Evie's adoption story

Evie's first meeting

Here are photos from the first time that I was able to meet Evie in Korea. My mom and I arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, and were able to come to the adoption agency and meet Evie and her foster mother on the next day. My friend Ki-Eun, who was my roommate when we were both photography students at Ohio University, generously volunteered to come with us to take photos of our first meeting. Her foster mother with very sweet and obviously loved her very much. The totally meeting with about an hour and a half. Now she's home with us and with our entire family!

me, Evie and her foster mother
me carrying Evie in a back carrier (which the foster mother said that she loved)
beds in the adoption agency (where Evie stayed the first month of her life before going into foster care)
playing! she loves to imitate

Jake's surgery

Jake is currently in surgery now to repair a hole in his heart and repair a valve. We just got an update and they said that the repair is done and they need to stitch up his heart and his chest now. We are praying hard for him, as are a lot of friends and family. Hopefully everything will continue to do well and that he has no infections or complications. Here is a favorite video of him that I took recently.

Evie and her friend!

We have been friends with fellow Cincinnatians Jen and Jeremy for about a year now when we learned they were adopting a little girl from South Korea at the same time that we were. They had 2 little boys near Jake's age, and were in the process of going through their home study like we were. We quickly became friends and got together socially with the kids. We were very excited when we learned we were both getting little girls only a month apart! They named their little one Allison and call her Allie. We met up with them after the flight at the Detroit airport, where they met Allie for the first time. A couple of days ago, we got the kids together for the first time in Cincinnati. It will be one of the many times that they see each other. Congrats to Jen, Jeremy, and Allie!

Evie and I and Jen and Allie in the Detroit airport
Playing together for the first time.

Jen and her daughter Allie.

Playdate

I'm on maternity leave right now since Evie came home, and we had a playdate the other day with some good friends. My friend has girls who are both Jake and Evie's ages. I think they will grow up to be good friend. Here are some pictures from the outing. We tried and tried, but just could not get a good picture of Evie (who just wanted to climb on the back of the couch). Maybe next time.

Falling in Love with Evie

She loves to be upside-down!
playing with Daddy
so big!

whole family
swimming for the first time




playing with Mimi

Evie is doing AWESOME! We are so lucky to have her in our home and love her so much. Several people told me "You will love her like you love the child you gave birth to" and it's so true. Not that I ever doubted it, but we're experiencing it now that she's here. Evie is such a happy and smiley baby, and she truly is a joy to have around. She's made a complete 180 degree turnaround from when she first came home. We would have loved her so much either way, but she's really a lot of fun to have around and adds a great deal to our family. Here are some of the latest photos I took of her.

Siblings