More Photos of Korea

Pictures from the day we met Delaney: Day 4.

The moment I held Delaney for the first time.



Chewing on the remote and sitting with Daddy.



The foster dad was very creative. He made this riding toy out of a bumbo, obviously. Here you can see the dining area behind them. In the foreground are the room "pads."



Where our little lady slept. We were glad to find out she slept in a crib, since that's where she'd sleep when she came home. You can also see behind Delaney they had a glassed-in porch area. It was almost like a greenhouse. The foster mom had all kinds of beautiful plants in there. She must have a real green thumb.



Here we are in front of their Christmas decorations.

Photos of Korea

Photos from Day 3: Our room and visiting Tae Kwon Do Federation Headquarters, Kukkiwon

Our little (messy) room.




That's pretty much all there was to it!

Our view.



Mr. RBR at the gates of Kukkiwon.



The Kukkiwon museum.



The ceiling of the stadium was covered in HUGE flags. It was very pretty. Picture didn't do it justice.



Mr. RBR ready to practice his skillz. ha!

Trip Day 4

Day 1 & 2

Day 3

Before we left for Korea, the social worker at our home agency sent us an email. In the email she said we needed to go to our Korean social worker's office on Tuesday, January 4 at 11:00 am. Then we'd get to go to the foster family's house and meet Delaney for the first time.

We were very, very excited. The day had finally arrived!

The night before I had gone to sleep at about 7 pm because I was so jetlagged. So it wasn't a surprise that we woke up at 4 am.

We puttered around the room, waiting for day break. I was glad I had brought lots of reading material: a book and a handful of magazines. Mr. RBR fiddled with his laptop. The guest house didn't have internet. We showered. Mr. RBR headed around the corner to a Seven-Eleven for some yogurt while I did my hair.

We had heard there was a nice coffee shop with internet access nearby, so late morning we headed out. We were starting to get our bearings and know the neighborhood a bit. We found the coffee shop easily. It's called Tom N Toms. I was surprised to learn it's a Korean business, because it seemed very western! Along with coffee, tea and hot chocolate--normal coffeehouse fare--they also offered a variety of hot, soft pretzels. My favorite was a soft pretzel twist stuffed with baked apple filling. It was delish! They'd roll and make them right in front of you. It was a neat place.

Tom N Toms became our morning ritual. From there I wrote on this blog, emailed, posted stuff on facebook.

We killed some time until it was time to find our social worker's office. The office was just two doors down from the guest house. We stopped back at the guest house to pick up the gifts we brought and went to find the office. We had to ride a very narrow elevator, and were invited to wait in a room until the social worker arrived. I had made some baked goods before we left for the staff. The room we were in had coffee and refreshments for the staff, so I took out my stash of stuff and set it out next to the coffee.

Several minutes later our social worker arrived, apologizing for being late. She said it's time to go! She snagged a driver and the four of us piled into a mini van.

Seoul is very hilly, and the streets sometimes go over each other, instead of crossing. It was kind of a crazy ride. The traffic was probably pretty typical for a big city. Busy. Fast. You have to be aggressive!

We passed the Olympic Village. I was glad we got to see it. With the weather as cold as it was, we probably wouldn't have ventured out to see it otherwise.

After about 40 minutes of driving we arrived at a tidy, tan brick apartment complex. We made it! Up the elevator a couple floors to the foster parents' home.

They met us at the door. There she was! It was so exciting. So wonderful! Little Delaney was even more beautiful in person.

Delaney's foster parents are in their 50s. They were dressed nicely. She was wearing a dark sweater and a long skirt. He was wearing brown dress pants and a striped sweater. They had little Delaney in what was probably a Christmas dress. It was navy and red plaid. Very, very cute. Although it was warm in the apartment, they had her very bundled up. Delaney even had socks over her tights.

Their apartment was very nice. Slightly smallish by mid-western standards. The walls were all cream, with a lot of built-ins that were dark wood. They had a couch and a chair pushed against one wall, but in place of a rug there was a large "pad" on the floor. Later I saw one of these at the agency too. Perhaps to cushion the knees and bums of little ones? They had some Christmas decor on the wall at the end of a hallway.

