small style {what i got for christmas edition}.

the other day, we were at a party for a certain sweet girl we know and love. the mommas were oohing and ahhing over all the pretty little things she received and remarked that little boys never receive clothes as gifts. i sheepishly and quietly replied that mine does. a lot a lot a lot. ;)

people will often comment on choi boy's wardrobe and hint at the fact that i must spend a fortune on his clothes. the truth is, i don't. anything i buy is either from target (and usually on sale) or on clearance elsewhere. truly, most of cb's clothes were gifted to him, and on any given day, cb is wearing at least one article of clothing that was bought for him by his doting aunts, grandmas and great aunts. i guess that's what happens when you are the first grandchild in a family of women who love to shop!

take for example, cb's christmas outfit...every part of it was given to him either as a christmas present or from earlier in the year. wait, i did by the christmas socks he was wearing that day -- from the dollar spot, no less -- holla! but they were shed before they could make an appearance in these photos:

the outerwear:


reversible hooded lightweight puffer jacket: northface (gift from my mom)
boots: toddler uggs (gift from my aunt) -- note, *i* don't even have a pair of uggs! i am a proud owner of fuggs, thankyouverymuch.
straight fit jeans: baby gap (gift from my sister last christmas)

do i think it's ridiculous that a 2 year-old has a northface jacket *and* uggs? yup.
do i also think it's super sweet that his grandma and great aunt want to spoil him with clothes they think look adorable on him? totally.

and underneath:


striped shawl-neck sweater with toggle button: zara kids (gift from my sister this christmas -- she found it on my pinterest boards -- my sister rocks!)
navy t-shirt: h&m kids (gift from my mom last spring)

and lest these pictures make you think cb is a total divo (who looks to be about SEVEN years-old in these shots!!!), here's what he looked like most of the time i was trying to snap pictures. ;)

sillyhead!


linking up with morgan at mama loves papa again!

christmas recap.

hello, there. :) i hope you had a wonderful christmas!

we were home last christmas, but newly home and jet-lagged and a bit shell-shocked at this whole insta-parents thing as we adjusted to our new lives together.

this christmas, we took full advantage of the fact that our boy had a (semi) understanding of what was going on and knew and loved everyone that surrounded him on this very special holiday. we also took a lot a lot of pictures...sorry. this is gonna be a long one! ;)

because of the craziness with church on sunday morning, we decided to do the bulk of our family celebration on christmas eve this year. my parents (who live 20 minutes away) requested that we pretty please sleep over on friday night so they could soak up every ounce of the day with choi boy. of course, we happily obliged and loved watching cb relish our sleepover at hahmee and hahbee's.

we started christmas eve morning with presents before the rest of our extended family came over. choi boy was very happy about this and tried to charm his way into opening them before anyone else was ready.


once we started, cb was just as excited about the giving as the receiving.

especially when the giving included calendars filled with pics of cb from january to december!

there was knitted goodness,


lots of kisses,



and a train from eemo that gave cb a preview of what was to come on christmas morning.

once the train was out, there was no concentrating on anything else. my sister also gave cb some super cute clothes, but really, he couldn't be bothered with them. not when there was percy to play with!

there were also some laughs,

(i get a present from "santa" every year. and quite suspiciously, he has the same exact handwriting as my momma.)

and even some tears.


we gave my sister a necklace engraved with "tippy" -- her name is tiffany, but cb can't say it and has called her tippy eemo since he started saying her name.

she loved it. :)


was someone exhausted from all the presents?

oh, no. someone just wanted to have some quiet play with percy, all by himself.

silly boy!

later on, my cousins and uncles and aunts came over,

(love my family!)

and the first thing cb wanted to do was to show off his new toy. of course!

thankfully, he was some very sweet and loving uncles that were only happy to play.

cb tore himself away from his train long enough to pass out his gifts for his uncles and aunts,



in customized bags, no less!


and even opened a few more gifts for himself, too.

note: we did *not* tell him to pose with his hands in his pockets. he is just *that* much of a ham. ;)

we enjoyed a delicious christmas eve dinner prepared by my dad and uncle (with some help from my sister -- parmesean crusted brussel sprouts -- holla!):

corned beef, salmon, mashed potatoes with kale...yes, a very traditional korean christmas dinner. ;)

and right after dinner, guess what cb went right back to...

