One Year ago Today we celebrated our First Forever Family Day!

We met our sweet little boy for the very first time on Monday May 9th 2011. I looked into his eyes, I touched his soft skin,and ran my hand across the top of that spikey hair. I would've gone in for all sorts of hugs and squeezes if I could but, our smart, methodical thinker was not going to let us do this at our first meeting. He gave me some touches, smiles and giggles but, was sure to keep his distance. He was a little less hesitant with Daddy but still wasn't all for the full blown hugs or kisses. We sure do make up for that now all day, every day....hugs, squeezes, and tickles with belly laughs.
I look back at some of the posts... FIRST MEETING.. from that wonderful trip to Seoul and so many emotions come flooding back. What a journey we (and so many other families) went through/ go through to bring these babies into our families! Jackson was meant to be part of our family and I truly believe everything that happened leading up to him joining our family all played out for reason.
He is the most wonderful, crazy, sweet, wild, intelligent, loving little boy and we feel so blessed to have him here with us.
On this first anniversary of our Forever Family Day, there are so many things that go through my mind.
I remember seeing how loved and cared for he was with his foster family. I remember the mix of feelings of being overjoyed, completely terrified, and so very sad for the loss JJs foster family was going to experience on the morning of our Gotcha Day (May 13, 2011).  I remember what the grieving was like for the little guy once we took him from them that day. I remember what the entire grieving process was like over the months to follow. I didn't post or talk about this much, I guess it's one of those things you all just get through together. I remember being amazed by JJs resilience but, also so heartbroken by his sadness.  Today it's hard to think that there was ever a day he wasn't here part of our family.  I think back and  I can remember every site, feeling and smell that day in Korea (which seems like so long ago) but, at the same time can't believe our little man has only been with us for one year. He is such a part of our family!..just fits.. we are so LUCKY!!!

To celebrate our First Forever Family Day we went to see and ride a TRAIN! Oh how Jackson loves trains, here are some pictures from our Mother's Day/ Family Day together (it's hard to get many of Jackson, He is always moving!)...

Gracie on the pony.. Jax would have none of that

 Jax, Gracie and cousin Scottie on the train. They loved every second of it!

 All smiles...

 JJ kept turning around and giggling with pure joy especially when the train would ding it's bell.

 The train was a HUGE hit.

 Scottie on the Carousel..

 Jackson wasn't so sure about this one either..

Happy Easter!

Our first Easter together as a family of four was spent laughing and celebrating with family. Both Grace and Jackson,LOVED searching for eggs, coloring them and all the treats that come with the fun of Easter.

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays

Okay once again I am so behind on posts... I still need to post about our annual trip to Florida, Thanksgiving and Christmas!  ... and I will get there.  But, for now let's talk about Birthdays. We have a lot of them in our little family of four all at once.
On the 13th of December our first baby turned seven!!! Wow what a year this has been for our sweet Gracie. She has grown into quite the inquisitive, smart, self-confident seven year old. We love you so very much!!!

Grace was lucky enough to have a few celebrations this year. She started off with a small celebration when we were in Florida.



Next a pool party with classmates...

To wrap it up, a combined family party with Jackson.

 Our little man, Jackson, turned two on New Year's Eve.... our little NYE baby.  Last year he  was in Korea with his Foster Family on his birthday. Of course at that time, I wanted nothing more than for him to be home with us. But, I am now glad he was able to celebrate his first birthday in Korea, with Korean traditions and his foster family. We have pictures of this celebration and can tell it was more special than we can imagine. This year we were so lucky to have him home to celebrate with us! He knew right away how to blow out the candles and was so very excited to do so! Unfortunately, we ran into camera issues and don't have as many pictures of this as we'd like but, we do have some great video.  Happy 2nd  Birthday Sweet Jackson!!!! You are so intelligent, sweet, busy and wild! :) We love you so much!

On January 3rd, it was the old man's turn to celebrate his special day. Gracie helped me surprise him with breakfast in bed. We followed that up with a homemade cake and candles after dinner. Then Mommy and Daddy had a grown up celebration downtown with great friends.

 Happy Happy Birthday to three most special people in my life!!!

Two Special Days for Jackson!

On November 16th Jackson's adoption was official and finalized! Yippee!  We had our last few in home meetings with our Social Worker right around that special day. She mentioned a few times that she couldn't believe how much he has come out of his shell since the last time she saw him. This took me back a bit because I guess seeing him everyday, I didn't realize how much he has changed in just the last two months. But, after thinking I realized ..she is right. He is such a character...so much like his Daddy. He loves to laugh and make us laugh. He is curious and busy and can express himself so well through not only all his new words but, his actions.
Some of my current favorites about Jackson....
**He loves to Dance! He has a new fascination with the W*ggles and loves to shake his little booty with them. I tend to create little my own little jingles while we change a diaper or get dressed. Even these little (sad) tunes can spark a little booty shake.
**He mimics everything other Kids do, especially his sister.
** He loves Grace and looks to her for guidance.
** He is adventurous but, smart and cautious. He will try anything after surveying it.
** He is so affectionate and loves to give hugs, which are the sweetest. He hugs any part of you. One of the cutest is when he runs up and hugs your legs. His head comes up to just about most adults' knees. He'll swing his arms around both legs and squeeze tight.
** He has a new fascination with picture books. His favorites are those with cars and balls.
**On that note, Jackson loves anything cars. He plays with cars, rides his little red car all throughout the house, carries cars everywhere we go and points out every car he sees. Yesterday we were in the car and he saw one of those Semis that carry cars.  He yelled "Ma! Ma!...cars,truck" and laughed and laughed. I guess he thought seeing cars traveling on a truck was just too silly.


Yesterday we had our 6 month post placement visit with our pediatrician. Jackson has grown into the 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. He is doing so well and we love him so much!

On November 20th, we had Jackson baptized and welcomed into our church. It was a special day that we celebrated with some family and friends.
Isn't he just so stylin in that white suit? 

 With his Godparents and family...

 With his godmomma :)...

 And some family photos...we never did get everyone in all the pictures or everyone looking but, these are still good shots :)

Fall Fun...

To continue with my theme of trying to get caught up, here is a "fall fun wrap up" with photos ...

The fall started out with the beginning of 1st Grade...
Grace started out this school year with many firsts that she didn't have at the start of Kdg. She is now a master on the two wheeler. She has had two visits from the tooth fairy. She graduated to level 3 in swimming. That includes not holding her nose and doing the front crawl unassisted. And she is now a super duper big sister.

Apple Picking with some family....so much fun on a beautiful Fall Day.

I ran my first and hopefully, not last half marathon. I had some great motivation from my friend, Dee. I never thought I could do it but, was so happy after I had finished.

Our Agency's Annual Korean Celebration. The kids loved the food and crafts. We all enjoyed meeting friends face to face that we have only shared conversations with online.

 The Fall Weather was amazing this year and we tried to get out as much as possible...

Gracie enjoyed a very special day downtown with her Neena to see M*ry Poppins...

...and of course,Happy Halloween!!