Delaney's foster parents clearly adored her. They showed us the games she did, and all the things she could do. They showed us where she slept. The foster mom kept telling us how smart she is. She told me to please be patient with her because she has a "hot temper." Oh, how that made me laugh. I reassured her. I also told her we had experience: one of our sons has a hot temper too!

Ahem, CLAYTON.

Foster mom invited us to sit at their dining room table. She had set out a variety of fruits and some homemade tea. Apples, pears, strawberries and persimmons (?) were peeled, cut, and setting out in white bowls. We ate with forks, which surprised me a little bit. The "tea" was cold and fruity. Almost syrupy. Foster mom said she made it herself, and it was good for colds.

We exchanged gifts. I had brought them a nice large, soft blanket (I knew it was as cold there as it is here), some leather gloves for the mister, and a dainty gold star necklace for the misses (Delaney's birthname means Gold Star). I gave them some vitamins (it's big there) and baked goods too. They had gifts for us also. Mr. RBR got a beautiful inlaid business card holder. I got a similar styled jewelry box. We also got tons and tons of Korean Ginsing tea. They also gave us a gorgeous hanbok for Delaney, the dress she wore on her 100 day party, and a photo album of pictures they took of Delaney while she was there.

It was a nice visit. We were there perhaps an hour? We took a lot of pictures, including some of the foster parents and us together. Then it was time to go. We had to leave Delaney behind, which was a little sad. But I knew we'd get her forever very soon.

40 minute drive back to the agency.

When we arrived, the social worker asked if we'd like to see the "Baby Reception Area". Would we? Of course!

In Korea, babies that are available to be adopted spend the first month or two of their lives in the Baby Reception area. They are cared for by nurses around the clock and seen by doctors daily. After they reach about 2 months old, if they haven't been adopted they are sent to live in a foster home. They are only allowed to be adopted by Koreans living in Korea until they are 5 months old. Once they reach 5 months old they may be adopted by people living elsewhere.

So of course we wanted to see the baby reception area--it was where Delaney spent her first 2 months of life! I think I almost fell over when the social worker walked us right to our building. The baby reception area was in the same building as we had been staying. I had no idea.

It was a bit like a hospital nursery. There was a big window in the hallway where we peered in at all the little babies. The little ones were lined up in bassinets, much like a hospital. There was a room beyond the little baby room, separated by glass again, for the bigger babies. In that room there were swings, bouncy seats, and all the items needed for bigger baby care.

It was very overwhelming. All those precious babes. We had a nice conversation with the social worker about changing attitudes in domestic adoption (Koreans adopting the Korean babies). But sadly, most Koreans want to adopt girls, and all the babies we saw in the nursery that day were boys.

Be still my heart. There were probably 15 precious, perfect baby boys there. All waiting for their families.

It was time to part ways. The social worker said we would get Delaney on Friday, then she left.

We headed back to our room to decompress. It had already been such an eventful day.

After a rest, we had heard there was a big mall called Co-Ex. We decided to check it out. On to the subway for my first subway ride!

All the signage in the subway is labeled in Hangul, Chinese and, thankfully, English, so it wasn't too hard to figure out where to go. The tickets are dispensed by machines. It was easy!

Over to the Co-Ex mall. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was just like any mall you'd see over here. Pretty much the same styles of clothes. Stores just like you'd see here. We walked around a bit, then decided it was time to find something to eat for dinner. We wanted something "authentic" but it didn't exist. So where did we eat in the middle of Seoul? Bennigans. Yep, Bennigans. I had a risotto dish, and I do have to say it was delicious. Just not what I was expecting to eat in Korea!

Again, by dinner time I was getting sooooo sleepy. Time to head back to our room. Again I was probably to sleep before 8 pm.

Trip Day 3

To recap:

Jan 1: drove 3 hours to the airport.

Jan 2: On a plane for 12 hours. Lost the rest of the day due to time change.

Jan 3: Dropped off in the middle of Korea with no idea where to go. And that's where I'll start back up.

We were told we were supposed to take the bus that went to the Renaissance hotel. And we knew the guest house was close, but we didn't know where it was. We had an address, and that's it. So we just started walking, hoping we might see a street name or something that would tell us where to go. We walked only a block or two before I declared the plan absolutely ridiculous. Not only was it FREEZING cold, we were a wreck after traveling an entire day. And we were schlepping three bags each (2 large suitcases, 2 carry on bags, a purse and a laptop bag) through the sidewalks of downtown Seoul.

