Today Julian has been home for one year. At this time last year, we were running around trying to get everything ready for him. We were excited and nervous all at the same time. We had no idea what to expect or how things would go once we brought him home.

When we arrived at the airport to pick him up, it felt like we had to wait forever. I think I looked at my watch every minute. Finally after what seemed like hours, a man I had never met handed me my son and told him I was his mama. I remember feeling like everything was moving in slow motion. I had waited so long to be called someone’s mama and could not believe that this was really happening. Could I really be this beautiful baby’s mother? This must be a dream. I waited so many years for this moment and I felt more joy than I ever had before. As I put my arms around him and brought him close to me I was completely content. I had everything I needed.

And then... he started to scream. And I mean really scream. He tried desperately to get away from me and clung to the man he had traveled with. He had such fear in his face. Instantly, my happy moment turned to sadness. As I tried to console him I realized that this child did not know me the way I knew him. Over the previous years, I had prayed for him. Over the past months, I started at his pictures. We put his pictures all over our home. We decorated his room and bought him clothing and toys. We spent a great deal of time preparing for him. But he couldn’t possibly know what the future held for him. He knew only his life in Korea. It was a good life. Certainly not one he wanted to leave. He had a foster mother who loved and cared for him. She fed him. She changed him. She took him for walks and played with him. She loved him and he loved her. To me, he was my son. To him, I was just a stranger.

As Julian continued to cry, we signed all of the final paperwork and got in the car to take him home. Finally, after driving for a few minutes, he calmed down. He looked up at me and stared for a long time. No expression on his face at all. He just looked at me. Then he fell asleep.

This was my first experience with my son. I have never shared this whole story with anyone. In fact, tonight for the first time I watched the video of us picking Julian up and bringing him home. It took me one year to build up the courage to watch it. The happiest moment of my life was also the most painful. Happy because we finally had the child we had waited so long for. Painful because it was probably one of the most traumatic experiences of his life. I never could have expected that.

Today, everything is different. I know that Julian loves Jim and I tremendously. We are his whole world. He is happy and content each and every day. He has fun everywhere he goes and spends hours playing with his mommy and daddy. He loves spending time with the newest addition to our family, his baby sister who was born in July. Every time he looks at Maya, he smiles. And she always smiles back.

As I think back to the way things were then and the way things are now, I still find it hard to believe. So much can change in such a short amount of time. Although there were some difficult times, it was all worth it. I would do it all again to have everything I do now. I feel so blessed to have adopted Julian and given birth to Maya less than eight months later.

Today on this first Adoption Day, I am grateful for my wonderful husband and my two beautiful children. I am the luckiest woman in the world.

I really do plan on keeping up with this blog. I know its been a while but Julian has kept us very busy lately. Scenes like this are becoming very common around our house these days.



As chaotic as it can be though, we’re enjoying every minute of it.

Julian is doing really well. He’s happy and feels secure. It’s amazing what a difference a few months has made. It seems that each day he is doing and saying new things. Lately he has started to take steps here and there. He is determined to walk and practices all day long. It seems to get a little easier for him each day. We caught this on video just the other day.






Below are a few new pictures.


Playing the drums.



At work with daddy.

I’ll have some more pictures up very soon. Tomorrow is Julian’s first birthday so I’m sure we’ll have lots more to post.

Well, firsts in the US at least.

First visit to the doctor. Julian was not too happy about this.




First bath. Well, right after his first bath. There was a whole lot of crying during the actual bath.




First bath (without any crying). He had a lot of fun and didn’t want to get out.



First time in his stroller. He wasn’t really sure what to think about it.



First trip to the mall. His favorite part was watching all the people.



First meal in his high chair.


First apple. As you can see, this made him very happy.



First time meeting his cousin Brenden. :)



This isn’t a first but I had to add it.

Thank you all for the messages and emails. I promise to get back to everyone soon. Julian has kept us very busy these last few days.

