The American Spectacles!

 We are done!! Besides the Flight Very Well we have all the correct and long but his Visa Paperwork. Ours He is and he is now legal to Come Home. Fact About Tonight that I got teared up while feeding him his bottle. He was so tired, snuggly and fell asleep in my arms. I just looked at his little Face and thought, WE DID IT! Thank You Jesus!! And we started with the verse popped in to My Head, "He Calls you is Faithful, He Will surely do it".

Today was interesting to say the least, we were such a spectacle! We get a lot of looks going out in public, people notice us and then I watch their eyes to see Charlie's face, I think they are looking to see if he is Korean or not. When they Realize he is (he is in and he is faced inward toward a Carrier Me) they Stare More. We learned that Charlie does Not like Car Rides and TODAY we learned that he likes the Subway, for About 4 min. Our trip to our agency today took about 25 min. So its bad enough but now they Stare Stare Because people that goes in the Carrier Charlie, Charlie Come out of the Carrier,  Charlie flings his body backwards, to the Ground Chucks Things charlie, charlie screams, makes goofy Faces Ron, Ron and Erin Sing , Erin bounces .... At one point we both just started laughing because not only are we in a moving tram, its at least 80 degrees and we have umbrellas, coats, diaper bag and purse plus a very unhappy baby and we were sweating and making idiots of ourselves. too worked up We TRY to Not Get it all and then stop right before an About Our Final Old man, who was staring the Whole time, he comes over to U.S. exits before the Tram. His Eyes are glistening and U.S. gives a Thumbs up and he says "Thank you for your kindness" then takes Charlie's hand and says "Happy!" Almost I started crying. He got it and was such a tender, sweet moment from a stranger.

 We finally made ​​it to the agency only to get packed into a car for 30 min, Sigh! C Fell Asleep harlie About 10 minutes away from finally the Embassy. 

Because there was a line Huge Outside the Embassy and it was raining but we got we were ushered right in American, we also went up to a room which was SO HOT and waited. About The Entire Process took 2 hours during which we met some really Completing all their Families Adoption Lovely. unconsolable One Poor little guy was so distraught and his parents just looked, we later learned that they had picked him up and he had Only a few hours earlier and then awoke to Unfamiliar people fallen Asleep. I Felt so bad! Another Family was cracking up from the South and had U.S. with their "Bless his heart", "Ya'll" and "So precious" Twenty seconds every phrases. They had been in Korea for 4 weeks and had gotten to Visit their daughter every week for a few hours, she was very happy and easygoing with them. I asked how long they had been in the process and she said 13 months start to finish. I literally almost decked her but she was one of the sweetest people and its not her fault our process has been so long. We also met a women and her mother with their little son as well. It was nice to spend some time hearing others stories and swapping. When it was our turn we had to go up and hold up our right hands and swear that everything we had filled out was true, we were asked a few others questions and then just like that ... done. DONE! Then I was back in the T and then back on the Subway Car, More Stares, Screaming and Singing and finally back to Our Hotel room. 

Charlie was happy to be back and was very fun for a few hours, we are learning that he has quite the temper and does not like to be told no ... ever!

He is in to everything and anything he can Get his hands on, his favorite thing to do is thrown .... anything! Very Vocal About He is whatever he is doing but he is also Very Sweet and Smart. Would We Only do Something once and if he saw us then he would try and succeed a lot of the time. He is now running up to us with outstretched arms and when we pick him up he smiles so big. He has a darling little laugh and this is the second night in a row that he has gone to bed with no tears and not calling Oma. YAY!!

We did get him in with a doctor today before the Visa appt and she took one quick look in his ear and stated that it was very nasty and infected. They gave us an antibiotic, drops and a decongestant. I am so thankful that we decided to have him looked at but feel bad we didn't do it sooner. Hopefully Will he be feeling much better by the time we fly which is coming so soon! I am so excited that we have and then we just Get One More Day to Come Home!