Right in front of us was a Starbucks. I reasoned they'd likely have internet. Maybe we could find something online about where to go? So we went in, set down our bags, and Mr. RBR went to the counter to get us a snack and something warm to drink (neither of us are coffee drinkers. I know. We're weird). Mr. RBR asked about internet access, and the barista said they didn't have it.

Crud.

Mr. RBR gave them the address of the guesthouse and asked if they knew where it was. They didn't.

Double crud.

So we had our little snack and rested a bit. The Starbucks was on the first floor of a tall building, and the window was at sidewalk level. It was interesting people watching, because I could see everyone's shoes. And what fantastic freaking shoes they were! Most women wore gorgeous high heels or high heeled boots. Everyone was dressed fantastically. Really sharp. I felt pretty self conscious in my somewhat sloppy airport gear, that I had basically slept in on the plane.

As we were sitting there, I could see out of the corner of my eye a woman on the sidewalk had stopped and was peering in. It lasted several moments, so finally I turned to look at her (to see what she was looking at) and met her eyes. The woman was probably in her 50s, impeccably dressed and was bent over at the waist looking in the window and staring right at me, right in the middle of a busy sidewalk. It cracked me up. They must not have 6 foot tall, sloppy, blond haired, white women at Starbucks very often.

Just then the barista came to our table. They must have internet in the back office, because she had a map printed out with directions to the guest house.

Oh Saint Starbucks Barista! We'll never forget you!

We ventured out into the streets of Seoul again and found the SWS guesthouse before too long. It was about 9 am by now and it had been 23 hours in actual time since we left our home.

The guesthouse was a narrow gray building, maybe 5 or 6 stories high. We went inside. There wasn't really a lobby, just a staircase, an elevator, and a small desk for the doorman. It surprised me the doorman didn't really speak English. He had us point to our name on a sheet of paper, then showed us to our room.

I knew the room would be small, but it was smaller than I expected. We had booked a regular room, which was two twin beds, 1 nightstand, a small table and two chairs, and a bathroom. There was no dresser, no TV, no closet. The bathroom had a shower, sink and, thankfully, a Western style toilet. It was so cramped the door didn't open all the way. Mr. RBR suggested upgrading our room (they have family rooms which are larger), but I wanted to give it a chance ($$). It took us some time to figure out how to turn on the heat and get the shower hot enough, but once we were warm and clean the world seemed to be a better place. And the teeny, tiny room was just fine.

We laid down for awhile and tried to nap. It didn't really work. I had no clue if it was supposed to be day or night, although it was approaching lunch time in Seoul.

Mr. RBR has been taking Tae Kwon Do and wanted to see Kukkiwon, which is the head of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Mr. RBR's instructors had to be certified by Kukkiwon. Kukkiwon is responsible for making Tae Kwon Do a world sport. So it's a big deal for those involved with it. Mr. RBR was even more excited to learn it was within walking distance of where we were staying.

After cleaning up a bit, we went for a walk to find Kukkiwon. There were signs, and we had a map so it was easy to find. It was a steep climb. I wondered if this is why all the Koreans we saw seemed so fit and slim. Seoul is so mountainous!

We walked around the grounds a bit, but didn't see anyone around. So we just walked inside. I think we may have arrived during lunch hour, but they were very accommodating. They showed us the competition "area" and the museum.

Oh look, here we are on the Kukkiwon website! (scroll down)

I don't really know much about Tae Kwon Do, but the history was interesting. And the excitement on Mr. RBR's face was priceless. He was like a little kid.

We checked out a tae kwon do store where Mr. RBR got a Korean flag and Kukkiwon pins, then headed back down hill. We stopped at a coffee shop (they were all over!) for a bite to eat. Mr. RBR had his laptop, and we emailed everyone back home. Then back outside to check out the surroundings close to the guest house.

There was a subway entrance near the guesthouse, and we had heard there was shopping and restaurants below ground. It was a good excuse to get out of the cold, anyway.

