Thursday, August 5, 2010

We're Here! Part 2

Our first flight was to Chicago to catch Korean Air

Our oldest marvled at the size of the plane and couldn't wait to get on....... At about hour 6 with 6 more hours to go he couldn't wait to get off. He mistakenly assumed that once he ran out of movies to watch that the flight would be over. He also devoured anything they put in front of him. The next morning, at the hotel we dressed our best, ready to meet our daughter for the first time.We hailed a taxi to take us south of the river to our agency The excitement was building I tell ya.
Some of us were already emotional. By the way, this is the only one of the few pictures you'll see of me:(
I was either behind the camera most of the time, or asking the foster mother questions about our litle girls schedules and routines.

Coming at a later date will be a video we took on the the actual video camera instead of on our digital camera of our first meeting, that was a pretty sweet moment!
Our awesome cab driver and just one of the gifts we were giving the agency and foster families, the rest were in a suitcase in the trunk!
Here we are at the agency.......it was very surreal to even just see the sign! We arrived a whole hour early and waited in the lobby for our daughter's social worker to arrive.
We were able to see the baby reception rooms where our daughter spent the first few months of her life. This room was for babies only a few weeks old.
See those little heads in there?
And this one just beyond was for babies that were a few months old. There were about eleven or so babies in each room getting excellent care. It was a beautiful place.
This room at the agency was my favorite because this is where our daughter was in all of the pictures we received of her....look familiar?? After, we were put in a minivan and driven about 40-50 minutes away to the western part of
Seoul to her foster families apartment. Our social worker offered to take our picture in front of the complex. We headed up the elevator, across the balcony and as we got to the right door, this is what we saw!
Our little lady all smiles and happy to see us! We could tell how well she was cared for by her foster mom; she's such a happy girl.
We all sat on the floor and her foster mother brought out juice and asian melon for all.
Our little girl was not shy and helped herself. Our social worker translated our questions to her foster mother. We learned quite a bit about her routines and her likes and dislikes. We learned she looooves watermelon {she and pop pop can share one when she comes home}
She played quite a bit with each of us, her favorite of course was our oldest who was just as enchanted with her.
She was just as enchanted with daddy, maybe not so much with the scratchy beard though.....it just might have to go.
We only had an hour to spend with her, and since her nap time was approaching we had to go. We learned we could have had her a few days before our departure on Wednesday but they are waiting for her one year birthday pictures that were taken in the studio and if we want to take those home we have to wait until Tuesday to get her. That's alright, after all, we have a lifetime with her, don't we?
Her foster family gave her many lovely gifts.
Cute little sandals that squeak and a frame/mirror of her an outfit we sent in her care package.
Some fans and figurines for her to treasure
The traditional Hanbok worn for her first birthday

And best of all, an album with pictures that her foster mother took since the day she arrived. We were so excited to see them!
We'll check in later in the weekend with some sightseeing and especially Tuesday when we pick her up!

5 comments:

  1. Well, the journey is almost complete and "strangers no more" should be the caption for this blog.

    What a journey it has been.Such a long time,so many hurdles,so many steps,so many things that fell in place since October 2008.Your mom and I are so proud of your family.Your faith is strong and will continue to serve you well as new chapters in your life begin.

    A true "GOD is in control" story if there ever was one.

    I'll have a watermelon on ice to share the my new grandaughter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a beautiful start for the family! Looking forward to hearing all about the rest of your journey. She is so adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. All I can say is, well I'm speechless, what an awesome time in our family. Thanks for the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations! Praying for you all. We look forward to meeting her soon!

    ReplyDelete