Although we have been stuck in the room a lot and the weather has been very rainy, we have had some small wonderful things happen this trip as well. From the sweet man on the Subway, to the little old women who kept hitting me offering me her seat since I was holding Charlie (little did she know that Charlie prefers me to stand, yes we have some work to do when we get home) to the absolutely wonderful staff at the hotel we are staying at. The whole staff has been anticipating us coming and they lined up when we came back with Charlie the first time, they all come running over every time we go into the lobby to ask how he is and how we are doing. They ooh and ah over him and the concierge desk sent up a hand written note with warm wishes and promises to pray for us (thanks, we need it) with a fresh fruit bowl and gifts of toys for Charlie. Truly, caring people and genuinely kind. I am feeling emotional tonight as I recount this week, its been so big and exhausting but the good kind of exhaustion. We are looking forward to having our sons meet each other as well as our family and friends. We are so grateful to God for Charlie and are loving getting to know him, fits and all, more each day!

                                                     We visited an aquarium yesterday

                                                Beautiful view of the sunset from our room

                                             View from one of the tallest buildings in Korea
                                              also the building that had the aquarium

                                             Charlie just checking out Seoul, we are on the 40th
                                            floor of our hotel, quite the view!

 Wasting time and energy running the hallways over and over (no judging about no pants)
          Our Happy Boy!

Gotcha!

It has been whirlwind two days, we arrived in Seoul on Thursday night and got to our hotel and grabbed dinner then went to bed. We slept pretty well and then got up and got some groceries and things for our hotel room and then got ready to go get our little man.

We arrived at SWS about 10 min before 2 pm. He was already there and playing in the playroom. He was happy and played well with Ron while I went over things with his foster mom. She gave us each gifts and had a large bag filled with Charlie's favorite foods and his very special blanket. She is such a wonderful women but I could tell she felt uncomfortable and seemed just a bit distant. She stayed in the play room for just a few minutes and then left so we could hang out with him. He let me pick him right up. After 10-15 min our caseworker came back in and asked us if we would like more time or if we were ready to leave. We said we were ready and so we packed everything up and went out to the elevator. On the way out his foster mom took him and spun him around once and whispered in his ear then patted him and kissed his cheeks. At this point I couldn't hold back the tears and gave her a hug she just smiled and patted my back. Ron hugged her as well and we got into the elevator. He did not know what was going on but was happy to look at himself in the mirror. As the doors closed I saw his foster moms face fall and she started wiping the tears. I think she wanted to be happy with him the last tim he saw her but I will not soon forget the look on her face as she turned away. We are so very grateful for her and for the love she have to him.

We had a taxi bring us back to our hotel and in the busy traffic it took just under 40 min. He did well at the beginning but towards the end we could tell he was agitated, we were about 3 blocks from our hotel and he puked all over Ron. Poor Baby and poor Ron, he is not used to cars and had car sickness plus he has a pretty good runny nose and low grade fever so he was / is not feeling the best. He was fine after that. We were even able to take him out for dinner. After dinner he was very tired but we wanted to keep him awake for a while so we played and played. Then we put him in a bath, we were told he loved the bath but I think he felt very overwhelmed and just started crying.

We got him warmed up and in jammies and fed him a bottle and he fell sound asleep but after about 45 min he got startled and then the crying began. He cried and then he started to wail and call for Oma (mom) over and over so at that point we were both crying pretty hard. I am thankful that he let us comfort him and after about an hour he finally settled down and slept. He wrapped himself up his special blanket from home and went to sleep. Although he slept very fitfully and tossed and turn he slept from 10-7:45. We are very tired today as we did not sleep well. He moved all night and although we set pillow around him on the bed (he was having nothing to do with the crib) I was worried he would fall off the bed so we were up off and on all night.

