Remembering the Korean War

Yesterday Micah and I went to the Korean War Memorial. It was really emotional from the moment we walked up to the building and saw the sculpture. So touching. Also, the flags were amazing. We are so happy that this was one of the first things we did in Korea.

Korea has been through so much in its existance. Many, many, many wars. It is amazing how they have come from a war-ravaged nation to an amazingly wonderful nation in just over 50 years.

Everything I saw reminded me of my grandad. Without people like him and all the men and women in South Korea's armed forces, as well as the U.S., and many other nations South Korea would not be the incredible nation it is today.

This is the first part of the sculpture that I noticed. I cried because it made me picture my grandad holding Jude and protecting him with his life.

Look at this U.S. soldier sharing joy with a little Korean boy. I wish I could remember vividly all the stories my grandad told me about his time in the Navy. Even though I cannot remember all those stories, I do know that without a doubt grandad would have interacted with the children and been loving to the Korean people (he might have gotten himself in a little mischief too!)

Wow...this is another photo that got me.

This is the sculpture you come upon right as you walk up to the Memorial. I wish the photo could depect the entire beauty of it. It shows people of all walks of life, civilian and military all pushing forward for one cause.

In our arms

In our arms.....

From loving arms..... To mommy's arms....

What an incredible day. How do I describe meeting, holding, and loving my child for the first time in the flesh? Amazing. Simply amazing.

He is beautiful. He was content, timid, and loving.

We spotted him through a window in his foster mother's arms. I stood up right away and could barely breath. She came in and introduced us to our son. He gazed into our eyes, very curious. We went to a more comfortable room where she gave him to our social worker and soon after that she placed him in my arms. I did not know how he would react, or really how I would react.

I knew I had to hold it together. I would hate for his first impression of his mommy to be "whose the crazy lady and why is she sobbing?" I could not hold it in. I cried, I smelled his little neck and I kissed him all over his cheek and neck.

We then got to play with him on the ground with some toys. Mrs.Kim pointed to Micah and said "appa", which means "daddy" and he gazed into Micah's eyes. She pointed to me and said "omma,"...again, he looked into my eyes, very curious. This is when "appa" really about lost it.

After playing for awhile our social worker told us we could go look at the fish and show Jee Han and have him to ourselves for 30 minutes as long as he didn't cry too much. That is when Micah held him for the first time. He loved his daddy. Daddy even got him to smile a little bit. It is the cutest little smile you have ever seen. He smiles with one side of his lip and then realizes and it looks like he says to himself " I can't smile...be tough." Adorable. He didn't cry one time. He even laid his head on Micah's shoulder a few times.

Although he didn't appear as if he wanted to go away with us forever (he was being a little tentative), he did seem like he knew us somehow...just couldn't place it.

We love this little guy with all we are. We explained to him that we have loved him for a long time. We told him that his big brother and sister loved him very much and couldn't wait to see him. We prayed over him. We praised God.

What an amazing day....I can't imagine a better one.....well, maybe I can.....the day we get home and all my sweeties are right there all together, now that will be a glorious day!

We made it!!!!

The long treck is complete. We arrived in Seoul a few hours ago. The trip was long and uneventful, except that we did a lot of eating. Three meals to be exact on the way from DFW to Tokyo, and one meal from Tokyo to Seoul.

Micah and I both did a lot of reading on the plane. Unfortunatly, I forgot my book that my friend sent with me but I am so glad that I bought one at the airport. I read like a 250 page book.

Honestly, I have no idea how I am even functioning. I have always wondered how adoptive parents do it. How do they concentrate on anything knowing that in just 12 short hours (for us,now) we will be seeing our child for the first time. All I can say is, it is totally a miracle from God that I am not blubbering around Eastern.

We are both exhausted and didn't sleep much on the plane (yes, even with a little assistance from my friend, Ambien). I cannot believe that we are going to see Jude tomorrow. I really don't know how I will react. I have to try to maintain some sort of composure so that his first impression of me is not "who is the crazy lady with the ugly cry?"

CST 7pm Thursday we will be meeting Jude for the first time. Pray. Pray.Pray.

We love you.

Last blog in the USA

Last picture as a family of four!!! We are about to head to the airport in just a few short hours. Most likely, the next time I check this will be shortly before or after we meet our son for the very first time. 

I am filled with emotion, mostly excitement and nervousness.  We will be meeting Jude for the first time USA CST 7pm Thursday night. That will be 10 am in Korea. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers. 

Side Note: TO the bad guys: Please, do not plan on burglarizing our home. You will be sorely dissapointed. We have house watchers, house sitters, anti- thieving devices, and a cop (do ya' here this Chris?) that will be patrolling our home every moment! You will not be able to steal my joy friends, aint no way. 

Love you all!!!!! See ya' in "Ikea"...(that's how Rinny says it.ha)

Celebration Lunch

Man, I love this little guy with everything I am. I know this picture is awful quality, but can you see what Creed designed on his Etch A Sketch...it was an amazing manger scene that is very blog worthy.
Man, I love these two little folks too. The red head brings so much sweetness to our lives and the brown haired sure is cute and puts up from a lot of stuff from his wife, poor guy. 
Have you ever experienced a Pazookie...seriously, you need one, it will change your life. So, in honor of our son coming home, we went ahead and had TWO!
Rinn's look of "Stay away from my Pazookie!"
Creed had to lean down and just go to town on the last of his pazookie. 
While Rinn was scooping her pazookie out, she was pushing Micah's hand away. The ball of fire weighs a whopping 23 pounds or so and ate nearly an entire pazookie on her own. Her tummy has GOT to hurt but she will not admit it. She loves herself some cookies, just like her momma. 

And boy did we celebrate. 

What now?

Packed...CHECK

Cuddled with our other two kids and slept with Creed last night....CHECK

*(Rinn asked to sleep in her bed and then proceeded to kick her father out of her bed a few minutes later)

Email out to friends/family....CHECK

Daily Schedule for caregivers.....CHECK

Medical Release and Info....CHECK

Contacted Photographer.....CHECK

Contacted Videographer....CHECK (Ha, I know it's funny, but seriously, if you know me it is NO surprise at all)

Contacted PR person...CHECK (no, I am not kidding)

Told people they can't hold Jude at the airport...CHECK (just did that :) glad you understand)

Slept....(If you really think this is possible for me right now you really, really do not know me)

Got tons of meds from Doc in case we get sick on the trip....CHECK

Plane Tickets.....CHECK

Lap ticket for Jee on the way home....CHECK

Passports....CHECK

WHAT ELSE? Help me, I know I must be forgetting about a million things. My mind is nutso.

Heart Rate: 215 bpm at this point (luckily it is going down from yesterday's high of 320)