Jumping Off

The end is only a new beginning

2010-05-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

So I started this blog (Bringing Home Baby Brown) to document our journey to get our sweet little boy from South Korea. I started the blog for him, as a way to tell his story. I wanted to turn this blog into a book for him. But oh, how it grew into much much more than that. I have more people than I ever dreamed of reading this blog. So many people have supported us and prayed our sweet boy home and we are forever grateful for that.

This journey began to a child who face and name we didn't yet know. I look back over these posts and am amazed at the unfolding of the story that brought us to Bates Martin Choe Brown, the son God had ordained for us. I still look at him and can't believe the journey that brought us together. I am so thankful that God placed this call in our lives. This journey has been the biggest blessing, most challenging, most rewarding, hardest, life changing, emotional, strengthening thing I have ever done. God stretched us as a family, He challenged us, He upheld us, and we learned to lean on Him.

This journey has changed us. Nick and I aren't the same two people we were a year ago. We are changed. We are a stronger team- there is no better partner to have traveled this road with than Nick. He was (and is) the calm to my whirlwind, he is the methodical to my fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, he is the rock when I come undone, he is the bag carrier when I just want to hold my son (see the airport pictures)! We have met some amazing new friends on this journey. I can't believe some of these people were not a part of our lives a year ago and now we can't imagine raising Bates without their families in our and his lives. We are a changed family and we won't ever be the same.

But all good things must come to an end... and so is this blog.

This blog was our journey to our son but that journey was over on April 16th when we held in our arms and became his mom and dad.

Bringing home baby brown has been accomplished! Baby Brown has a face and a name and a home! Baby Brown is Bates - and Bates is ours FOREVER!

So come on over and watch Bates' many antics and the fun we have at our new blog: www.someshadesofbrown.blogspot.com

Sweet son,
Your story of coming home to your forever family is over. You are here. You are home. You are ours and we are yours. I love you more each and every day and just when I think I can't possibly love you anymore you crinkle up that little nose of yours and somehow my heart just gets bigger. I am thankful for the journey that brought us to you, I am thankful that God called us (and I'm thankful your daddy finally listened!), and I am thankful I get to call you mine forever! As you grow, never ever ever doubt my love for you. I know there will be times I fail as a parent, but I pray I never fail in pointing you to the Father. May you always run hard after Him and do great for Him. Your father and I love you unconditionally, no matter the time, the place, or the season, we love you. You are our chosen son. I would fly across the ocean a million times for you! I love you, Bates Martin Choe, we love you!

But you, man of God... pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

-I Timothy 6:11

1st post placement visit

2010-05-13T19:33:00.001-07:00

This morning I took Bates to the doctor for a weight check. He's a bit of a shrimp, so she wanted to monitor his weight and I needed his current measurements for our first post placement visit. Well, bad news... little B has lost weight! He lost the 10 oz he gained the first week home and is back to the weight he weighed when he first got home - 19 lbs 15 oz. He's back to his "fighting" weight. I told the doctor he is a good eater- I have NO idea where it's going! So we are putting him on a high calorie diet and trying to bulk him up. We have to go back for another weight check in a month and if he hasn't gained enough weight, he'll be in big trouble with Dr. Butler!

By the way, he doesn't get the weight loss from me!

Kim, our social worker, came over this afternoon for our first post placement visit (1 month). Don't even get me started about I can't believe he's been home a month and we are already having post placement visits.

Bates was on good behavior. He showed Kim all his tricks. He really wanted to help Kim write her notes! Kim was so glad we were doing so well. His transition really has been so smooth and we are SO thankful. We have to send some pictures to Holt and Kim writes up a report (on how great we are doing) and then we see her again at 3 mths home. I know it will fly by and I'll be saying "how can he have been home for 3 mths already!?!".

The sleeping gig is improving. For the past two nights we can lay him in his bed awake and lay beside the crib and reach our hand through the bars and hold his hand and he will go to sleep. It really is the cutest thing. He holds my hands and rubs them. He will take my hand and hold it to his face. He is such a sweet and cuddly little boy.

As I'm laying there, with my hand through his crib bars, holding his hands, I try to memorize what his soft little innocent hand feels like in mine. I try to remember the way it feels when he places my hand on his warm cheek. It's a surreal moment, one I want to remember for the rest of my life.

Tonight, he kept sitting up and I would say "Bates, lay down" and he would. I'm not sure if he understood me or not, but he did it like 10 times. He would just sit up and look over the side at me. Seriously, melt my heart. I think bedtime is my favorite time with him. He isn't fussy, he is so quiet and just a cuddly little guy.

Every night when I am up with him in the middle of the night, I pick something specific to pray for about Bates. I've prayed for lots of things: his future friends, his wife, his education, his faith, everything. It's a special time. Just me, holding my boy, in the darkness of the moonlight and spending time with the Lord. I make sure to spend part of that time thanking God for my son and the journey that brought us together. I will sure miss our midnight prayer sessions, but I sure am looking forward to sleeping through the night again!

And what's a post without a picture or two. Bates enjoyed an Oreo after dinner last night! I think he liked it!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today was a special day- my first Mother's Day!
A year ago, we hadn't even started our adoption journey, so being a mom on Mother's Day was still a dream. I'd never imagine that just 365 days later I'd be celebrating my first Mothers Day with my son! How cool is God?!

My MawMaw and PawPaw came up yesterday to see number one great grandbaby and spend the night with us. We went to dinner last night with Nick's mom and dad and Granny (who hadn't met Bates yet) to celebrate Mothers Day.

Today we went to church this morning and Bates braved the nursery. We didn't get paged out of service, but he was crying when we picked him up. The nice nursery workers said he just kinda whined the whole time and would cry when they wiped his nose. He has what I thought was allergies, but now I'm thinking might be a cold so his nose has been super runny and the boy HATES for you to wipe it!

Today we dedicated our new sanctuary, Three Crosses, at church and man what a great service! Charlie Daniels was a special musical guest and that man ROCKED it!

After church we headed to my sisters house. She hosted a backyard bbq for all our family and her inlaws. It was nice to have my mom, dad, brothers, sister, and all my grandparents in from Memphis. Bates was the center of attention, of course! He hammed it up! He likes attention, for sure!

Tonight after dinner and bath time, we did a little mother's day project. Every year on Mothers Day, we will release two balloons in honor of Bates' birth mom and foster mom. Bates and I traced his hands on two cards and wrote "Happy Mothers Day! Love, Bates". Years down the road I will let Bates write whatever he wants. We went in the backyard and attached his notes and away the balloons went. I'm hoping that those balloons float all the way to Korea and those two specials moms know that we were thinking of them.

All day today, Bates birth mom and his foster mom were on my mind. I look at this boy so happy and fun and my heart breaks that they won't experience this joy of raising him. I know God's hand ordained this, but it's still heartbreaking that my first Mothers Day came at the cost of such a heartbreaking and brave decision 16 mths ago. These two women, his birth mom and foster mom, gave me the ultimate gift, my son. They both loved him enough to do what was best for him, no matter how painful. I pray that Bates will know these two women love him and never doubt their love for him. He is a lucky little boy that has three mothers and I'm so grateful that I'm his forever mom. Today at church someone said to Bates, you sure are a lucky little boy, but they are wrong- I'm the lucky one!

I know some moms want a break on Mother's Day. They enjoy a "day off" from being mom, but that's not my style. I wanted all day with my son! Why would I want a day off from one of the greatest blessing in my life? I waited years to be a mom and that is not a "job" I want a day off from. And to boot, I have a kickin' hubby who really steps up on a daily basis to make my "mom" job so much easier.Today might be Mother's Day on the calendar but every day when I look into those almond shaped eyes, I'm so grateful to be Bates' mom- everyday- even when we are awake at 4 am!

Babysitting and a haircut

2010-05-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we kept Bates' best buddy Silas for the day. It was a blast! The boys played so well together. I liked "having" two kids!And then I hosted a United Nations Luncheon. Countries in attendance- Ethopia, South Korea, and the United States. We got lots of business covered- we are working on world peace! These two had some great ideas! Silas is only a couple of months older than Bates. I pray these two grow up together, run hard after the Lord, encourage each other, hold each other accountable, and do great things for the Lord! Silas, sweet boy, you are welcome at our house anytime!
My friend Carmen stopped by to play with Bates. I think he knew she looked like him!
Today, Bates had his first American haircut. He did great. It might have been the Sonic Grape Slush, again, I'm a cool mom like that. My haircutter, Annie, is fantastic! I love her and she just so happens to be a Korean Adoptee too! I told her not to cut it too short, I didn't want him to look like a big boy just yet! I think he looks pretty dang handsome!Annie is due in about 4 weeks (although I think sooner!) with baby Lacie. Lacie is in the running for Bates' future wife!

Thank you Annie!! We love his big boy due!

Korean Childrens Day

2010-05-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, May 5th, was Cinco de Mayo, but it was also Korean Children's Day. This day is a huge holiday in Korea. Everyone was off work and they spend time with their children going to parks, museums, and just spending quality time with their kids.

Yesterday me and little Bates hung out all day. We went on a walk together and play hard ALL DAY. We ended the day sharing a cupcake!
Can you tell who loved it?
And yes, I fed it to him in the den on the coffee table. I'm a cool mom like that.

Just wanted to share this picture too. Bates took a nap on the couch like a big boy. He fell asleep when I was holding him and I just put him on the couch rather than risk him waking up to get in his bed. Sleeping is still a bit iffy 'round these parts!

Pigeon Forge and Rain Rain Rainy Days

2010-05-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Nick had a conference in Pigeon Forge last week for three days, so Bates and I tagged along. He did incredibly well. We have decided he likes to be on the go (like his momma) so that is nice. He napped in his car seat almost the entire way there and back. On the way there we stopped and saw one of my college girlfriends, Whitney, and her two cutie patootie boys.

Here is Bates shopping with his momma.
And luckily my dad was in Gatlinburg for a conference too, so Bates and I went over and hung out with him for the afternoon. We went over to the National Park and took Bates on his first hike, Laurel Falls.We also took Bates to my favorite place to eat. The Apple Barn! He loved him some Apple Fritters. We had a great time and were super glad to be able to spend time with my dad too!

This weekend has been super rainy! I mean serious flooding. We are high and dry and safe, but we have been stuck in the house most of the weekend. Bates, like I said, likes to be on the go, so he has been BORED out of his mind. We are going a little stir crazy! I got out his monster tent and he LOVED it. He loved it for about 15 minutes, then he was over it!Here he is playing in the tent with his daddy.
He would lean over to the vents and "kiss" me through the fabric. This is the first time he has initiated a kiss with us. But it too was short lived, he wouldn't do it again later!

I kept snapping to get his picture, and this is what he started doing. He was trying to snap and it was so funny! Little stinker!And after a nap with dad on the couch, Bates had some awesome bed head!
I told Bates to say hi to his "fans" and this is what I got!

2 weeks. 16 months.

2010-04-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today Bates has been in our arms (I almost said our son, but he was our son long before we ever knew... ) for two weeks today!

Holy moly, have the two weeks flown by! It seems like just yesterday we were in Seoul and I was sobbing thinking of the heartbreak my son was going through. Seoul was amazing, I can't believe we've been gone two weeks already. Nick and I are already talking about wanting to go back. (I'm saying we go back for Bates a little brother... but Nick isn't there ... yet! (but I'm working on him))

In another breath, it feels like Bates has been with us forever. We are slowly getting into a very comfortable routine, despite the bedtime issue! He just fits with us. It's a very natural thing for all of us. I remember before he was home trying to savor and remember the moments of what it was like before him, and now I can't even imagine them.

And guess who is 16 months old today. Yep, our little shrimp is! 16 mths, whoa! Ahhhh... slow down time, slow down! It's like I blinked and two weeks are gone. The other night we had on Dancing with the Stars and I was holding Bates and dancing with him. I said "Is this how you are gonna dance with your momma on your wedding day". Then I looked at Nick and said "oh my, I can't EVEN think about that yet!" I know before I know it I'll be watching my son watch his bride walk down the aisle. Gasp! But until then, I am savoring every moment, even the sleepless ones, with him!

I'll post more later, with pictures, I promise!

one week in

2010-04-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

We've officially been home one week. I can't believe it. It seems like Bates has been with us forever.

Here are some highlights of our first week home.

First dinner at home.

What happened after 1st dinner at home.

Night night with the monster.
Uncle Robbie feeding Bates dinner.
and the mess that followed. Silas came over to play!

Grant came to play.
First walk in the jogger.
Guess who likes suckers.
Sleeping with momma.
We went to the doctor and the dentist. Bates wasn't so sure of Uncle Anna in the mask.

Bates isn't a fan of having his teeth cleaned.
Someone fell asleep on his walk with momma.

And here are some things I've learned in one week of mommyhood.

Practice closing the stroller before you are in the Target parking lot and look like an idiot. Let's just say the stroller fits in the back of my jeep without being folded down.
When you hang the diaper bag on the back of the stroller and take the baby out, the stroller will flip over- just FYI
A dog is the best for cleaning up after dinner messes
After eating, wipe the hands before the face. If you wipe the face first, he will wipe his hands on his face.... messy again!

And here are some updates with Mr. Bates, which is why you all tune in anyways.

The boy is an eater. He's not a fan of baby food, the boy likes table food.
He's had: meatloaf, mac and cheese, green beans, hamburger, pizza, cheese, animal crackers, yogurt, oranges, tortilla, shredded chicken, Chic-fil-a, rice, and fruit salad.
So far he hasn't like RICE! Can you believe that? I told him that he is Korean, he should LOVE rice!
He still gets a bottle before naps and bed, and during the night.
He hasn't puked in like 5 days. Whoohoo. He has a super sensitive gag reflex though, so you gotta be on your toes!
He is sleeping better. He will go about 2-3 hours between wake up. He doesn't need a bottle each time, he just needs us to settle him down and get him back to sleep.
When he wakes up, if he rolls over he can go back to sleep, but if he sits up and stands up, game over. He can't seem to figure out that he can lay back down. He stands up and screams, with his eyes closed. It's kinda cute when you walk in his room.
He sleeps best in the bed with one of us. But that is kinda a no go 'round here.
He is super attached to us, but is still a daddy's boy.
He gives high fives, but only when he wants to.
He has the most excited bye-bye wave. It requires his ENTIRE arm.
He LOVES to ride in his car seat. He just chills and looks out the window. My favorite part is opening the door to get him out and he just looks at me a smiles. Oh, I love it.

I can't believe he's been home a week. The other night I was up with him around 3 am and was rocking him. The moonlight was streaming in the window and shining on his sweet face. I just sat there and looked at him with tears streaming down my face. My heart broke for the 127 million other orphans in the world that don't have a mommy and daddy to get up with him or her in the middle of the night. How is that fair? I'm not ok with that. It makes my heart hurt. I know we have room in our house and hearts for a few more.... one day.

We are so in love with our little guy. We can't believe he is ours. He is ours- forever! We are one lucky momma and daddy.

time

2010-04-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago tonight, I was on a plane bound for South Korea to the land where my son was.
1 week ago tonight, I was in a hotel room in South Korea holding my son for the first night of the rest of our lives.
Tonight, my husband just rocked our sweet boy and put him in his bed, in our house.

What a whirlwind two weeks!

homeward bound- the last leg

2010-04-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

I had to wake our sleeping beauty up about 7:15 so we could get to the 8:30 shuttle.Bates got up and we all got dressed and headed down to the shuttle. We decided to wait and feed Bates once we got to the airport cause he is kind of a slow eater.
We loaded up and headed back to the airport. We were excited to be finally headed home!

We got our boarding passes after having to call the customer service line to get help. What the heck happened to customer service, there wasn't even a person there, just a phone to pick up.... silliness.

We headed through the airport. O'Hare is a big ole place! Nick and I stopped and got a Smoothie King. Bates was a little fussy in his carrier- I think he was hungry, so I let him have some of my smoothie. Oh my, the boy LOVED IT! Nick and I were slowly discovering he liked food, and could keep it down for the most part.

