I have not posted here forever!!!!  The time has flown by...but I received an email the other day from somone asking if my site was still valid since I haven't posted in such a long time.  I am sooo happy to announce that our son Cole came home on July 25th!!!  What a blessing.  We are so glad to have him here.

I had been talking to my social worker quite a bit the week before we knew that he was coming home.  She was acting somewhat "strange"..meaning she wouldn't answer questions directly, she would make very small comments that just stuck with me.  I just had a feeling that she knew something and wasn't saying.  Well on Friday July 14th, my husband and I were standing in our kitchen talking about this..he was convinced that Cole wasn't coming home until August or September..and didn't really want to talk about it at all.  Just as he said that, the cell phone rang.  I saw that is was our social worker and wondered why she was calling since I wasn't expecting to hear from her until the beginning of the next week.  So I picked up the phone and all I heard on the other end was her saying "Cole is coming home on the 25th"!!  I couldn't believe it!  I actually collapsed and was hyperventilating.  I thought the day would never come! 

July 25th came and we had our parents come to the airport with us.  We got lucky as Cole flew into the city we live in.  We weren't expecting that at all.  Grandparents came here early and we all went out to eat before heading to the airport.  Man what a mistake that was.  My stomach hurt bad as my nerves were just shot.  We left and headed to the airport.  I had my daughter in the car with me, my husband was with his dad and stepmom and then my dad, stepmom and mother-in-law were behind me.  My daughter and I cried all the way there.  We couldn't believe it was really happening.  Got to the airport and my mom wasn't there yet as she was coming right from work.  We tried to wait for her but decided we needed to get up to the gate (they issued gate passes to me, my husband and my daughter).  Good thing we went up right away as we got held up in securty for a while.  Anyhow, we knew that Cole was coming home with another little girl.  So we were looking for the other couple.  Only a few minutes went by when we spotted a woman carrying a pink teddy bear and we just knew that was them.  What wonderful people!!!  We sat and talked for a bit.  Their flights were to arrive at 6:01pm.  Well it was delayed 30minutes...we thought we were going to die having to wait another 30 minutes!!!  Finally we saw the plane coming in.  Gosh the emotions!!!!  My daughter and I immediately started sobbing!!!  As people were getting off the plane, they would come up to us and say "I know you are waiting for one of those babies..they are so sweet and did so well on the plane"...my heart just sunk!!!  I couldn't wait to hold my son for the first time!  One woman came up to me and said "are you waiting for hhe boy or the girl?" I told her I was waiting for the boy  and she responded "oh I got to hold him, he's so sweet".  Of course our kids were the last ones off the plane and as soon as I saw him I just wanted to hold him and love him!!!  I walked up to him and said Hi Cole and then put my arms out to him.  He looked at me and put his arms out for me to take him.  It was such a special moment.  We had prepared ourself for him to be screaming and scared.  But he did none of that!!!!!  He went to daddy next as I talked to the escort (what a wonderful woman) and then he went to his big sister!!!  It was sooo wonderful.  I will never forget that day and those first moments with my son.

We proceeded to then go downstairs where the grandparents were waiting and believe me, there wasn't a dry eye in the house!  He went to every grandparent just fine..no screaming or anything.  He loved my dad.  Gave him a big smile and started "babbling" to him right away.  We were prepared for him to be screaming when we put him in the car seat to get him home but he did great.  Didn't make a peep.  I had him laughing all the way home as I played peek a boo with him.  What an adorable smile he has!!!

The first night wasn't horrible but it was difficult to get him to sleep.  I could hold him and rock him and he would fall asleep, but I couldn't put him down at all.  He would immediately wake up and start screaming.  So finally we got him to stay sleeping with him on my chest and laying on the floor with him.  He did great as he slept until after 9am the next day (I actually had to wake him up)

He came home exactly one week after he turned a year old.  We decided to wait until September to have a party for him with everyone attending.  It was a belated first birthday and welcome home party.  He did wonderful and got to meet extended family as well.

He is now 16 months old and just a blessing.  He is so handsome and very smart!  He loves to help us in any way he can.  And man can he eat!! He's a great eater.  He loves his big sister and they play together all the time.  Just so great that he is finally home with us.

We keep in contact with his escorts that brought him home.  There is a couple that brought he and the little girl that came also from Seoul Korea to Minneapolis.  In Minneapolis they switched escorts and the woman that brought him directly to us...is wonderful!  Cole was the first baby she ever escorted.  She has sent him a baseball hat and we email on a regular basis.  We also stay in contact with the little girls family.  We get together when we can with the kids.  They are so cute together and have a great time playing.  We joke that they will one day get married. 

We feel so blessed to experience adoption and have our son home with us.  We want to thank everyone that was there for us during this time as there were some ups and downs...but it's worth it in the end.  We couldn't have done it without the support of our loved ones!!!  THANK YOU!  I have posted pictures of Cole so be sure to check them out!!!

Til another day!