We woke up early in the morning to get ourselves ready and out the door. We went out and got a taxi (Brian got a taxi card for the Renaissance the night before). We got to the Renaissance at about 7:30 and the front desk told us that they'd have our room ready in 50 minutes. So we had breakfast and checked in at 8:20. We had to hurry and get all of the gifts together and wrapped and walk to SWS by 9:10. It's really only a 5 minute walk from our hotel, but we had to find it!
We left at about quarter of and started walking. After turning one way and wandering a little looking OBVIOUSLY lost two very nice women came up to us and asked if were looking for SWS! :) Wow! Did we stand out or what?!? There was obviously no other reason we would be there holding a bunch of gift bags looking lost! They pointed us in the right direction and we made it just on time. Our awesome Social Worker was just finishing up. She jumped up and greeted us and asked us to wait on the couch for 5 minutes. Then she said, ready to go? Wow! We're actually going? We gave her and the directors their gifts and headed to the van. The van ride seemed endlessly long to me. So far I had enjoyed any rides we had taken because there was so much to see. Brian kept pointing things out and I would just nod and smile and was completely useless, lost in thoughts of my son and what this meeting would be like.
When we finally got there our SW (social worker) encouraged us to take pictures of the outside of where he lived (we wanted to but were hesitant) so we can show him one day. Then we went in....
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Seoul Day 1
We got to our Hotel at about 7 am and checked in immediately! We were floored! And thrilled! We got to our room, explored it a bit (it wasn't huge), admired the view, took a shower, and took a NAP! We woke up at about 11 am and started the day much more refreshed. I know many people wouldn't recommend this but it allowed us to stay up until a decent hour that night and we really didn't struggle with jet lag much at all (thank you God for melatonin each time I woke up in the middle of the night too!).
I will do a quick plug for melatonin - it helped me adjust SO well with ZERO grogginess at all. For anyone traveling soon - we brought the 3 mg pills that we bought at Walmart and one of those just as I laid down to relax had me dozing quickly with no problems waking up. I'd even feel fine using it with my kids around, I'd wake up just fine.
OK, so then we ate lunch at the hotel buffet that had a mix of more traditional Korean food and some western food. It was a good start since we were hungry and didn't have to search far. The hotel buffets are expensive but they are very good, easy, and not intimidating (you can take things on your plate and try it without committing to a whole meal). There were several kinds of Kimchi and seafood was prevalent. The desserts are always interesting in Korea. You never know what might be inside, but often it's good!
After lunch we went back to the room. I was a little hesitant to go out until we heard from SWS and I was thrilled when they called soon after we returned. We were going to SWS to meet Suhbin at 9:10 the next day. I could now enjoy the rest of the day.
Once we were set with SWS we decided to explore the subway. We went to Seoul Station and checked out Lotte Mart. Lots of fun! We walked around the city a little bit and tried to get oriented. We knew we weren't going to accomplish a ton that day due to getting adjusted and spending more time than we'd hoped at the hotel, but we got out and explored. We ate in a little Pho place (which isn't Korean but the weather was pretty miserable and we wanted something warm so we decided to try it). It was very good. We also got an interesting appetizer sampler. We still don't know what we ate but it most of it we liked. A couple things didn't have much flavor so we didn't eat anymore. The thing with the claw sticking out was surprisingly good. I'll have to add some pictures soon! :)
We headed back to the hotel. It was raining and we were getting tired. We decided to take a cab back. At each hotel they will give you a card with their name and location written in hangul - it's wonderful so you can always get back. And taxis are cheap! We were so surprised. I think the MOST expensive taxi ride we had was $14 and that was 40-45 minutes in length. Amazing!
Back at the hotel we got everything organized b/c we had to switch hotels in the morning before going to SWS. We re-packed all of the gifts and gift bags in one suitcase so we could access it easily, set out our clothes, got everything set and went to sleep! I was so excited and anxious about the next day I'm surprised I could sleep. But we both slept well!
I will do a quick plug for melatonin - it helped me adjust SO well with ZERO grogginess at all. For anyone traveling soon - we brought the 3 mg pills that we bought at Walmart and one of those just as I laid down to relax had me dozing quickly with no problems waking up. I'd even feel fine using it with my kids around, I'd wake up just fine.