We found our gate and just hung out and did our song and dance number to entertain Bates. We were sitting under a set of monitors with flight information, so everyone would stop and wave and talk to Bates. He wasn't so sure about all those people.

We boarded the flight, and it was one of those TINY planes. Only two seats on one side and one on the other. The flight was an hour and 15 minutes and it was a longer flight than the one from Korea. Bates was a mess. He was not a fan and did not want to nap. He just wanted to play and fuss and get up and play and throw things in the floor and open the shade and close the shade..... oh......... please. get me off this plane.

The ride was bumpy and Nick had to go to his happy place to keep from throwing up. It was great time. A busy baby and a sick husband. Whew! I was glad to get the wheels on the ground!

HOME! Finally, we were in Tennessee! Nick and I made a pit stop and changed shirts (we were prepared just in case we had a little "episode" on the plane. I called my mom and she said there were like 400 people waiting on us and TO HURRY UP!

We rounded the corner to the smiling faces of our dearest friends and family. Welcome home sweet boys to the arms of those who have prayed you home.

Bates,
Our journey to you wasn't always easy, there were days I thought you'd never be home. There were days I thought you were only a dream. Here you are, not just in our hearts, but in our arms, in our home, FOREVER. Home. I pray this is a place you that will give you roots and wings. I pray that you never doubt the joy you have brought to your father and I. Sweet boy, you are my joy, my dream come true. Welcome home, welcome home.

homeward bound, part two

2010-04-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

We boarded a big 'ole jet airliner headed back across the Pacific (we actually flew over Japan, the Pacific, and then Alaska, Canada and down to Chicago). Nick and I were both kinda dreading the long flight with a baby, but all in all it wasn't too bad.

We were seated in the bulkhead row, which mean we could have a baby bassinet for Bates. Sitting beside us was a Korean lady, who lives in the US and her baby who was 9 mths old. I was thankful to be sitting by someone who would understand if Bates cried and not some grumpy old business man.

I was ready to be homeward bound, but I think my heart skipped a beat the moment the wheels left the runway. Who knows when we will be back? My heart broke a little for Bates. I know he is gaining so so much, but he is also loosing so so much. No tears this time, mainly because I was working on getting Bates to eat a bottle to help with his ears.

Our flight left about 6, and as soon as we were to a safe cruising altitude, they served dinner. Bates got a kids meal, but totally wasn't interested in any of it except the bread sticks! We fed him a bottle and he went to sleep. We didn't use the bassinet because he is a fussy sleeper and wakes up a lot and we figured it'd be easier to just hold him.

So a basic rundown of our flight:
1. bottle
2. rocking
3. walking the aisles
4. bouncing in the carrier
5. wallering mom
6. crying
7. stewardess rocking him and singing in Korean
8. bottle
9. wallering dad
10. crying
11. sleeping
12. walking the aisle
13. diaper change in the teeny tiny bathroom
14. wallering dad
15. crying
16. more singing from the stewardess
17. walking the aisle in the carrier
18. wallering dad
19. wallering mom
20. sleeping
21. fussing
22. wallering some more

All in all, the flight went great. He was pretty fantastic. We couldn't complain. We survived!

On the decent, I force feed him a bottle to help his ears pop. Well, big mistake! He threw the ENTIRE bottle up on Nick. It went EVERYWHERE! It looked like Nick wet his pants. It was so funny, although Nick didn't think so. Luckily Nick had a tshirt on under his polo, so he just wore a white tshirt. Poor guys!

We let everyone de-board before us cause we had a bunch of stuff and a baby, and throw up.... Not a good time.

We got off the plane and headed through customs. I was saying HURRY NICK so we could beat all the passangers coming from Jamaica and get ahead of them. Bates did ok in his carrier, but the poor guy was just READY to be free. He wanted down and some room to play so he was a little fussy.

On our turn, we handed over our passports and Bates' one way Visa into the US as well as his packet of "do not open" immigration paperwork. They put our customs forms and passports and Bates' visa in a bright pink folder and told us to go to the immigration desk. The nice lady said, Congratulations and Welcome to the United States to Bates and we were on our way to Immigrations and Customs desk. The nice gentleman stamped his visa and took his paperwork and gave us a sheet of information to get his Social Security number (or something)... but I can't find that sheet of paper anymore. I mean, I hope they are not giving me some critical piece of paper after a 14 hour flight, a puking (and now screaming) baby.

The customs officer said we were good to go and sent us to the X ray with our bags. The lady was very nice and asked us if we had any food or anything like that. She was funny and said "you aren't bringing back any raw fish you bought on the side of the street". Um, no mam... no fish. I told her that we had the baby food we bought in the US. She told me we were good to go and didn't have to go through the X ray. Which was nice since we would have had to unload our bags from the cart... no fun!

Finally.... fresh air! Bates and I gave the thumbs up! We were in America!!So Nick decided not to change his pants... by this point they were almost dry and we were close to the hotel. We went outside and waited for the shuttle to take us to our hotel. Of course, we befriended an eldery couple. Bates tends to attract people - in case you haven't noticed- he's kinda cute. Turns out the couple was headed to our hotel and they had adopted their two children over 20 years ago!

Bates wasn't a fan of just standing and waiting so I started walking. We marched up and down and up and down.

I came back towards Nick and get this..... a bird had pooped on his shoulder! HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Yep, baby puke on his pants and bird poop on his shoulder. Poor guy! But man, it was funny!! Luckily we have our bags and he could change shirts. Ha.

We loaded the shuttle bus (and it was packed!) and headed to our hotel about 10 minutes from the airport. All three of us were so glad to finally have our feet on solid ground. It was a little after 6 in Chicago and we needed to keep Bates up for awhile since he had slept on the plane in hopes of him sleeping some at night.

We gave him his first bath. Oh my, the boy LOVES a bath. I'm telling you... he was splashing like nobody's business. I was soaked! He got the entire bathroom wet, but had a blast!After his bath, we put on his pjs and Nick and I both showered. And Bates brushed his teeth, see Uncle Anna!

Then we decided it was time to eat. Right next door to our hotel was a Chili's. I debated if we should just get it to go or actually go and eat there. I decided we needed to keep him up and going to eat would entertain him. So off to Chili's we went!

Bates did awesome at dinner. He sat in our laps, not a high chair, and was awesome. He just clapped and smiled and ate Gerber snacks. At dinner I decided I would run to the Target right behind the Chili's and get a straighter!

It was after 9, and Target closes at 10, so Bates and I walked across the parking lot while Nick finished eating and paid our ticket. Our walk across the parking lot was fun. It was the first time Bates really started babbling and chatting with me. It was so cute.

About half way to Target Nick calls and says "I'm not sure the kind of neighborhood we are in, so stay close to the building". Ha!

I tried to put Bates in a buggy before we got inside and MELTDOWN!

So I just carried him and my arms were KILLING ME! A twenty pound willing monkey is hard to shop with. Nick met us in Target and by then I convinced Bates that riding in a cart was fun (I bribed him with snacks!)

They came over the PA and said that Target was closing in 10 minutes. We headed to the checkout. The checkout lady thought Bates was a cutie and then it dawned on me.... I was that mom! The mom that has her baby out in their pjs at 10 at night when they should be in bed! I felt like I needed to tell her we just got off a plane from Korea, so he wasn't tired. Um, really, I don't need to justify myself!

We headed back to the room and put Bates to bed. He slept in the crib in our room while we packed up and got ready. But he was soon in our bed! He did ok especially for having his days and nights flip flopped. He got up for about a two hour stretch and he played with Nick. They play in the suitcase and then watched Korean baby songs and videos on YouTube... all while momma slept!

Night two as parents, SUCCESS! He only got up about 5 times for a bottle (and a two hour stretch to play) and I actually had to wake him up to get ready to head to the airport for our flight to Nashville.

homeward bound, the first leg

2010-04-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

Welp, we survived the night and it was time to head on home.
Bates and Nick slept in till about 8, but I was up at 6:45 getting things together. We headed down to breakfast and fed Bates some baby food. He wasn't too into it, but did ok. Once we got back to our room, my friend from the Holt message board called and asked if we wanted to go on a walk with them. We said sure. We put Bates in his carrier and after about 10 seconds of crying he was happy as a clam. We headed down to their room and off we went.

They wanted to get their bearings, so we walked down the street to show them how close we were to Insadong. Insadong was buzzing and it was only just 10 am! There were a bunch of school aged children there and we got stopped three times and interviewed for their school projects. They would ask why we were in Korea, if we knew any Korean, what our favorite Korean food was, if we knew any Korean celebrities, and would then want their picture with us. I felt like a celebrity. It was fun! Bates just hammed it up, but QUICKLY fell asleep and napped the rest of the walk!We got to the end of Insadong and checked a map. We were only a few blocks from a little stream that runs through the middle of town, and we still have a few minutes before we had to head back to finish getting packed up, so we kept going. I was really glad we did, because I had seen this place in other families pictures, but didn't know what it was called or where it was. Seoul is so big, there is no just wandering till you find it. We took some pictures down at the water as a family of THREE (with the cutest sleeping baby ever!). The pictures are on Lillie's camera, so I'll post them when I get them.
It was nearing 11, and we had to be out of our room by noon, so we needed to head back, cause we still weren't packed up! When we got back to the hotel Bates and I went to the room to get started and Nick stopped and asked the front desk if we could possibly have a later checkout. They said they could let us stay in our room till 1 but that they were very busy. Also, they gave Nick a package that had been dropped off for us at the front desk. It was two more cans of Korean formula. We had asked DJ at Holt where we could get some more when we picked up Bates since he is such a picky eater. DJ said she could just give us some more, but I forgot to ask her again.... I was crying.... remember.....

So yeah! Holt had brought us two more cans! They are wonderful and take SUCH good care of the families!

We packed up the room and had quick lunch of leftover Bulgogi pizza and called the bellman. They took our luggage downstairs and stored it for us. We checked out... our room was over 1,000,000 wons for the week! (which is only about $900, but seeing 1 million was fun!). We had talked about going to the Palace before our ride came to take us to the airport, but I was tired, Bates was fussy, and we just didn't feel like it. We went upstairs to the play area and attempted to get Bates to play some, so he would maybe hopefully sleep on the plane. The kid did NOT want to play. He was fussy and just didn't want out of our arms. We even got IN the ball pit... nope, not a fan! Bates eventually fell asleep on Nick in the floor.They were cleaning the floors in the hall and it was REAL loud, so we went back to the lobby where the pool table was and just sat and waited. Nick ate his snicker bar (yep, they have them in Korea!) and I read my book. About 2:30 a man walked up and said "Browns?" We said yep and he told us in broken English that he was taking us to the airport. We loaded up with ALL OUR BAGS and put Bates in the carrier and loaded in the van. Goodbye Somerset, you were a fabulous place to stay!

Off we went. Driving through Seoul was a little bittersweet. We were headed home! But Bates was leaving behind so much... his culture, his heritage, the only family he has ever known, his language, his history, his ties to his birth family, everything. I, of course, cried. He was just sleeping on my chest and had no idea everything he was loosing as he slept. We loved Seoul. It was truly a magical place. A place we will never, ever forget. A place and a people we have come to love. A place that gave us the greatest gift in life... our first son. It's a place that our family will forever be tied too.... and we were leaving.I FINALLY got it together before we got to the airport. We unloaded with all our bags and got checked into our flight. I can't say enough good things about our airline, Asiana. First class service!!

We grabbed a little cart for all our carry ons. We had a bunch and they were heavy. Traveling with a baby doesn't make for light travel.

Nick and I were hungry, so we found a McDonalds- nothing like good ole American food- and had something to eat.

Guess who also likes McDonalds! Yep, he loves their fries just like his momma!The lighting in the airport was fantastic! They have lots of glass, so lots of natural light. We had a little mini photo shoot while waiting for the plane! My camera can't help it, it loves that little boy too!

Then we boarded the plane, for a 14 hour flight.... dum,dum,dum....

our first night as parents

2010-04-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

We made it safety back to the hotel. I'm sure the cab ride was life threatening, but I didn't notice through the tears.

We got out of the cab and managed to get into the hotel room with all our gifts and a sleeping baby. I laid on the couch with him on my chest to just let him sleep. Nick unpacked our stuff and we just sat their and looked at him!the gifts from our foster family

Nick went into the other room to email and call folks and I just laid on the couch and watched my son sleep and cried. I couldn't believe it- I was a mom. I had a sleeping baby on my chest- my sleeping baby. Tears were running down my face and into my ears. Bates cried in his sleep. It was a silent cry, but there were tears running down his cheek, so sad. It's heart wrenching to see your baby grieve. Adoptive parents know.... it's an indescribable pain.
Eventually Bates woke up and we all got up and played in the floor. He was a bit teary and would cry a little, but nothing major. No big meltdowns. He would play with us, but he had to be IN our laps. We couldn't sit beside him or behind him. We HAD TO HOLD HIM! I could tell he was a daddy's boy. He would reach out for his daddy to hold him and would just melt into his arms. It was so sweet to watch.I decided we would put him in his carrier and go out to pick up his name chop that was corrected and maybe grab some take out and come back to the room. We changed his clothes. I didn't want anything to happen to the special outfit his birthmom sent him, so we put him in his orange and white!
Try one for the carrier- major fail! I think he was scared and we didn't really know what we were doing. So we quickly decided we would just carry him, it wasn't that far of a walk. He did great. He would just look around and squirm a little, but all in all he was great. We went to the name chop place and the nice man and woman just smiled and talked to him. He was looking at them like "thank goodness, you speak my language!"After picking up his name chop, we decided he was doing well enough to go grab a pizza and take back to our room. We walked to the end of Insadong (and stopped to grab a Korean paper, which I wanted from the day we became a family!) and went to Mr. Pizza and ordered a Bulgogi Pizza to go (and Nick got some chicken dish). Bates smiled and flirted with the table of girls behind us. It was the first time we saw him smile and the first time we really saw his personality. He just smiled and even played "GaKoo" (peek-a-boo) with them. It was so refreshing to see him happy. He liked looking at them, but was sure we were always close at hand. He wouldn't leave our laps and kept a good grip on us. When the girls were leaving we told Bates to tell them bye-bye and HE WAVED! Yeah, without any prompting, he waved. .

When our pizza was ready we headed back to our hotel. By then my arms were a little tired and I wished we had the carrier. We found a short cut through a Buddhist Temple, which was so pretty!

Back in our room, we discovered the boy does love him some gerber treats! We took turns holding him and eating. He did great. Nick had worked with him before we left on using his snack trap cup and he finally mastered sticking his hand in it and grabbing A HANDFUL of snacks! He wasn't happy with just one at a time, he went for the handful!got an apple stuck on his nose and was staring at it!

After dinner, we tried to wined down and maybe get ready for bed. About that time their was a knock on the door. It was another family that was staying at the Somerset and their little girl, Shannon. They had picked Shannon up from Holt about 30 minutes after we did. Shannon was a cutie and a busy busy busy girl. While Bates would just sit in our lap, she would run and giggle and play and laugh. Bates ventured out of our laps a few time to play with toys in the floor, but all in all, he was like glue to his momma and daddy.

playing with Shannon

As they were walking out the door, the phone rang (Bates is quite a celebrity!). It was a friend from the message board who just arrived. We headed to their room to show off Mr. Bates and meet them in person! We decided to put Bates in the carrier and after a 30 second scream, he just settled in and laid on my shoulder. The family was super sweet and Bates just laid in the carrier the whole time and didn't make a peep. They even brought us some medicine to hopefully help with the stomach issues.

After spending a few minutes with them, everyone was ready for bed so off to our room we went.

Well, here's a brief run down of our first night.
Bates slept in the bed between us.
He was up about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours for a bottle.
He sleeps like a fish out of water. He flops, he kicks (well, I guess fish can't kick), he rolls, he whimpers.
He throws up!
We finally gave up on the pjs after the second round of throw up and just went with a diaper and socks!

