Party Party Party!

Guess which little man is turning one this week (on Wednesday)? Yes, it is almost Matthew's first birthday, so to celebrate we had a party yesterday! Actually, we had a Tol. In Korea, the first birthday is very important and they usually have a special celebration, so we were excited to incorporate these traditions.

Right before the party started, I had a moment...I looked around our house, and realized what was about to happen. We were celebrating my son's first birthday. He is here with us, our very own, and my heart is filled to overflowing with thankfulness. Our God is so good!

Now on to the party!

We had a gum drop tower...

And cupcakes (oh wait, those aren't Korean...)

And we even had some Korean dishes - Bulgogi (marinated beef) and I also attempted these Mandu dumplings for the very first time - they were delicious! I was so proud of our families - almost everyone tried some Korean food, and by the end of the night all of it had been eaten!

Of course, the birthday boy had to enjoy some cake!

We are so thankful for all the lovely gifts.

Matthew had a blast today playing with his new toys!

We are so thankful for our families. They have loved us and supported us through some pretty rough times over these last few years, and now they are able to share our joy and celebrate with us! They have loved Matthew from the moment they saw him, and know that he is ours, a part of us, a gift from God. We are truly blessed!

Check in tomorrow - I will be posting pictures of Matthew in his hanbok (a traditional Korean outfit that his foster family sent with him from Korea. It is gorgeous!). I will also share about the Toljabee ceremony!

I Love

Toys that make him wave his hands in the air with excitement.

Spending my days with these two :)

Snuggling my little man early in the morning and {most days} seeing this smile:

Pajamas that just can't seem to keep that adorable little belly covered!

His Story

Before I was blessed to be called Matthew's momma, there was another woman who was and will continue to be an important person in his life and history - his birthmother. We know very little about her, but as Matthew grows up we want very much to honor her and share with Matthew about the beginning of his life. Before we adopted, I truly thought I would feel threatened by knowing that his birthmother is out there somewhere...now that I know him, my heart breaks for her and the difficult decision it must have been for her to place him for adoption. I pray for her often, and wonder if Matthew will one day get to meet her.

In order to help share Matthew's story with him, I am starting to work on a lifebook for him. This will be a scrapbook that will be just for him, and we have decided we will let him choose who he wants to share the details of his story with - after all, it is his to tell!

A friend gave me this wonderful book which is helping me as I begin to think about this HUGE project. It's called "Before You Were Mine" and is written by Susan TeBos and Carissa Woodwyk. It has given me so many ideas about how to tell Matthew about where he came from and how he came to join our family. I love it!

We are very grateful to have pictures that Matthew's foster family sent with him from the time he was born until he came to be with us. Look at this little peanut! It is hard to believe that my big boy (who now weighs 22 lbs 10 oz!) once was so tiny, weighing in at only 4 1/2 pounds!

I have started to work on putting the pictures together to include in his lifebook as well - it is such a gift that we have these photos!

Before I really start to work on the lifebook, though, I have to tackle this project:

Cleaning the scrapbook area.

Oh dear, it may be a while.

Does This Count as Date Night?

Last night Brad and I got to go out alone for the first time since Matthew came home! Unfortunately, our evening out could not really be described as a "romantic date" or anything to close to it, but strangely enough I am thankful for the time we had together anyway...even if it was spent in the ER!

It was a very strange night indeed. Around 9pm I started coughing and it was really weird, because I haven't been sick or anything but all of a sudden I had this cough and couldn't stop. (This part is a little gross - just a warning in case you are squeemish!) About half an hour later, I thought I had coughed something up so I went to spit in the sink, and found that I had coughed up blood. Needless to say this kind of freaked me out a bit. It happened about 3 or 4 more times, at which point we realized we probably needed to do something.

My solution was I needed to call my mom. That's my answer to everything! Cause she could fix it from Canada, right????

