After Zoey was born, it was a bit surreal how all the anticipation was gone in a split second. Isaac put her in my arms and it seemed like the whole world just stopped. We took turns holding her as all the staff filed out of the room. We were left to enjoy those precious first moments with our new babe. We spent the first few hours FaceTiming family and making official introductions. It was so fun getting to tell people that we had our first girl, and that we had decided on the name Zoey Jean Craft. In keeping with our tradition, her first name is a biblical name; Zoe means life in greek and is found many times in the new testament, and her middle name is a family name from her paternal great grandmothers, Barbara Jean and Doris Jean.

We tucked our sweet girl into her bassinet beside the bed, and finally fell asleep about 7am; a bed has never felt so good. We slept until about 11am, and awoke to find the streets outside covered in a fresh dusting of snow. For a baby born to a Texan and a Mississippian, a snow day on her first day of life was extra special. The streets outside were quiet as we soaked up our new babe in our cozy room. And then the boys came to visit…

Our good friend Rebecca brought my dad and the boys up to welcome the newest Craft. They were so captivated by her…but still working on that calm and gentle thing.

We were given the option to go home that day but figured we would stay the night to try and rest up before officially heading home to be a family of 5; our sweet new angel had other plans. Just as we were crawling into bed after staying up to watch the classic Federer v. Nadal match up at the Australian open, Zoey started fussing. She had been so chill all day, we were sure that she was going to be the laid back kid we have never had. But guys, she screamed and screamed and screamed All. Night. Long. Finally around 3am, I just told Isaac to go walk the hallway with her until someone took pity on him and offered to take her. It worked like a charm.

The next morning I got to take a nice hot shower before we headed home…I was thinking man, this shower looks awfully familiar (in case you missed her arrival story).

As we were preparing to leave, one of the midwives came in to get Zoey and told us to come with her. Turns out we were getting a “how to bathe a baby tutorial” complete with translation. Lucky for Judah, because by that point he was reallllllly dirty.

Do you see this two bowl system??? One for soapy water one for clean water. We are also supposed to have all the clothes laid out in a manner so that she is never naked and cold. This lady would likely be appalled by our take-them-in-the-shower-and-hold-an-ankle-so-you-don’t-drop-them technique…

And we head home to the troops.

The next few weeks were a blur of new baby and house guests. My dad arrived in Seoul 6 days after my due date. He had be hesitant about coming after my due date as the goal was to be here to help with the boys while we were in the hospital, but I assured him I would still be pregnant…call it mother’s intuition. He stayed for a little over two weeks. It was a great time filled with playing trains, ordering in, and granddad catching cat naps with Z.

Just before my dad left, Courtney, a family friend who is just out of college, arrived for a visit for a month to see Seoul and help out with a drama production at our school. I’m not quite sure what her plans were for wanting children before her visit but we may have scarred her for life.

While I did warn her that she would be walking into the chaos of a new baby, 3 under 3, and my dad being here, she still decided to come. Brave girl. I think she learned some valuable life lessons, like how (our’) kids don’t listen (ever), how they have a propensity for being disgusting, and that they get into EVERYTHING.

Bless her heart. She may have just been trying to be nice, but when she left she talked about wanting to see us this summer…maybe she figures she’ll be done with therapy by then.

Just to keep things interesting, on the same day that Courtney left, Isaac’s mom flew in. To be exact, Courtney flew out on the same plane Tina flew in on. Small world. We drove out to the airport to pick up “Nino” with little Z in tow. It was love at first sight.

Tina, Zoey, and I spent the next 2 weeks exploring Seoul and shopping while Isaac worked. We had the best time showing her around and were so grateful for the extra help.

The transition to three has been surprisingly easy, obviously by the grace of God. We have had only a couple moments where it has been very clear that our old way of doing things isn’t going to work anymore.

For instance the other day: We were coming in from the playground right at bath-time/bedtime. Isaac came in with Asher to change his diaper, I came in with Judah to put him in the bath, and try and keep the playground sand from infiltrating the entire house. Meanwhile, Zoey was at the door, fussing in the stroller.

Me- “Uhhh…Isaac can you get Z?

Isaac- “I am dealing with Asher, can you get her?”

Me- “Well I am trying to get Judah in the bath!”

*looks around waiting for the third parent to appear*

(If you, like Isaac, haven’t seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off…shame on you)

Naturally, we seem to have found our new rhythm justtt in time for our summer break in the U.S.; isn’t that how life goes? We are so grateful for our families, of blood relation and friends that for some reason claim us. Life abroad comes with so many extra challenges, so to our people coming all the way to visit, the ones cheering us on from the states, and friends taking us in as family here, we could not do this without you.