All in all, it went well. He threw up on me twice, just after eating a bottle both times. He would cry (well more like a holler) every about 20 minutes and would seek one of us out and snuggle up against us and fall right back to sleep. Total I think we were awake about 5-6 times, but it normally only took about 20-30 minutes to get him back to sleep. Nick and I thought it went well, we have some work to do, but we were starting at a good place.

I was up for good about 6:30 and started packing up for the long trip home. Packing was a bit of a challenge. I had to make sure I had bottles and formula for the plane and anything we would need to Bates for the 18 hours, as well as packing the stuff for the night in Chicago where we could get to it.

Our Holt friends called about 7:00 to see if we wanted to go eat breakfast with them, but Bates was still asleep! I finally woke Nick and Bates up about 8:00 to get ready, since we had to be out of our hotel by noon before we headed to the airport.

First night as a family: SUCCESS!!

Go Vols!!

2010-04-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

for uncle robert

Gotcha Day 4.16.10

2010-04-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Nick and I got ready and both of us were talking about how we just wanted to throw up. I was so excited, nervous, scared, and really wanted to hold it together and not be a crying mess before we even got to Holt.

We left our room at 1, for our two o'clock meeting cause it has been taking about 45 minutes for us to get there. I was so all over the place I hit the up elevator button, not the down one.... duh!

We navigated the subway with no problems, and stayed together the entire time, no backpacks in getting shut in the subway doors. We kept saying, I'm going to throw up to each other. I really thought I might throw up, or have to go to the bathroom! I was a mess.

Headed out of the subway was a sign for Holt Children's Service, I, of course, had to have a picture taken. Out of the subway tunnel we came and there it was, HOLT!
We got to Holt and saw the families truck outside, but didn't see anyone in it, so we went inside. We were just standing in the lobby and Bates' foster mom came out from inside the waiting area and waved at us. We went in with her and she brought Bates over. I didn't grab him from her cause I didn't want to make him upset, yet. But of course, I started crying. She grabbed my hand and put it on her chest and said something very sweet in Korea as she had tears running down her face.

Eventually Bates came to me and did that on again off again fake cry. Bates foster dad came in with arm loads of bags.

Bates was getting pretty upset at this point, so I handed him back to his foster mom and we all headed upstairs. We went in the same room as our first meeting and DJ came in. She had our stack of paperwork and said she would be right back with our Holt Blue Bag.

She came back in with the blue bag, and so the whirlwind meeting began. She went over the things in his medical file with us and over his paperwork we must turn in to the immigration office and all that jazz. In all honesty, I have no idea what she said. She went over what was in the blue bag as his foster mom made him a bottle for us to take as well as a bottle of something that is like Pedialite.

DJ translated for us what his schedule this morning has been. He ate a little and threw up, so his foster mom gave him another bath. They are sending the Pedialite stuff in case we think he is dehydrated. He wouldn't take another bottle and only took a very short nap!

Then the foster family gave us some gifts. Holy moly did they spoil us! They gave us a traditional Korea wall mask hanging, a Korean fan, some Ginseng Tea (cause the Foster mom said we would need our energy! Ha) and some Korean "moonpies". In our gift to them we included some good ole Tennessee Moon Pies!

They gave Bates so much stuff, man they love this little booger! They gave him a pair of pjs, two outfits, a hat, two childrens books with musical cds, a traditional Korean Hanbok (that he wore on his 1st birthday!), and three pair of shoes. His foster mom said she is giving us shoes cause she really wants him to walk. So she wanted us to be be prepared. I told her we would make sure of that and send her video when he finally decides to walk!

They also gave us a cd full of pictures of him, a photo album full of pictures from his year with them, cds of Korean childrens music. They were absolutely wonderful.

His foster mom stopped and told DJ that the outfit he had on was sent to him by his birth mom for his first birthday. Ok, tear fest. Now I'm talking the quivering jaw kind of crying!! How sweet that his birth mom sent him a gift for his birthday and how sweet that the foster mom thought to put him it in. She said today was a very special day, so she wanted him to wear it.

We plan on taking some pictures of him again in the outfit and sending them back to Korea to his file and maybe one day his birth mom will get to see him in the outfit she sent.

His foster father asked us that if we adopt from Korea again to please bring him back to see them. We assured him we would bring Bates back to visit one day!

We were all standing there. I was crying, of course, his foster mom was crying, and even DJ who does this everyday was crying. She said he is a special little boy and that she would continue to pray for our family.

Before she handing him to me, she held him for a few minutes just talking to him. She was speaking in Korean so I have no clue what she was saying. It was so sweet, though. As she was talking to him, she started crying and kept giving him kisses.

Then it was time. I put my carrier on and his foster mom brought him over to me and helped me get him in the carrier. He was SCREAMING! I mean like sobbing hysterically. He was arching his back and try to get away and kept turning and looking for her. It was heart breaking. Nick gathered up our gifts and his stuff and headed down the stairs with the foster dad. Nick said that most of the way out of the building, his foster dad was fighting back the tears. The foster mom, DJ, me and Bates road down the elevator and he screamed the entire way.

On the street DJ hailed us a cab, told him where to take us, and loaded us in. I couldn't look back. I couldn't see the face of the woman who has poured her heart and soul into my son as I was taking him away. Bates could see over the back seat so I had him wave goodbye as we drove off.

He was hysterical in the cab. I mean crying so hard he was gagging. I was sure I was about to get throw up down my shirt. He fought me for about 15 minutes and slowly his eyes closed and he was out like a light. It was pitiful, even in his sleep he had big ole tears running down his face.
It took about 20 minutes to get back to our hotel and I think I cried the entire time. I couldn't believe it, we made it! My son was finally in my arms, I was so overwhelmed. I couldn't stop the tears. Our journey to him was over, now our life with him begins...

Today's the day!

2010-04-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

After waking up QUITE a few times and getting up twice and having myself a little cry fest, we were up for good at 8.

The two times I got up, I played on the computer and talked to some friends on the message board. Turns out that sweet, smiley little girl who we met and took pictures of is the possible daughter of a friend from the message board. She has asked for her file, but has not officially accepted the match yet. They are having some of her medical concerns checked out. She was so excited to have the pictures and hear first hand about her girl! I told her how wonderful she was. She told me she thought it was a sign from God that we got to meet her. I sure hope it works out for that family, cause that little girl is a DOLL!

I also found out the name stamp we got for Bates has his Korean name wrong. It says "Yong Hwan" not Jeong Hwan. The sweet lady, Hannah from the message board actually speaks Korean and called the store at 9 am this morning and told them the problem. The nice man told her to tell me to bring it in and they would fix it and they were very sorry.

I also learned that the Forever Family scroll is actually in Hangul, but just with some Chinese influences. So yeah!

Neither of us were really hungry, so we skipped breakfast. We got ready and headed out to Insadong to buy somethings I've been wanting, but wanted to wait to buy on our Family Day.

We took the name chop back first and the store owners were so nice. They told me to sit and I said, oh no, I can come back tonight. We are planning on taking Bates back tonight to pick up his name chop. We also ordered William a name sign. I had "William" translated into Hangul and took it. I showed it to them and they said "ohhhh William!" I said yes. I told Nick that if they didn't understand it I was going to point to the picture of Prince William on the wall (he had a name scroll done there!)After we dropped of his name chop, we shopped around for a few hours. We got a paper light, wedding ducks for Bates, a piece of celedon pottery, a miniture kimchi pot, and some gifts for our family.

When we bought the wedding ducks for Bates, they actually wrapped them up in a box with some paper and a bow. I plan on keeping it wrapped till I give them to Bates on his wedding day (that is if he gets married. Oh my, I can't even think about that yet!)After stocking up at Insadong, we walked back down to the subway to get another "forever family" scroll for my friend from the message board, Holly. I'm actually going to give her the one we had done the other day, and keep the one from today for us, since it's our Forever Family day! There was another man at the table, but I just got out the first one and showed it to him and said "one more". He did a great job!
We then headed back to our hotel, OH- I forgot to tell you, we moved rooms this morning. We may have moved down floors, but we moved UP in the world. We are in a two bedroom, corner room. And OH.MY.WORD. Marble floors, two bedrooms, a dining room table, a kitchen, two bath with floor to ceiling marble, one with a jacuzzi tub, one with a walk in shower. This pad is awesome. I'm gonna miss it!!!!

Well, one hour till we leave our hotel and walk out the front door as just me and Nick and come back as a Family of THREE!

I'm holding it together pretty well, although I think I might throw up!

2:45 am

2010-04-15T10:46:00.001-07:00

That's what time it is here.
I have tossed and turned for the last hour in bed and finally gave up and got up. Today is the last night of good sleep I may get for awhile and here I am- ha!

I can't think of what today will bring without tearing up. I'll be a mess at the agency. Ugh, and I'm so NOT a cuter crier... these will be great pictures!

Bates,
Sweet boy, tonight as you are asleep next to your foster mom, it rips my heart out to know that tonight is the last night you will sleep next to her. As I was going to sleep tonight, I kept thinking of you and knowing you were wrestling her to go to sleep and you had no idea that this was your last night there. I think if you did, you would close your sweet eyes, lay your head on her shoulder, and soak up every moment with her.
Both your foster mom and I know that that was never meant to be your forever home, but you never did. They say mothers always do what's best for their children, even when it's hard. Baby, you have had three mothers who have done what's best for you. The path God guided us all on hasn't been easy, but everyone has done what's best for you because we all love you so much.
I can't even think about what will happen later today with out crying. And sorry, bud, I'm not a cute crier, so I will have snot and tears and the pictures will be something we look back on and laugh about one day.
I know the days ahead of us are challenging, I know things won't be easy, but I know that with every breath you take you will learn to trust us a little more. You will know that your daddy and I love you so very much and are going to do everything we can to make this transition easy for you. You are truly a gift from the Lord and we will cherish you all the days of our lives.
Today will be a day we celebrate for the rest of your life, it's your gotcha day. The day we gotcha for good. Son, we promise to never ever ever let go of you (Mommas not so sure you will ever be allowed to move out and get married- I'm just saying!) Now that we gotcha, you aren't going anywhere! Today, we won't celebrate too much, we will cry and cry and cry- you me and your daddy too I bet!
You are loosing so much today. The only family you've known, the one you thought was yours for good. You are loosing a wonderful country. One we have come to love. We promise to tell you about Korea often, and teach you as much as you want to know about your heritage, and we will bring you back here to visit one day.

Oh sweet boy, my heart breaks for you and for the days that lie ahead. I will try to be strong for you, but I can't seem to keep it together now. We can do this- me, you, and your daddy...

Today is it! Welcome to our family, chosen one, welcome!

the rest of the afternoon

2010-04-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

Nick and I headed out of Holt and I was trying not to turn into a crying mess again. I know the people on the subway think I'm a nutso.... the crying blonde. (Speaking of blonde, Nick said it's easy to spot me- the only blonde! Makes me love my blonde hair even more!)

We found our way back to the EMart. Somehow we ended up going a different way once we got to the mall but we knew it was in the basement. We got to the EMart with much less trouble this time. The EMart carts are super fun- they are a mix between Ikea's carts and Aldi's carts. They are the four wheel drive carts and can go on the escalators like Ikea, but you have to put in 100 won (about 10 cents) and unlock the chain and then you get your money back when you return it, like Aldi.

We stopped at the Food Court and split a 9 count of chicken fingers from Burger King, it was after 2 and we were hungry!

We got Bates another microphone and some other fun Pororo toys for Ji-uk. Another fun EMart tidbit, you have to pay 500 won (less than 5 cents) per plastic bag. They are big on reusable shopping bags here! I included one in our foster family gift, but had I known, I would have put in more!

After our shopping adventure at EMart, we headed to the National War Museum. Nick and I are experts at navigating the subway now! I even loaded our T Money cards with more won using the machine in Korean!

We went to the National War Memorial, but didn't go in. We checked out the sites and monuments around the building. The Museum itself is HUGE and I knew if we went in, Nick would read every sign and we'd be there until tomorrow when it was time to get Bates for good! Not to mention Nick's feet were hurting from all the walking in his dress shoes and my back was killing me (I have done something to my back and it hurts when we walk a lot. So annoying!) I wanted to see the Memorials cause my PawPaw was actually stationed here in Seoul for a bit. So I wanted to check out the monuments and get some pictures for him.

After the Memorial we headed back to the hotel. In the subway station that is by our hotel was this man who makes name scrolls. I wanted to get one that said "Forever Family". I wrote it our in hangul and we stopped by. The man spoke NO ENGLISH. So there was lots of pointing and hand gestures. We weren't sure what he was saying to us, but we just nodded and smiled.

He started our drawing and a nice woman stopped and asked us what he was writing. I showed her the hangul I brought and she said, forever family. I said yes, is that what he is writing, cause it was WAY different than what I brought. She said yes, he was writing in Chinese Calligraphy and it translated more like "permanent family".
Nick and I thought the language he was writing might be different cause of the hand gestures and what he wrote on my piece of paper. I was so glad the lady stopped so we knew exactly what it was we were getting and make sure it didn't say "stupid Americans" or something silly!

The woman got a cell phone call and walked off and the man tried to ask us a question about if we wanted something else on it. He showed us a sample on another drawing and I said yes, and nodded. I just wasn't sure what I was saying yes too. The lady got back off the phone and came back to us and told us he was putting 2010 spring and signing his name and stamping it with his name chop. Great, just what I wanted. I was proud of me and Nick for figuring this out.
I love the way it turned out, and although it isn't hangul we LOVE it! We are going to have it framed to hang in our house... because tomorrow we will be a permanent family!

We then headed back to our hotel so I could blog about the morning and get the pictures uploaded. Our room, or apartment as the front desk calls it, has a washer and dryer. Last night Nick and I tried to navigate the Korean directions and washed some clothes. I woke up in the middle of the night afraid I would end up having doll size clothes, but no worries- they came out great. When we got back to the hotel we did another load of clothes. And by load of clothes I mean like 4 things cause this washer and dryer are TINY. Its a combo washer and dryer that does it all in one, and the drum seriously holds like two pair of pants!

Then we headed out to dinner. Walking through the city was so fun at night. We saw some more lanterns for Buddha's birthday.Now don't laugh, but we had dinner at Outback! We wanted to eat some "comfort" food as our "last supper" as a family of two. Also at dinner, I told Nick on every April 15th I want to get a babysitter and go to eat at Outback just the two of us. Our dinner was FANTASTIC! It was the best Outback we have ever eaten!!!

I had Nick take my picture in the traditional Korean girls pose. Makes me laugh. Peace.
Tomorrow is the big day, Bates will be in our arms forever. I'm not sure I'll sleep at all tonight. Nick and I were talking today about how much our lives have changed in just one week. One week ago we were in Murfreesboro and had just gotten our Travel Call, this week we have been in Seoul, meeting our son and exploring the land that gave us our son, and tomorrow, we get our boy forever!

Pre-Flight Physical day

2010-04-15T01:38:00.000-07:00

This morning I was up bright and early. I played on the computer and finally went back to bed around 7. We decided to have an easy morning, so I slept till about 8:30 and then we hit the breakfast in the hotel (yep, rice for Nick again!).

We came back to the room and just kinda laid around and then got ready and headed to Holt for Bates' pre-flight physical around 12. We packed the cell phone he liked, two balls, and a Pororo musical microphone we bought at the EMart. His physical was at 1. We walked out of the subway station and to the left was Bates in the car with his foster mom and dad! He was riding in the middle of the truck in his car seat. They had two other babies with them, one we know for sure was their other foster child.
We met them on the steps of Holt and his foster mom ushered me down the steps to go get him at the car! I was trying to get Nick to get the camera out so we could get some pictures and not be all frantic like we were the last time. I told him "quick, get a picture before he cries!"We went inside and ended up hanging in the lobby for like 45 minutes with him. His foster mom and dad went in another room (his foster mom went upstairs with another baby), so we had him to ourselves.

