaper off too.

* She loves to read books. I love when she squats down to look at one. Like this...



* I have found that if we are going anywhere it is best to wait to put on any shoes or socks and not to do her hair/put in hair bows until we arrive at our destination. I think that removing them is her way of getting back at me for making her ride in the car seat. :)

* If you ask her where her eyes are, she will blink real hard. If you ask her where her nose is, she will point to yours.

* It appears that she really likes Barney. Oh brother.

* She LOVES to brush her teeth!


* She is down to one or sometimes two bottles. She LOVES her morning bottle and will cry for it even if you give her other food. She rarely drinks her night time bottle anymore though.

This little girl is a handful. She is super curious, smart, headstrong, independent, and fearless.... all great qualities. However, they can also make mommy's life a little nutty!!!!!!

She really is the most beautiful child I have ever seen. I look at her and she takes my breath away. Even when I am tired and frustrated... I look at her and marvel in her beauty.