A Little Gift In My Email

After being in "the adoption process" for 3 1/2 years now (between China and Korea) there are ups and there are downs. Although we've had a recent disappointment (a big one at that) we've been handling it pretty well and are doing our best to stay positive. However, early this week I've been feeling a bit down just thinking about what we might be doing if in fact we had been submitted for our exit permit. Not a good thing. . . Instead, I tried to focus on the positive things around us.

My adoptive mom friend Jayme and her husband headed out today to Korea (YAY!) to meet and pick up their daughter after a long wait. I thought about my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and niece coming to visit from back east a month or so after Wesley arrives (another big YAY!). Then, as I have experienced a few times before, something wonderful happened this morning. I checked my email (as I frequently do throughout the day checking for some good news from our agency). And, there was this email from one of the gals at our agency. The subject simply said, "enjoy!" It had an attachment. . . My heart started racing. I kind of figured that it wasn't a note letting us know that we had been submitted for Wesley's exit permit, but I KNEW that it was something good. And, it was.

It was a document with 3 photos scanned from a recent appearance that Wesley made at the agency in Korea. His foster mom came down to pick up the care package that we sent with one of our other adoptive moms (thanks K) when she recently traveled. This particular care package was special; it had items for Wesley's 1st Birthday!

So, there were 3 photos of Wesley with a few items we gave him for his birthday including the monkey we made for him from Build-A-Bear (with recorded message). We also received a 1-year progress report. Here are some of the details:

Weight - 28 lbs. (he's gained 2 lbs. since the last report!!!)
Height - 31"
Sleeping - 2 naps per day, sleeping through the night (bedtime is 12 midnight - yikes!)
Activities/other - pulling himself up & walks along furniture exploring the house, says "umma (mama)", "mamma (food)", "Appa (daddy)", has no stranger anxiety, plays peek-a-boo, takes things out of drawers, understands "no."

They also spoke about his 1st birthday celebration. Apparently, for the Dojabee celebration, he selected a microphone which they are saying predicts a future in broadcasting. Which is hilarious considering I had almost 10 years in radio broadcasting. He is definitely our son!

We are waiting for the original photos to come in the mail before we post because the scanned photos aren't that clear, but I can tell you that he is turning into such a little boy versus a baby. We can hardly wait anymore to meet him, but gifts like this make the wait a little more bearable.