yup.


this time, he enlisted help from his hahbee and great uncle, who went all out and constructed tunnels and overpasses out of little boxes and containers!

soon, cb was changed into his christmas jammies and left in the care of his grandparents and two sets of great uncles and aunts while the young folk (uh huh, i'm included in that!) headed out to the movies.


we returned to my parents house to stories of choi boy drinking "wine" (sparkling grape juice...why my parents had that on hand, i don't know) and toasting cheers while chomping on lots dried squid. apparently, he was quite entertaining. :) we scooped up our sleeping boy and headed back home to prepare for christmas morning.

we (and by "we," i mean the hubs) sleepily set up choi boy's big present...


and the whole time we were giggling like school children imagining cb's reaction in the morning.

he did not disappoint.


(even in his hodge podge red and green "jammies" since he peed through his santa ones...i blame it on all the sparkling grape juice.)



cb just kept repeating excitedly, "choo choo chains! chains!!!" and loved discovering his new table and some extra special trains (and an awesome mickey mouse clubhouse book -- with sounds!) from his grandparents in wisconsin.

cb also very much enjoyed a super cool toy shopping cart and some awesome wooden cut-apart food from his gomo and uncle jake.


so blessed and loved that boy is...:)

and i scored something pretty sweet, too. the perfect "mommy" necklace that isn't overtly a mommy necklace:

a momma bird, a baby bird, and a letter c.
my hubs is the best. and he *may* have had some help. ;)

phew! told ya that would be long :)

we hope your christmas was super fun, too!

joy to the world!

wishing you peace and JOY,

and celebrating all the wonder of the season!

christmas blessings to you and yours...

love to you,

chois-r-us

the day we came *home*.

a year ago today, we came home from korea as a family of three... :)

after choi boy was placed in our arms {forever}, we had one final day in seoul. the hubs was sick with a nasty travel bug and it was seriously cold outside, so we kept things low key, though we did venture out for a bit to get one more good look at seoul.


we ogled over more street food,


walked around,



and were so excited about being out and about with our son (!!) that we ended up taking the same picture


again,


and again,


and AGAIN.

and i didn't even realize it until i was looking through all the pictures for these posts! ;)
excited much? oh yes.

we also tried to meet up with a friend here,

but even this third attempt failed us! it turns out it's awfully hard to try and meet up with someone in an unfamiliar, foreign city without the help of cell phones! thankfully, we did have a chance to finally meet up this summer stateside. :)

before we knew it, our week in seoul came to an end. we packed up all our things, trying our best to keep track of the new toys and tiny articles of clothing that would be accompanying us home.

we said our goodbyes to my uncles and aunts and cousins who were sad to see the newest addition to their extended family go. remarkably, this little guy made his way into everyone's hearts overnight.


:)

at the airport, we waited with excited anticipation about heading home and truly starting our lives together on our own turf. unfortunately, we had to wait longer than expected as our flight was delayed for 4 hours due to some fog. but, at that point, we were so used to waiting, a few hours hardly made a difference. ;)

besides, cb was such a trooper and charmed just about everyone.


and the impromptu nap on my shoulder didn't hurt, either. :)


we finally boarded another pretty blue plane and began the 15-hour journey home. again, choi boy was a total trooper and even managed to sleep snuggled into the baby bassinet, totally pushing it with the size limit!

(bulkhead seating = amahhzing.)

and soon enough, we were home.

and i tell you, there is nothing like walking through the international arrivals doors as a proud family of three to the roars and cheers of your family and close friends. such sweetness.


and cb? he managed to make a fantastic first impression with his sleepy smiles and giggles.


the balloons might have helped. just a little. ;)




and then it was time to really go home. and settle in.
and just be.
together.

at last.


thanks lots for walking down memory lane with us...it's been so fun to look back and remember our time in korea last year, especially while following my friend, sue, and her family who are currently there (like, right now!) picking up their second son. :)

so thankful for this amazing year, and i can't believe how fast it's flown by...thanks for all the encouragement and love along the way!

xoxo.