cb and the sunshine band.

i know you're probably super tired of seeing choi boy in his checkered shorts and aviator sunglasses tee, but i promise, promise this is the last of the birthday posts! clearly, i am a wee bit obsessed with my boy. just a bit. ;)

okay, so the reason for this post? my dear friend amy (cb's betrothed's momma) knows cb quite well, and knows that in addition to all things sports, cb also loves making music. so, quite appropriately, she got a little percussion/music set for choi boy...and of course, he went nuts!



cb immediately started pounding away on his little drum, and after he had gotten the initial excitement out, he passed out all the other instruments and proceeded to lead the family in a drumming circle.




(he had to check to make sure we were all staying on beat.)






it's really quite amazing what a group of perfectly well-mannered adults will do to impress and entertain a two year-old! ;)

want to see video of the drum circle? please note my mom's ridiculously awesome singing...oh, and it's loud. really loud.


of course, the only appropriate thing to do after a rad and righteous drum circle is to clean.

obviously.

and after a busy day of partying, present-opening, and rockin' out, you can't really blame a guy for passing out. on the floor. topless.

rock on, cb.

rock on.

a sweet reunion.

last sunday, we had the incredible opportunity to reunite choi boy with someone very special. cb's foster sister (his foster mother's daughter) is studying english in the states for a semester. and of allllll the places in the entire good ol' US of A, she ended up enrolling at a school an hour away from us! crazy awesome, right?! she contacted me through my blog and we set up an afternoon get-together.

!!!


we headed to a park so cb's foster sister, his noona, could hang out with him while he was in his element...i.e., we needed a place where cb could run around and get out all his sillies. :)

choi boy had tons of fun playing, climbing, peek-a-booing,


drumming,

while using the smallest drumsticks ever, i might add!

and even iron-crossing.

;)

eventually, cb burned enough energy and was able to slow down and hold noona's hand.


it was so sweet and beautiful.

noona's friend came, too, and of course, choi boy charmed both of them and had them wrapped around his little finger.

literally.


choi boy also took noona for a walk around the park.





cb showed her the lake and pointed out the geese! and ducks! and birds!


and after the tour, choi boy taught noona how to play football.


american football, that is.

she was very impressed. ;)

and after traipsing around the park, we headed to lunch, and the sweetness continued in the car.


love!

noona wanted to try some mexican food, and cb decided this was a good idea.

a very good idea, indeed.

and after a quick lesson on the alphabet (when cb sees letters, he points and shouts, "G! G! G!" the only letter he knows...i'll give you one guess as to why. hint: super bowl champs!),

it was time to say our goodbyes.

or rather, it was time to say our "see you later"s, because you can betcha that we'll be meeting up with noona again soon! what a precious gift to be able to spend time with someone that helped raised our son for the first 15 months of his life before he came home to us...such an amazing blessing.


so, so special.

and so grateful for the way this all worked out! God is so good. :)

the loot.

okay, i realize it's totally obnoxious to do an entire post about presents.

but, there were so many adorable pictures of choi boy and the amazing and thoughtful gifts he received, and the last post was already *ridiculously long*, so i had to do one more post.

i know, first world problems for sure.

as i said, cb received so many amazing gifts from our friends and family. we are so grateful for the many, many people that love and know our boy so well and that wanted to simply bless him on his first birthday home.

cb and his girl, kate, checked out the stash and like a good girlfriend, kate catalogued and kept note of what was from whom so cb could send out thank you notes (that his momma is *still* working on ).

after the party, we headed to hahmee and hahbee's house for some family time, aka, my parents wanted to spend more time with the birthday boy. ;)

we all watched and cheered as cb opened his gifts. his squeals of joy were just the sweetest!

quite honestly, i think he was a bit confused about what was going on -- he didn't understand why he couldn't just stop and play with each new toy!



my sister and cousins and i also spent some time sitting around and admiring our glitter tattoos and trying to stay awake after a long night where i forced them to slave away they lovingly helped put cb's party details together.


:) love them.

one of cb's favorites was a basketball hoop from auntie tina and uncle tom who know our sports-lovin' little dude so well.


my teenage cousin, one of cb's beloved sahmchoons (uncle in korean) loving put the hoop together as cb watched with bated breath.


and soon enough, it was finally time for cb to practice his shots!


but, cb's favorite favorite FAVORITE gift?

little wellies, a raincoat, and an umbrella!

um. so.stinkin.cute.


i mean, right?!



even hahmee and her matching dress got in on the umbrella lovin'!

my mom's face cracks me up. such silliness only for her grandson! ;)

love it.


again, we are just so grateful for all our friends and family that just adore and shower our little guy with such sweet love. we know that presents are just things, so we are most grateful for the love from which these things came...thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

party time!

heads up: this post is going to be picture heavy. we're talking super duper here. unless you are my sister and have forced me to post this, please feel free to just quickly browse through the zillion photos. :)


the day after choi boy's actual birthday, we had a big fat celebration for our birthday boy!

because of all the crazy, out-of-control rain, our original plans of an outdoor party (at the famous train park, no less!) needed to be changed. to say i was a bit frazzled while scrambling around to find a new location might be an understatement -- just a little one. ;) i may or may not have sent out around 5 crazed emails to all of our guests... but, we managed to get everything taken care of and we prepped for our new indoor party.

of course, the day of the party was the sunshiniest day we had seen in days and days, but oh well. ;)

cb's birthday was a loose circus theme...set in motion because of the old-fashion train at the park where the party was originally supposed to be held. my friend, christine, did an amaaaaaaaaaazing job designing the banner, cupcake toppers, signs, and favor tags that you'll soon see. her work tied everything together and added the best finishing touches. love her!








the cake that my sister saved. it looked naaaaaaasty the night before and i felt like i couldn't serve it to our guests. tiff worked some magic with some new icing and we added the red and blue m&m's, a mini bunting thingy i quickly scrapped together, and a cupcake topper. ...and voila! serveable. ;)



homemade cookies and mini swirlpops for favors

and now what you're all really waiting for...pictures of the birthday boy himself. :)



we (okay, *i*) made cb wear this silly clown tie, and surprisingly, he LOVED it!

cb's uncles brought him these giant balloons:


he was rather possesive about them. :)

miss daisy came to do balloon animals and glitter tattoos!


the grown-ups thought the glitter tattoos were pretty cool, too. ;)

there were also some crafty crafts.



but mostly, there were lots and lots of people that were there to love on our boy. and for that we were so grateful.









a cb imposter was also in our midst...

there was some singing...




and some blowing out candles...


and then lots and lots of eating of sweets!


but not before some hilarious photo ops. ;)


cupcakes are best eaten with chopsticks, didn't you know?

somewhere in there was a wardrobe change...


and then more sweets!

someone was wee bit intoxicated from copious amounts of chocolate...


can you blame him?!

of course, cb spent a lot of time surrounded by the ladies!





and of course, of course, choi boy's extended family showered and covered him with love.


and after all that? cb plopped himself in the corner, emptied out his diaper bag and declared himself partied out.


what a silly guy!

we loved celebrating our little guy and are so, so, SO very grateful for all those that came out to celebrate him, too (even if you were only there with us in spirit!)!

happy two to you, cb!


...and i might never throw a birthday party again. phew!