Brad suggested the hospital. I was kind of out of it but thought if he thought that's what we should do, then maybe we should go. We are so glad my sister lives really close by, so she came over to stay with Matthew (who was in bed).

We returned home around 1:30am with no real answers about why it happened, but at least we got to spend a few hours together talking! Today we are both pretty beat...apparently nobody told Matthew we were at the hospital till really late and he woke up extra early just for fun. Still, it's hard to be upset that you get to see this little guy again, no matter what time of day it is!

Happy Days

Today was not such a fun day. Nothing major was wrong, just a crabby little boy who woke his momma up at 4:30am. Which leads to a crabby momma. Yep, we were just two crabs around here today.

So instead of posting pictures of today, which nobody wants to see...

I thought I'd post pictures of happier times :)

Look who is cruising along the furniture...

and letting go...and falling down! Don't worry, I caught him (this time!)

My favorite pj's and a smile that melts my heart.

My friends from church threw me a baby shower this weekend. So sweet!

We didn't see this smile around here much today, but hopefully tomorrow

IT WILL RETURN!

Little Matthew Had a Farm...

E-I-E-I-O!

And on that farm he had some DROOL...

E-I-E-I-O!

Matthew loves to play with his farm! Mostly he just loves to chew on the animals...or the fence...or the people...anything, really! He has been such a happy guy the last few days and it it wonderful. All smiles all the time!

I feel like he is bonding with us so well and seems to be feeling more and more secure and at home, which is so great to see. He used to reach his arms out to everyone who came near...but not anymore! We have been pretty strict about just us and our family holding him in these early days, and I think that has helped so much as Matthew has adjusted to his new life. Now when people come close to talk to him, he clings to my shoulder and buries his head in my neck. It is so good to see him knowing who his mommy is and wanting to be with me (he does the same thing with Brad as well, which is so great!). He has started showing us affection, giving us hugs and sloppy, drooly, open-mouthed kisses that are TO DIE FOR! They seriously make this mama's heart melt every time :)

We were very worried about how the sleeping would go, but thankfully it went much better than we expected from the very beginning. He is pretty much sleeping through the night and is finally taking two good naps during the day. I think that has helped his mood a lot (and mine!).

Our days are filled with playing and crawling and walks outside and cuddles and giggling and lots and lots of kisses! We just love him so much and wonder what we ever did without him!

*Some friends we met through our agency are at the airport RIGHT NOW meeting their little boy for the first time! They received their referral the exact same day that we received Matthew's but unfortunately they had to wait over a month longer to bring him home. Thankfully, today is their day and they are becoming a forever family as I type this! I am so excited for you, Kelly! Congratulations! *

Sunshine and Smiles

The weather was beautiful this afternoon so we had to get outside to enjoy it.

If we'd had the energy we would have gone for a walk or something, but we didn't so we decided to take a blanket out in the backyard for a while. This way, Mom and Dad could lie down while Matthew played :) We had so much fun and Matthew loved being outside.

This evening, my sister and her husband came over to spend some time with us as well.

It was a perfectly lovely Sunday afternoon!

The Fam

Matthew has been spending time getting to know his cousins these last few weeks. It is so fun to see how they are all excited to see each other. I'm so thankful that Brad's family lives nearby so that Matthew can grow up with his cousins.

It was so sweet when Matthew first went over to Abbey's house to play. She was so kind and shared her toys with him, and kept saying, "Mashew" in her adorable little voice. I will be so sad when she outgrows that! It was so sweet that she wanted to take care of him and kept patting him on the back.

Emma loved entertaining Matthew as well. She brought him this toy to play with (which happens to be one of his favorites) and she showed him how it works. So sweet!

Matthew loves his Grammie and was happy when she stopped by for a visit!

This picture of Matthew with Grandpa is one of my favorites.

I love the grin on Matthew's face!

