a fantastic little soiree for my little bebe ...

Our amazing friends, Jenni, Kate and Matt, very thoughtfully threw a spectacular celebration this past weekend to celebrate the upcoming arrival of JD. They did a fantastic job - from designing the invitations, to selecting a cozy and warm venue (First Course, a cute local restaurant), to the yummy food and cupcakes.

It was so fun to celebrate with family and friends, we really did have an awesome time. And everyone was so kind to bring gifts for our little man - he now has some great toys, books, clothes and other baby necessities!

Thank you to everyone for showering us with love and fun gifts for our little prince!! And thank you to Jenni, Kate and Matt for a memorable day :)

mama and papa to be

is this for the prince or for aunt jenni?

jenni, the hostess with the mostest, gets fresh w/papa

matt and kate, host and hostess

jenni with the baby whisperer

michelle and liz, double trouble!

randy and joanne, the best neighbors i never see!

sibs

wonderful family and friends ...

happy first birthday to JD!!

My little babe is 1 year old!  It's bittersweet, as I thought we'd be celebrating with him.  But I'm keeping my chin up and my eye on the prize - hopefully it's less than 2 months until that little nugget is home with his mama!!

In Korea the 1st birthday is a very significant event (well, it is in the US too).  They have a celebration called a "dol janchi" (also called Tol).  We had the opportunity to experience this first-hand when our friends (she moved to US from Korea 7 years ago) had this celebration for their little boy almost 3 years ago ... it was a fun celebration wiht family and friends. 

In a nutshell, here is how it works:
The child wears a special hanbok garment and the highlight of the festivities is the "dol jabi" ritual where they bring out a low table with several items on it, each representing a different path the child's future will take.  The child is urged to grab an object off the table.  Here are the meanings of some of the typical objects used in this ritual:

• bow and arrow:  he'll become a warrior or have a military career
• money or rice:  he will be wealthy
• pencil, pen:  he'll be a writer/journalist
• artists brush:  he will be an artist
• book, calligraphy set:  he'll be a scholar
• travel literature:  he will travel far and wide
• cakes or other foods:  he will be a government official (although I assigned this to mean he'd be a famous chef)

So David got the above items, a birthday cake and birthday hats for our 2 dogs (Ginger and Kramer) and we decided that THEY would determine our child's future (very cute idea, David)!

We placed the items on the floor and let the dogs loose.  There was a lot of running around and sniffing.  And then, finally, Ginger grabbed a pen in her mouth!  And so it came to be:  JD shall be a famous writer ... but of course he will, with a name like JD Prince!

It's likely that JD experienced this ritual with his foster family this week - I'm hoping to get pictures someday.  And when we finally get our little prince home, perhaps we'll do the ceremony again (a few months late) and let him choose his own destiny (sorry Ginger).

Happy Birthday from all of us, little love!

- S