happy birthday, son!

today we celebrate a milestone that is both happy and sad.
today marks a year of God's faithfulness in our son's life.
today is the day our son can count his age in months or years.
today choi boy celebrates his first birthday.
today our son turns one.

when we first got choi boy's referral, we prayed and prayed that he would be home by his first birthday. as each month passed by, we felt like we were missing so many milestones, and the possibility of choi boy coming home before he turned one seemed slimmer and slimmer. and here we are on his first birthday, our arms empty and aching for him. though we are sad that we are missing yet another milestone, we rejoice in knowing that he is well cared for and that he will hopefully be home and in our arms soon.

one of the reasons we wanted choi boy home before his first birthday is because in korean culture, the first birthday, or "dol," is a HUGE celebration. like, so huge that my friends who have had first birthday parties for their children often referred to them as "mini-weddings." in other words, it's an excuse to PAR-TAY, which we will absolutely do once choi boy comes home. hello? it's called a belated birthday party! that's a thing, right? so, tonight, even though he is not here to celebrate with us, we will go out, put his picture on our table and eat some korean food goodness in choi boy's honor. :) yum!

last month, we sent a package to korea that choi boy is hopefully opening today. want to see the goods?

i knew you would!

we thought choi boy's wardrobe in korea could use a little manning up, so we sent over some boy-ish shirts. can you guess which one peter picked?

now, you all know how neurotic and worried i am about piper and choi boy getting along. so, i found a stuffed animal that resembled piper and sent it over in hopes of choi boy falling madly in love with it, thereby making the transition to real-life piper seamless. delusional? perhaps a little.

because mini-piper was not so mini, and we are restricted to fitting everything in a gallon-sized ziploc bag, there wasn't much else we could add. but we did include a card:
are you impressed by my korean skills? um, don't be. my mom told me what to write. translated, it says something like, "we sincerely wish you a happy first birthday! be healthy and strong until we meet!" really, it sounds less weird in korean.

we also included some pictures:
clearly, piper is beyond thrilled about celebrating choi boy's birthday. p.s. jojo, that was some of my fancy handwriting! ;)

this says, "congratulations on your first birthday!"

though we are sad we won't get to wish choi boy happy birthday in person, we are so, so happy for him...happy birthday, dear son! we can't wait to celebrate WITH you!