The day we became a family of four!

WOW!!! Today was such an amazing, emotional day for all of us. This is the day we dreamed of. The day Kai officially became our son. The day we became his forever family. The day we finally became a family of four.

We left the hotel a little before 1pm and arrived at Holt a few minutes before 1:30. We walked into the office, and they directed us to the waiting room where we would have our meeting. We talked with our social worker who answered all of our questions just before Kai and his caregivers arrived. About 15 minutes later I saw Kai turning the corner through the mirror near the door. I just gasped…not believing that this moment was really happening. The RC nurse and one of the volunteers carried him in. He looked so adorable. Little green shorts with the cutest buttons on the back and a crisp clean white shirt with an alligator on it.

He sat on the volunteers lap and looked around the room studying each one of us. He slowly moved to a standing position near her and then sat on the floor. The nurse gave me a piece of cheese to feed him and I opened it and he walked over to the table to get a bite. It wasn’t long before we noticed some smiles showing through.

We talked for a few more minutes and then we headed downstairs for Kai’s preflight physical. There were so many babies in the office that day getting there WBC’s. All were so beautiful. The sw gave the nurse Kai’s medical folder and she looked at the name and then at him and said, “No not Seung Gi.” He was so loved by everyone and it was so hard for them to see him go. It only took the doctor a few minutes to check him over and we gave him our gift and headed back upstairs.

When we returned back to the office, we signed all of the documents and were given a blue bag from Holt. It was filled with diapers, wipes, formula, some clothes and a few gifts for our family. Then it was time to go. We asked for a picture of the three of them with Kai before leaving. Then it was when it all became real. As they handed him to me, I could see how very hard it was for the caregivers to hand him to us. It would be the last time they held him, touched him, saw his sweet, precious little face.

They walked us out and helped us to get a taxi. I turned to look at the caregivers and they had tears streaming down there face. I lost it. I began crying and held him so close to me. Then I gave each one a hug and thanked them for taking such good care of our baby. As they put us in the taxi they said, “goodbye and God bless” and shut the door. They waved as the taxi drove off and Kai began to cry and waved back to them. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done.

He cried for a few minutes and fell asleep on my chest on the ride home. Just feeling him so close to me and feeling his little heart beating made this whole journey worth every minute. At that point it didn’t matter how long we waited or the frustration between each step. He was with us and that is all that mattered.
When we arrived back at the hotel he woke up and was very scared. He had his eyes on all three of us, and if anyone left the room he got very upset and began to cry. We showed him his toys, feed him a bottle, gave him a snack, and skyped some of our family. He loves looking out of the window and also loves to be held…preferably held by someone who is standing up.

We decided to get out of the room for a minute and get some fresh air. We took him to the rooftop and took a few pictures. He noticed the pool, and boy did he want in. He was not up for walking around, so we took turns holding him…he is so heavy:) Here’s a cute story for you. There is a spot on the roof were you have a great view of Seoul Tower. Justin took Kai over to the spot and said Seoul Tower and pointed. Kai lifted his hand and pointed in the same direction and just smiled. He is such an amazing, happy little boy.

Later that evening, we met with the other families in the lobby to take pictures of Kai and one of the other babies. Most families are receiving their babies in the next few days. Since today was also Kai’s first birthday we bought him a little cake at the bakery on the corner and had a little party for him. We all gathered around and sang happy birthday and ate. He LOVES cake! He would smile with every bite. He really came out of his shell at the party. He walked around the room and even bowed when seeing knew people…so cute!

We ended our first night with Kai with a bath. He loves water too! He splashed water everywhere and thought it was the funniest thing ever. We put on his pj’s and made him a bottle. He wouldn’t let either of us cuddle him or feed it too him, so we layed him on our bed and he drank it by himself. A few minutes later Justin tried to pick him up to hold him, but noticed he was sound asleep. We all gave him a kiss and put him in his bed. He slept from 8:30-7:30. He whimpered a few times during the night but went right back to sleep. He is such a great baby!

Such an amazing feeling to know our family is complete and we are finally all here together. Thank you to all who have prayed for us and followed our journey. We loved sharing this experience with you. We will update again once we are home.

Family Day!

I know you all are anxious to see pictures from our family, so I went ahead and posted a few to hold you over. It was such an amazing, emotional day for all of us. Kai is doing really, really well. We are so very blessed to two absolutely beautiful children. I will write more about our day soon.

Please keep us in your prayers as we leave tomorrow and an easy transition.

Love to all!

I'm Loving It

HeHeHe





How cute are those little girls? The littlest one walked over to our table and said, "She is beautiful. Can I take a picture with her?" Each girl took their picture with Lydia, and then we took one of them together. After the picture they came back to give Lydia a colorful rice cake...so sweet!