About that time another family walked in. They are from Franklin, right down the road from us! Small world huh? They were there for their first meeting with their daughter. We wished them luck as they headed upstairs!

Bates did better. He didn't scream, but he did cry off and on. He was pitiful. He was just turning and looking and trying to look in the other room for his foster mom! Broke my heart. At one point he saw her and then he screamed. The rest of the time he did this fake cry, with BIG OLE CROCODILE tears! I'm telling you, this guy can TURN IT ON. He makes his little jaw quiver and these big ole tears just pool in his eyes. So sad! His foster mom gave us a bottle and some little snacks for him. He certainly didn't want the bottle and made that very clear! He would eat one or two of the snacks, but lets just say, the kid isn't an eater- AT ALL!
We did ok with him. We were a two man entertainment show. We played ball, we took video (he likes the video camera!), we took pictures, we sang, we played with the microphone (which I think he really liked!) we bounced, we rocked, we walked. I felt like everyone was staring at us, Bates was the only one of about 15 babies in the room crying. Sweet little foster moms would walk by and say something to him. I felt like a failure as a parent... but I'm sure they are used to it!

We were sitting next to the foster mom who had a little guy with her. This little guy was BUSY! He could walk and he was into everything. He would adjust the thermostat, pull clothes out of the little store, throw a ball across the room. His forever mom and dad better be resting up!!

After about 30 minutes DJ came down stairs and she ushered us into the Sick Baby Clinic. I told her my concerns about Acid Reflux. She said she would ask the doctor when we saw him.

DJ was so sweet. She said she emailed all the Holt Staff and asked them to pray for us. She told me for our next adoption to email her and she will make sure to match us with an easy, laid back child! I think she is concerned about us. She wanted to know what airline we were flying, to make sure we would have some help on the flight. She was just looking at me, and I looked back at her, and she said "you are just so pretty!!" Sure did make me feel good, holding a crying baby with hair that's a little wacky without my straighter, and she thinks I'm pretty- makes a girl feel good.

I had Nick take my picture with Bates and DJ. I told him to act nice and be sweet to DJ cause she worked very hard to help bring him home. He didn't seem to care!
We went into the doctor. He looked Bates over, took his temp, check his stomach and breathing. They showed us his monogolian spots on his back. Let's just say Bates' wasn't a fan of the exam. He was crying and this time it was legit crying. He cried so hard he gagged. I looked at Nick and said "we almost had throw up!" He was crying so hard we just let the doctor work as quickly as possible and just stayed out of the way. The doctor wasn't too concerned about his eating and sleeping, he looked back in his file and said he has been getting better so he's not sure it's Acid Reflux. DJ translated that for us, but then she added to follow up with our Ped at home- I think she thinks something is a little off too.

Bates was crying so hard his foster mom came in the room and got him. This time, unlike every other time, he didn't just stop crying when she picked him up, he just kept crying. DJ asked me if we would like to take him for a walk in the stroller. I said, sure. His foster mom put him in the stroller and left to get a blanket.

We were just kinda standing there and DJ went and got the cutest little baby girl. She is 6 mths old and has been matched with a family in Philly. She was the sweetest baby and would just smile and giggle at you. Nick and I both held her and played with her. I ended up going to Bates who was strapped in a stroller and having a FIT! His foster mom still hadn't returned. I didn't want to get him out of the stroller, so I leaned down and tried to soothe him, but he was having NONE of it. He was crying so loud and hard that his Foster Dad came and got him out. His foster dad took him over to a seat and soothed him and ended up feeding him a bottle. DJ went and talked to the foster dad and came and told us that he didn't want us to take him on a walk, he was afraid he was too upset and didn't want him to get sick. We were totally fine with that- his foster mom had told us he doesn't like the stroller cause he can't see her, so I'm not sure the walk would have gone well anyway! DJ told me she thought it was really hard for the foster father because she thought he was very attached to Bates. She said it was breaking his heart for him to be so upset.Nick and I were just kinda standing there - we were talking and playing with the sweet little baby who actually liked us! DJ told me again to make sure to email her before our next adoption- I think she is serious!

About that time DJ said, oh hold on. She walked out to the lobby and the elevator and came back in with MOLLY HOLT! Molly is the daughter of Harry and Bertha Holt, the founders of Holt International. Holt actually was the first adoption agency in South Korea and they laid the political ground work for allowing US adoptions from South Korea. How neat to actually get to meet Molly. She was sweet and came over and met Bates. Such a neat thing to get to meet the legacy of the founder of the agency that helped us find our son!
Bates' foster mom never showed back up with the blanket... not sure where she went. We ended up figuring it was time to go, so we told Bates bye (I kinda teared up). Nick asked DJ where we could get some of those snacks and she said "Oh, I will get you some!" I think she wants to help us in anyway possible!

We headed out the door, leaving Bates with his foster father, and waved bye. Bates was playing with the microphone, so we left it with him. I didn't have the heart to take it away from him!

I teared up the whole way back to the subway. Just such an emotional thing to say bye to him. I was proud of myself for keeping it together the whole visit, though!

I told Nick we should go get another Pororo microphone, just in case the one doesn't come back with him tomorrow.

To be continued with the rest of the afternoon....

Favorite Purchase: Name Chop

2010-04-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

We went and picked up the name chop and name signs last night. The man and woman were so so sweet!

They have done name chops for the Queen of England, Prince William, the Pope, and lots of famous Europeans- and now Bates!!

When we got there the man came out and showed us Bates' stamp. It's perfect and I love it! They carved on the side "2010 Spring Carving" (in Hangul).

He also gave us a free thing of ink. This isn't like an ink pad, it's like putty. Should be interesting to use!

He got our out name signs and got out his "signature stamp" and stamped ours with that stamp and then the Tiger stamp. 2010 is the year of the Tiger. Then they showed us Bates' and I love it. He asked if I wanted him to stamp it with the tiger and I said "He was born in 2008, the year of the Rat, do you have a Rat" They understood enough of what I was asking and counted back years (I think) to make sure I was right and pulled out a "Mouse" stamp as they called it.

I love the mouse, it's so stinkin' fun.

I'm so so happy with our purchases. The shop owners were so so nice and I am so please with what we bought!

this one says Brown

this one says "Choe Jeong-Hwan" aka Bates
Bates' name chop and ink

The piece of card stock that came with it with the stamp on it
not sure what else it says, maybe some of my message board friends can help me out!

the rest of our day

2010-04-14T04:56:00.000-07:00

Our cab driver took us up to the cable car stop to head up to Seoul Tower. We bought our tickets and waited to load the cable car.

Riding the car made me a little nervous. It was a HUGE car, with LOTS of people in it on a very skinny cable!
As we were riding up the mountain we could see Seoul, man what a big city.

We reached the top and were a little underwhelmed, but then we figured out we had to walk up a little path to the actual Tower.Seoul Tower is the #1 spot for engagements in Seoul. There are these cable wires and people bring locks and lock them to the wire and then throw the key off the mountain. It signifies eternal love, because the lock can never be undone.I brought a lock from home and we found the perfect spot to lock our lock on the wire. For me, this lock wasn't about a cute couple in love, but it was about the love in which we are building our family to a family of three. We love our little booger and as challenging as the road ahead looks to be, we know God created him just for our family. We did not throw our key off the mountain, we kept it and want to give it to Bates. He is forever a part of us, and this key will remind him of the love that brought us across the ocean to him. It will be a sense of encouragement to Nick and I over the next few months of the love that he will soon have for us.

This is our lock.

After locking our lock to the rail with the million others, we headed to the top of the tower. The view was AMAZING! Seoul is HUGE. I mean H.U.G.E! It reached as far as we could see. It's huge, ok, I know I have said that huge times in three sentences, but I don't know how else to describe it! It's huge! It stretched out as far as we could see in every direction!

Over those mountains is North Korea. Sad place.
Our hotel is in the picture below.On the windows were signs of the mileage to the cities out that window.
We are far from home!
After the tower, we decided to to go to Myeondong. Myeondong is a huge mall that has very western stores. We knew they had a Puma store that we wanted to check it out, since some of their golfers have Puma sponsorships Nick was hoping he find a shirt he has been looking for.

Trouble was, we were at Seoul Tower and there was no subway close. I mean at all close.... we are talking several miles. So I assured Nick I could get a Taxi! I put myself on the street corner, scooted out so they could see me, and hailed us a Taxi! Only one Taxi drove by without stopping. I call that a success!

We jumped in the Taxi and I pointed to our book that had the name of the mall in it. The driver smiled and said "Myeondong" I said YES! And off we went.

The taxi dumped us out, after another life threatening ride, right at Myeondong. Nick and I looked for a sign and immediately found the Puma logo. After a four story escalator ride, we found the Puma story and Nick got a shirt just like he was looking for!

After Puma we walked around the mall to the H&M store, which I love. I got a fun hat to wear since you know, my straighter died!

We saw this sign on a building at the mall- MLB - that's ME!! How fun!
After shopping we walked down the street, which I assured Nick would lead us to a subway station. It was a very very busy main street, so I figured it would have to have a stop on it. And guess what, it did! We got on the subway and headed back to our hotel. We were tired! Lots of walking and walking and walking today.
We got back to the Hotel and I took about a 30 minute nap. Then it was time to go pick up Bates' name chop and his name sign. I'll post pictures of that later. It's bed time here. I gonna hit the sack, but I'm sure I'll be up in the middle of the night and blog more!

Touring Day

2010-04-14T00:49:00.000-07:00

Holy moly, what a day.

I was finally up for good at about 7 am. I think this time change is God's way of preparing me for no sleep. Nick and I hit the breakfast in the hotel again. Guess who had rice again.... yep, you guessed it- Nick! Nick would like me to interject and tell you all Rice isn't the ONLY thing he is eating. He has pancakes and fruit too! They rotate the juices every morning and this morning was Apple and Mango. Oh my - it was the best apple juice I've ever had in my life! I almost made myself sick I drank so much.

We met our tour guide in the lobby of our hotel at 9:30. We were expecting a young college girl, but she actually was an older lady, like mom-ish older- wait, I'm a mom now... ok she has an 11 year old daughter. Her name was Lee and I'm so mad at myself I didn't get a picture of her!! She was so sweet. She actually lived in San Diego for 8 years and has only been back in Korea for a year, and she is going back to San Diego in the fall. Her husband is a importer for toners for printers.

Lee was great. She brought us a book for Bates!Um, yes, you read that right the book is called " Holding Poop at Night". It's a Korean folk lore book. I just thumbed through it and read some of it to Nick, let's just say I'm not sure this one will make it into story time at our house! But it's hilarious!

We headed to Insadong, but the shops weren't open yet, so she grabbed a cab and we went to Gyeonbokgung Place. Ok, this was our first cab riding experience, and OH.MY.WORD can you say scary. I mean, more than once I had to close my eyes. There may be lines in the road, but those are merely decoration! And the traffic lights, just pretty colored lights in the sky.

As we were walking up to the Palace, we heard a drum beating and Lee told us to hurry, it was the changing of the guards. We made it just in time. It was so neat to watch.
We toured through the Palace rather quickly, even for my taste. Nick only got to read a few signs. We are planning on going back before we leave to spend some more time there.

The palace was built in the 1800s for the Royal Family. You can walk all over the grounds, and see all the different buildings, it was very neat. My favorite part was the ceilings. They were so colorful! I'm thinking about doing this in my house... what do you think?At the Palace, there were LOTS of little school children on field trips. I loved looking at the faces of the little boys and wondering what Bates would be like at that age. Nick and I were like celebrities!! All the kids would wave and say "HI!!" Lee told us that English is taught in the school and the kids LOVE to talk to Americans.

After the whirlwind tour of the Palace we walked out and headed back towards Insadong. We walked past a Buddhist Temple. They are getting ready for Buddha's birthday and had all these lanterns hanging outside.Lee took us inside and got us a tour of some of the studios of art. We couldn't go in the Temple or the Prayer Rooms. We told Lee we were Christians and she told us she met the Lord in the US and is now a Christian. Her mother is a devout Buddhist and doesn't really speak to her anymore. We had seen this men around town in all grey suits, which I really liked, well, found out they are Buddhist Monks. So I guess getting one of those grey jackets is out of the question! (I'm gonna try to get a picture, but I didn't want to get in trouble in the Temple)

We then headed to Insadong where Lee helped us find a place to make Bates' name chop, the traditional name stamp. We found a place and Lee translated for us. I designed a stamp that is a little more traditional and has his American name and Korean name on it. We go back tonight and pick it up about 6 pm or so. We wanted to go ahead and pay for it, so we asked Lee how much. The name chop we designed, which is carved by hand, normally would be 50,000 won ($50) but the super nice man and woman who run the store told Lee since we were adopting a Special Needs child and people in Korea just cast them out, that they would do it for 30,000 won. Now, you know I love me a bargain, but this man and woman were so wonderful and kind.
I can't wait to get his chop tonight. They are packing it up in this neat box and giving us a really neat certificate and stuff. I can't wait!!!

We asked Lee to ask them if they could do a name scroll too. Somehow it got all lost in translation, but we ended up picking out something really awesome and the nice man did it for free. We just made a donation to the Children of North Korea that the Monks are trying to help. We get to pick these name signs up tonight too and I can't wait. We got one for Bates in his full Korean name and one with the word "Brown" on it!

In addition to being a life saver, Lee took us to SEVERAL art galleries. I don't know why she thought we would like them, I'm sure we looked incredibly bored in them, but every time we would walk past one (and there were LOTS!) she was point us in. So Nick and I have had our cultural Art Education! She also made us drink Korean coffee after we told her we didn't like coffee, so we ended up carrying these cups of coffee around all day. After I found a place to pour mine out when she wasn't looking, Nick followed suit.

Something to note about Korea, it's incredibly clean, like no trash anywhere - which is great. Trouble is there are no trash cans either! I don't know how they keep it clean with no trash cans. So needless to say, Nick had to carry our empty cups around most of the day!

After we picked out the name chop, we headed down the small small small alley around the corner, down another small alley, to this small wooden door. Our lunch stop.

I don't think Korean food gets more traditional than this! We had Bulgogi and cooked it at our table. We had lots of side dishes, like royalty. Lee told us only Royalty gets more than 3 side dishes at a meal- I think we had like 9!It was ok. We didn't love it... didn't hate it. It was ok. I actually like the Korean food in America better.

After lunch we headed to Namdaemum Market. This involved another life threatening cab ride.

Oh, Namdeamum Market.... how to even describe this place. I don't think words will do it justice. It's like China Town on crack. Holy Moly, the stuff. It's incredible! Now we know, I'm a shopper, and this place totally overwhelmed me. It was street after building after alley after cart of stuff! I'm talking 6 story buildings all of little booths of people selling stuff! I don't think my pictures will do it justice, it's the wildest place. We may go back there, but I'm afraid we would get lost and not be able to get back to the outside world!

Our tour was officially over now. We exchanged email addresses with Lee. She was so wonderful, despite the Art Gallery Tours. We gave her a little gift of some lotion and a huge Dove Chocolate Bar. It was possible we might have two tour guides, so brought two gifts just in case, so we were able to give her one to give her daughter. She was so excited and said her daughter would LOVE it!

We asked Lee to put us on a Taxi and send us to Seoul Tower. She loaded us up and off we went... into the big city alone.

I'll post the rest of our day later.... see, I told you, busy day!

it's 4 am here

2010-04-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

And I'm WIDE AWAKE! By the way, Nick is snoozing!

I've been on the computer since 3, reading my blog comments (and crying!) and doing some research.

I have decided Bates has Acid Reflux. Who needs to go to med school when you have google?! All of the things I found on line sound JUST LIKE HIM and everything his foster mother said. He was very preemie, which makes him a prime candidate.

So here I am a world away, with Korean drug stores..... thanks to my friends Leah and Casey back home, they are getting me some info to hopefully help with the plane ride! Leah even Babel Fish translated the words "Acid Relux" for me! Ha!

