A year ago today...

...we were given our beautiful daughter and she became ours for good! I was so overwhelmed with emotions; joy, grief, happiness, and fear.

April 1st, Seoul Korea. Addison with her wonderful foster mother.

Just left the arms of her foster mother and is on the way back to the hotel.

playing timidly at the hotel

April 2: arriving home....lots of people!

May 1st: she turns 1! The beautiful hanbok dress was a gift from her foster mother.

June - sporting a new dress (with chocolate ice cream on it)

The 4th of July

August - a gift from her foster mother!

September - at a football game

October - at the pumpkin patch

Trick-or-treating with her cousin Owem

November - sleeping soundly

December - getting our Christmas tree

We finalize!!! She is legally ours!!!

Christmas!

January - with gifts from her foster mother

February - in Daddy's shoes

March - at Great Wolf Lodge!!

My how quickly a year has gone. We are blessed beyond measure. To God be the glory.

Video of our Trip: Part 1

"Gotcha Day" 4/1/10

Mark & I on the way to Holt via the subway

We immediately run into Ha-seon and her foster mother in the lobby. She is very happy!

She was eating a cracker-type stick and loving it.

See the stick?

Foster mom loving her one last time before we leave. We all cried, hence the reason there is no video. It was terribly difficult.

Little Addison, looking for her foster mom. (See her worried face?)

She started to cry right after this picture. She cried most of the wat back to the hotel. It was really sad. She kept looking around and out the window for her foster mom. She eventually cried herself to sleep.

Asleep in her daddy's arms.

We managed to get out of the cab, and go up the elevator without waking her up. It was a miracle!

Asleep on our bed.

Daddy & his baby.

Another great "Gotcha Day" Video

Here is another one of my favorite "gotcha day" videos. Enjoy!

My favorite "Gotcha day" videos

When adoptive parents are finally given their child it is often called "Gotcha Day." There are countless "gotcha day" videos on You Tube, and I must confess, I watched quite a few of them. The one I posted today is one of my all time favorite. This is a Korean adoption and gives you a pretty good idea of what we will experience when we recieve our baby girl. The Korean woman holding the baby is the child's foster mother. It is definitely a bitter sweet moment.