Going Public and Birthday Post - Part 3

This weekend something happened that I've been waiting quite a while for -- Tony began to share our news with his friends! AND he gave his mom "permission" to start sharing it with others too. So we not only chose a name but we are also moving forward with sharing our excitement with others. Wow! Therefore, I have decided to change the blog settings and make it "public" (meaning folks shouldn't have to log in and have a blogger account, etc., just to see the posts). Blogger makes it tough to have things set to "private" and I have heard from a number of friends and family that they can't log in / get back in / don't want to create an account, etc. I hope this helps to make it easier for those who want to stay up to do date to do so. 


Unfortunately it means that there's the chance one of you reading this post has learned of our news via the internet as opposed to us sharing it directly with you. For that I am very sorry. There is a lot of info in past posts; great photos on the Oliver page; and answers to many of the questions on the FAQ page. And, you are always welcome to call or email me! 


I am still on the fence with regards to posting updates to Facebook, but for now I think I will hold off there. I think we are still trying to keep it "off Facebook" for a bit longer (as noted above, we really would like to share the news in person with as many as we can). The FB updating may come in the near future though, making it even easier to follow along.
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We got another surprise today! We were sent a PDF with photos of Oliver's first birthday celebration (his dol or doljanchi). He's all decked out in the traditional Korean clothing and is even holding his tol (the item he selected, which was a ball). He's so cute!

A Big Announcement

Tony and I have been discussing names for several months and are happy to report that we've come to agree that his "American" name will be Oliver. Yeah!

I love that his middle name is Tony's first name -- kind of a cool way to pass down a bit more of the family connection (Tony's middle name is HIS father's first name). Our current plan is to call him Oliver, but of course a nick name may surface once we have him around in person.

Happy day!

Package #3 and the Last Class

On Friday Tony and I will be attending the **final** required pre-adoption course at our agency. It is a full day of "festivities" (ha ha ha) dwelling on the topic of "Before I Joined Your Family." Per their own description:

Before I Joined Your Family is a workshop designed to prepare and educate families about the definitions and implications for children, adopted internationally, who may have experienced abuse, neglect, and multiple transitions in their birth country.  As part of their history, these traumas as well as the child’s grief and loss may impact their placement in your family.

Families will have the opportunity to learn hands-on interventions to support their child, and a panel of adoptive parents will share their individual child’s early histories/traumas which did impact their transition and initial adjustment to the intimacy of a family.

This workshop is required for families adopting a child internationally over the age of one year, at the time of placement. We encourage participants to invite support persons to attend this workshop as well.

Keep in mind that our little one has been with his foster family since being released from the hospital after birth. He also hasn't faced any abuse or neglect. We understand that his transition to our family will be traumatic in itself, but that topic has already been covered in the online classes we had to take and the full day course the agency had us attend. Can you tell I'm not very excited?!

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With my venting done, we can move on to the fun stuff. Since we will be at the agency we thought it would be good to bring our next package with us. Yeah! This package is filled with items from other people. Very fun! Check out the details below.

Package #3 (The baseball outfit is from a family friend)

A St. Thomas T-Shirt from Oma and Opa Meyers
Picked up this past spring while they were on a cruise

Pluto is joined by Three Peas in a Pod from Nana and Pawpaw Kerr
Picked up in Chicago this past weekend

Happy Monday!

We were surprised with another set of photos!
He is so darn cute. There are two others, so click over to his page for more.

Birthday Post - Part 2

A child's first birthday is a landmark occasion in Korea -- more than just a "make a mess of this cake" event. As explained by Wikipedia:

Dol or doljanchi is a Korean tradition that celebrates the first birthday of a baby. This ceremony blesses the child with a prosperous future and has taken on great significance in Korea. The highlight of the dol is a ritual where the child is placed in front of a table of foods and objects such as string, brushes, ink and money. The child is then urged to pick up an object from the table. It is believed the one selected will foretell the child's future. For example, if the child picks up a brush or book, he is destined to be smart. If he picks up money he will be wealthy, etc. The types of objects placed on the table for the baby to choose has evolved over time, as a reflection of society's evolving perception of successful occupations. 

Tony has been anxiously waiting to find out what our little guy chose. He was so very happy (and proud) that our little guy chose a ball  -- we are parents to a sports legend in the making! I am so sad to have missed this special occasion, but I'm also happy that he is with a loving family and part of an agency that works to keep traditions alive.

Loving the argyle socks!

In addition to finding out the item he chose at his doljanchi, we also received a few updated photos (he's with his foster mom) and a progress report. At 12 months he is now 25 pounds, 32" tall (that's the 95th percentile!), is taking a few steps on his own, and can say "umma" (momma) and, of course, no. In the last few months he hasn't put on much weight but has continued to grow taller. 


He's changing so quickly. Here's one of the pictures, click over to his page for the others.


Happy birthday!

Happy First Birthday

Today we celebrated our little guy's FIRST birthday! He is officially one year old. How amazing! His birth date is July 7th, so we celebrated this evening (Friday night, July 6th). That way we celebrated his birthday when it was July 7th in South Korea. There's a 14 hour time difference, after all.

Our celebration began with dinner at King's, a local Korean restaurant (I even tried kimchi -- not as horrible as it smells, but still not something I enjoy). We came home and enjoyed an adult celebration of wine, scotch and other grown-up beverages on the deck. And to cap the evening off we had cake, ice cream and opened his first birthday gift from Oma and Opa. While it wasn't your typical first birthday celebration, us four adults had a good time and can't wait to celebrate his birthday in person.




My First Birthday Prayer:
My Son,
I pray that you feel joy, love and happiness on this...your first birthday.
I pray that your foster family shares in a traditional Korean celebration with you.
I pray that this is the first of many birthdays you celebrate; that you live a long, full, healthy life.
I pray that you have a strong and vibrant faith that stays with you always.
I pray that you know true love; that you have best friends; and that you are just as comfortable around friends as you are being by yourself.
I pray that you have a strong work ethic and that you make good choices, knowing right from wrong.
I pray that you live a life of integrity and respect for both yourself and others.
I pray that you know how much we love you.