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.