Korea Trip: Meeting Taeho

On Monday we had our first meeting with Eli Taeho. This meeting was at his foster family's house and we were pretty nervous. 

Can you tell?

We had no idea what to expect. Since he was sixteen months old, we knew that he would he would be pretty attached to his foster mother and possibly even be scared of us. We were also worried that Joel would run through their apartment or act out in jealousy. His foster family lived in a very nice apartment complex with a great park in the middle, which we thought was so great for Taeho. When we walked past the park, Taeho's foster brother and his friends were playing there and immediately knew who we were. We went up to their apartment and were welcomed by his foster mother. We had seen many pictures of her and could tell what a warm and happy person she was, and this proved to be right! She had a beautiful smile and made us feel so welcome. Taeho had just woken up, so he was very quiet. He did sit in our laps and play a bit, just looking at us and Joel a little curiously.

Gangnam Style, of course!

Taeho's foster mother gave us a hanbok that he had worn on his first birthday, and she also bought Joel a new hanbok, which brought me to tears. We had been wanting to get him a new one that actually fit, and the fact that she had been thoughtful enough to pick one out for him was so touching to us. She also bought a Pororo phone for both boys to play with.

At the end of the meeting, we went outside and played at the playground. Taeho clearly felt comfortable there, running around and going down the slide. We finally saw some smiles and were able to interact a bit better with him.

When we left there, we were happy to have seen where he spent the last ten months, and also even more nervous about how he would react to joining our family.

We were also scheduled to visit with him again the next day, this time at the agency. He was very reluctant to leave his foster mother's lap or play with us. We tried our best to interact with him and make him smile. We played a little peek-a-boo and helped him fill a container with balls, which kept him occupied for a long time. We could tell that he was a smart and healthy little guy, which made us happy.

You can't go wrong with fruit puffs!

When we left, his foster mother told me in English that he was a smart, cute, and lovely little boy. We knew that they would miss him terribly, and our hearts were so sad for them and our little boy as well.

Korea Trip: First Days in Seoul

Being back in Seoul was just amazing! We have missed Seoul so much since leaving three and a half years ago, and returning felt like coming home. It was so meaningful to have Joel with us and watch him experience his birth country. We have so many connections and memories there, and it will always be one of our favorite places on Earth.

Walking to our terminal

From the time we saw the big blue Korean Air plane pull up at our terminal, I found myself choking back tears so many times. It was surreal to be returning for our second son. My mom came with us this time to help out with Joel, and that turned out to be a huge blessing. Our flight went smoothly, and for some reason didn't seem as long as last time. Joel did great and even slept some. We brought a ton of activities for him to do, but really all he wanted to do was play on the ipad. We should have known!

Nana is ready to go!

We arrived in Seoul in the late afternoon and took the airport limosine bus to the guest house. We were all exhausted, but no one wanted to close their eyes and miss the sights of Seoul. Except Joel, that is. :)

We ended up staying in the same room as we had last time, which was really neat. It was so fun to tell Joel that we brought him to that very room and became a family.

The next day was Sunday, and really our only full day to sightsee. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we headed to Gyeongbokgung Palace. One of our favorite things about Seoul is the blend of ancient and modern. Right behind this thousand year old building was a view of skyscrapers and a very modern city. We explored the palace and watched the changing of the guard ceremony.

These are fascinating all over the world!

He desperately needed a nap, but it didn't happen. 

After that we went in search of Cheonggyecheon Stream, which we knew Joel would like since he loves water so much. We didn't have much luck but found this cool fountain instead.

We had dinner and then happened upon a tourist station and were given directions to Cheonggyecheon Stream. It was dark by that time, but the stream had really cool colored lights at night, so it ended up being a good thing that we didn't find it right away. There was a little stepping stone and a wishing pond that Joel stood at and made a wish. We walked up and down for awhile and then headed back to the guest house for the night.

