Turkey for Me and Turkey for You, Let's Eat Turkey in My Big Brown Shoe

Festive Holiday Headgear is Something to Applaud Greetings! So once again there is a small delay in my posting, however since it is not yet Christmas, I figure I'm still making good time. You should all be receiving our Christmas card just in time for that most magical and joyous of holidays: Presidents Day. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and we had so much for which to be thankful. Adam is the answer to our prayers and has filled a place in our home and hearts that was meant just for him. It was fantastic to have a lot of our family from Nebraska including Nonnie, Petesie, Uncle Steve, Aunt Theresa, Ted, Dan, Nick and New York Auntie Em come to Colorado this year and to meet Adam. I am especially grateful to Nonnie and Petesie for making the trip, despite the fact that they were both under the weather and that Nonnie is still recovering from her knee-replacement surgery. And family who could not be here physically were absolutely here in our hearts and minds and possibly on the receiving end of some CU/NU football 'banter'.

Have Baby, Will Vacuum. Holiday cleaning never seemed so adventurous.

Nonnie, Petesie, Adam, Max, and Zoe

Auntie Em takes her clean-up duty seriously. Aunt Lili...not so much.

Adam and Uncle Steve and Aunt Theresa

Dan the Baby Whisperer













President of the Bo Pelini Welcome Wagon

School Days, Schools Days, Oh Those Happy Drool Days

Greetings All! Today Adam and I headed to my school for the fabulous Thanksgiving lunch, lovingly prepared by Aunt Mary and Grams. Put aside all of your preconceived notions about school lunch (and lunch ladies :) because Aunt Mary is known for her fabulous lunches and for taking extra care of the teachers. We ate a great meal and then were able to visit my other kids. What a lucky lady am I!

A good night's rest before a busy school day is essential.

Aunt Mary and Grams: Taking school lunches by storm, one green bean at a time.

Lesson #1: Noses

Thank you Ms. Brown!

From Halloween to Thanksgiving in a Day! This Journey Made Possible by the Miracle of Bloggetry.

So yesterday I posted about Halloween and today a quick post about our wonderful early Thanksgiving Day meal at our Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom's house. That's right. 2 posts, 2 days. I just blew my mind. :) It was a wonderful day with great food and company. We headed out to Mary and Tom's in Highlands Ranch with Grams and Grandpa and Uncle Dennis and we visited with Mary, Tom, Margie, Chuck, Luke, and Tommy and Jen and their family. Their kids Kieffer, Kylie, and Kolton went crazy for Adam and he LOVED them. As usual he was sweet the entire day and no one could believe what a happy boy he was for being home just 2 weeks. Sorry if I'm so braggy about him, we are just sooo blessed, and I...well..ok I'm a pretty braggy. :) I just can't help it, he is fantastic and I am a proud, proud mama. We enjoyed delicious Mexican food, much like the pilgrims and Indians did on their first feast, and had a fantastic day. Feliz Thanksgiving to all!!!

Happy Halloween....ish

The Great Pumpkin and The Little Stinker...Buds till the End

Greetings All! So I know I have been neglecting the blog and I do apologize. Thanks to many of you for your subtle and not-so-subtle (you know who you are) reminders for me to, "Get on it already!" I appreciate your patience. Parenthood seems to have taken Matt and I out of the, "Oh the Kirwins. They'll be here about 10 minutes late," to "Ughhh. The Kirwins?!?! Please tell me you told them the party is at 4 even though it doesn't start until 7. Maybe then they can make it by 9." :) Ok we're not that bad, but there is just so much stuff. Bags and bags of stuff to get ready to go anywhere. Plus Matt and I spend a 98% of our day playing and playing with Adam, taking thousands of pictures which you will be forced to gaze at adoringly, and just counting all of our many, many blessings. So I am afraid dishes are piling up, dust is definitely collecting and blogs have been ignored. However LIFE HAS BEEN FREAKING FANTASTIC. I have said it thousands and thousands of times but I cannot believe how absolutely blessed we have been and how amazing it is to have Adam home. What did we do before him? His transition has been absolutely amazing. Like amazingly, amazing. Like I need to get some Guinness (book not beer) people here to document this. What a blessing! Adam is a very happy little guy with a big appetite. He has had zero stranger anxiety, has been sleeping through the night and taking two naps a day IN HIS CRIB, and has been happy and content on the many outings on which he has been taken. Restaurants, birthday parties, visits to and from family and friends, he has done beautifully. He is teething like a mad man, and has the drool to prove it. We had our Well Baby Checkup yesterday which Adam thought was the funnest thing since four guys in Australia got together one day and said, "Hey. I know. Let's all dress up in brightly colored turtlenecks and sing songs with a pirate," until the shots came and the doctor wanted to take some blood to run some labs. Yikes. I don't know who took it worse, Adam or me. Other than that tough 30 minutes, these last two weeks have been wonderful. Thanks to everyone for your loving thoughts, gifts, cards, flowers, and visits. The three of us could not feel more loved or more thankful for each other and for all of you. Can't wait for more visits to come especially with the holidays coming up! Love to all of you!