I brought a bag full of drugs for Bates, but no Acid Reflux medicine.... just Mylacon and Tylenol. Today we have a tour guide for the morning, so I am going to see if she can help me find a drug store and get him some medicine to at least help on the plane till we can see a doctor.

Once we get this stomach thing under control, I think he will feel so much better and hopefully start eating and sleeping!

We have an appointment on Tuesday with the Ped in Murfreesboro, so hopefully she will help and we will get the boy feeling better (and in turn liking us!)

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support! It means the world to us!

a few more Bates tidbits

2010-04-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

I forgot a couple of things earlier.

When his foster mom and dad ask him where is Omma and Appa, he will go get the picture album of us we sent him. So sweet!
At his Tol (first birthday) he picked the money off the Tol Table. This is a traditional Korean celebration and the item the child picks predicts their future. He's gonna be rich!

Cute little booger! He just needs to realize how cool we are!

Tonight

2010-04-13T04:50:00.001-07:00

After meeting Bates (and blogging for yall) we were back out on the town. I needed to get out of the room and stop crying! Sheesh!

We stopped at the front desk and asked how to get to an E Mart. EMart is kinda like a Super Target. I was assume it's Lotte Mart's competition. We wanted to pick up a cd of Korean Children Music. After our meeting today, I think we might need it!

We found our way to the subway station that EMart was at and according to the hotel front desk, we couldn't miss it. Well.... the subway station dumps you in the middle of a 6 story mall. The place was HUGE! It took about 4 wrong turns and then we finally found ourselves down to the basement to E Mart.

E Mart was fun! We bought a Pororo microphone for Bates, since his foster mom said he acts like he's holding one when he sings and dances. We picked up a Korean Childrens Cd combo. We have NO IDEA what's on it, but the cover looked fun.

We also picked up a few Pororo toys for Bates' buddy, Ji-uk.

After we left EMart we headed back to our hotel and stopped at the Pizza Hut at Seoul Station. We were seated and just sat and sat and sat. Nobody ever came to check on us. Finally this guy comes over and asks if we are ready. We ordered a fondue cheese crust with half Bulgogi and half Cheesy Potato. It was so YUMMY!
The crust pulled off and was full of cheese and sweet potato that you dipped in a cheese fondue.

After we ordered two Korean girls were sat beside us. We watched them push this little button on the table and then the waiter came. Well.... who would have known that's what this little button on the back of our table was for. Silly Americans.

We headed back to the hotel. Man, Seoul is fun at night. Their are LCD screen on all the buildings. One building was covered in LCD lights and fun little silhouettes would show on it.
In the subway, I took a few self portraits.
This lady was in the subway selling chickens, cats, and puppies. They were so cute and random!
A shot of our hotel at night down the back alley.
Now we are back in the room, I'm wrapped up in the hotel robe, which I love. We are going to call it a night. Another fun day in Seoul tomorrow, this time with a tour guide!

More about Seoul

2010-04-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

Some other things I just wanted to note.

The elevator in our hotel smells like Nick's deodorant. I love it. It smells like a clean man. I tried to figure out the air freshener. I can see it, but can't reach it.
There are lots of motorcycles. Funny part is, they have the big gloves to keep their hands warm, and they are taped, like with packing tape or duct tape to the handlebars. I'm gonna try to get a picture.
Seoul has a unique smell. I can't describe it. I have a funny nose, but it's not a smell that makes me gag, it's just a different smell. You get these strong wiffs of it from time to time. If you have been here, you know.
I think they are super afraid of H1N1. There was lots of signage at the airport and in our room, and there are TONS of people wearing masks. Here is a picture I snapped

Meeting Bates

2010-04-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

So we left the hotel over an hour early, and headed to Holt. We were loaded down with all our gifts and a bag FULL of donations (thank you everyone!)

We headed down the stairs to the subway and there was a tram already there, I turned to Nick and said "comon, hurry!" I jumped on the tram, just as the door shut on my backpack, and there Nick was on the other side of the glass door. So I figured I'd ride to the next stop and stay at the door of the car I got off of and I'd see him on the next tram and jump back on.

Here I am in the station waiting for Nick on the next tram.

We met back up, no problems and kept on going to Holt. Our directions said it would take about 20 minutes to get there, but it took us about 40 minutes.

We walked out of the subway, turned the corner and could see the building. Holt!! I said, there it is! Here we go!

As we walked up the steps I looked to the left and there in the waiting room was BATES! His foster mother was holding him. I waved to him and said "Nick, there he is, it's Bates!" I was glad to see him and know it was him. I was afraid I would not know him. He looked just like all his pictures!

A social worker, or maybe it was a nurse, grabbed him from his foster mom and met us at the door. She immediately handed him to me and the foster mom grabbed the gift bags from my hands. They quickly ushered us into an elevator. It was so surreal, it all happened so fast. It was a whirlwind of people, gift bags, elevators. Ahhh!

Nick, me (holding Bates), his foster mom, and his foster dad got on this TINY elevator. His foster mom and dad kept saying "Omma, Appa" (which means mom and dad in Korean) and pointing to us. We just followed the foster mom into a room and sat down. Bates was just looking at me like what the heck.

I think the foster mom went and got DJ, the Holt social worker because she walked in and said, oh, I didn't know you were here. I said, we just got here, he was handed to us, and we just followed her.

As soon as the foster mom walked back in the room, Bates started screaming! So he was in my arms about 5 minutes before the tears started.

DJ translated between the foster family and us. I didn't have to really ask any questions, the foster mom just started talking and telling us things.

Here are some things we learned about Bates:

He is a very very very very very very VERY picky eater. This was the first thing the foster mom wanted to tell us. The only thing he likes is formula! He takes a bottle every two- three hours (round the clock!!!). He will eat a spoonful of rice, occasionally. He likes mandarian oranges, but will only eat like two or three (Can someone go get some mandarian orange fruit cups and have them at my house, please?) He didn't eat ANY of the snacks we sent. He doesn't like Gerber baby food. His foster mom tried to mix in rice cereal into his bottle to get more calories in him and he wouldn't drink it.
Are we sure this is my son?!?! So much for trying to bribe him to like us with food. He ate like two-three of the puffs we brought! What are we going to do?!?
He throws up- A LOT! If you try to feed him too much he throws up. If he doesn't want to eat, he throws up. If he coughs too much, he throws up. Yep, awesome. Again, are we sure this is my son?! I so DON'T do throw up. DJ said to make sure we take plenty of changes of clothes for the plane, for all of us! Oh no!
He doesn't sleep! Like AT ALL! His foster mom will bathe him about 9:30 and lay down with him at 10. He MIGHT be asleep by midnight! He rolls, pinches her, pulls her hair, bites her, picks her nose, anything but goes to sleep. Again, are we sure this is my son?! I'm a sleeper. Well, I guess I used to be! He may or may not take 1-2 naps a day. No set time- just if he wants too. I asked how we could tell if he is tired. His foster mom said, if he starts just rolling over or starts biting you! What?!
On that note, he is a biter. His foster mom said he bites a lot. Awesome.
They said he is very very very busy. He's always into everything. He opens all the drawers and pulls everything out. He won't let the foster mom read the paper- he shreds it!

Bates' foster mom has fostered 22 children and she said he is her second most difficult!

At one point, the foster mom is talking to DJ and she and the two interns just laughed. I looked at DJ and said, "what, is it so bad you don't want to tell me". She said Yes! They just say he is very very bad!

I don't speak any Korean, but I could tell from the foster mom's tone and her hand motions that what she was saying was serious. He is a "naughty" and "difficult" boy!

The foster mom said she has been praying for us, especially for his teenage years!

Bates' foster dad said the house will be SO quiet when Bates leaves. They won't know what to do (they have one other foster child now too, guess she is a good baby!)

DJ said she is glad we are young and energetic, cause we will need it! Oh my!

Bates loves music. If you put music on, he dances and pretends to sing in a microphone. His foster family is Christian and they take him to church on Sundays and he just claps and sings with the music! We will have to go back to the Lotte Mart and pick up some Korean music for the guy, I think we are gonna need it!
Bates LOVES LOVES LOVES his foster mom. She has been his "mom" since he was released from the hospital. She has mothered him for 14 mths! They told us, he only likes her, he doesn't even really like anyone else in the family.
Bates will sleep up to two hours in his carseat. Looks like there will be LOTS of driving in my future!
He loves to be outside.

I told his foster mom that we have two dogs who will play with him. She laughed and said I am afraid he will hurt your dogs! Lookout, Addie!!!

His foster father told us he is a sweet boy and will melt our hearts. He already has, now we just have to get him to like us!

I asked the foster mom to sing Bates a song so we could record it. She rocked him and sang this super sweet lullaby. I thought she would sing a fun song and he would dance, but she just rocked him and sang to him. Ok, I LOST it! And I'm tearing up again just typing about it. After that, I was a mess. I cried the rest of the meeting. Not like sobbing, but just tears I couldn't stop. I was a wreck.

Every time we tried to hold Bates he cried. Every time. He would just squirm and try to get back to his foster mother. It broke my heart to think of what will happen on Friday. As soon as I handed him back, he was all smiles. He loved having his picture made. He would try to reach for the camera. He liked the cell phone and hammer we brought for him. His foster mom said he likes balls and cars. So looks like we will stock up for the plane!

He was not a fan of either me or Nick. I couldn't stop crying. Nick would look at me, and I would say "I can't help it. I can't stop" It was an emotional time. After the long wait, here we were. Our son. He wasn't a fan of us. It was heart wrenching. And on top of that, Friday will be gut wrenching. Oh, I can't even think about it.

DJ and the foster mom were really sweet to me, while I was boohooing like a baby! The foster mom said, today I cry, she cries on Friday. Nope, pretty sure I'll cry then too! I think they know what a rough transition he will have and really feel sorry for us!

We have a rough road ahead. I prepared myself for this, but hoped for the best. It looks like it will be rough. Really rough. His a tough baby, a difficult child, and we are taking him from his security, his home and the only family he has known.

We were asked to come to his pre-flight physical on Thursday (so no Everland). Hopefully it will go better than today did. (for both me and Bates) I plan on trying to keep it together!

After about an hour, they packed up and we all headed out. I cried the entire way down the steps and most of the way back to Somerset on the subway. I was a mess, and still am.

I told Nick I don't think it could have gone worse. He agreed, but he said, at least he is healthy. And I agree, we've got a 100% plus boy. He is naughty and difficult, and ALL OURS!

Here are the pictures from our meeting today. Please note the tears, from me and Bates.

this morning, so far

2010-04-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

After we rolled out of bed this morning, Nick showered. When he got out of the shower he asked me where his razor was. Um, seriously dude, didn't pack you razor for you. So we were going to have to check out the convenience store in the lobby for a razor for him.

I was too hungry (remember, we slept through dinner last night) so we hit the breakfast bar before I showered. Nick had rice again (I'm thinking he might start asking for rice for breakfast when we get home!)

After breakfast we found the convenience store, but we left our money (wons) in the room. So we headed back up stairs and Nick grabbed the money and I hit the shower.

Now see this little thing....

You have to put your room card in it to turn the lights on and it has to stay in the holder for the lights to stay on. So I'm showering and then all of a sudden, complete darkness. I hollered for Nick and he opened the door and said, oh, guess I can't go downstairs till after you shower! Ha!

He got a razor and we got ready. I plugged in my straighter and NOTHING! Yesterday when I was getting ready, it wouldn't warm up when plugged in the thing that makes it go from 220 volts to 110, so I just plugged it right in the adapter. It popped and made some funny noises, but worked. Well, apparently I killed it! So sad. My hair needs a straighter!

We got ready and hit the subway to Lotte Mall. The subway was SUPER packed this morning. It was an adventure getting on with all the people.Lotte Mall attached to Lotte World, which is a small indoor amusement park, it has ice skating, shows, rides, etc. We needed to go to Build A Bear. I wanted to get Bates a Hanbok for a Build a Bear (you can't find them anywhere in the US).
We got the Hanbok and headed back toward our hotel. By the way, Seoul is HUGE! We were on the subway forever and didn't even make it to the other side of Seoul!

On the way back to our hotel, we stoppped back at Insadong. We bought a traditional Korean mask, a set of wedding ducks for us (we haven't gotten Bates' yet), and a few other goodies.

Now we are back in the room, eating our snack from the store- string cheese and chips. Shopping for food was fun, we just looked at the pictures. I said, oh these look like Doritos. Ha!

Our gifts are ready. We are changing clothes. Then headed to Holt.

In all honesty, it hasn't hit me yet. I'm not nervous or anything. I just can't wait to see my son. We have a few toys and snacks packed. We plan on bribing him to like us!

By the way, we couldn't find a straightner, apparently Korean women have great straight hair, so my hair looks like poo. Oh well, right?!?

Seoul Day One

2010-04-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

After hitting the breakfast bar, which was a fun experience - Nick had rice for breakfast! He loves Korea, rice at every meal! we came back to our room and got ready for the day.

Nick asked me like a million times what our plan for the day was and I kept telling him I didn't have one. He wasn't game for just wandering through the streets of Seoul, so I had to at least give him a few destinations we were going to.

Outside our Hotel, on the way to Insadong

Our hotel is located right between Insadong and Gyeongbok Palace, a great location. We walked down to Insadong. It's this tiny, one way street, with store after store after store. We just walked up and down and through a few shops to just get a feel and so I could scope out the shopping. We plan on going back here to do some major shopping!

Insadong Street

The Starbucks at Insadong

After Insadong, we went down to the subway station and attempted to buy a T money card, which is a reusable reloadable subway card. All we had were 50,000 wons (which is more than $50) and the machine wouldn't take it, so we walked back to the hotel and asked the front desk for some smaller bills. Then we were back to the subway to buy our T Money cards for the week. The machine was sold out! So we figured out the one way ticket machine, once Nick put the machine in English, and bought our tickets to the Seoul Station, which is where Lotte Mart is.

We navigated the subway with ease and got to Lotte Mart without any problems. Lotte Mart is like a super Walmart, they have groceries, toys, electronics, bedding, childrens clothes, everything. We explored around for a bit and then decided we were both starving!

We walked out of Lotte Mart and found a big bus station that had lots of food options, we opted for Burger King!

On the way back to our hotel, we bought our T Money cards. (Just FYI for future travelers, the card cost 3,000 won, then you have to load money on it. But it's a better deal, our way back ticket was 90 won and it cost 175,000 won for a one way ticket)

After lunch, we didn't have any plans, so we ended up just coming back to the room, cause we were exhausted, it was about 3 pm here. We told each other we would stay up till at least 8, before going to bed. Well, lets say, I woke up at 5:30 on the couch and ended up going to bed! Oops!

So now it's about 6:15 am here and I'm wide awake! Nick is still in the bed sleeping, but we will get up shortly and get our stuff together for today because today is the BIG DAY, we meet Bates!!!

Here are some things I noticed about Korea:

High Fashion, everyone wears black, and nobody, but us, had on jeans!
When you need to get off the subway tram, you line up and MOVE! No dilly dallying, you MOVE!
Americans are funny! When we'd pass other Americans, they would smile at us!
Not everyone that I thought was American was, there are lots of Europeans here too.
There is no such thing as personal space. This one lady followed Nick around the entire store. I told him I thought she thought he was stealing!
I wouldn't trade coming to Korea for anything. I told Nick as we were walking that I felt like an outsider, I didn't look like anyone else, and this is how Bates will feel.
Their rooms and building and subway cars are HOT! I mean I was sweating. Room temp here is like 85! Luckily I figured out the AC in our room!
STAIRS! Oh my word, STAIRS! We must have walked up and down a MILLION flights of stairs. My legs are a little sore today. I laughed and told Nick we will have to plan better routes when I have Bates in a backpack, I can't do all these stairs!

We're in Seoul!

2010-04-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

After a very long flight, we are in Seoul!

As we were boarding, I looked at Nick and said "we are doing it!" He said yeah, we are. He doesn't get as excited as me!