Eli's Baptism

Earlier in the month, Eli was baptized at our church. It was a special day for all of us as he became a member of God's family forever. As we did with Joel, he wore a white suit with his hanbok vest over it. His shoes were a very special gift from his foster aunt that we loved being able to use for this special occasion. He was looking pretty handsome!

We were a little nervous about how he would do going up to the front of church and being calm through the Baptism. We made the mistake of giving him some markers to color with a few minutes before, and he threw a pretty big fit when he had to leave those markers. Thankfully Travis thought quickly and whispered "cookie" to him which immediately stopped the tantrum. :) The rest went on without any issues and we proudly watched as he was Baptized with water and God's Word.

We had a small party that evening for family and his Godparents, and enjoyed delicious food, a beautiful cake, and some special gifts.

We spent the day feeling blessed and happy that Eli Taeho is part of our family and God's as well!

Catching Up is Hard to Do

In case you hadn't noticed, it's been awhile since I blogged. Life right now is filled with lots of catching up on sleep, cleaning up, laundry, playing with and loving on two little boys. That doesn't leave much room for blogging, but I'm going to try my hardest! In fact, I've written this post about three times without publishing, only to come back and rewrite it a month later.

Overall things in our family are going really, really well, considering we've been home about five months. We're all settling into our new roles and taking it one day at a time. Eli is doing great! After his bottom eye teeth came through, we have seen a big change for the better in terms of sleep and tantrums during the day. This makes life better for everyone! Most of the time he's a happy and fun little guy, and he is getting so affectionate with us. He gives us hugs and kisses throughout the day, which we just love. He says six words consistently: mama, dada, uh-oh, bye-bye, hi, and hot. Just in the last week, he's also added E-di (Eli) and da-ga (doggie). He also says thank you in Korean, kamsamnida. It sounds more like kang-da, but we know what he means. :) Joel was the one that encouraged him to say it, and now he says it all the time. We love it!

Joel and Eli are having more fun together, too. Some of this fun involves getting into trouble, which I secretly find funny and cute. :) They love to get into our dog's water bowl and make a mess, climb on tables, and play with toilet paper in the bathroom. They are always looking for ways to make each other laugh, and sometimes this includes bad manners at the table or making farting noises. I'm just accepting that this is part of life with boys! We're happy to see them getting along and it's hard to be mad sometimes. They also really like to build together, ride around the house on their four-wheelers, and play with trains. I really think they're going to be best buds when they get a little older, and that makes this mama very happy.

Joel is accepting his role as big brother better and better. It was heart breaking to see how much he struggled at first, but he's starting to be kinder and more loving, and sometimes taking on the role of teaching him new things. We're trying to be more intentional about special Joel time, and this seems to help.

Joel goes to preschool two morning a week and is taking a swimming class, and Eli and I are doing a Music Together class as well. Besides this, we keep busy with play dates, trips to the library, Nana time, and playing outside as much as possible. I think we will all be so glad when spring and summer come! It's hard to find activities to keep them occupied all.day.long.

We had some pretty good snows in the last month, and both boys loved playing in it! The first time we put Eli on the sled he didn't like it much, but the next time we took both of them down a hill and he couldn't stop smiling.

Eli and our Godson 

The boys ride all around the house on these!

Doughnuts at Nana and Papa's

Joel at swimming lessons

Thanks for continuing to read this blog and for your patience with my lack of posting! You may see quite a few catch-up posts in the next week. :)

Happy Seollal!

We celebrated Seollal, the Korean Lunar New Year, this weekend. We kept our tradition of dinner with our friends at our favorite celebratory restaurant. As always, bi-bim-bop, mandu, and bulgogi were consumed in large quantities.

Today we had a yummy Korean dinner and dressed the boys in their hanboks. I wasn't too sure how that would go over, but they were both surprisingly happy to be wearing them, and we got some cute photos. Eli's hanbok was worn on his first birthday, and Joel's hanbok was given to him by Eli's foster family, so they are both very special.

Happy Seollal! May you receive many blessings in this year of the snake!