Here are some photos:

Bath Time

Papa and Grandfaaaaathhhheerrrr

Adam and Grams

Storytime


















Our doctor visit, while the good times still rolled.





























Ram pride, even in these dark days.

Celebrate Me Home*

So I'm a little late, I know that, I'm a little late in saying this...but WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!!!! Home at last. As you can see by the non-post last night after 11, I tried to write about our homecoming last night but ended up finally hitting the proverbial wall and entered a coma-like state until 11 this morning. Emily just called and informed me that my post last night was very uninformative so I needed to step it up and post tonight. :) Sorry for the delay. And apparently being a parent is a pretty time consuming thing, are you aware of this? (Parents around the world just let out a collective, "Uhh, ya think?!") But we're back baby and I'm ready to report.

Adam, Mom, and I left Seoul at 10am on Sunday.

We took a bus to the airport and were ready for the long journey home. I prayed and prayed and prayed that Adam would handle the trip well, or at least that we would be traveling with understanding saint-like passengers, who appreciate the sound of a crying baby like others appreciate music and art. And thankfully God blessed us again. Adam handled the plane rides like a champ!!

He slept most of the long flight to Vancouver and was happy and content in the small amount of time he was awake. We were absolutely blessed again because we were in a row with 4 seats, and once again just the 3 of us so Mom and I took the end seats and Adam slept on the 2 in between. Passengers on all of our flights commented on how amazing he was, content and happy. We flew from Seoul to Vancouver to San Fransisco to Denver. Adam got just a tiny bit stressed on the last flight home but by that time we had been traveling for 24 hours and I myself was screaming and throwing things at other passengers so his stress was understandable.

We arrived in Denver at 8:30pm on Sunday and were so surprised to see Rose and Matt had gotten special permission to meet us at the gate, and the party began!!!! The laughter, the tears, the hugs, we were a regular Hallmark commercial! :) Everyone was so happy to meet Adam, but no one more than his Dad. Matt picked him and said, "I'm never letting him go." I knew he was going to be a wonderful father, but there are no words to say what it is like to see him with Adam. You can just see on him face how much he loves him and it melts my heart. I am one lucky lady to have these two guys in my life! Well the 5 of us headed on the train and to meet the rest of the group. We were quite the spectacle and soon we met the rest of the homecoming party. We were met by Dad (Papa), Grandpa Jerry, Lisa, Dante, and Christian. Lisa had made signs for everyone to hold and Dante was yelling, "Adam you complete me!" :) It was so wonderful!! Adam went easily to everyone and LOVED Christian! He smiled and yelled and tried to hug his cousin right away. They will be true partners in crime. Then we took the party and headed back to our house. Adam did not like the car-ride home or his new car seat and voiced his opinion on the matter. When we got home, Matt stayed true to his word and would not let him go. He gave him a bottle and got him ready for bed. The rest of our family stayed for just a short while. It was a wonderful end to the most important trip of my life.

Yesterday and today have been excellent. Adam has slept through the night with just a few tiny interruptions. He has bonded so well with Matt and goes to family and friends easily. He has been taking 2 naps a day and even takes them in his crib! He is very happy and content. He yells LOUDLY when he is happy and has a big appetite, so he's in the right family. He loves kids, especially his cousin. Thank you so much to everyone who has called, sent cards, and even food. I cannot thank you all enough. Matt and I could not feel more blessed and loved. I am so excited for Adam to meet the rest of his family and friends. Thanks also for your comments on this blog. It has been really fun to read them. I'll keep posting pictures and details of our new adventures to come. Love to you all!

****Apparently Kenny Loggins is the official singer/songwriter of our adoption, between this title and our nursery. Thanks Kenny, your sound is timeless! :)

Our Day Out in Seoul....A Hair Raising Adventure (That's How We Roll)

Hello again! This will probably be our last post from Seoul. Tomorrow Adam, Mom, and I head to the airport early for our long journey back to Colorado. We are hoping for a little bit of room on the plane (like we were so blessed with on our way here) or for Adam to become extremely relaxed and feel the need for a 18 hour cat-nap so that he can arrive peacefully back home to meet more of his family. I will post more after we are home for all of our wonderful friends and family in other states. Thanks to everyone for all of your comments and prayers. I love you all. Especially to my students!!! :) I love you and miss you too. I can't wait to bring Adam in to see all of his friends in third grade!