OK, so then we ate lunch at the hotel buffet that had a mix of more traditional Korean food and some western food. It was a good start since we were hungry and didn't have to search far. The hotel buffets are expensive but they are very good, easy, and not intimidating (you can take things on your plate and try it without committing to a whole meal). There were several kinds of Kimchi and seafood was prevalent. The desserts are always interesting in Korea. You never know what might be inside, but often it's good!
After lunch we went back to the room. I was a little hesitant to go out until we heard from SWS and I was thrilled when they called soon after we returned. We were going to SWS to meet Suhbin at 9:10 the next day. I could now enjoy the rest of the day.
Once we were set with SWS we decided to explore the subway. We went to Seoul Station and checked out Lotte Mart. Lots of fun! We walked around the city a little bit and tried to get oriented. We knew we weren't going to accomplish a ton that day due to getting adjusted and spending more time than we'd hoped at the hotel, but we got out and explored. We ate in a little Pho place (which isn't Korean but the weather was pretty miserable and we wanted something warm so we decided to try it). It was very good. We also got an interesting appetizer sampler. We still don't know what we ate but it most of it we liked. A couple things didn't have much flavor so we didn't eat anymore. The thing with the claw sticking out was surprisingly good. I'll have to add some pictures soon! :)
We headed back to the hotel. It was raining and we were getting tired. We decided to take a cab back. At each hotel they will give you a card with their name and location written in hangul - it's wonderful so you can always get back. And taxis are cheap! We were so surprised. I think the MOST expensive taxi ride we had was $14 and that was 40-45 minutes in length. Amazing!
Back at the hotel we got everything organized b/c we had to switch hotels in the morning before going to SWS. We re-packed all of the gifts and gift bags in one suitcase so we could access it easily, set out our clothes, got everything set and went to sleep! I was so excited and anxious about the next day I'm surprised I could sleep. But we both slept well!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day!
I spent Mother's Day flying to my baby boy! Wow! Such a blessing! :) The trip was fantastic. I slept for at least half of it. Korean Air was great. The flight attendants are beautiful (really!) and attentive, they always have a smile on their face. The food was way better than expected. I had Bee Bim Bop that was surprisingly good (I like Bee Bim Bop, the surprise was that airplane food was good) and Brian had the American food, he liked it a lot.
I had some books on the Kindle and read a little. I watched part of Jurassic Park. I prayed. My mind wandered to my sweet boy quite frequently, and I slept (I knew we were getting in at 4 am so I figured it was a good idea). Breakfast in the morning was also good, I stuck with the continental breakfast (my stomach was slightly off by this time and in the morning normally I struggle to try new things) and it was really decent. It was wonderful to touch down in Incheon.
When we got there we went through Immigration. I had no problems but of course Brian did. They saw his military back pack and possibly his hair cut and made an assumption and asked for his orders. He was trying to communicate with them that he was not there on orders, he was just visiting. It was only a couple of minutes but I didn't know what was going on since I had already gone through and I got nervous. But he came through just fine.
We got our bags and went through Customs VERY quickly! We exchanged money (definitely the best rates around at the airport - so glad we brought cash to exchange - we exchanged enough for the whole week).
Then, after a bit of exploring, we found the correct KAL Limo Bus to get to our hotel but we had JUST missed it. We had about 40 minutes until the next bus so we went in and found Dunkin Donuts. I had a sticky rice-based donut that was actually a bit different but good. And we had much needed coffee! We got back to our stop and saw A and A with their families. Some of the nicest people you could ever meet! So we talked with them until we boarded the bus. The KAL Limo Buses are fantastic. I loved the ride into Seoul. I was fascinated by everything I was seeing. I took a lot of pictures though they only turned out OK since they were through a bus window. I couldn't believe we were FINALLY in Korea!!! Happy Mother's Day!!!!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
We're leaving on a Jet Plane
What a crazy day! We left the house at about 5 to be there early (perhaps a little earlier than necessary). Our flight out of AZ was at 9 but it takes us an hour and a half to get to the airport. Things went smoothly and we got to LAX. We had 13 hours until our flight. We went to Korean Air to check in and get rid of our bags, but you can't do that until 4 hours before your flight! So we were stuck with all of our bags for 13 hours and weren't sure what to do. We looked into paying to go to one of those lounges for the day, but for $100 (the cost of the lounge for 2 people) we were able to rent a hotel room near the airport with a shuttle. I took a bath, Brian took a shower, and we slept! It was wonderful! We then went down to dinner without any bags and just had a relaxing day. It was a bit indulgent but totally worth it (especially since we saved over $300 by flying out of AZ in the morning instead of later in the day so we still saved over $200). :)
At about 8:00 pm we checked in (we were thrilled that we were sitting together), we looked around a bit then went through security. As we were checking in I saw that a couple on one of the adoption boards that I frequent was on the same flight! So fun! We found them at the gate and the wait for boarding passed quickly talking with them. :)
At 11:20 pm we boarded our flight and at 11:50 we took off for Seoul! I went immediately to this screen that I watched for a large part of the trip! :)
More about the flight to come. :)
At about 8:00 pm we checked in (we were thrilled that we were sitting together), we looked around a bit then went through security. As we were checking in I saw that a couple on one of the adoption boards that I frequent was on the same flight! So fun! We found them at the gate and the wait for boarding passed quickly talking with them. :)
At 11:20 pm we boarded our flight and at 11:50 we took off for Seoul! I went immediately to this screen that I watched for a large part of the trip! :)
Friday, May 11, 2012
You guessed it!!!! Those magical letters!
