Homecoming Pictures

Day 1 pictures from Julie, of course!

The kids made this poster for Lucy.

This one was made by Jackie's school class. All the decorations were done by Julie, Deane & Serpil.

Cameron thought a little ball would be a great way to start the morning.
Lucy got lots of sunlight to try to switch her nights to days.

After naps, we ventured out to the pool today. Could Daddy-O be any happier?
Look who eats by herself! My only child who loves fish & cooked carrots!

Party of Five

Oh what a day! After nearly a day of traveling, we arrived safely home. Mom & I parted ways in Chicago. It was such a bittersweet moment- saying goodbye to my mom, who got me through the doubting, nervous & exhausted moments and the anticipation of Lucy meeting her family!

At the airport in Seoul, we had customs escort us from Immigration thru security to our gate. If they had not, we would have certainly missed the first leg of our trip home. We weren't seated together initially, but we got a gem sitting next to us from Narita to O'Hare. An older Korean man, who spoke no English was in our compartment of the sardine container. Lucy did fantastic during the entire flight due, in large part, to this older Korean who entertained her, held her & let her sleep on him for no less than 4 hours. Even upon descent, Lucy wanted him to hold her. I'm sure he was comforting in ways I didn't know how to be: clicking his tongue (which many Koreans did upon meeting Lucy), patting her on the back just so, etc.

When we got off the plane at RDU, Dave and the kids were waiting for us, of course. What an anticipated arrival for everyone! Lucy went RIGHT to Dave. Jackie was beaming from ear to ear, skipping all along the way. Cameron was happy to be together. He filled my empty arms when Dave took Lucy & didn’t let go.

When we got home, Julie, Deane, Serpil, Hunter & Leigh were waiting for us, with party hats on! They (Julie) got a cake, Asian decorations, plates, posters, balloons all for Lucy’s arrival. We celebrated with lard and tears! Jackie’s class made a welcome home poster for me.

The kids played upstairs together, very comfortable with one another. It was as if they all knew they were siblings. Lucy crawled on both Jackie & Cameron, and they showed her every toy in the playroom.

She finally melted down 30 min ago, which is miraculous given the fact that she skipped her night time sleep. Dave’s sleeping with her now and I’m just about to head to bed myself. Jackie & Cameron are on their own. With an entire sheetcake of icing, what can go wrong?

I don’t have pictures tonight, b/c I don’t have the energy to upload them, but promise tomorrow will be full of pictures.

In the interest of sounding a bit religious, I had many fears and doubts along the way. But when I got worked up, one bible verse kept popping into my head: Psalm 46, (I think): ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ I found much comfort in that psalm. I know God was watching over us all, from finding the right baby for us & the right family for Lucy to sending my mom along to hold my hand so I could hold Lucy’s. It was exceptional from the beginning, but NOTHING compared to seeing the pure joy on Jackie, Cameron & Dave’s faces when I brought Lucy home.

Gotcha Day!

Few words can describe the emotion of the morning. It was an exceptional experience and I can't begin to say how blessed we are to have met all the people along the way to make this journey happen. Mom & I started the day by printing out pictures from our first meeting with Sooryeo and some of our sightseeing trips to give to the foster mother. We met everyone at 11am at SWS and our social worker, Miss Lee was a delight! She was equally as excited as we were.

Sooryeo's travel documents and visa.

Signing the paper that says we have officially taken posession of her.
Behind me is our social worker, Miss Lee. I love her. Next to her is Miss Sun, who is the director of SWS. She spoke AMAZING english. The foster mom giving her last hugs & soothing words to Sooryeo. She said Sooryeo's a smart baby, who is very sensitive and will be sad at first.
Sooryeo's foster mom put her in my arms! It was a moving moment for both of us.

Here She Is: Lucy Sooryeo Paul.

Proud new grandma!

Lucy was not in the least bit interested in leaving her foster mother. She SCREAMED the entire walk home and once we got in the room. So we left the room and walked and walked b/c she seemed to tolerate that. When we finally got back to the room, Lucy was much happier with mom laying down to nap with her than I. And I let her, b/c I think it made it easier for her. (Mom is same age as her foster mom, wears glasses, etc.) Lucy also kept crying ‘OhMa’ over and over again. When she woke up, she was happy & babbled with us. I can't wait to get her home to meet the rest of her family! I miss my other babies & Daddy-O! Much love, Mom, Grandma & Lucy

Shopping Dongdaemun-gu and Insa-dong

Like many tourists, we went to the big shopping markets. I've never seen quite a collection of ecclectic items!We were surprised at how many American items they had for sale! Especially when we were looking for uniquely Korean items.

Insa-dong was more of an arts & cultural shopping market, where we got most of our loot.

This one's for Chad & John!

Jackie & Cameron have never seen a subway live. This was our lifeline. For $1.10 each, we could go anywhere in the city!

Everything is exceptionally clean, even the subways.