It has been an amazing couple of days. Certainly not easy, but wonderful. We picked Julian up Friday night. Below is our first picture together. As you can see, he was very upset. He had grown quite attached to the man who brought him to the US and it was difficult for him to say goodbye. On top of that, he had a terrible cold and was not feeling well at all.



Although there was a lot of crying that night, he did calm down for a little while after we got him home.



He explored a little and even started to play with some of his toys.


Clearly Julian is missing his foster family but he seems to be growing more comfortable with us each day. In fact, today was a really great day. He was happy and spent a good part of the day smiling and laughing (even with a visit to the doctor).

I cannot even describe how wonderful it is to have him home. Below are some pictures taken just a few hours ago.

Finally. After months and months of waiting, he will be coming home this Friday. Jim and I will travel to the airport, complete the final paperwork, and bring our son home. We’ve waited for this day for so long and we are thrilled that it is now so close.

We plan on spending a few quiet days at home alone with Julian. Hopefully, he’ll be ready for visitors some time next week. It will really depend on how well and how quickly he adjusts to his new family and his new home. We hope the transition will be smooth but realize that it may take some time.

We will certainly keep you posted and hope that you will all come visit soon.

That’s what I tell people whenever they ask when Julian is coming. It really could be any day now. The agency gave us a range of 3-5 weeks and we’re coming to the end of the fifth week. Every time the phone rings I hope that it’s our social worker. So far it hasn’t been but I’m confident that we’ll get that call soon.

While I am hopeful that we’ll hear something this week, I have to be realistic too. So far everything has taken longer than we expected. It is entirely possible that we will not hear something this week. Maybe not even next week. Only time will tell. Whether it’s this week or next though, we know that he will be home with us soon. Once he is, I’m sure we’ll forget all about the time we had to wait.

On a positive note, we’re having a great time shopping.

So tired of waiting...



In the meantime, I am trying out some baby food recipes. We bought a food processor and some baby food cookbooks the other day. So far, I like peach and banana the best. I think I’ll try tomato, cauliflower, and carrot with basil next.

Yeah I know. It won’t last. At least that’s what everyone keeps telling me. At least it’ll keep me busy for now though.

As most of you have already heard, we finally received Julian’s immigration approval. We thought we had it a few weeks ago. As it turns out, we were sent the wrong form. We do have it now though and that means that we have finally passed the last big hurdle to bringing Julian home!

From here, it should take about 3-5 weeks until he is home with us. Considering the amount of time we have been waiting, this is nothing. Now we can begin to really prepare.

We’ll have some pictures of his room up soon. :)

I know it has been a while but there has not been a whole lot to blog about. Until today, we hadn’t really heard much. We’ve just been waiting.

We finally got an update on Julian today. :)

The update is pretty lengthy but I’ll fill you in on all the interesting stuff.

He eats, sleeps, and poops (yes, they even included information about this) well. He is healthy and growing and developing normally. Everything looks really good. In fact, the doctor at SWS described him as “a very cute, smart, and sunny baby boy”. He loves to be outside. He likes toy cars and puppy dolls.

He babbles and smiles constantly. He even says a few words. He says “omma” (mom) and “appa” (dad). He also calls his foster brother “hyungah” (brother). He even imitates the sound of cars driving by.

Included with the update were a few new pictures. Just email me (joann@adoptingjude.com) for the site and the password. Most of you already have it but I’d be happy to send it to those who do not. We wanted to keep this page private because it includes some of our personal information.

Here is my favorite picture..............




This is definitely our kid!

It’s Thursday, August 28 at 10:18 am in Seoul. It’s a beautiful, sunny day. The temperature is about 75 degrees.

Julian has probably been up for a few hours already. I wonder what he and his foster mother are doing right now. I wish I could get a glimpse of him, just for a minute. I wonder how much he has changed since our last update. What new foods is he eating? What new things is he doing? Has he seen the pictures of us? Is he sleeping with the blanket we sent?

