What We've Been Waiting For!!

Here is what we (and YOU) have all been waiting for! Here is our sweet pea!!!!!

I can't even begin to tell you the relief I feel right now! Emotionally, I am drained... but I am soooo excited and on such a high right now! I remember looking at Jeff in the elevator this morning as it climbed to the floor where we were going to get off. I said to him "I am so nervous." He said "My heart is beating out of my chest right now." Yup... that about summed it up!

So we reach the SWS Offices with our bags of gifts for everyone and suddenly I realize I had forgot my questions for the foster Mom! (If I recall, some of you other adoptive parents have done the same thing!!). Luckily since we were staying at the SWS Guesthouse, I was able to race back to our room in about 5 minutes to retrieve it. As soon as I returned, our social worker said it was time to leave. Our hearts beating, palms sweaty, we got into the van on our way to meet Daum (Adelyn) for the first time.

The van ride was about 40 minutes from the SWS Offices and of course my stomach was butterflies all the way. If you know how talkative I am, both Jeff and I barely said a few words to our social worker or eachother the whole way there. We pulled into an apartment building complex and up the elevator we went again. Soon, we were following our social worker down a hallway and before I knew it, out stepped a woman with the cutest baby girl strapped to her back! There was our little girl!! I recognized her immediately, but I think she was cuter than any picture we'd ever seen! Both Jeff and I held back tears (well... I think I wiped away a few too) and sat down on the floor.

Adelyn was happy at first being on her foster Mom's back, but as soon as the foster mother put her on the floor, she gave us one look and started screaming... I mean... SCREAMING! She just clung to her foster Mom and buried her head in her shoulder. Her little hand held onto her foster Mom's shirt for dear life. She wouldn't even look at us. I saw the tears well up in Jeff's eyes. We were prepared for this... even our social worker said she would probably cry at first because she is very shy around strangers... but to see her sooooo upset and not even willing to look at us broke our hearts. It was so hard seeing her so scared. The foster Mom comforted her and got her settled down, but as soon as she would walk near us, the hysterics would start again. She would just cling and scream. This was a routine that went on for about 30 minutes. It didn't help that we were there during her normal nap time so she was tired too. The social worker suggested that we have another visit Tuesday for her to get to know us a little more before getting her on Wednesday. I agreed completely.

I was beginning to think this was not going to end well when suddenly Jeff pulled out the snackbag of Gerber puffs I suggested he stash in his pocket. Adelyn stopped crying, sniffled a few times and took a few puffs from Jeff! A peace offering! There was even a glimmer of a smile behind those teary eyes! Soon her crying episodes started getting shorter and shorter. She would cry and want her foster mother, then crawl over to Jeff to get more Gerber puffs, then quickly crawl back. She definitely liked him and within the next 30 minutes, she had him wrapped around her little finger! The funny thing was for awhile she would crawl to Jeff and grab the puffs with her fingers. Then she decided it would be easier to just mash her face into Jeff's hand to get the puffs! It was so funny! (See the videos below to see this in action!!) She started trusting us and her real personality started blossoming. She started smiling, clapping her hands each time we gave her some more puffs, and even making skin contact with us as she would reach for our fingers or my bracelets. The foster mom brought me some rice porridge with vegetables that she had made for Adelyn and I got to feed her! She let me feed her without any problem as long as the foster mom was holding her. Before long, the social worker and foster mom left the room and she didn't cry! She would play with her books and crawl to Jeff for more puffs. At one point, she was looking through the soft photo book we sent her with pictures of us and she turned to a page of Jeff and me and she brought the book to her mouth in a wet kiss!! It was precious! Soon she was throwing her hands up in the air and laughing and smiling. It took our breath away!

After a little while, the social worker and foster mom returned with a gift for Adelyn. They presented us with her hanbok (Korean traditional dress worn for her first birthday). It is absolutely beautiful! They even have a good luck purse for her and a precious matching headband! I was so touched. She also gave us an entire photo album of pictures they have taken with her from when she was little! This meant so much to me and is such a treasured gift! Then the foster mom gave us another gift- it was a set of Korean dolls- a bride and groom! We had seen similar dolls in Insandong! They are beautiful!!!

Suddenly, it was time to leave. Adelyn even let us hold her for a couple pictures without fussing! Then the foster mom stood up and handed Adelyn to Jeff and told him to walk outside with her. He held her and we walked all the way to the elevator. He was such a happy Daddy! A perfect Father's Day gift! In the elevator, she let me hold her and I walked down the rest of the sidewalk to the van holding my daughter in my arms!! I gave her a kiss on the head and she smelled so good! Reluctantly, I handed Adelyn to the foster mom and started to crawl into the van.... and then she did something I will never forget, something that melted my heart.... she reached for me! She reached out to us and wanted to come with us! This was such a gift.

Today was a perfect day. Absolutely perfect.


















































































































Here are some videos we took of her too!