Part II

Sorry it took so long to post this but life has kept me busy. Most of this post was written in Korea and has been saved as a draft. I hope you enjoy our account...

When we got back to Holt after lunch we walked in to find Tae & her Foster Family waiting for us. I barely got a glimpse of her when DJ pulled me to the side to tell me the Foster Mom on her way in was fostering a little girl from our agency. I was anxious to take some pictures of Lucy for her family as I told them I would if I saw her. While I was meeting Lucy and her Foster Mom I missed the initial meeting of Tae & here everyone went upstairs to the meeting room. After I snapped a few pictures & DJ gave me an update on Lucy I realized my family was gone & DJ took me upstairs.


When I entered the room I found everyone sitting around fussing over the baby. I was instantly in love when I saw her. She was so much more beautiful in person and has such pretty eyelashes. We were so lucky to get to meet the Foster Dad & their daughter as well. With the boys we only got to meet foster mom.


It was obvious how much the FF loved our daughter. The fd was reluctant to let us hold Tae but the FM gave her to me for 1 minute when the daughter came & took her back. We sat with them for about 20 minutes or so asking questions and taking pictures of her and taking turns holding her. Before we knew it it was time to go meet the Doctor for the pre-flight physical. It wasn't the usual doctor and this guy just listened to her heart & lungs and said she was good to travel and sent us on our way. DJ took some photos of all of us with the FF then we went back upstairs to exchange gifts and for one more good bye. The FM gave Tae a bottle and then gave her to us with a bag with some pictures, 2 big cans of formula, some clothes, her favorite pillow, a stuffed animal we sent for Tae, some toys for her for the plane ride and some snacks she likes and a han bok for her 1st birthday. We told them we would have a traditional 1st Birthday celebration for her and send them some pictures.


The time just flew by and we forgot all about the video camera. I had carefully planned everything so we wouldn't miss a single minute of our meeting and the day just passed and I missed too many pictures and taking a video. I wish I had someone there who would have captured it all for us.

Words can't express the amazement of meeting our daughter and holding her for the first time. Watching as she interacted with Julian & Kai and how she took to Bill so quickly. My post certainly doesn't capture the beauty of this amazing day but it is something I will forever hold dear in my heart. After such a long wait she was finally with us.


DJ walked the family out then came back to review Tae's file with us and give us directions about clearing immigration at the airport.


DJ walked us out and grabbed a taxi for us and told him where to take us. As we got into our taxi we saw the FF outside in their car just watching us and crying. It absolutely broke my heart. We got in the taxi and set off for our hotel when Tae started crying and calling for Oma. She cried the entire ride home and for the next hour until she fell asleep. My heart was breaking for her and her loss. I felt so bad for the boys they were upset as well to see her sob. Kai got upset, started crying and said "I made a mistake, we need to take her back. I shouldn't have wisher for her". I felt so bad for him but explained that baby Tae was meant to be with us. Although she would have a hard time adjusting she soon would become comfortable with us and settle in because we are her family and we are all supposed to be together. It definitely was one the the hardest afternoons of my life.

While Tae was sleeping on my lap we asked the boys what name they liked. They both were calling her Jaci at the agency but I told them they needed to look at her face and decide how they thought she looked like and not just pick a name because they liked that name. Julian quickly said although he liked Jaci he though she looked like a Jana and Bill agreed. Kai wasn't sure at first but then decided he agreed.


After Tae woke from her nap she was smiling and so happy. The boys really wanted to go swimming so we took her to the pool and she loved it. She stayed in for about an hour with Bill and didn't want to get out. We returned to our room and everyone was exhausted. I washed Tae which she really didn't like and then she ate and started crying again. After about 30 minutes I got her to sleep. She slept for a short time and woke hysterical, I couldn't settle her down so Bill took her and after about 20 minutes he was able to get her to sleep.


We were all exhausted so we went to bed. Tae woke at 3am, we gave her a bottle & called my Mom on Skype so she could meet Karley. After a very short talk we went back to bed and got 3 more hours sleep. Once everyone was awake we called Karley again and this time Aunt Judy & Uncle Joe met Tae too and she was on the floor dancing & playing with the boys.

Our Last Day

We went down to breakfast and Tae loved eggs and rice. After breakfast we went for a walk to Lotte mart, love that store and wish we would have found it sooner. They are like WalMart but much cooler. On the first floor it was like a supermarket but then you can take the escalator up with your shopping cart and there are clothes and bedding, a Toys R Us, a section with a few CD's.... this store had everything. The boys picked out Hello Kitty flutes for both girls and we bought the baby some clothes because everything I packed was too big. We got some baby food and then had to get back to the Hotel to pack. I could have spent an entire day in that store but we were out of time.

We took a taxi back to the Hotel and ran up to our room. Bill convinced them to give us to 2pm to check out so we could pack and i really needed the time. Before we knew it we had to leave. Our trip was amazing and our time went way too quick. As we sat in the hotel lobby waiting for our taxi back to the airport we talked about all the things we just didn't have time to do. We decided we really need to go back in a few years as a family. We thought this trip was a once in a lifetime trip but we realized we really need to come back as a complete family and really plan our trip better so we can do alot of sightseeing.

At this moment I can't single out the best part of the trip because there are so many memorable things that I will treasure forever. I know my account is no where as moving as our experience but I do hope if anyone reading this has the opportunity to travel they should definitely do it. It's truly an experience you will treasure forever. The thought of traveling with 4 children 7 years form now is overwhelming but we will start saving now and maybe have the help of a travel agent to plan it out but it's something I want to do for our family. I am in love with Korea and look forward to our trip back. How could I not be, it's where our lives changed from a couple to a family, and now a family of 6.