He woke today with a fever and we can tell that he does not feel so good, he is very timid today and quiet. We have gotten a few laughs and smiles but not much. We took him outside and for a walk for two hours around our hotel just to get some fresh air and out of the room. Only he would PUT U.S. Let him down a few times. I do not Think Outside he has playing with much Experience. Seoul is really beautiful right now with everything in Bloom. TODAY The weather was low 70's with a slight Wind and it was so nice to be outside. 

We headed back inside as we could tell he was getting tired. When he gets really tired his big bottom lip comes out and he whines for Oma. It breaks my heart but all in all for him not feeling great and not knowing us, he is doing remarkable. We are hoping for a good night of sleep tonight and that he will be feeling better tomorrow. Our Visa appt is on Tuesday and then we fly home Thursday morning. We are taking one day at a time but will be very thankful when we are home.

It seems so surreal that he is finally ours and we are giving God Praise and Glory for his life.

Finally, here are some pictures of yesterday's Gotcha Day:

                                                        At the adoption agency

                                                                  Car ride to hotel

                                                     Nap at hotel with his special blanket

                                                       Finally calmed down and resting

Easter : What a great start to a big week

I remember the day I went into labor with Greyson, it was a Sunday and I woke up at 5:30 am with contractions.  I was so ready to get the baby out! I was very restless and when I realized my contractions were very far apart I decided we should go to church. Ron just had a deer in the headlight look most the day and was okay with doing whatever I thought was a good idea. We took a walk after church and then we came home and I cleaned the house, I even vacuumed (I love to clean, seriously).Finally, at about 5 pm I decided we should go into the hospital and I labored ALL night until at a few minutes before 7 am our little boy was born. It was such an experience. Exhausting, frightening and exhilarating all rolled together. I remember thinking as we loaded Greyson into the car the first time to take him home "So, their really just going to let us take this kid, I have no idea what I'm doing"For a long time I did not consider giving birth and pregnancy as a parallel to adopting at all but the more I think about it the more similarities I see.

While I don't have to Physically labor for Charlie we have labored and labored to get him home. Paperwork, fingerprints, meetings, travel etc. And to think that I thought 9 months was such a long time to meet my baby. It pales in comparison to the 3 1/2 yrs we have waited to bring Charlie home. The experience has been exhausting, frightening and exhilarating as well. And today as I was cleaning out my garage (the last thing on my long to do list) a neighbor walked by and said "Oh Boy, your nesting!" And it made me laugh because I realized I was and have been since we have been home from the first trip. The same thought crosses my mind tonight " I can't believe they are going to hand this kid over to us, we don't even speak his language, I have no idea what to do." 

Since I am in such a reminiscent mood today and it is Passion Week, I was also thinking about the time when I was holding Greyson, late at night during a feeding and I just started to cry. I cried because after having my own child and realizing just how much I love him, I thought of Jesus.  Jesus, such a sweet name.  Son of God, The Darling of Heaven, Holy and Blameless...Crucified. How did God do it? Why did God do it? I looked at Greyson, his perfect little face all snuggled up and I wondered how any parent could send their son to be killed through a horrible death. I wouldn't do it, ever.  Never mind that there are some really worthy and great people on this earth that some might be considered worth dying for but what about the awful people. What about those who hurt others and are unlovable? Send your perfect child to die in their place.?    Inconceivable and yet He did.

I think about that type of love, the kind that puts you first, the kind that dies so you can live and I am so humbled. I am so grateful to The Father for giving us His Son and I am overwhelmed by Jesus who came for us, willingly. He took on human form to experience all that we go through and to overcome death. By doing this not only did He become our Savior but He became relatable. It is so encouraging to know I have a heavenly Father who can relate to me and whatever I am going through. Even better that He is bigger than the situations we face and more than willing and able to walk through them with us.  I love Him and I am so excited to start my week out tomorrow celebrating His triumphant Life and then have Him walk with me the rest of this big week. 

Happy Easter!!!

Below I included some pictures of Charlies room,  clothes washed and organized, toys and books put away, pictures hung and diapers bought.  Nesting Indeed! So happy for our journey to bring Charlie home to be coming to a close with week.