Namdaemun Market and Seoul Station

This morning we ventured out to Namdaemun market with a few new friends we met at breakfast. It has been pouring down rain for days now, but we decided it was either tour in the rain or not tour at all. So we grabbed our umbrellas and off we went.

We took the subway to the market and the rain started as a sprinkle and then continuously got worse from there. We looked at a few shops and decided to move on to our next location. Most of the shops were closed...either due to the rain or it being Sunday here. Justin has been trying to find Sungnyemun (south gate) but we haven't had much luck in finding it. As we were standing on the street corner trying to find the subway, we looked up and there part of it stood. It burnt several years ago and they are trying restore it.

Our next stop was the Seoul Station. We finally found the Lotte Mart we have been looking for inside. Lydia was thrilled to see an actual toy store and we even found a few cute toys to entertain brother with tomorrow.

On our way out we noticed a Pizza Hut and decided to give it a try for lunch... IT WAS AWESOME!!! Isn't that horrible to be so excited over a pizza hut. The food was great and everyone felt much better after getting some full bellies.

We ended our day kind of early since it is raining so hard outside. We were completely drenched by the time we got back to our room. Everyone changed clothes and J and L are now fast asleep.

Tomorrow is the BIG day! Our little boy will be ours forever!

Shopping on the streets!

The last two nights we have done some shopping in Insadong. LOVE that we have finally found some streets to shop at rather than the big malls. Lydia loves going to the street and picking out gifts for her and Kai. So far we bought her a little blue purse and wallet, a blue purse for myself, a piece of artwork for Kai's room and some little figurines and daddy bought a lantern for his office. Both nights it has been pouring down rain and it is hard to move down the street with a small child and three huge umbrellas, but we are managing. Hopefully the sun will return quickly and shopping will be a bit easier and more enjoyable.





Can you see the standing water on the side of the road?

Seoul Tower

This morning at breakfast, we ran into an adoptive couple that are also adopting a little boy and live fairly close to us as well. They had mentioned touring Seoul tower that afternoon, and we asked if they would mind us joining them. We were in desperate need of someone to talk to, and guide us through this huge city. They were so gracious to let us tag along with them and we had a great time.

We took the metro for the very first time, and it was actually really neat. Then we had to take a bus to the tower. The bus literally drove straight up a hill for what seemed like miles. Once we got to the top the bus unloaded and then you had to walk the rest of the way up the hill. It was a killer. I can't believe I made it to the top. Lydia was, and has been a trooper this entire trip. She goes every where and usually has a smile on her face. There have been a few times she has gotten extremely tired and then crashed.

Anyways, once we reached the top we put a lock of love on the wire fencing right next to the tower. Lydia has been asking to do this since day one, so we were glad we finally had the chance to do it before getting Kai. I wish he could have been there with us, but I would have never made it up the hill with that adorable, chunky little man on my back...lol.

We then looked through a few little shops and took an elevator to the top of the tower. The city is so amazing. I never imagined it would be this big. We even found a window that told us which direction Chicago and Hanoi, Vietnam was. Lydia loved that. We have been thinking about going again at night to see the city all lit up. They put on some type of laser show which I think would be really cool.

The view from where the bus dropped us off.





Ice Cream shop in the Tower.

Second meeting with Kai

Today was our second meeting with Kai. The visit was great! We arrived at the RC just before 10am and took the elevator up to the 3rd floor. Directly in front of the elevator is the room Kai is living in. We dropped our packages next to the door and looked in the window. We didn’t see Kai right way, but then noticed him walking across the room from the other side. He sat down and looked up at the door. We all waved and he waved back. Not sure if he recognized us or if he was really waving to us at all, but that is what we are going to say:)

We knocked on the door and one of the caregivers let us in. We slowly walked into the room and I sat down across from where he was sitting. He gave me a really long stare, and then moved to the other side of the room…but no tears. YAY!!! He noticed Lydia and started smiling right away. She gave him a toy that mamaw Marcy bought for him awhile back that she has slept with to keep it safe for Kai. He loved his little turtle. He held it for the longest time, squeezing his poor little head off.

He warmed up fairly quickly today and even let us hold him a lot more. He is a chunk, very solid. He still likes his big sister the best, but for some reason today she didn’t’ want much to do with him. I think she was too busy playing with all of the toys. He LOVES cameras…fits right into the family doesn’t he? Every time we clicked a picture, he would come walking over to us to try and take it.

Towards the end of our visit, I through him up in the air and would tickle his belly. He let out the cutest little giggles. He was so full of smiles today too. So glad our visit went so well today. Really put big smiles on our faces today.

The next time we see that sweet boy he will be ours forever…Can’t wait!












I will try to post some video tomorrow!