We flew Asiana Airlines and they were WONDERFUL! They made a 14 hour flight as bearable as possible. The stewardess were BEAUTIFUL! We had about 12 Asian woman, who were so pretty with their porcelain skin and almond eyes. They were all dresses alike and had their hair slicked back in a bun. I loved just staring at them! They fed us two wonderful meals. Right after we boarded at 1 am, they served dinner. Nick and I both got the beef and mashed potatoes. It was like a pot roast, sorta.

After dinner, I tried to stay up and watch at least one movie to help to adjust to the time difference, but I only made it about 1/2 way through Where the Wild Things Are. I don't think Nick made it much further through Sherlock Holmes.

They had a screen that tracked our progress across the Pacific and I watched that thing like a hawk when I was awake.

They served breakfast at about 2 am, Korean time. Nick and I had both been up off and on for a while.

For breakfast, Nick had hashbrowns, ham, and some cheese thing. I was braved and ordered the Kimchi and Rice!

All in all the flight was fine, as fine as a super long flight can be. The only thing I was had to say went bad was the fact that I brushed my teeth with soap, not toothpaste, but that was my own fault!

We landed in Incheon about 4:45 and walked right through Customs with no problem. I even said "anh ya hay say yo" to the Custom Agent. He just smiled at me and said it back. Whooohooo, I was proud of myself!

Here is a picture I took just for my mom, Anna, and William. HIGH KICK! I'm in Seoul!

We got our baggage with no problem (they all made it!!!) and we went to find our driver. We didn't see a sign with our name on it, so we started to get our money out to exchange to won, about that time our driver showed up, cause I saw this sign.

We exchanged our money then headed out to the van.

As we stepped out of the airport, I took a deep breath and grabbed Nick's hand - we were here! We are in South Korea!!

It took about 50 minutes to get from the airport to our hotel. The sun was just beginning to rise and the city was coming to life. It was fun to watch.

Seoul is amazing. It's so very clean and modern, but also so traditional. It's very busy but very friendly.

Our driver pointed a few thing out to us as we drove, but for the most part we had NO IDEA what he was saying! (PawPaw, he did show us Gimpo Airport!)

He drove us to the Holt Office. I seriously wanted to just jump out of the car! I was so excited!!!!!! I can't wait to go their tomorrow!

We finally made it to our hotel, or should I say Palace. We are staying at the Somerset Palace. And it's super nice. We were able to go ahead and check in, just had to pay the early check in charge. We are in a one bedroom room until Friday, then we move to a two bedroom, which will be nice to have more room when Bates is with us.

Nick was super excited to find the end of the Masters on the TV in English. I took a 30 minute nap and then we went to the Hotel Breakfast. Now we are getting ready to hit the town for the day. It's crazy - it's 7:17 pm at home, but 9:17 am here!

For those of your who know me well, you will be surprised, I have no color coded plan for touring! It's kinda stressing me out, but I told Nick I just want to take it all in and really experience Seoul. So, here we go....

I already love Korea and we aren't even there yet!

2010-04-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Casey, Will, and Tj, we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. If you asked Will where we were going he would say "to get Bates!" Casey asked him what he was going to do with Bates. Will said "he will play with me, then we eat birthday cake!" Apparently Will thinks Bates and birthday cake go together!

We have safetly made it to Chicago and are just hanging out at Terminal 5 Gate M9 till boarding begins around 12:30 (yawn!)

When we landed in Chicago, we had dinner at a Chili's in the airport and it was gross. We then rode the tram over to Terminal 5. On the tram, we were standing by a nice man and got to chatting with him. He asked us where we were headed and we told him to South Korea because we were adopting a son. He congratulated us and then a man across the tram said, well I'm about 18 years ahead of you, I adopted a son from South Korea 18 years ago.

We ended up chatting with that man and followed him to the check- in counter for Asiana Air.

There were no Asiana customer service reps there to check us in, so we ended having to wait a few minutes.

After a bit, a door behind the counter opened and out walked 12 Asian women in matching brown suits. The lined up behind the counter and all bowed in unison and said "Hay Say Yo" (which means "hello"). It was so neat, like our first little taste of Korea.

We got updated boarding passes and followed our friend to security and followed him to the quickest line and got through security in rapid time.

So, here we are, hanging out by the window waiting for our plane. The plane that will take us to our son's birth country!

We got some time to wait, so we've been reading, playing on the computer, practicing our Korean with the flashcards I made, blogging, and people watching.

Seoul, here we come!

And we're off...

2010-04-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

Our bags are packed...
we tried to weigh them on a home scale, so cross your fingers that we are underweight!

Casey, TJ, and Will are coming to take us to the airport. They will be here in about 30 minutes.

Welp, here we go......

Crier

2010-04-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so not a crier. I most of the time cry when I'm mad or really really sad.. I'm not a cry at Hallmark commercial type of girl. Despite what Nick says, I'm not emotional.
Until today...

This morning driving to work, I just got to thinking about how I would feel sitting on the couch waiting for the social worker and foster mom to bring Bates in. I imagined how I would feel the first time I saw his sweet face. I had tears in my eyes. I think one even found it's way to my cheek.

This afternoon on the way home from work, I rolled the winds down, put my sunglasses on, and turned my radio up and just wanted to spend some time thanking the Lord for providing for us, for leading us to our son, and to chat with Him about our trip.

I kid you not, the first song ended and the radio host said, "This is John Waller, with While I'm Waiting". I claimed this song for myself before we even sent in our adoption application. I even wrote a post about it here. Seriously, before he even started singing, there were tears running down my face! I knew God played that song just for me. He was saying, "you waited, you were faithful, now go get your son!"

I'm sure today is just the first of MANY crying days ahead. I can't even think about taking my son out of his foster mom's arms without tearing up. Better go make sure I pack the waterproof mascara!

our schedule in Korea

2010-04-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

We land at 5 am Monday morning. We got in the Somerset, which took some doing. We are excited to be staying there! The hotel is amazing and they offer apartment rooms, so we will have a living room and a bedroom. We have free wi-fi and a WASHER and DRYER in our room!!!

We meet our son (!!!!!) on Tuesday at 2 pm. Seoul is 14 hours ahead so at 10 pm Monday night your time, we will be looking at that sweet boy (and trying to convince him we are cool people!)

Wednesday is our guided tour. We will be taken around my some local college students.

Thursday we have a free day- I'm hoping we can go to Everland. I'm still working on convincing Nick!

Friday at 2 pm we become a family of three! We will have Bates in our arms forever!

I'm everything...

2010-04-08T14:52:00.001-07:00

If you ask me how I'm feeling, the best answer I can give you is "everything". I feel so many emotions, it's unreal.

Let me see if I can name a few for you...

Overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support for us in the "home stretch" of our journey

Thrilled to be headed to Korea to see the face of my son and not just a picture

Stressed about getting things tied up at work and on the home front

Clueless on being a parent!

Heartbroken for Bates' Foster Family. Next week will be incredibly difficult for them as they hand us a child they have raised as their own for over a year.

Ecstatic to experience Korea, the land that gave me my son

Dazed about where to even begin to start packing!

Sad for Bates. His world is about to be flipped upside down and in one moment he will be ripped from the only family he has ever know, the only land he has ever known, the only language he has ever know. I'm sad for him and all that he will loose. (Now I know he is also gaining so much, but I can't help but hurt for him and his losses and love him through his grief)

Overjoyed to bring my son home and watch him grow

Nervous about a very very very long plane ride. Ugh.

Excited to see our family and friends at the airport when we arrive in Nashville as a family of three!

Prayful that God will easy our transition into a family of three, and flipping those days to nights!

Curious to come to know the little boy I am so in love with

Worried about bonding and attachment

Hopefully that deep in Bates' soul is a place that will know us as his parents

Thankful to Bates' foster family and the love and care they have provided to our son. That boy is deeply loved by his foster mom and dad.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg!!!

Travel Plans

2010-04-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

We leave Nashville at 5:53 pm on Saturday and fly to Chicago.

We arrive in Chicago at 7:38 pm and then board a big ole plane at 1:00 am and fly through the night and land in SEOUL at 5:00 AM (yikes) on Monday morning.

We leave Seoul (as a family of three!) on Saturday, April 17th at 6:45 pm and land back in Chicago 5:30 pm (oh the joys of the international date line- 14 hours on a plane and we land before we took off!)

We will be spending the night in Chicago on Saturday night.

Sunday morning we depart Chicago on United flight 5668 and land in Nashville at 12:48 pm!

We would love to see each and every one of you at the airport. Each of you have played a special part in our journey to bring Bates home. You have helped pray our son into our arms and into his forever home. We'd like to celebrate our homecoming with you!

See you at the airport! We will be the tired looking parents with the cutest little Korean boy you've ever seen!

A whirlwind day!

2010-04-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a day!

We are two hours ahead of Holt, so I knew the travel call would come about 10:30 or so, after Lisa got into the office and check the emails from Korea with updated travel call information. About 10 o'clock, I was going stir crazy, just trying to not stare at the clock tick tick tick. At 10:24, my cell phone lit up and it said HOLT. I seriously FREAKED out! I was screaming on the inside and my hands were shaking, my heart was pounding.... I all but forgot how to answer the phone!

I answered and oh so calmly said, Hello.

"Hey Mary Leigh, it's Lisa"

"Ok hey, Lisa! I was sure hoping you'd call me!"

"Well, does that mean you are ready to go to South Korea, cause Bates is ready for you!"

Then my world stood still. I was standing in the sunlight on the porch office with a warm breeze on my face, and the world stopped spinning for a moment. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating. I forgot how to breathe. In that instant my life changed.

Lisa went over a few logistical things with me, but I honestly was in a fog. I asked her how soon we could travel and she said Friday. She told me yesterday, Erin (who was the social worker in the Waiting Child Program that we worked with to get matched with Bates, we love her) asked her if we had gotten our Travel Call yet. Lisa said everyone in the office was rooting for us!!! I told Lisa everyone on the message board was rooting for us too (in fact, just that morning someone started a thread that was entitled "Mary Leigh, today is your day!") I quickly got off the phone and just took a moment to take a deep breathe and thank the Lord for the miracle of my son.

I tried to call Nick, not one, not two, not three, but SEVEN times.... and he NEVER answered!
I tried to call my mom, who is a school teacher, and she didn't answer!
I tried to call my grandmother, and she didn't answer!

Seriously, someone.... ANSWER THE BLASTED PHONE!

Nick called back while I was waiting for my grandmother to answer. I said "Why didn't you answer the phone" He said, "I was on the phone with the Insurance Company" I said "Well, you should answer the phone cause we are going to KOREA!!!!"

I shared the whole story with him and quickly got off the phone so I could call the travel agent.

Ok, keep in mind, I'm at work. We happened to have TWO groups at camp today doing course, which I was supposed to be registering and they showed up right about now, just an hour and half early! Ugh!

I called the adoption travel agent, Earl. He was fantastic. I said "Hi, I'm Mary Leigh Brown and I need to get to South Korea- SOON!" Within 15 minutes he had us booked on a flight and got us an INCREDIBLE deal!

After talking to Earl, I called my mom and grandmother back (who both answered this time) and they both screamed with excitement! Then the word was spread like wildfire!

I then had to go run a ropes course and try to keep my head out of the clouds. It was a whirlwind day. I came home with a headache from being so excited all day!

Three sleeps till we board a plane to our son!

P3 is back!

2010-04-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

I called DC this morning and found out our P3 (that packet of very important paperwork) is back and Bates' Visa Interview is scheduled for tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

Some people get the travel call before they even find out about those things.... but not us, of course.

So, Lisa, if you happen to read my blog, I'm totally ready for you to call. My phone is on and ready. Just sitting here waiting for your call......

Yep, still on...

2010-04-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

I have only hit the rolly ball on my blackberry about half a million times today...

Yep, phone still on. Nope, didn't miss a call.

I'm going crazy!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T16:25:00.001-07:00

Bates,
Guess what, buddy! The Easter Bunny came to see you!

Happy Easter sweet boy. I can't wait for you to be here next Easter to celebrate with us.
I can't wait to tell you all about the empty tomb.
I can't wait to tell you about the pain and suffering Jesus endured for the joy that was set before him. And guess what, buddy, you were that JOY!
I can't wait to tell you about Jesus conquering death and paving the way to the Father for you.
I can't wait to tell you how much He loves you (and daddy and I love you too!)

I can't wait to watch you grow to know, trust, love, and live for the Risen Lord!!

Happy Easter, my son!

They see his picture!! (and other fun news)

2010-04-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, I called the Visa Hotline in DC and the nice little girl who answered, Sarah, said his p3 wasn't return, but they did SEE HIS PICTURE!

When she said, I see a picture... I immediately interrupted her and said, isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?!? She, of course, said yes, and laughed. She said all the Asian babies were her favorites and she liked it when she could see their pictures!

What does this mean??? Bates has made his Embassy Appearance and had his picture made for his Visa. Now the P3 (packet of paperwork) just needs to be returned and his Visa Interview done and we are READY to GO!

His Class B landed on the receptionist's desk at 10:42 am this morning (which was really last night while we were sleeping) so he needs to get his tail to his Interview and have those folks call his mommy to come get him!

Last night, I washed the first (of the millions I will do in my lifetime) load of Bates' clothes to pack.
And we put the car seat in the car! Now, that was an adventure. It didn't help that we didn't read the directions and just thought we could wing it... but dang, car seats have come along way. That Latch system is something!

I loved driving to work this morning and looking in the baby mirror and seeing his car seat! Can't wait to look in that mirror and see his little face!

Class B- update

2010-04-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

To say I've been watching the FedEx website and tracking the package like a hawk is a bit of an understatement!

Our class B waiver left Oregon, made it's way through Alaska and landed in Incheon, South Korea last night. It's headed to Seoul RIGHT NOW!

Our last piece of paperwork to bring our son home is on Korean soil! Soil that I soon hope to have my feet on!

Go paperwork go! Get to that tall brick building in Seoul that says "HOLT" on the side. Find your way upstairs to the hands of our caseworker. God's speed paperwork!

Class B - Oregon and beyond

2010-03-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

I got an email from Lisa at Holt.

She said Our Class B waiver is headed to Korea!

She also gave me a FedEx tracking number to "start stalking!"

I love it that she gets me and my "stalking!"

Let's be honest, I already tracked it! It's been picked up from Oregon and should arrive in Korea by April 2nd! APRIL 2ND! That's FRIDAY!!! It will be a GOOD FRIDAY, for sure!!!!!!!

Class B tracking

2010-03-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Per the USPS tracking the Class B has been
"Processed through Sort Facility, March 30, 2010, 6:13 am, PORTLAND, OR 97238"

Almost there!

Class B update

2010-03-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I met Nick at his work and had the Class B notarized (all four copies). While I was signing one of them Nick asked me if it made me nervous... I said no, just excited! It was exciting knowing that this was the LAST piece of paper to sign before we travel! The next time we will be signing adoption paperwork will be for the finalization! Craziness!

I headed to the post office where I overnighted the papers to the Holt Office in Oregon. The man was so nice and gave me the tracking number (I think he sensed my craziness!) so I could see it on it's way! It is guaranteed to be delivered by 3 pm tomorrow.

I tracked that package all day and watched it leave Murfreesboro. I'll be tracking it all day tomorrow too! I'm like a kid tracking Santa on Christmas Eve. I'm a crazy woman!

I emailed Lisa at Holt and told her and she said she would be looking for it and forward it out to Holt tomorrow and send me the tracking number so I could watch it go to Seoul.

I'll be watching that package like a hawk! I'm officially a stalker!

Class B

2010-03-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

So it's been quiet around here... real quiet.
I've almost posted a few times a debby downer post about how I'm SO OVER WAITING and WANT SOME NEWS, but I haven't.

I have been calling DC EVERYDAY to check and see if there is any update. Everyday, same thing... no news. It's SO frustrating. I gave them Thursday off and called this morning, guess what.... no news! Ugh, what a way to start the weekend.