Praise God, I can finally type these letters!!! TC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! It's so surreal and we are leaving tomorrow!!!! Wow! Crazy, crazy, I'm almost did cartwheels through Walmart today.
OK, here's how it happened. I almost cried when it hit 6:30 (9:30 eastern) because I thought no TC today. We were told it would be the FIRST THING in the morning so we wouldn't spend all day expecting it. So I called K with a question and left a message (A was out of the office). When the phone rang 5 minutes later I though it was K calling back so I didn't get too excited. She started with the small talk, how are you? I said doing OK and she said "I think you're about to be doing a whole lot better" and I started crying. I almost couldn't believe it! She hadn't even gotten my message so it was just TC!!! :) It was crazy. My husband has been calling me E all day b/c I'm bouncing off the walls! :) I'm going to get my son! He is coming home!!!!!!!!!
OK, here's how it happened. I almost cried when it hit 6:30 (9:30 eastern) because I thought no TC today. We were told it would be the FIRST THING in the morning so we wouldn't spend all day expecting it. So I called K with a question and left a message (A was out of the office). When the phone rang 5 minutes later I though it was K calling back so I didn't get too excited. She started with the small talk, how are you? I said doing OK and she said "I think you're about to be doing a whole lot better" and I started crying. I almost couldn't believe it! She hadn't even gotten my message so it was just TC!!! :) It was crazy. My husband has been calling me E all day b/c I'm bouncing off the walls! :) I'm going to get my son! He is coming home!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Hurray and Thank yous!
OK, first off - SUHBIN'S VI IS SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW!!! :) I almost didn't call today. Last night I told Brian that I wasn't sure I could handle hearing no more news again. I thought maybe I'd wait and call Thursday, maybe do every other day. But he looked at me strangely and said that we are down to single digit days. He didn't want it to stress me out but he thought it would be good to check for planning purposes. Well, I called. And the wonderful guy that answered the phone got my info and said, that his Visa Interview is scheduled for tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW! Finally! This step is the part where I'm letting myself get excited! My best friend said to me "Just think, next week you're going to meet your son!" and I was shocked. It was almost too much - no way! I'm actually going to meet him after all this time?!?
So....packing?!?
I also mentioned some thank yous. I want to start off by thanking my friend Becky. I can not begin to tell you how much I have relied on her and been blessed by her friendship since moving here. We met and started our friendship in the DC area and I was just so thankful that we were moving here together. And each day I just thank God for such a wonderful friend!
Last weekend she hosted a shower for us. She kicked me out of the house, decorated, got food ready, and welcomed us back. A couple of friends came and it was just an amazing afternoon! I also want to thank Anna for the AMAZING cake she made - you can see it at the top of our blog. I am beyond thankful and amazed at how blessed we have been. Thank you thank you thank you!
Thank you to my friends who have listened to me obsess about this process for so long and are probably praying for it to be over so my brain can return somewhat to normal! :) Especially H! I love you and I couldn't have survived this without you and thank God for you (and M,C,B,C, and E) daily!!!
Thank you so much to my amazingly supportive family! Especially my parents who flew out here even though we didn't know for sure when we'd be leaving and have relieved such an amazing amount of stress!!! We love you so much!
Hoping the next post has those magical letters in it.....T......C...... ;)
So....packing?!?