And then there's Ben...these two are just 2 months apart in age and it is so fun to see them interact! Amanda (my sister-in-law) and I keep wondering what kind of trouble these two are going to get into! I'm sure they'll have fun doing it though! I can't wait to see them grow up together!

So thankful for family.

Things I Didn't Know

Things I didn't know before I became a mom:

1. I didn't know how much I could love this little boy. I knew it would be a lot - I just didn't know it could be this much. Like a "make my heart ache cause I love you so much" kind of love.

2. I didn't know how hard it would be to be a mom. Sure, everyone tells you, but until you are the one living it it's hard to understand. It is a full-time, round the clock, very tiring job. Thankfully, this is made okay because of #1. :)

3. I didn't know how many decisions there were to make as a parent. When Matthew first came home, I must admit that I struggled a lot for the first couple of weeks because it felt like every ten seconds we were making a decision about something - and I never knew what the right answer was! What should we feed him? How much do we feed him? Is he tired? His breathing sounds funny - what do we do? Should we call the doctor? Are they going to be mad that we're calling them so much? I just found myself saying to Brad all the time, "I don't know what to do!" Thankfully, as the days go by, this feeling of panic has passed (except when facing a new situation of course!) and we are kind of getting into a routine. I am so glad that Brad was nice and calm through all of this and that together we figured it out.

4. I didn't know how much a smile could mean. When Matthew smiles at me, it just makes my day. Amazing.

5. I didn't know how difficult I would find it to let go of my "old" life. It seems like everything in my world has changed - leaving my job to stay at home, stepping away from some ministries (some permanently, some just for a while), not being able to just do what I want to do when I want to do it...it's a big change. Not a bad change, just a big change.

6. I didn't know how many times a baby could poop in one day. Seriously.

7. I didn't know how easy it would be for me to get lonely staying at home. I am so grateful to have friends who are also at home with their little ones who I can hang out with :) It makes all the difference!

8. I didn't know I could be a light sleeper! Growing up my mom would always wake up the instant I walked into their room. I always wondered how she did this. Now I know :) I am awake the moment before Matthew starts crying because his breathing changes. Maybe I need to turn the monitor down!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tomorrow it will be 6 weeks since Matthew came home. I really can't believe it has been that long already! He is such a joy to have around and truly the adjustment has gone much better than I ever dreamed it could. From the moment he was placed in my arms, I just knew he was meant to be mine. What an adventure!

Look What I Can Do!

The Pulling Up to Standing Has Begun!

So Many Blessings

It's been hard becoming a mommy and having my mom not live around the corner. I wish she lived closer...and I know she wishes she did too. Now that she's met her little grandson, it is even harder to live in different cities.

Thankfully, my Mom and Dad were able to come for a visit this weekend!

We had so much fun together. I'm not sure, but I kind of think they like Matthew. Just a little!

On Saturday we went out with some friends to a local church's Fall Festival party. Matthew was a very adorable pumpkin, if I do say so myself! He wasn't too sure about the hat though.

Before heading out to the church we had dinner with some friends. By this time, Matthew was getting pretty sleepy. Thankfully he had a power nap on the way to the church and was all ready to go!

One happy mama :)

One happy pumpkin :)

We'll Call This One: Too Lazy To Upload New Photos

It is Sunday night and I am tired out, but I wanted to post something...so here are a few pictures of the little guy from the last few weeks.

We had a busy, busy weekend which included:

• a visit from my parents
• Matthew getting another new tooth (that makes 4 now!)
• he also learned to sign "all done" (super cute!), wave bye-bye, and high five
• a first attempt at pulling up to standing on his own (unsuccessful, but still - he tried!)
• a very fun Fall Harvest/Trunk or Treat thing at a local church with friends
• making it to church - yey, we're not sick this week!
• a much-needed Sunday afternoon nap for momma and Matthew
• and a birthday party for my niece, Emma

Maybe tomorrow I will get it together enough to share some of those pictures. For now, here's the little cutie...