Meet our adorable baby boy!

Yesterday was the day that made every single step on this long and winding road instantaneously and unhesitatingly worth it. Yesterday we became parents to this beautiful little boy!

He was born in Seoul, South Korea on January 5th and is just over 5 months old (the picture on the top is very recent, the picture on the bottom is estimated at about 2 months). He weighs 14 pounds, likes taking baths, sucking on his fingers, babbling, and smiling. He's the most wonderful gift in the world!

Yesterday, our social worker, Allison, called and said she had a child she would like to speak with us about, resulting in many tears and smiles and OMGs on our part. Rob drove home from work and, sitting on our family room couch, perched around the speaker phone, we listened to Allison say, "There's a special little guy I'd like to tell you about." "It's a boy?" I said, excited and stunned somehow. It was all so new and fresh and fantastic and overwhelming and surprising, despite all that it has taken to reach this point. I was already a proud mama. :)

Allison told us a little about the baby and we of course said we wanted to learn more. The next step: she e-mailed us the medical history, social background, and photos, which we would review ourselves and then send along to a doctor at the International Adoption Clinic in Oakland, CA for a professional analysis. We committed that we would first read the medical history, then the social, and only view the photos if we felt comfortable with what we had read. Luckily, there was nothing remarkable on the medical report and the social background helped us understand the circumstances of our child's birth a little more.

So far, it all seemed too good to be true. Now it was time to really face the music and see what this little person actually looked like. Robert carefully double-clicked on the file name in his e-mail inbox and suddenly there were photos of this inexcusably cute little charmer with big cheeks, very little hair, and a wide-eyed, perplexed expression. Robert and I were enamored from the moment we saw him. Our son! Even now, it's surreal. We had so much love in our hearts for him before we ever saw him, and it was almost unbearable to look at his photo and feel so much love yesterday. I can only imagine what meeting him for the first time in person will be like. Somebody better bring 2 boxes of Kleenex and a wheel chair just in case :)

Today, the medical specialist enthusiastically reported that our baby is one of the healthiest she has seen coming out of South Korea, is totally on track height and weight wise, appears healthy, happy, and well-adjusted. With that peace of mind in hand, we have officially accepted the referral and have a son :)

I know what you're all thinking, "Great! But what's his name? And when will you get him?" We haven't named him yet but we are thinking hard about it and will post it when we do. Allison said to expect 3-4 months until he'll be home. This is the time that the US and South Korea are processing his emigration and immigration papers, etc. This puts us at around Oct 1. It could be early September, or it could even take longer if the wheels of government move slowly, so our job for the next few months is to fill out lots more paperwork and call The Powers that Be to try to keep things in motion.

We're also looking forward to decorating the nursery now that we know we have a boy. Did you hear what I just said? We have a baby boy!!!