One year ago today, my dreams came true. It was a Monday afternoon, and I had just finished blogging about God’s perfect plan and timing and finally being okay with all of that when the phone rang and a woman I had never met told me there was a baby boy waiting for us in Korea. It was the most emotional moment of my life, by far. I cried uncontrollably in front of coworkers. I was bursting with joy I had never felt before, and utter relief, and insane praise for God’s faithfulness. Moments later, I received a few pictures of my sweet son, and information about him. It was definitely love at first site (unless you want to argue that I loved him long before that).
A year ago today, I found out I had a son! Kunyoung Park was mine!

I think I finally have a system. Every night, I prepare 3 meals for AJ to take to daycare the next day. Every meal has a fruit (at least two of which are fresh), two meals have a veggie, two meals have whole grains. One meal is protein focused. All meals are low as you can go in sugar and only one meal has more sodium than I’d prefer (cause I’d prefer little - none, but I’d drive myself crazy trying to achieve it).
Every night,  either  right after AJ goes to bed, or as soon as I get home from whatever I had to do that night, I wash his lunch and dinner containers (which are purple and blue, for my enjoyment) and then get started on prepping the meal. I rinse blueberries and grapes, slice them up, and put them in their respective containers. If I’m lucky, there is a pasta and veggie dish already made in the fridge, and I just put a serving into its container. Sometimes I slather some sunflower butter on wheat bread and add kiwi or a fruit spread. Sometimes I cut up an apple (with the blessed apple slicer/corer from Pampered Chef), shake it in a bag with cinnamon and microwave it. Every other day I make some oatmeal. The last two things are breaking up a slice of whole grain cinnamon raisin bread and putting it in a baggie, and my favorite thing, the container of snack. He has no idea, but I think “maybe I’ll give him an extra veggie cracker today” or “peach fruit puffs would be a nice treat, even though we’re not done with the cherry ones.”
After the meals are ready to go in their containers, I rip up a serious amount of masking tape to label eat container. Then, they go in the fridge.
I’ve gotten so good at this system that I can now do it in 45 minutes. It used to take 2 hours. Occasionally I’m lazy and opt for applesauce (no added sugar, of course) instead of a fresh apple. Or I’ll go for something extra high in sodium, just because its in the fridge. But most days, me and the system get down to business, often accompanied by some music from Sylvester.
I’ve also let myself off the hook a little bit. I dont prep his meals on the weekends. And if I dont feel like cutting up grapes at meal time, then we dont have grapes. I’ve also given in to the food industry and we eat out a little more. AJ really likes french fries, and I’m okay with it. I was disappointed (with myself) at first, but I’m over it now. I tell myself that he eats so well during the week, we can afford a little something special on occasion. Everything in moderation, yes?
My point is. I have a system. And I’m much happier with a system.

I knew about this earlier in the week, but I didnt want to blog about it till I had the paperwork in my hand. And, in my hand, I hold, a lovely notarized Decree of Adoption from the State of North Carolina. Which declares “Now Therefore, it is hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed by the Court: That from the date of the entry of this Decree herein, the said minor is declared adopted for life by the petitioner(s) and that said child shall henceforth be known by the name of Andrew James Kunyoung Australie, the State Registrar of Vital Records shall make a new birth certificate for said child in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 48-9-107.”
Which, if you aren’t a CourtTV fanatic, means “Right now, clap your hands and shout woo hoo! AJ is totally and officially yours (adopted for life!) rock on!”
Though nothing will change in our house, since AJ was 100% adopted into our hearts the minute we laid eyes on him, its nice to have this official piece of paper and be, like, done with the adoption process. Done!
We still have some paperwork to fill out to get his new “birth” certificate, a social security number and an official Certificate of Citizenship. But the adoption part, done!
Say it with me “Hooray!”

AJ attended his very first hockey game last night. Steve snagged tickets at work and at about 5pm our evening plans changed from “absolutely nothing” to “we’re going to a game!” We put on our Canes gear (AJ finally got to wear his jersey from Auntie Jen and Uncle Mike!) and headed out.
Though he was a bit squirmy, I think AJ really enjoyed himself. He quickly made friends with the people around us. He didnt care much for the action on the ice, but clapped  when everyone else did, and by the end of it (we won in OT) he had his hands up in the air cheering. It was a fun night for all. You can see pics here.

AJ’s feeling mucho bettero, thank you. Boy finally has his fabulous appetite back, and I’m glad. As much as I enjoyed a week off from preparing his meals every night, I’d rather him be eating healthy meals than a smidge of baby food.
I’ve been meaning to blog about something that AJ does regularly that warms my heart to melty chocolately sweet goo. Though I didnt realize it, I most often kiss AJ on his forehead. Occasionally on the cheek or playfully elsewhere, but most of the time, the meaningful kisses land on his forehead. And for a couple of months now, when I request a kiss, I do not get lips in my direction, but a lean in of the head. Its got to be the cutest, sweetest thing ever. He completely associates kisses with his forehead to someone’s lips (he does it to Steve too). He even makes a “mmmmaaaah” sound when putting his head down and heading towards my lips. Its so precious, I dont even want to correct it. Even though I sometimes get head butted before I realize that he wants a kiss…