I also mentioned some thank yous. I want to start off by thanking my friend Becky. I can not begin to tell you how much I have relied on her and been blessed by her friendship since moving here. We met and started our friendship in the DC area and I was just so thankful that we were moving here together. And each day I just thank God for such a wonderful friend!
Last weekend she hosted a shower for us. She kicked me out of the house, decorated, got food ready, and welcomed us back. A couple of friends came and it was just an amazing afternoon! I also want to thank Anna for the AMAZING cake she made - you can see it at the top of our blog. I am beyond thankful and amazed at how blessed we have been. Thank you thank you thank you!
Thank you to my friends who have listened to me obsess about this process for so long and are probably praying for it to be over so my brain can return somewhat to normal! :) Especially H! I love you and I couldn't have survived this without you and thank God for you (and M,C,B,C, and E) daily!!!
Thank you so much to my amazingly supportive family! Especially my parents who flew out here even though we didn't know for sure when we'd be leaving and have relieved such an amazing amount of stress!!! We love you so much!
Hoping the next post has those magical letters in it.....T......C...... ;)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
EPs and a Story
Praise God - EPs have been approved!!! :) Now a story...
About 6 years ago we dropped off my husband and he got onto a bus that drove away. We waved and I had tears in my eyes. 14 month old B had no idea what was going on. He waved and was a bit upset that Mommy was upset, but he didn't realize he wasn't going to see Daddy again in a few days, this was to be (another) year long deployment. A few days later we moved out of our apartment and in with my best friend and her two kids (note that we spent pretty much every work day together so this was a very familiar and safe place to B with people he LOVES). A few days after all of this transpired, I saw a change in my boy. He wasn't the happy baby he'd always been. He was clingy, cried more, not has bubbly and my awesome sleeper wasn't sleeping well. My friend told me that she didn't realize 1 year olds could get depressed. It was so sad. He really struggled with Daddy being gone (that was the hardest) and with moving (even though it was somewhere he loved to be). For the first month - 6 weeks of my husband's deployment my baby boy had a really hard time.
We are celebrating today that Exit Permits were approved! Yahoo! This is fantastic news!!!
But Suhbin isn't celebrating. He doesn't know that it happened and he's not fully aware of the changes ahead. He is going to be ripped from all of the family that he knows, all the familiar places, smells, sights, sounds. He is going to be with people who speak a different language, eat different food, and there will be next to nothing familiar.
So while B's story was heartbreaking - my poor 1 year old boy had a really tough time. S's is so much harder! B still had Mommy and friends and a lot of familiar places. S will have almost nothing familiar.
Because of this transition Brian and I will be meeting all of Subhin's needs. Only the two of us will change, feed, bath, dress, and comfort him. He will not go to child care at church or PWOC or MOPS for quite a while. We will allow only a select few people to hold him at first (basically family). I will probably be carrying him around in a carrier most of the time that we're out. We probably won't be out as much for the first couple of weeks. We need to teach S that we are his parents. Often children who have this kind of rough transition either struggle to attach at first or "parent shop" - wondering who he'll go off with next. We want him to learn that we are permanent. The adjustment will be slow but there will probably be great strides after a couple of weeks, then each month. After a bit we'll ease up but right now this is the plan.
Thanks for understanding! We are so thankful for all of the amazing support everyone has shown us! We are so blessed! We will be inviting anyone local who wants to to welcome Suhbin home at the airport in Tucson. :) More details once we know them!!! :)
About 6 years ago we dropped off my husband and he got onto a bus that drove away. We waved and I had tears in my eyes. 14 month old B had no idea what was going on. He waved and was a bit upset that Mommy was upset, but he didn't realize he wasn't going to see Daddy again in a few days, this was to be (another) year long deployment. A few days later we moved out of our apartment and in with my best friend and her two kids (note that we spent pretty much every work day together so this was a very familiar and safe place to B with people he LOVES). A few days after all of this transpired, I saw a change in my boy. He wasn't the happy baby he'd always been. He was clingy, cried more, not has bubbly and my awesome sleeper wasn't sleeping well. My friend told me that she didn't realize 1 year olds could get depressed. It was so sad. He really struggled with Daddy being gone (that was the hardest) and with moving (even though it was somewhere he loved to be). For the first month - 6 weeks of my husband's deployment my baby boy had a really hard time.
We are celebrating today that Exit Permits were approved! Yahoo! This is fantastic news!!!