-please note the below is a window into my brain
(and what happens to adoptive parents), considered yourself warned-

This afternoon on the way home from work my phone rang- HOLT!
AHHHHH. My heart literally stopped beating, then it was POUNDING. Like running a marathon, if one were to actually run, which we all know, I don't.

I thought, there is NO WAY this is my travel call, freak out, is this my travel call, DC has no news, I can't go- I'm not packed! FREAK OUT He hasn't has a Visa Physical yet... he hasn't been to the embassy... it CAN'T be my travel call, is it my travel call, no way can't be... FREAK OUT...get myself together.... answer on the second ring and calmly say

"Hello"

"Hey Mary Leigh, it's Lisa from Holt"
DUH! I have your number programmed in my phone! I'm freaking out here, why are you calling, can i go to Korea, no way.... it's not time, why are you calling

"Oh, Hi Lisa." think of some small talk, keep it together "How are you?"

"I'm good. I hate to call families so close to the end like this, but"... ok, not travel call... why is she calling, please don't be bad news, I'm SO ready to travel, I mean minus all the packing and stuff...

"your son had his Visa Physical"... YES! Visa Physical, DC was wrong, this is progress, whoohooo! Oh no, don't be bad news, I hope he is ok. Oh please, don't be sick....

"He is going to need a class B waiver. " YES! this is good, we are so close. Class B means close to the end! YES YES YES Wonder what special need they picked for the Class B?

"Oh, Lisa, that is great news!!!" YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

"I tried to call your husband and left him a message that I was calling you" WHAT?!!?!?! You called Nick FIRST!?! YOU BETTER CALL ME FIRST WITH THE TRAVEL CALL!!!! What, he didn't answer, um, it's HOLT, this is like the single most important phone call in the world, why didn't he answer, UGH, I'm gonna kill him.

"Oh that's fine Lisa, I'm about to pick him up." I'm gonna KILL HIM!

So Lisa continues to fill me in on what the next steps are and all that and I calm down and start acting like a normal person again, not some crazed maniac.

Here's the rundown.
Bates has to have a class B waiver issued. Basically this is a waiver that the doctor who did his Visa Physical has requested to make sure we are aware of a certain medical condition. The medical condition, get this.... is the fact that he is post- op from a heart surgery he had at a few weeks old to close a hole in his heart. Seriously, out of all the things the kid has overcome, they picked a surgery and a condition that is resolved and should be a non-issue for him. Funny.

We got the Class B in an email late this evening. We will print off 4 copies and have them notarized first thing Monday morning and then overnight then to Holt. As soon as Lisa gets them, she will FedEx them to Korea. Once Korea get them, the phone can ring any day with the news that HE IS READY!!!

Ahhh, we are so so so close, like a couple of weeks and we will be in Seoul.
It's so surreal! Tonight in the car, I looked at Nick and said, this time in two weeks, we could be in South Korea with our SON!

I can't believe it. We are almost there. Almost a family of three. Almost seeing the face of the photos I've memorized in person. Almost kissing those sweet cheeks. Almost hearing his laugh. Almost changing dirty diapers. Almost no sleep. Almost all nighters. Almost living my dream.

Bates,
Our journey to you is almost over. You are the son we have been dreaming about for years. We can't wait to have the honor to parent you. Sweet boy, you are my joy. I love you and can't wait to board the plane to come for you. Soon, little one.... soon!

Last Call Jewelry Order

2010-03-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

Last call folks, get me your Cookie Lee Jewelry Order, or just be very jealous when you see me sporting my new necklace!

ABC and 123

2010-03-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Today was a big milestone in the Brown house.

I registered Bates for a 2 day a week preschool!
He will start his school in August, but pre-registration started today. I, of course, was there before they opened with my paperwork!

He will be going to Lascassas Baptist Church Preschool on Mondays and Wednesday for half day. It's absolutely perfect. It's on my way to work and I'll get to still work part time, be home with him some, and he will get the chance to hang out with kids his own age and learn!

I'll be honest, I was that mom. You know, emailing the director a list of questions! I couldn't help it. I wanted to make sure it was a good fit for him. The last thing I want to do is damage his attachment by sending him to school too early. The director is super nice and told me I was welcome to bring him by anytime and hang out with him some to get him used to school.

I feel so comfortable in our decision, despite my one moment of freak out after I turned in the paperwork.... I can't believe my son, who isn't here yet, is registered for preschool!

It was so surreal to write Bates Brown in the blank for child's name. I'm sure this is the first of many surreal moments in mommyhood!

Naughty!

2010-03-15T17:52:00.001-07:00

A lady from the Holt message board, who now reads my blog, sent me a message a few weeks ago to say the women in Bates' latest pictures looked very familiar and she thought her daughter and Bates had the same foster mom!
But, the story gets better, they actually lived in the house together for a few months! She emailed me a few pictures of Bates as a teeny tiny baby just to be sure, but yep, it was our boy!

She filled me in on some great things about our foster family. How fantastic they were and how much they love their babies! She also told me she emails the foster sister occasionally and sends pictures of her daughter as she grows. I asked her to email them and tell them she "met" me and we were Bates' adoptive parents and to pass along my email.

Well a couple of weeks pasted and no news from them, but today I got a wonderful email from the foster sister!!!

She said Bates is good and busy, and I quote "He is naughty!"
Oh man!

She also sent about 8 pictures of him over the last few months, a picture of him on his 1st birthday, and a video! He is just the most perfect thing, naughty or not!

Here's the video of our naughty boy in action. He's a fast little booger!

Date Night #2

2010-03-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Last week was Nick's date night. I didn't remind him at all and was hoping he wouldn't forget!
He decided Thursday night would be date night. So he got home and said, so where do you want to eat? I told him it was HIS date night and he was supposed to pick.

We ended up going to O'Charley's cause we had a gift card. We then planned to go to Lanes, Trains, and Automobiles to go bowling. We got to the bowling alley and it was PACKED, must have been league night. All the lanes were full, so we didn't get to bowl. :(

We ended up just picking up a RedBox, Couples Retreat, and headed home for a movie on the couch.

This week, my date night!

more good news

2010-03-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

So just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, I mean, HELLO- we got our EP!
I got an email late this afternoon from Holt with an updated Medical Report on Bates!!!

It's a similar report to a well baby check.
So here are the shrimp's stats:
He weights 19.8 lbs (not on growth chart)
He is 28.5 inches tall (<3%)
and his head is in the 10%!

And he has 6 teeth!

He is standing alone and likes to play ball, peak-a-boo, and LOVES music! He is saying Umma (mom) and Appa (Dad) and jabbering lots.

He is described as cute and fine.

And after all that, I came home and got a very very special gift from my 5th grade teacher in the mail. It was a special gift - a baby blanket that her late mother in law made. So special and such a neat story behind the blanket. I absolutely LOVED my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Kelley, so it was so special to get such a sweet note and incredibly special gift from her!

Tonight was topped off with Date Night #2... more on that later.

Hooray for a great day!!!

We are coming sweet boy, soon. Mom and Dad will be there soon. We love you, shrimp!

EP approved

2010-03-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

I got an email from Lisa at Holt today and the subject said:

"EP approved!!!!" (and that is how many exclamation points she put!)

This is HUGE! This is what Bates was submitted for back on 1.19. Based on others timelines we thought it would be at least two more weeks before we heard anything. I was sorta growing impatient with the wait, just sorta....

I honestly was so excited to get that email I could feel my heart beating. My hands were shaking when I was calling Nick. Seriously, I'll be a mess when the Travel Call comes!!!

So what the means:
Now we are waiting for

Travel Certificate to be issued: this typically takes a week
Bates has to go in for a Visa Physical: this is done by an outside doctor and typically only once a month, so hopefully that will be soon and not a month from now
Visa Interview must take place: this is when Bates has his cute little picture taken at the Embassy for his travel documents
the P3 must be returned to the US: this is a packet of all the above information

I know this looks like serveral more steps, but it happens fast. So we are close, maybe 3 weeks to 6 weeks (depending on his Visa Physical appointment). So pray for quick quick paperwork..... we are going to get our boy, soon!!!!!!

Bring that Baby Home Church Bazaar

2010-03-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, March 13th at Farris Chapel United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro will be a church bazaar, with all the proceeds to go towards bringing Bates home!

Susan, a lady Nick works with, took it upon herself to set up this church bazaar that features jewelry, baked goods, and a huge rummage sale! Susan has been amazing in her support of our adoption. She has a picture of our sweet boy in her Bible and prays for him (and us) daily. When Nick and I went to the church to drop things off, there were pictures of our son hanging up on the walls in their fellowship hall- all the ladies love him!

So if you are in town on Saturday, stop by Farris United Methodist Church at the corner of Old Barfield and Kimbro from 7 am- 1 pm and help us bring our boy home!!

Let's Learn about Korea: National Flower

2010-03-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

The weather last weekend was 70, can you say SPRING FEVER?

So today we will be learning about the National Flower of South Korea.

The national flower of South Korea is the Hibiscus syriacus, more commonly known in the United States as Rose of Sharon.

The flower appears in national emblem, and Korea is compared poetically to the flower in the National Athem of South Korea. The flower's name in Korean is mugunghwa ( 무궁화). The flower's symbolic significance stems from the Korean word mugung, meaning immortality.

It is a flowering shrub that is native to much of Asia. It is vase-shaped, reaching 2-4 m in height. It is widely planted in areas with hot summers for its very attractive white, pink, red, lavender, or purple flowers. Individual flowers are short lived, lasting only a day.

Fun fact, the flowers are edible.

Looks like we will be planting a Rose of Sharon Hibiscus at our house this spring!

all's quiet

2010-03-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

All is quiet on the home front.
No news from Korea. Just waiting.

The EP group from 1.12 got their approval today, so now my group, the 1.19 group is next, so hopefully in two weeks I'll have BIG news!

But until then.... all is quiet in my adoption world.

Date Night #1

2010-03-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

I know our date nights will be few and far between when Bates gets home. So in order to spend a little quality time together and to count down to his arrival, we are having WEEKLY date nights. We are taking turns planning the night, and last week was my week and the first date night.

I planned pizza and a puzzle.
I know, lamo' right? Nick said he felt like grandparents. But I like pizza and I like doing puzzles and it was MY date night.

Nick picked up a pizza (and wings) on the way home from work and we had dinner on plate plates, super classy. Then we broke out the 3 foot puzzle I bought last week. It's a night skyline shot of Chicago, which is one of our favorite cities in the world!

Ok, puzzle= super hard. We got outline and part of the bottom done. It's still on our coffee table.... half finished, maybe just 1/4 way finished, actually more like 1/8!

But it wasn't about finishing the puzzle, it was about spending some quality time together, and that we did.

Stay tuned for Nick's date night next week.

Let's Learn about Korea: Name Chop

2010-03-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

So this week we are gonna talk about something I want to buy when we are in Korea. Yep, don't you doubt that I already have a list of things to buy when we are in Korea.

One of the things I want to make sure to buy for Bates is a name chop, Dojang.

A traditional Korean dojang is engraved piece of wood (traditionally) with a name. The seals can also be made of jade or sometimes ivory for more value. In ancient times the chop served both as a form of identification and as a valid signature.
Most Koreans have personal seals, every government agency and commercial corporation has its own seals to use in public documents. While signing your name is also accepted, many Koreans think it is more formal to use seals in public documents. You must officially register your Dojang for it to be considered legal.

Below is a picture of a man carving a name chop. They actually carve them by hand and I've already done some research to find the best man in town to make Bates' chop.
This is what the chop looks like once it's stamped. I plan on having Bates' American and Korean names on his chop.

The name chop is given to children, or young adults, when they are believed to be responsible for their own actions and responsible for leaving their "mark" behind.

the rest of the pictures

2010-02-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

Here are the rest of the pictures of Bates. He just might be the cutest kid I've ever seen. And oh, that grin, seriously, could he be any cuter!

And just so you know, his shirt says HAPPY TC! I'm thinking that means this boy is ready for his TRAVEL CALL (TC!!)

And I know, he needs a haircut, but they really try to wait until we have him so we can give him his first hair cut!!! Neat story, my hair cutter, Annie, was adopted from South Korea as a baby, she can't WAIT to cut his hair!

Bates!

2010-02-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

I emailed the other lady who I thought might have met Bates, and boy did she come through!

She said she was there to pick up her daughter and the nurse kept saying "friends baby, friends baby" and point at Bates. So she just took pictures and figured she would find out whose son he is when she got back to the States.

She said he is very laid back, just sat with his foster mom and looked around. Other babies in the room were crying and fussing, but not Bates- he was just chillin'. She said he is very laid back and loved playing with her daughter.

Here are just a few of them. I will upload the rest later.

Update

2010-02-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

So, my friend who was gonna get to meet Bates didn't get to see him. She was MAJORLY bummed and so sweet about it. Turns out there was a slight communication issue and Bates' foster mom came at a different time and they missed each other. It's possible that another lady saw him and took his picture, but I'm waiting to hear back from her.

But, it's all ok cause, I'll get to see him soon cause we are moving right along in the paperwork department!

Our P3 (Packet 3) was sent to Korea today. It's the packet of paperwork that has the US clearances in it and tells Korea what to do and send back. So yeah!

However, nothing else can happen until Bates is issued a EP (Emmigration Permit). His was applied for on 1.19 and we were told 3-6 weeks till approval. But, due to a back up at the end of the year when they ran out of EPs (they only issue a certain number every year) and based on others timelines its looking like ours will be approved in another 4 weeks- end of March. Travel happens about 3 weeks after that (if everything goes smoothly). So based on that estimate we will be traveling mid to late April.

But, the only thing certain in the world of adoption is it's all uncertain...... so who knows really.

I have a feeling the next month will be very hard: just waiting, no progress- so pray for us!

5 hours

2010-02-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

In 5 hours, one of my friends I met on the Holt Message Board will be looking at my son's face in real life!

My friend, Holly, who I met via the message board, but haven't met in real life, YET is in Korea picking up her son. Her son and Bates were on the waiting child list together. She is going to Holt at 3 pm on Thursday (which is 1 am in the morning here) for her son's preflight physical and will get to meet Bates.

She is going to hug him and tell him how much his momma and daddy love him and that we are coming for him and we will be there very soon.

I'm beyond myself excited that she gets to meet him and tell me about him, and of course, take lots of pictures! Although, I can't help but have a little part of me that is a little jealous that she will be the one kissing his cheeks and making him smile, not me.

I can't wait to hear what she says about our boy. I don't think I'll sleep much tonight and will probably be up at some point in the middle of the night to check my email!

We're OUT

2010-02-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

I called the National Visa Center yesterday and only got as far as giving them Nick's name and date of birth before I was told they didn't have any information for me.

Today I called and told them Nick's name and date of birth. Then he asked me for the beneficiary's name and date of birth, so I felt like he actually saw us in the system. I had to verify a few other things, and then he asked me what he could do for me.

I told him I was calling to see if we were Logged In.

He told me to hold a moment so he could access our file. He said this is a new request and it has been sent to the Embassy in Seoul and that they will hear back in 24 to 48 hours. I said, "great, thanks" and hung up, wondering what in the world that meant!

I quickly logged onto our Message Board and asked my friends.

It means we are not only
LOGGED IN but also....
LOGGED OUT!

My friends, thanks Holly, said they were just telling me to call back in 24 hours to make sure my packet went to Korea without a problem.

We're out!!!!

The finish line

2010-02-23T08:18:00.001-08:00

A year ago, when I was dreaming of our adoption, it was just that- a dream. Something that would happen far off...

Seven months ago, that dream became a reality when we sent in our application. I felt like I was starting a marathon. We had a child, son or daughter, out there and I knew over the next few years we would work our way to bringing him or her home. At the time it seemed like the finish line was so far away, in fact I couldn't even see it, but I knew it was there... somewhere, somewhere in the distance.

