Finally Forever a Germann Kid...

On Friday September 4, 2009 we finalized Ellie's adoption in court. Ellie will of course always be South Korean but today she also became and American and a Germann! Ellie became an American citizen when we adopted her and although she has been our little Eliana for a long time she is now legally Eliana Yeong Ah Germann. For our part we had to swear that we would raise Ellie and take care of her as our own child. We were more than happy to swear to that!

Judge Debra Jacobson presided over the hearing. I worked for Judge Jacobson my first two years out of law school so it was very special to have her finalize our adoption. Lots of friends and family joined us to celebrate the very special day. I can assure you that court is not usually this festive (no balloons for bad guys) and that all people don't get to have a cake reception in the court room but there some perks to working in the court system. Although we are just beginning the long journey of parenting Ellie, we are relieved to be at the end of the adotpion marathon.

Dressed in our best waiting for the hearing to start.

Swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The brand new Germann family with Judge Jacobson.

Abby, Gabe and Ellie sitting in the Judge's chair.

Every good party needs a cake.



Ellie may not know what adopted means but she definitely knows about cake!

Eliana Yeong Ah is 1 Year Old!

Today is Ellie's first birthday! We celebrated yesterday with friends and family. We made a Korean dinner for everyone (bulgogi, jap chae, sticky rice and kimchi). Everything turned out great (we were a little surprised since it was our first attempt at Korean cooking and a little nervous because it was all we were preparing for 20 people). Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and everyone made an attempt at eating with chopsticks. The kids especially enjoyed the chopsticks, although I am not sure they are meant for stabbing jellobars!

Ellie, Gabe and Abby wore their hanboks and Ellie performed the Tolijabee (a Korean tradition in which the baby is presented with some items and the first two she chooses are supposed to predictive of her future. Ellie chose scissors (which means she will be good with her hands) and rice (which means she will be wealthy). This was the first time Abby and Gabe got to wear the hanboks we bought for them in Korea and they were very proud to show them off.

By far Ellie's favorite part of the whole party was the CAKE! She jumped in with both hands and managed to get cake everywhere (she may have even eaten some).

Before...

A little taste....

"This is FUN!"

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"

And even though she LOVED her cake Ellie was willing to share a bite with Uncle Paul.

All in all Ellie seemed to thoroughly enjoy her very first birthday. She did very well with the crowd and even enjoyed playing with the other babies.

On Abby's and Gabe's birthdays my thoughts often turn to their entry into our world. Phil and I remember back to labor, c-sections and first cries. So today our thoughts turn to Ellie's birth mom. Surely she remembers pains of her labor and those first joyous cries. I am sure she wonders what became of the beautiful baby girl and what her life is like now. Our lives have been so richly blessed by the sacrifice Ellie's mom made. We hope that today and always her birth mom's life is as blessed as ours.

Today we also think of Tae Seog and Mi Sook, Ellie's foster parents in Korea. Ellie has been through so many transitions in her young life but they were all made easier by the foundation she received from her foster parents. We know they love Ellie and we know they are thinking of her today too.

Finally we will end with some of things we LOVE about Ellie:

-Her smile, she is always smiling.

-How she plays bashful by burrowing her face into our chest when she meets someone new.

-How she furrows her brow and glares when she is mad just like Mom and Gabe!

-How fast she is learning to sign and communicate. She knows the signs for more, milk, cracker and all done. She has also said cracker, all done along with lots of other babbling that will be words soon.

-Her tenacity when practicing a new skill. She isn't walking yet but it is not for a lack of trying.

-How much she loves Abby and Gabe and lights up when they come into the room.

-Her LOUD LOUD voice (oh wait...perhaps we'll like that more when she learns to whisper).

-Her long lovely eye lashes (Mom is so jealous).

Happy Birthday Ellie! We LOVE you.

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Our little man turned 3 today. He would say he is a "men" ( "we're mens, right Daddy?") and then break into the men's song (men, men, men). The last 3 years have just flown by. Gabe isn't a baby anymore and he isn't even the baby in the house anymore.

As he turns 3 Gabe appears to have found a new source of energy, one with a limitless supply. This energy, bordering on hyper, is exhausting mom and dad but there is only one word to describe our boy and that is...FUN! From the time he gets up in the morning until his last words in the evening, Gabe is hilarious.

Here are some of the other things we LOVE about Gabe:

* His vocabulary... spend a little time with him and Gabe will at some point certainly inform you about your "options."

