Introducing Elaina Si-Yeon

This is our new little girl--or as her adoption referral paperwork calls her, "a nice lady".

Her Korean name is Si-Yeon (pronounced something like SEE YAWN as far as we can tell). "Si" means "share" and "Yeon" means "beautiful". As Heidi says, her birth parents shared with us a beautiful baby. We're going to keep "Si-Yeon" as a middle name and give her the Western name, "Elaina".

The mark on her face is an hemangioma. It's a birthmark that recedes and fades over time. Heidi and I think she's absolutely adorable, despite the birthmark, but naturally for her sake, we're glad that it will go away.

This picture was taken at her 5 month "well baby visit". She's very petite--12 pounds, but the doctors are happy with her growth curve and head size, and you can see from the chubby cheeks and fists that she doesn't look malnourished.

Since this picture, we've received a couple of updates saying that the hemangioma is receding. Sadly, we haven't received a new picture since this one--almost 4 months ago.

Si-Yeon was born on March 16th, and we'll be meeting her for the first time just before her ninth month, on December 15th.