Judah is getting a passport!

Today we went to the US Embassy to apply for Judah's passport. Getting his passport photo was a monumental task. It had to be on a white background, fully facing the camera, baby's eyes open, and no parents' arms or hands showing. Geeze! It took about 100 different photos to get one that worked. Here are some of the funniest shots we got.

And here's the one we finally settled on.

We also had to bring lots of documents: passport application, photo, birth certificate, report of birth abroad application, social security application, and our marriage certificate. We only had a copy of our marriage certificate. They wanted the original but thank goodness they accepted a copy. We should be getting his passport in 2-3 weeks. Yay...Judah gets to come home with us!

Our little family in the taxi on the way home

Pictures from the 1st week of Judah's life

We can't help but show off this adorable baby.

check out my reddish-blond hair

this is my friend Dudley

at Starbucks with mom. We had a caramel frappacino

Our friends Calvin and Ariel who drive us around Korea in
their car. They're really nice and have helped our family a lot.

1 day old

snuggled up in my hana wrap doing skin to skin with mom

I'm a Mac baby for life!

peepee teepee keeps me from peeing everywhere

Me and my friend Sophie the giraffe

my car outfit from Grandma Hankins

First bath with daddy. I love bathtime.

Newborn Photo Shoot

Today we had a photographer come do newborn pictures. We're so excited to see the results! You can see some of her work on her blog:
http://ilzelouwphotography.blogspot.kr/

She's a really great photographer. This was her first newborn shoot. Judah didn't cooperate very well at first so we had to give him a pacifier (we hadn't introduced the pacie before this point). By the end of the shoot, we were able to get the pacifier out and get a few shots without it. Silly baby.

Here's a preview:

Baby Judah is Here!!!

Judah Christopher Hankins entered the world at 2:48pm on June 22,2012  here in Seoul, South Korea. When we woke up at 8 am that morning Ashley's water broke and she started having contractions. After they started progressing quickly, Lisa our doula arrived at 10:15am. We discussed the option of going to the birth clinic or staying at home; we decided to stay at home for the birth. 4 1/2 hours later he was born here at the officetel. Thank you for all your prayers during this time, God is good! A mother's perspective of the birth coming soon...

Baby Shower in Korea

Last week, some wonderful friends from church threw me a "surprise" baby shower. Since we are moving back to Korea in August, most of the gifts were monetary which was a huge blessing because we still had things to buy here like diapers, a bathtub, and a couple other things. Maybe the money can go towards Baby's passport as well. We want him to leave the country with us when we go in August. We had a lot of fun at the shower and were super blessed by everyone.

waiting to surprise

We played a game where 2 teams had to dress 1 person

  like a baby.

I picked Janine as the best-dressed baby.

Melody wasn't too happy about it. :)

Rice cake cupcake party favors with Suzie's diaper cake in the background

They had to guess my belly's circumference in centimeters.

Rachel is informing them that the measuring tape doesn't fit all the way around.

 Thanks a lot!

My small group leader Suzie. She put the whole thing together. Thanks, Suzie!!

Smiles

Serious

Fun

My small group- Ariel, Esther, me, Suzie, Jinhee, and Rachel

Susie played us an original song with some added improv for baby at the end