So many questions and no answers. I hope we get an update soon.

He is seven months old today. When we first received his referral, he was only five months. I cannot believe two months have passed since that day. I am praying that the next few months go by just as quickly.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the website we set up for Julian’s pictures no longer exists. We set up a new page but it is password protected. Just email me and I’d be happy to send you the password. You can also see the video that Jim made on there too.

We are still waiting to get back the cameras that we sent to Korea. Hopefully we will have some new pictures to put up soon!

Click contact me at the bottom of the screen or send to joann@adoptingjude.com.

We have finally finished putting together a package to send to Julian and his foster family in Korea. We included some cameras so that his foster mother can send us new pictures. In addition to the cameras, we included a blanket and a small photo album. And of course, the letter that I have been struggling with for the last few weeks.

I have been sleeping with that blanket for about a week now. Another family at our adoption agency suggested we do this. She felt that this would help familiarize Julian with our scent and the scent of our home. Also, when Julian comes home from Korea the blanket will be sent with him. This way, at least he will have something that he is familiar with when he enters a new home with new people. I don’t know whether these things will really help but, if possible, we’re hoping to make the transition a little easier for him.

The photo album is really cute. We included pictures of both of us and wrote mommy and daddy in Korean below each picture. His foster mother will show him the pictures. Again, I’m not sure if this will work but the idea is that he will start to know our faces.


And finally, the letter. Here it is....

Dear Mrs. ,

We are so excited to learn that Yoonmin is going to be our son. We have hoped and prayed for a child for a very long time. Yoonmin is truly an answer to our prayers. He is the child that we have been waiting for.

When we first saw his pictures, we felt a tremendous amount of happiness. As the weeks pass, our happiness grows and we look forward to the day that he can finally join our family.

We want to thank you for taking care of Yoonmin while he waits for his visa to come to America. From what we have learned about you, we can see that you are a very kind and generous woman. Your love and care will surely make a tremendous difference in Yoonmin’s life.

Although we have never met, you will always hold a very special place in our hearts and in our family.

Warm regards,
Jim and Jo-Ann

We’ve started working on a book collection for Julian. Between gifts from family and friends and what we have picked up, I think we have a pretty good collection so far.

Yesterday Jim and I went into Manhattan and signed all of the paperwork to make our adoption of Julian official. It was an incredible feeling to walk out of the adoption agency and know that he is really ours. Although I knew he was our child as soon as I saw him, it is now legal. There is nothing that can change things now. We may have to wait a while before he comes home, but we know that he is coming!

Now we have started to prepare a package to send to him and his foster family in Korea. We’re going to send a camera, a photo album, a blanket, and a letter to his foster mother. I’m having a very hard time with the letter though. I mean, what do you say to a woman who is caring for your child on the other side of the world?

I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.

Well, it’s been over a week now since Jim and I received our referral. I think it is finally beginning to sink in that this child (whose picture I have been staring at for the past week and a half) is actually our son. It’s an amazing feeling, one that I cannot even put into words.

I have spent the last few years wondering what it would feel like when I first saw that picture. I knew that I would be happy but I never could have imagined how happy. It’s strange, when you wait for something for so long and it finally happens you have to ask yourself if it’s real. For the first time this week, I’ve finally started to believe that this is real. This little baby boy is really ours!

Now all I can think about is how to bring him home as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this is not something I have much control over. I have to constantly remind myself to be patient. I keep remembering what my grandmother told me, “not in your time Jo-Ann, in God’s time”. That didn’t mean too much to me when she first said it but now I understand. We have waited as long as we have because God was leading us to THIS child. This child is ours. I knew it the moment I first saw him.

Well, that’s all for now. Oh, except that this baby finally has a name. After lots and lots of thought (and maybe a little arguing) we have come up with a name. Julian Richard. I like it. He looks like a Julian.