So as I mentioned today Mom and I thought we would be brave and head out onto the subway system to do a little shopping. It went pretty well but as you can tell from the title not the greatest. However the beauty of the title is really two-fold. One is that it expresses some of the chaos that was our day and two, the three of us touring around Seoul was quite the sight to behold because, well Adam's hair speaks for itself. Mom and I on the other hand have been fighting the good fight that occurs between naturally curly hair and the humidity. Today that battle was lost my friends and Mom and I toured around town looking like frazzled Francis 'Baby' Houseman wannabes (Dirty Dancing anyone?). So it was slightly scary. Well we headed out on the subway thanks to the help of many kind strangers. We thought we knew where we were going, all seemed well, and yet an hour later we ended up at the train depot or maintenance station, with only the conductors and a few other foreigners, who, like us, had not understood the message at the last stop that it was in fact the last stop. So from then on, we decided cabbing it was the best decision for us. We did some shopping but a little after lunch time Mom and I were beginning to go cross-eyed from the lack of sleep over the past week and Adam had seen enough as well. So we headed back to our room for some naps and a bath. It was the right decision for the remainder of the day. And for those of you who will soon question whether or not your souvenir was something that could be purchased at the Incheon Airport.....ummm.....would you like to hold my son? :)

Here are some pictures from our day:

Gotcha!!

Well my dear friends and family....HE IS HERE! Well not here, here at the business center of our hotel, but up in our room with his Nana sleeping peacefully. My son is here and my heart is bursting. The only thing that would make this day better and more complete would be for Matt to be here with us. I literally cannot wait for us to travel back home and for Adam to fill the place in our family that was meant just for him. I am finding it hard to find the right words to tell you about this day without bawling (and I'm trying hold it together because people are starting to stare) but I just have to say that my heart is overflowing and I am so thankful to God for this amazing gift. We have our boy!!! And he is amazing!!! At first I thought we might have our girl....but I'll get to that in a second.

Mom and I left early this morning and took a taxi to Eastern Social Welfare early this morning. We were set to go with our gifts, camera, papers, the works. When we first arrived they brought us in to meet our son's social worker and Dr. Kim. We had a nice meeting with him and talked about all of the amazing work that Eastern does. Then we were able to meet with the elder Dr. Kim who is 98 years old and still works very hard to help children in need. It was wonderful to meet the people who have done so much for my son and my family, but as we talked I was so distracted thinking, "Is he here yet? Will he like us? Will he be afraid?" And then the time came. Our social worker came in and said my son was here. She led Mom and I to a playroom and then suddenly there was my bouncy baby....

...I'm sorry what? What a beautiful girl, but where is my son???? :) Ahh! I mean we always knew he had the hair...but what?!?!?! Once I looked into his face I thought, "Ahhh there are those beautiful eyes I have been staring at in pictures for months. But for the love, why has someone put a pink barette in his hair? Well after the initial shock we sat down with our social worker, his foster mom, and of course Adam and played and played. He responded to us right away and was not at all afraid. His foster mom and social worker were very pleased becaused he had been having quite a bit of stranger anxiety lately, but not with us! His social worker informed us that she had decided it was too risky for us to take him tonight incase he became ill or too distressed. Mom and I were a little sad but were happy for our time with Adam and knew we would have our gotcha moment soon. Then the foster mom and social worker left us to play with him for about 20 minutes and we had a great time. He is a tiny peanut of a thing, but doing great for his age. He crawls and says 'dad' and 'mom' in Korean and he has 6 teeth!

It felt so good to be with him finally. After our short visit the women returned. After watching Adam with us they decided he would be fine and said we could take him home with us tonight! Horray!!! The social worker was nervous because Eastern has never let a parent take home the child after the first meeting, but she decided to take a chance on us and we are so glad she did. She told us the first Mr. Kim wanted to take mom and I to lunch while they gave Adam a final checkup and gathered his things. Mr. Kim took us for a nice meal at Marriot Hotel. When we returned Adam's foster mom showed us all of the wonderful gifts she had for him. She had made a wonderful photo album of their time together. She also gave him a traditional outfit to wear on his first birthday and an enscribed necklace with the Korean flag, his name, and birthday. We can never thank her enough for all she has done. Then it was time to get Adam's things and head back to the hotel. The elder Dr. Kim met us outside and said a beautiful prayer for Adam and for our entire family. Then we climbed in the van and headed to the hotel. When we got back to our room we had some important things to accomplish. We called Dad and waiting family at home...

...went shopping for some food and clothes for Adam for the next couple of days and then.....

...got his first hair cut. Ahhhhh, much better. Now my son doesn't need to fuss with those pesky barrettes. :)

It was one the best days of my life. I feel so blessed to have Adam and I'm so blessed Mom was here. There are no words to say how thankful to her I am for everything she has done. I hope to be even half of the mother she is. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. Can't wait to bring Adam home to his Dad, grandparents and all of the family and friends waiting for him!