But Suhbin isn't celebrating. He doesn't know that it happened and he's not fully aware of the changes ahead. He is going to be ripped from all of the family that he knows, all the familiar places, smells, sights, sounds. He is going to be with people who speak a different language, eat different food, and there will be next to nothing familiar.
So while B's story was heartbreaking - my poor 1 year old boy had a really tough time. S's is so much harder! B still had Mommy and friends and a lot of familiar places. S will have almost nothing familiar.
Because of this transition Brian and I will be meeting all of Subhin's needs. Only the two of us will change, feed, bath, dress, and comfort him. He will not go to child care at church or PWOC or MOPS for quite a while. We will allow only a select few people to hold him at first (basically family). I will probably be carrying him around in a carrier most of the time that we're out. We probably won't be out as much for the first couple of weeks. We need to teach S that we are his parents. Often children who have this kind of rough transition either struggle to attach at first or "parent shop" - wondering who he'll go off with next. We want him to learn that we are permanent. The adjustment will be slow but there will probably be great strides after a couple of weeks, then each month. After a bit we'll ease up but right now this is the plan.
Thanks for understanding! We are so thankful for all of the amazing support everyone has shown us! We are so blessed! We will be inviting anyone local who wants to to welcome Suhbin home at the airport in Tucson. :) More details once we know them!!! :)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
April 16th...
I meant to post this on Monday but I wanted to say that it has been 2 years and 5 months since we started this process. That means next month should be 2 1/2 years. Since Monday my mind was on the fact that Suhbin was DEFINITELY submitted for his EP this month, I forgot to blog. I didn't even blog about that! Wow! Bad Mommy!!!
So....on April 16th, 2 years and 5 months after starting this process, we got confirmation that our baby boy definitely has been submitted (sometime this month) for EP and WILL be home in May!!! Hoping the 2 1/2 year mark has us in Seoul!!!
So....on April 16th, 2 years and 5 months after starting this process, we got confirmation that our baby boy definitely has been submitted (sometime this month) for EP and WILL be home in May!!! Hoping the 2 1/2 year mark has us in Seoul!!!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Guess our TC!!! :)
Hi all! Time for a give away! :)
We have not been told 100% that we've been submitted for EP so this is all based on assumption and hope, but I'm ready to be excited! So, we are fairly sure that we will get our travel call sometime in May. Our best guess is sometime the first two weeks of May (just to narrow it down a bit for those of you who are not familiar with Korean Adoption timelines).
I'm giving away a bracelet from Twirling Trees - the "family" bracelet. Amazing story, read all about it on her site! :)
Thanks for playing!!! :)
We have not been told 100% that we've been submitted for EP so this is all based on assumption and hope, but I'm ready to be excited! So, we are fairly sure that we will get our travel call sometime in May. Our best guess is sometime the first two weeks of May (just to narrow it down a bit for those of you who are not familiar with Korean Adoption timelines).
I'm giving away a bracelet from Twirling Trees - the "family" bracelet. Amazing story, read all about it on her site! :)
Thanks for playing!!! :)
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
15 months
My son is 15 months old today. Each month he gets older it's hard to think of him as older. The most recent pictures I have of him are from his 1st birthday - for 1 year olds, that 3 months makes a difference. The most recent developmental update is from 10 months old - that 5 months is huge. But hoping that the 16 month mark brings EP approvals.
News on the street is that SWS EPs will be submitted today. There was rumor last week that SWS submitted, but then today we heard they are about to. Hoping to hear some good news soon! The exciting thing a friend helped me realize is that with SWS it looks like (though I could be wrong) that they tried to get all of those who sent their acceptance to Korea in 2011 to travel. Ours was sent the first week of January since we got our referral less than a week before Christmas, so that means we would be one of the top of the list for EP submission/approval and TC - can't believe those letters are even a possibility in a few short weeks!!!
I pray that you all have a blessed Easter. Praise God for New Life in Christ!
News on the street is that SWS EPs will be submitted today. There was rumor last week that SWS submitted, but then today we heard they are about to. Hoping to hear some good news soon! The exciting thing a friend helped me realize is that with SWS it looks like (though I could be wrong) that they tried to get all of those who sent their acceptance to Korea in 2011 to travel. Ours was sent the first week of January since we got our referral less than a week before Christmas, so that means we would be one of the top of the list for EP submission/approval and TC - can't believe those letters are even a possibility in a few short weeks!!!
I pray that you all have a blessed Easter. Praise God for New Life in Christ!
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