A Year and a Day

Since we only have a few more days in Korea, we spent nearly 12 hours sightseeing and shopping, of course. We started at Namsangol Hanok Village, which is a traditional folk village.

Just for the occasion, Mom dressed up in traditional costume.

Grandma, when she hasn't eaten in a day.

Next, we took a bus to the top of N. Seoul Tower, pictured in the next photo. Some people actually walked the 50 min to the top, but we chose the bus.





Both of these art works were at the top of N. Seoul Tower. We have no idea what they mean. But the locks were EVERYWHERE.

Afterwards, we walked down the very steep 'mountain' for about 5 minutes to jump another bus, then the subway to Changdeokging Palace. It was built in 1405 and has a Secret Garden. We had an English guided tour and it was wonderful.


Only the Palace could have painted houses. The detail is unreal.

In one of the many Secret Gardens, where the king did lots of reflection & poetry.
The grounds were impecable! Check out the brooms the staff were using to sweep the sand.
Mom entering the gate of longevity. Followed by...

The 715 year old tree!!!!

Then we started shopping. Which is worthy of it's own blog... but will have to wait for tomorrow b/c we're off to bed!

We met Baby Sooryeo today!

Today, we met our baby girl! We did a trial run this morning to SWS, which was only supposed to be a 10 min walk. Given my extreme inability with directions, it took us nearly 45 min and plenty of people trying to help us. However, no one seemed to know where Han Suh hospital was behind the KB bank. I swear there were 4 hospitals and 20 banks on that street. Anyway, we happened upon this sign & knew we would finally make it there!
This is the SWS building. International adoption services is on the 7th floor, which is where we met our social worker, Miss Lee. Miss Lee spoke SOME English, so she was our translator with the foster mom & driver.

Me waiting not-so-patiently for Miss Lee and our driver to take us to the foster house.

This is the foster family's apartment. It's ~20 min from SWS, in Seoul. It's an older building and there are no elevators, so mom had to suffer through 6 flights with her swollen knees. Also, there was no air conditioning and no one seemed to mind. Her appt was very simple, clean and tiny. We exchanged gifts and then the foster mom fed us cookies, watermelon & OJ.

L-R: Foster mom, Sooryeo, Miss Lee, me. Sooryeo is VERY attached to her foster mom. She called her Oh-ma many times throughout our 2 hr visit. She let us play with her only from the safety of her foster mom's arms. It was obvious they love each other dearly. I know it will be a rough transition, but Sooryeo is genuinely loved and will be dearly missed.

Sooryeo scoots around on the floor by rolling & crawling military style. She doesn't sit up on her own, but I think it's because her head is enormous. She certainly likes her food and was chewing on baby pretzels & the cookies served to us. She also tried to drink from the foster mom's glass and eat watermelon. I guess they are sending us with some of her favorite food when we get her on THURSDAY at 11 AM!!!The foster mom was so sweet to Mom and I. She didn't speak any English, but her emotion was conveyed to us both. She said lots of Korean to us individually, stroked our hands and teared a little. We are obviously blessed to have such a loving foster mother for our daughter!


As you can see, Sooryeo liked me only from afar. But she enjoyed our singing & playing with her toys. Thursday will be unreal!
Dave says that I'll know what to name her when I meet her. I expected to see her and just KNOW, but I really don't. I think she'll stay Sooryeo until she gets home and we can decide together who she really is.

We're Here!

We made it!

After nearly 24 hours of travel, we are finally in Seoul! (We’re currently listening to CNN report on the missing flight from Rio de Janero to France. Our thoughts and prayers are with those families.)

Since mom and I are neophyte international travels, we had no idea that we would travel North over Alberta and Alaska in a big arc then down across Asia to Japan. And then to Korea. The Asian children on the 14-hr flight to Japan were immensely well-behaved. That would NEVER happen with my kids, including the new one.

Once we arrived in Tokyo, our temperatures were taken. Probably checking for swine flu. They nodded, smiled and passed us all through.

Many people speak English here and are exceptionally helpful, especially for oblivious foreigners. But when they don’t understand, they just nod and smile and say 'very nice'. Isn't it amazing that Americans go to a foreign country and EXPECT them to speak English!?

We’re staying within walking distance of SWS at the Renaissance Hotel. The accommodations are westernized. Tomorrow morning we’ll try out their rec center & pool. They also have an indoor driving range, putting course and a walking path around the putting course! We're doing some sightseeing and shopping in the morning. In the afternoon, we meet our baby girl! I just can’t imagine what it will be like!

I apologize for the random photos. We didn't locate the camera until we got settled in the hotel and stayed for the evening.

Mom modeling our room. Crib's already here. Now we just need the baby.

The lobby of our hotel.

I don't have a clue what temple this was, but it's also in the hotel lobby.

Noteworthy: Pepsi Coke and Light Coke in skinny bottles.

Even in Korea, Monsters, Inc. is big. No comment on this jet-lagged mama!

I'm sure my kids have NO IDEA what this is.