* His singing...Gabe has a song for everything. One day while having lunch Gabe started to tell me how Ellie whines and cries and chews on his toys (this is only partially true). He then immediately broke into the chorus of a song called "Bad Babies," which goes like this "bad bad babies they whine and they cry, bad bad babies we don't know why."

* The way he calls anything he doesn't know the name for, thingydoodle.

* His storytelling. Gabe has an amazing imagination. One evening at dinner he told us a 20 minute story about the farm that was pictured on our gallon of milk.

* How loving he is. Gabe is the first to say I love you to Mom, Dad, Abby or Ellie. He is quick with hugs and kisses for the whole family. This is a conversation that occurred recently at lunch:

Gabe: I love you Momma.

Mom: I love you more Gabe.

Gabe: I love you more than cheese Momma. (This is indeed high praise, Gabe really

loves cheese).

Some pictures of Gabe at just a few weeks old. It is hard to believe he was ever that tiny.

Some pictures of Gabe today enjoying his birthday. Wow - has he grown!

Happy Birthday Gabe! We Love YOU!

Rochesterfest FUN..

Last week there was a week long event here known as Rochesterfest. There are many activities (hot air balloons, dog Frisbee contest, breakfast on the farm, parade etc.) and an entire street in Rochester that is closed down and filled with fair food vendors - YUM! We enjoy Rochesterfest every year and try to take in as many family activities as possible. We also try to consume as much fair food as possible!

On Wednesday night we went down for Family Fun Night. There are lots of free activities for the kids. Abby and Gabe got to paint a house in the Children's Museum of Rochester exhibit.

They also got to ride in a little train.


And shoot a real fire hose with the help of a real fireman!



Poor Ellie was too little this year and had to watch most of the events from the sidelines. Next year she will be able to keep up with the big kids.
Abby and Gabe shared a snow cone. How adorable is that?!?


On Friday night we attended the grand parade. We went early so we could again feast on the delectable fair food. Grandpa and Grandma G. joined us. We appreciated the extra helping hands at the parade!




Other friends joined us for parade watching as well. Here are Tammy, Joe and Isabella standing for the flag passing by. Isa already knows to cover her heart, that is pretty patriotic for a two-year old!

Our friends, Jeff, Polly, Eric, Gina and Luke took in the parade as well.

Some things...mostly the motorcycles were TOO LOUD for Gabe.

Abby and Gabe waiting to run out and catch candy. Yes, a trip to the candy aisle at Target would be safer and easier but in the minds of Abby and Gabe not nearly as much fun.

Ellie and Grandma Patt waiting for the parade to begin.

Father's Day!

We enjoyed celebrating Phil's first Father's Day with 3 kids! We gave him gifts on Saturday because we were too excited to wait until Sunday. Since it rained much of Sunday it was a good thing he got his gifts early. The kids gave Phil a water gun and enticed him into a water fight. He also got a portable fire pit and marshmallows and chocolate so we could make smores!

Daddy opening his gifts. Gabe and Abby were pretty excited

Let the games begin.Poor kids don't stand a chance against Daddy and his new weapon.

Ah, building a fire. Almost like our pre-kid camping days.
Smores are good!
Ditto!
Ditto, Ditto!

Without these three there wouldn't be a reason to celebrate Daddy's Day at the Germann House. Happy Father's Day Dad - WE LOVE YOU!

A visit from Grandma Ruby...

Grandma Ruby (Julie's mom) made it over for the grand birthday party and stayed a little extra to get to know the newest member of the family and play with Gabe and Abby.

Swinging with Ellie.

Catching bugs with Gabe.

Playing dominoes with Gabe.

A weekend of Birthday Celebrating...

Boy, are we behind on the blog. Phil says it is a sign that we have settled back into normal life. Two weekends ago (June 13/14) we had a birthday party for Abby and Gabe on Saturday. With all three kiddos having summer birthdays we realized that if we do not combine some parties we would spend every weekend of the summer having a party. Abby and Gabe did not mind sharing their party though I did have to reassure Abby several times that there would be presents for both of the them. The weather cooperated for some outdoor water fun and I think everyone had a great time.

Gabe liked turning the sprinkler into a weapon!

Abby and counsin Derek filling water balloons.

Gabe appears to be apprehensive about water balloons.

Isabella and Abby look so cute in their matching swim suits.

Sunbathing beauties (Angela, Alissa and Abby) looking a little too much like teenagers.

It was a farm birthday party and Gabe wanted a tractor cake. Aunt Laura made it for him.

Abby got a lamb cake. Thanks Aunt Laura!

Blowing out the candles!