I feel a little silly admitting this, but I have never been on a subway before. Come to think of it, the only big city I've ever been to is Chicago. And I had taken the El in Chicago, but I had never been on a subway. Never been to New York. It's weird because I don't think of myself as small town girl, but maybe I am a little.

The subway was so wild to me. We didn't get on the train, but we did look at a number of stores and eventually found AN UNDERGROUND MALL. An underground mall, isn't that bizarre? You big city folks are probably used to all that, but to me it was nuts. And cool.

Once we found the mall we had access to a number of restaurants that were English friendly, which was not the case above ground. We could have wandered for hours above ground in f-f-f-freezing temperatures looking for a restaurant. So it was nice to have one place to go that was out of the cold. We went to a restaurant called Tomatillo. Yes, it was Mexican. :) Fantastic food. It was now dinner time, and we thoroughly enjoyed our first "real" meal since leaving home (unless you count the airplane food, but who really counts that). Also had a Cass beer, which is a common Korean brew. It was TASTY.

Because of jet lag, I was fading fast. It was probably 6 or 7 in the evening. We headed back above ground, and just like back at home, it was already dark. And freezing. Did I mention it was really cold in Seoul? Luckily it was only a short walk back to the guesthouse. I was so tired I went right to bed.

Day 4 to be continued.

Trip Day 1 & 2

In the absence of any remodeling projects going on around here, how about I tell you about our trip instead?

I guess January 1 is still considered "the holidays", which means airline tickets were quite expensive. We saved about $800 by flying out of Chicago, instead of our smaller hometown airport. Chicago is about 3 hours away, so this also meant no airport party when we returned with Delaney, but whatcha gonna do, you know? $800 could throw one heck of a party at home (if we had it. Which we don't).

My mom came over at about 7 pm on January 1st, and Mr. RBR and I left a little before 8. We drove the 3 hours to O'Hare, parked, and checked in. We flew Asiana airlines. They were awesome.

Our flight left around 1 am. The flight attendants came by every 2 hours with either something to drink, a meal, or a snack. We tried to sleep, but it was hard. We maybe got 3 hours. Probably 2. But there were a lot of inflight movies, so that was nice. We flew over the top of the world, and 12 hours later we landed in Seoul, Korea at 6 am... on January 3rd! With the time change and the time spent on the plane, we skipped January 2nd altogether. Another thing that was interesting (to me at least) is that during the 23 hours we spent traveling, we were in darkness. It was dark when we left and dark when we arrived!

Upon arriving at the airport we exchanged some moolah and headed out. We found a bus that was going near our guesthouse and paid $15 per person for a ride. We waited about 20 minutes for the bus, and hopped on. I had no idea the bus ride was going to be that long! Rush hour was partly to blame, and finally one and a half hours later, we were dropped off outside the Renaissance hotel in Seoul...

with no idea where to go.

to be continued

Hello Stranger!

We are home. We are in love.

And we are so, so tired.

It's true. Delaney has jet lag (and mom and dad do too, a little bit). It's been a bear turning her schedule almost completely around--Seoul being 14 hours ahead of us and all. But we are settling in.

And needless to say, all our hearts have been captured by this little lady.

Excuse my bedhead and pjs. Ya know it's love when I'm willing to be seen like this!

Me and my daughter

She is perfect. And she is mine.

Visited yesterday, we will get her forever on Friday (Korea time, Thurs night in the US).

Hello From Seoul!

Took us 23 hours of travelling to get from home to the guest house. The weird thing is it was dark the whole time! Despite perpetual darkness we only got 2 or 3 hours of sleep. I've lost all track of time. No clue if it's day or night anymore!

We are tucked into a tiny little room, but it's warm and has a hot shower. It's seriously so tiny the bathroom door doesn't open all the way because it hits the shower. Two twin beds, 1 nightstand and a small table with two chairs round out the room. No dresser, no closet even!

I'm the tallest, whitest person for miles. Apart from one older lady staring, I've been well received. ha!

Tomorrow we meet our daughter for the first time. Very excited and nervous!

It's time!

Got the call today that we can go to South Korea and get Delaney after the first of the year!

HOORAY!! Happy, HAPPY New Year!

Genetic or Learned Disorder?

