One of the great pleasures of adopting a child who is not a newborn (in our case, 18 months old) is that they come with a personality. Our daughter, Adaleigh Ye-eun (Yay-aen), was shy at first but warmed up to us pretty quickly. This is pretty remarkable since we're the only Anglo people she has ever seen in her life. Although, she has been looking at pictures of us for some time and calling us "um-ma" (mother) and "ap-pa" (father). She seemed to make the connection between our pictures and our actual faces immediately. [On a side note, the foster mother and adoption agent both commented that April and I are better looking than they expected from our photos. I have no idea how to interpret that, but I'll take it as a compliment because it makes me feel better that way. The alternative is that they were expecting hideous creatures from the American lagoon.]
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| Adaleigh Ye-eun Mooney |
Back to Adaleigh. After her initial shyness, she became very expressive. She laughs a lot, covers her mouth and gasps as if shocked, dances on command, and is very formal. When you say "kamsamnida" (thank you), she nods in affirmation. When we said "annyonghaseyo" (good bye) she gave us a slow formal bow. She seems to be strong-willed and sassy, and, given that our son Gavin is a man's man in the making, Addie's girliness will bring welcome balance to the Mooney household.
While adoptive parents often crave to have those sweet days of a newborn, there is a certain romantic adventure to starting with a child with a largely formed personality. She is a little person that we get to know in coming days and weeks. Today (Tuesday) we spent an hour with her in her foster home, but we had to leave her. On Wednesday, we'll be tourists again, on our own in this giant city. We'll keep ourselves busy and try to enjoy ourselves until we take custody of Addie on Thursday. Then, the real adventure begins--returning to America.
More Pictures:
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| Being a very patriotic Korean, she LOVED her foster mom's Samsung phone. |
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| Eating a banana...on a stick. |
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| Not being a child easily contained, she's trying to escape and play with her phone. |
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| proud mom |
She is beautiful. I think she will be a drama star some day. Have a safe trip home.
ReplyDeleteLaura
You may be right. She's very expressive.
DeleteI don't know what to say. She's adorable!! And you two look so happy. I can't wait until Gavin can introduce her to us! Mom
ReplyDeleteI am weeping into my Pizza. Claire and I think she is beautiful, and I don't care what they say, you and April are quite fetching yourselves! Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patti. I can't wait to introduce her to you.
DeleteThis is precious. She seems like the sweetest little girl, and a great addition to your family! I laughed at the comment the foster mom said about you and your wife! -Sarah Nekonchuk
ReplyDeleteOkay, the comment that the foster parents made to you and your wife about being better looking just made me laugh out loud. Anyway, first of all i give more respect to an adopted parent then i do a biological parent; it seems to me that it would be more difficult to connect and raise an adopted child then it would a biological one. From stories I hear in class you and your wife seem to be experts from the beginning, both of your children seem to connect easily and form to a life in a different culture very well. I have a great deal of respect for you and your wife; you guys take doing anything and everything for your children to a different level. Both Gavin and Addie are extremely lucky to have you and your wife as parents. They are both adorable!
ReplyDelete-- Jordan Williams
P.S. If you need a babysitter, PLEASE ask me!
This is the sweetest thing ever. It must be quite an adventure when it comes to raising adopted kids. Ya'll are amazing people. You have not only change these kids life by taking them when they needed you but you are teaching them about God and thats amazing! There so cute! Congrats!!! ~Karalee Duker
ReplyDeleteShe is beatiful! It'll be interesting to see if she remembers anything about her birth place when she is older! I'm glad she is adjusting well and really settling in to y'alls family. It'll also be interstin got see how Gavin and her grow up together.. If they will be close and become best friends, or stray apart and be completely different!
ReplyDelete- Hannah C.
Just now read your post about Adaleigh! I think that this is really cool how you got the chance to adopt another child! It was really neat today when I was helping in Gavin's classroom today and he was talking all about Adaleigh!! I hope that she is adjusting well with all of your family. The pictures were really cool also!! --Brent Clay
ReplyDeleteI think this is just precious. She is a very blessed little girl. - emily hill
ReplyDeleteI loved the pictures and I am happy that you finally have her in your home. I laughed at the comment from the foster parents.Adaleigh is a lucky little girl to have such a wonderful, Godly family. You all are lucky to have her to help make your family whole. God is so good!!!
ReplyDeletethis is Anna Cain
DeleteThese pictures are so adorable! She is so precious. She is so blessed to have you and your as parents. I'm so happy that God blessed you guys to have such a beautiful and sweet daughter. I can not wait to watch her grow up! ~Matti Johnson
ReplyDeleteMr. Mooney, I just love your beautiful little girl. My husband and I have 5 children. We adopted 2 of them 6 years ago from Russia. They were 4 and 7 years old. I remember how exciting it was the first time we met. We know God has a special plan for all children but especially children like my adopted children who were abused. Our struggles have been unbearable at times but we still know God has a plan to reach them. We would love for all children to be adopted into a Christian home before they experience terrible things. Congratulations!! May God always bless your wonderful family! I am honored that you will be teaching Bible to my son this year. Diane Roark www.recipesforourdialybread.com
ReplyDeleteMrs. Roark, I hope we can meet in person soon. It's been a pleasure to know Casey. I'd love to meet the rest of your family as well. Blessings, Charlie Mooney (charlie.mooney(at)conwaychristianschool.org.
DeleteMr. Mooney your daughter is absolutely beautiful!! i do not get to see her often but i hope she is doing well. i know she is in good hands and she will be thankful to have you and your wife as her parents! she has a woderful Godly home to grow up in and people in this world do not realize what they take for granted. not everyone gets the chance to grow up in a wonderful family! - Haley Carter
ReplyDeleteShe is so beautiful! I know you and your wife will blessing to her as Christian parents, and I'm sure she'll be a blessing to your family too!
ReplyDelete-Catherine Lee
I love hearing you talk about Gavin and Adaleigh! They are so adorable. I love hearing all the adoption stories about you going to Korea and getting them, love the banana-on-a-stick-picture!! Her already knowing you and your wife from pictures, i've learned alot about adoption from your situation.
ReplyDelete-Megan Ledbetter
This is such a beautiful story! Although you and your wife have gone through many struggles in order to finally adopt your children, it's incredible to see your faith and patience. I do not know if I could do the same. While reading your questions, my mind is blown as people would honestly ask these. It's as if adopted children are not even seen as people to some people. Adoption is great though and i definitely want to adopt one day!
ReplyDelete-- Hannah Cates
She is so beautiful! Adoption is a great thing. I hope she will grow beautiful and be a nice girl. - Juwon
ReplyDeleteAdoption is a great thing to do! and... your family is so adorable. Especially the first picture! It's a beautiful family picture. I see Gabin at school everyday and i always think that he is so cute. God will always be with your family and bless you!
ReplyDeleteThey will grow up really fast haha... cause i grew up pretty fast.... i think..
God bless your family !