Four months ago, when I saw this my finish line had a face.
I knew the years I thought we would be waiting had been sped up, and those years were now months. The finish line was still months off, and I still couldn't see the finish, but I was committed to getting that face home. I dreamed about that face, longed to hold my child, and imagined what our trip to get him would be like.

Today, I feel like I can see the finish line. I see that yellow tape marking the end of our journey.
I see the finish line tape and my son who now looks a little more like this is standing (and walking, and talking, and running!) on the other side of that line.
It's getting closer and closer by the day.

I know everyday is one day closer to boarding that plane to Korea and seeing the face from my dreams in reality, but the closer we get to the finish line, the harder the wait. The minutes seem like days, and the days like months. I know it will get worse the closer we get to that Travel Call.

The hardest part of the race is the last mile!

2 months for this....

2010-02-22T17:11:00.001-08:00

This single, lone sheet of paper is what I stalked the mailbox for weeks for. This is the official approval of our I-600!

Now our paperwork is at the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I can call and see when Bates is logged in and logged out. I must admit, I only called twice today, and we aren't logged in yet.... but I'll be calling again tomorrow!

who doesn't love a good piece of Jewelry

2010-02-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Our last big fundraiser to bring home Bates is a Jewelry party! Whoohooo, ladies!

A super nice Cookie Lee Consultant is donating 75% of the profit from the jewelry sales to our adoption. 75% - that's HUGE!

So I know all you girls need a new necklace, or earrings, or some cute little accessory, and now you can tell your husbands it's for a good cause! She mailed me a bracelet, and let me tell you, it's way cuter in person than the catalog. And it's nice too, no cheapy stuff!

I have catalogs and order forms, but you can also look at the catalog online and email your order- so everyone, both near and far, can participate!

The catalog can be viewed at
www.cookielee.biz/maryanntjernagel

All you have to do is pick out what you want, email me with BATES FUNDRAISER in the subject line. Include what you want, the page number, and the cost. I will email you back with the total (with tax) and copy MaryAnn (the consultant). Get this, shipping is just $1 for your WHOLE order! Can't beat that!

And, if you would like to take some catalogs to your workplace, I can get you some, or have them shop on line.

All orders are due by March 20th, so don't delay.

I'm stocking up for Christmas presents! Guys, this is a great gift for your girls.... every girl loves a surprise and that surprise is even better when it's jewelry. Who do you need to buy for: a soon to be graduate, stock up for Christmas, birthdays, of just yourself!

Happy jewelry shopping ladies, (and gentlemen)!

next step

2010-02-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

So many of you have asked me what the next step is now that we have USCIS approval, so here goes....

The USCIS approval goes to the National Visa Center

We will be logged in and logged out of the National Visa Center, I can call them to see when we are logged in and out. We should be logged in in about a week and then logged out the following day. I will start calling as soon as I get my letter in the mail, cause that means they got their too!
Meanwhile we wait for Bates' EP (Emmigration Permit) to be issued in Korea. His was applied for at the Embassy on 1.19 and this normally takes 3-6 weeks (we are at week 4)
Once we are logged in and out of the National Visa Center a Packet 3 (P3) will be sent to the Embassy in Korea. This packet will then be sent to Holt in Korea. This is a packet of information that must be returned to the Embassy. We will know when the P3 is sent, again I'll be calling daily and multiple times daily if needed! Part of the packet must be the EP, so hopefully that will be issued prior to the packet going to Korea.
When Holt Korea gets the P3 they will schedule a Visa Interview (VI) and Embassy Appearance (EA) for Bates. I can call to see when his VI and EA are! Holt will finish up the paperwork for the P3 and return it to the Embassy and then.......
TRAVEL CALL!

We are getting close, oh so close!
Once the EP is approved it's simply a matter of weeks!

I-600 approval

2010-02-17T10:34:00.001-08:00

Nick called me mid morning and said "I have good news and bad news"
He tries to be such a trickster, but little does he know I'm onto him and know his ways
Anyways, a lady from the USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Services) Office had called and had a question about the spelling of Bates' name (which is Jeong-Hwan Choe on the form)

Nick gives me the ladies name and number and I immediatly call Annie back. She was so sweet! She said she was that she was typing our approval notice!

She just wanted to double check the spelling of Bates' Korean name before the approval went to the National Visa Center. I spelled it correctly for her and she said we should have our approval letter in hand by the end of the week. She also told me congratulations on the adoption of our son- she was so sweet.

Hooray Hooray Hooray!

I really had a hard time waiting on this approval. Almost two months! I'm so glad to have this behind us and on to the next step!

I feel like things are starting to roll downhill and the closer we get to the end the faster they are rolling!

Let's Learn about Korea: The Olympics

2010-02-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

I love the Olympics. They are magical and for the 16 days they are on, I clear my schedule. I'd take vacation time, if I had that much and simply stay home and cheer on Team USA.

This year watching the Olympics has been a little different. Not only did I get goosebumps when Team USA walked out during the opening ceremonies, but I also got them when Team Korea walked out.

I was pulling hard for Apollo Ono to win on the short track, but when the two Korean skaters fell and knocked themselves off the podium (and a Korean sweep) I just couldn't cheer as loudly.

Did you know PyeongChang, South Korea was the runner up host city for the 2010 Olympics? South Korea was actually winning the bid after the first round of voting, but ended up loosing to the current host city, Vancouver, Canada. It's a good thing too, or it'd be nearly impossible to travel to Korea right now.

Currently, Korea has 4 medals: 3 golds and 1 silver. All of them in speed skating. Maybe Bates will be a speed skater? He certainly isn't allowed to be a Luger.

KD and Skate for Bates

2010-02-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

In fall of 2000, I stood in my college dorm and watched my parents walk out the front of the building and never felt more alone in my life.
The next few weeks are weeks that changed my life. They were weeks that put me on a path to some of my best friends, life changing moments, and to meeting my future husband.

I pledged Kappa Delta Sorority during my Freshman year at Tennessee Tech, and it was one of the best decisions I made.
At the time, I was so excited about the 4 years of friendships, mixers, socials, fundraising, and laughter I knew I would experience, never did I dream of what this commitment would look like for the rest of my life. Sure, we were told, "once a KD always a KD", but to see that play out in my life has been quite exciting!

I've been out of college for almost 6 years now (GASP!!) but the bonds of Kappa Delta are still strong in my life.

The Kappa Delta Chapter at Tennessee Tech hosted a fundraiser for our adoption. I got a call from the current President, Lindsey, who told me about the Skate for Bates fundraiser they were hosting. All the planning was done, and the flyers were going up the next day!
What a blessing, a fundraiser that we weren't planning. Someone else was taking lead and simply letting us benefit from their hard work and generosity.

Unfortunatly, Nick and I couldn't go the actual Skate Night, but here are some pictures.

The 80s themed skate night was a big hit and people braved the snow and cold, and came out to help us bring our son home.

Last night Nick and I headed to Cookeville and I went to the KD meeting where they presented me with a check for $1000!!!!! Isn't that unbelievable! What a blessing!!!
Here I am with the current president, Lindsey, and below with the whole chapter.

In all honestly, I don't know all these girls names, in fact, I only know a handful. I wouldn't be able to pick them out in a crowd, but this is a shining example of what being a Kappa Delta means, what being a sister means. We are connected through our bonds of sisterhood. And these bonds span time, miles, and hearts - forever.

Thank you again, girls! I hope to see you all at the airport when we get home with Bates! And you can babysit anytime!

AOT

Happy New Year!

2010-02-15T19:05:00.000-08:00

Last night was a special night, not only was it Valentine's Day, but it was also a very important Korean holiday: New Years!

To celebrate Nick and I decided to have a casual evening together at home. I decided I would try to cook my first Korean meal at home. I cooked BulGoGi, which is the same thing I ate at the Korean Restaurant on Bates' birthday.

Well, success!

We had BulGoGi, sticky rice, steamed brocolli, and Korean rice cakes. I decided the traditional Rice Cake Soup didn't sound too good, so I substituted Rice Cakes. Hope that counts!

Let me know if you want to come eat Korean at our house, we'd love to have you!

more "rain" (good news)

2010-02-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

So another email full of good news and PICTURES from Korea!

First his burn looks SO MUCH better! It's almost completely healed and looks like it will only be minimal, if any, scarring! The picture of his arm looks so good, makes my heart feel better.

Then we got a picture of him with our first care package (that we sent before Christmas) guess he just now got it. The outfit we sent probably won't fit now, but oh well!
Isn't his foster mom so sweet looking! I know she loves him to pieces! Look at how happy he is!
Sorry, Nick, it looks like he still has bald spots on the side of his head.

And here is absolutely my new favorite picture of my boy!

I mean, could he be any cuter?!?!

I think it's impossible to fall more in love with him, but every time I get a new picture, somehow I do! I can only imagine when I finally see him in person!

when it rains it pours

2010-02-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Usually when people say "when it rains it pours" they mean bad news but in my case, today, it means great, no, fantastic, no, AMAZING NEWS!

We got an update from Korea today about Bates' abnormal MRI and brain issues.

The report from his latest MRI showed improvement of his frontal lobes as well as NORMAL findings.

Um, in case you missed that, that was NORMAL findings.
Let me say that again, NORMAL findings!

As in my boy's brain is N.O.R.M.A.L!

I honestly just want to cry. Nick and I have been praying, as have many of you, for his abnormal MRI. It's a miracle! And I just so happen to know the Author of the BEST miracles.

Praise the Lord for this!!!! Yeah God!!!!!

Well Baby Check

2010-02-10T13:12:00.001-08:00

Hooray for a new Well Baby Check today. And it might be the best one yet!

Bates is ON THE GROWTH CHART!

He weights 19.8 lbs (10%!!) and is 28.3 inches tall (still less than 3%) and his head circumference is 33 inches (>10%) How bout that growing boy! Yeah Bates!

He now has not 2, not 4, but 6 teeth! 4 on top and 2 on bottom. The report does not note Hutchinson Teeth, so I'm not sure about that.

He has good sitting balance is is pulling to standing position. He walks holding on to furniture and can stand alone. It's only a matter of time before this kid is running!

And this little booger refuses to wave bye-bye. I think he might be a tad stubborn!Like mother, like son!

He is catching up and is now only noted as being about 2 mths behind in development.

Now best news, his Orthopedic Follow-up for the long bone flairing was NORMAL! Yeah God!

I'm so pleased with how our little guy is progressing and can't wait to see him in "action"!

Let's Learn about Korea: Happy New Year

2010-02-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!!!
I'm know, you are thinking, but New Years was over a month ago.
In Korea, they celebrate Lunar New Year, which falls on February 14th this year.

The Lunar New Year, called Seollal, is a special holiday celebrated in Korea. It is the most important of the Korean holidays. The holiday lasts 3 days and is family oriented. Rice Cake Soup is traditionally served. Elders give children red envelopes with money inside, candy and fruit. Children give elders fruit.

Children kneel and bow to their ancestors and elders. Family members wish each other prosperity and good fortune. Then they exchange gifts. The family spends time together and have rice-cake soup for breakfast. Children often take this day to play special New Year games.

In parts of Korea, people usher in the New Year with a ritual called Jishin Balpgi. Loud drums and gongs are played to scare off evil spirits of the old year. At the end of the day, friends and relatives join together for dinner to renew their friendship. Sol is a celebration of family and good friends. And for the Koreans, the New Year is about family and community.

The holiday falls on the second full moon after the winter solstice. The hanbok is the traditional Korean dress. It is worn on birthdays, weddings and special holidays such as the Lunar New Year. Each year is named after one of the 12 animals of the Zodiac. The year 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. Traditionally, ALL Koreans turn another year older on the Lunar New Year. They do not turn another year older on their actual birth date. According to folklore, the rice cake soup makes everyone turn another year older. Happy New Year!

Care Package #2

2010-02-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

So, I'm tired of waiting, like REALLY tired of waiting for Bates' USCIS approval. So to make myself feel better, I mailed a care package yesterday.

Like a goober, I forgot to take a picture! ooops!

In the package, I included a fleece jacket, a pair of pjs, some socks, some Puma socks, a teething toy, some Gerber yogurt drops, and the letter we had translated.

Sometimes, care packages result in pictures of your child with the package. Maybe ours will????

Iraq

2010-02-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Bates is loved by so many folks.

But below is one special guy....
This is Jayme. He married my best friend, Erin last summer. About a month after they got married, Jayme was deployed to Iraq. He should be coming home in a couple of months! YEAH!

Here he is supporting our Bates! And bringing awareness to the 147 million all the way over in Iraq!

Jayme, we love you and are so glad you are in our "family". Fight fair, but most of all be careful and come home safety!

Chinese vs. Korean

2010-02-06T19:06:00.001-08:00

Here is the answer from last week Trivia question: "What's the difference in Chinese and Korean architecture?"

"Many Chinese buildings have corner eaves that are raised rather very rapidly and steeply, or almost barely raised.
In Korean architecture, eaves are raised gradually and visibly, and therefore eaves form a continuous curve between one corner eave to another. This tendency is rather strongly emphasized in many Korean traditional buildings."

In simple language, Korean buildings "smile"

Here are photos to compare:
This first photo is from the Forbidden City in China.
Notice how the roof like is fairly flat.

Now here is a picture from Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea.
Notice how the roof line "smiles"

Pretty neat fun fact, huh?
So when you win the million on "Who wants to be a Millionaire", you know where to send a cut of that check!

Let's Learn about Korea: Gyeongbokgung Palace

2010-02-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

This is a long post, but interesting (or at least I think so) and it's one of the places Nick and I plan to visit when we travel!

Gyeongbokgung Palace means Shining Happiness. It was built in 1395 by the Yi Dynesty when they moved the capital to Seoul. It was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592 and left in ruins for over 250 years. Starting in 1865, it was rebuilt to its original grandeur. When Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910, most of the 200 building on the palace grounds were torn down by the Japanese, leaving only a dozen structures.

Keunjeong-jeon, the royal throne hall is Korea's largest surviving wooden structure. Kings conducted state affairs, held official functions, and received foreign envoys here. Built in 1394, high ranking officials assembled in this court to pay respect to their kings.

Chagyong-jon was the living quarters for Queen Dowager Cho. The present quarters were built in 1888 after the original structure burned down. This is the only building with a bedroom remaining on the palace grounds.

The chimney of Chageyong-jeon forms a part of the wall of the courtyard. It has ten exhausts on the top of the chimney, which is titled to resemble the beams and rafters of a wooden structure. The chimney is decorated with various designs for long life, wealth, and many offsprings, as well as signs to repel evil.

To the far north on the palace grounds sits Hyangwon-jeong, an attractive hexagonal pavilion surrounded by a lotus pond. When King Kojong had Hyangwon-jeong built in 1867, he had a pond dug to the south of it and the pavilion built on an island in the pond. Hyangwon-jeong was originally connected to the north shore of the pond by a bridge named Ch'wihyang-gyo and the King enjoyed strolling across it to the pavilion. Visitors are not allowed on the bridge or to the pavilion. Instead, they must content themselves with the serene view. This is one of the most painted and photographed places in Korea.

Kyeonghoe-ru is the largest pavilion in South Korea and has been designated National Treasure #224. Supported by 48 stone pillars and set in a lotus pond, the pavilion was a favored place for the King to entertain visiting dignitaries. King Taejo, founder of the Chosun Dynasty and builder of Gyeongbok Palace, had the pavilion erected on this man-made lake in the western section of the palace. He named Kyeonghoe for "joyous meeting."
During the Japanese invasion in 1592, the original Kyeonghoe-ru was burned down leaving only the stone supports. When Gyeongbok palace was rebuilt in 1867. The pillars were replaced with new ones that lack the splendor of the former. This pavilion was used for royal banquets during the Chosun period and is used today for special functions.

The National Folk Museum sits in the northern section of the palace. The museum has several exhibition halls which periodically change their exhibits, showing a wide selection of Korean culture and history.
So that concludes your 15 minute tour or the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Trivia question: After looking at these pictures, do you know the difference in Korea architecture and Chinese architecture? Prizes for the winner! Tune in next week for the answer.