Mr. RBR jokingly (sort of) calls my mom and me Sanford and Son. You know, the sitcom about a junk dealer and his grown son?

My mom and I looooove junk--when I say junk I don't mean garbage. I mean cool old stuff. And we love decorating too. You could say... it's genetic. Mr. RBR would say it's a genetic disorder.

In fact my mom owns a store--actually two stores--with her sister. The stores are connected. One store is an antique mall. People rent out booths and sell their finds.

The other store--it's ALL my mom and aunt's finds.

There are stores that have fabulous vignettes, where they lay out for the customer exactly how an item can be used. My mom's store isn't like that. You have to DIG for your prize. ha! Don't believe me? Here's some pictures. It's literally stacked to the ceiling with fun, funky, cool, old... stuff.

Good thing this store is in a different city than I live in. I'd be in real trouble if I were closer. The antique mall side has cool stuff too. These two vignettes reminded me of some bloggers I follow.

Red, cozy, a little crafty... Thrifty Decor Chick!

Soft blues, metallics, a bust... Centsational Girl!

What do you think, am I nuts? ha!

Anyway, I do wonder if my mom and my love of all things decor is genetic. Afterall we look alike, sound alike, we enjoy doing many of the same things. We even dressed alike on accident this Thanksgiving. Seriously. Almost identical. EMBARRASSING.

The reason I wonder about this is because of MY family. You see, not all of my children are genetically related to me. And this Christmas one of my sons started holiday decorating with an enthusiasm that really touched my heart.

He made this wreath with his own hands, and then tried it in several locations before finally settling on the back door.

And then he came up with the idea all on his own to hang a single ornament on EVERY SINGLE DOORKNOB in the house.

And then he primped the tree just so. Going back again and again until the ornaments were just where he wanted them. Can you see his little heart bursting with pride over what he created?

Yeah. It's not Clayton, my biological son. It's Zack. Zack was adopted. And from somewhere (his biological parents? me?) my son is starting to find the inspiration to decorate. And he is loving it.

I am too.

New Endeavor

I was talking to my cousin at Thanksgiving. We were talking adoption--she is a social worker at a large adoption agency and I'm an adoptive mom. She mentioned she has such a hard time finding adoption greeting cards. I think you could probably see the light bulb go off on the top of my head.

GET HOME AND DESIGN SOME ADOPTION CARDS, LISA!

So I'm giving it a shot. And I think they are turning out cutie-cute-cute!

I have ideas for a dozen or so different cards to start. Here's a sneak peek of two. I haven't had them printed yet, but when I do I'll let you know how to purchase them.

Can someone please figure out how to add a few hours to each day?

Note to self: SLEEP NOW!

We got a medical update on Delaney, along with many pictures. These pictures were much better than the last ones. She looks more like her happy, curious self.

I SO WISH I COULD SHOW YOU. But it's against the rules. This is the best I can do.

She's had a haircut. She crawls. She makes funny faces. She is ADORABLE.

In the medical update the foster mother notes she doesn't sleep very much. She gets up between 4 and 5 every morning.

Oh no.

And she wakes up easily. If there's noise or anything.

Oh no.

And she still wakes up at night for a bottle.

Oh mylanta. This is going to be work! I don't drink coffee, but I might have to start.

She also sweats a lot so the foster mother says she has to bathe her often. Um, HILARIOUS. Can't wait to get on over to Korea and add this little lady to our family!

New pictures!

We got new pictures of Delaney yesterday. They arrived the same day she turned seven months old. She's so precious. She looks "sadder" than she does in our first set. I wish I knew why. I wish I knew how she was doing. It sucks watching your baby grow up in pictures.

Hoping to be able to get her in January.

November is National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month.

I can not begin to express how adoption has changed our lives. I love my son more than I can express. He amazes me, delights me and frustrates me daily! And I can't wait to meet my new daughter. SOON!

And another plus--I'm expecting and I don't have to give up wine.

I'm just saying!

Have you ever thought about adoption? NOW is the perfect time to begin.

Check out this article in Adoptive Families Magazine.

Where would I be without him?

Here we are at the airport, the moment Zack arrived and we became a family of four.

Tell me how you decided to adopt.