Wednesday, Sept. 29: Gotcha Day!

We started out our day packing and baby proofing our room at the guesthouse. Then, off to Dunkin' Donuts one last time for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches. We then took a taxi to Eastern Social Welfare Society to see DW's foster mom one last time. She brought a gift for him: a remote control Thomas the Train (which he loves!). We said good-bye to her, and took a taxi back to the guesthouse.

After a quick lunch from a local sandwich shop, we nervously went to Social Welfare Society to play with HJ and then receive custody of him. You would expect us to be really excited to finally get our son, but in reality, it is a very sad time. The foster mom was running late, so that left Tim and me sitting in the waiting room, getting more and more nervous each minute. The social worker decided to take us to visit the Babies Reception Home located in the same building as our guesthouse. We got to see the room where HJ lived before moving into his foster family's home. There were about 60 babies at the Reception Home from newborn to about 3 months old, who will eventually go into foster care. Foster mom finally arrived with HJ, and we played in the "photo room" together. All of the pictures we had received of HJ prior to meeting him had been taken in the photo room. The room was a lot smaller than it looks in the pictures. The purple chair was so tiny, yet it looks full size in the pictures. HJ was happy, as usual, and let us play with him. The whole experience was rather awkward as his foster mom was in the room with us. She doesn't speak English, and we don't speak Korean, so we couldn't communicate, and it almost felt like she was watching our every move and evaluating our parenting skills. I'm sure she was really just focused on her last moments with HJ, but it was a little nervewracking. Then the social worker and foster mom took him to the medical clinic downstairs for his last exam. He weighed 24 lbs and the doctor said he is healthy with no medical concerns. We are so thankful for that! After a few pictures of us all together, the social worker said it was time to say good-bye. I can't describe how hard it was. The foster mom cried, I cried, and she handed HJ over to Tim. HJ did fine throughout everything though. We got on the elevator first, and the foster mom watched us leave. It was so heartbreaking to see her so sad. She really loves her HyungJoon and we will send her an update and pictures soon. It also sad that HJ is losing everything that is familiar to him: culture, language, food, family, smells, routine, sleeping arrangements, etc. We went directly to our guesthouse room, and he explored. He seemed tired, so we gave him a bottle and he fell right asleep. It felt amazing to finally have him in our arms!

HJ came to us with no shoes, which surprised me because he can walk. I had brought a pair, but they ended up being too small. So, my new friend T (who was also staying at the guesthouse) and I walked to E-Mart to look for shoes and dinner for our husbands and new babies. Apparently E-Mart doesn't carry anything for babies other than diapers and toys. They didn't have any shoes, socks, or clothing for babies. We also didn't find anything appealling for dinner. I bought an apple for HJ, and it cost 3,300 won! That is about $3.00 for one apple! We wandered around a few other stores but still couldn't find any shoes. It was getting dark, so we figured we had better find some dinner and head back to the guesthouse. We found a Domino's pizza and took some back to our husbands. Both boys did great with their new dads while the moms were out. We let the little boys play together for a little while, but they were both so tired. We took HJ back to our room, finished packing, and got him ready for bed. He normally goes to bed around 10 PM, so that's about when we finally laid down. He rolled around and fussed a little, took a bottle, and then went to sleep. However, he woke up multiple times during the first hour or so. He would sit straight up and say, "Mama, umma, umma, mama?" Then he would briefly cry and scream, and then go back to sleep. He wanted his foster mom, and did not want us to comfort him. He slept from about 11:30 PM to 6 AM the next morning. We thought that was excellent for his first night with us. He is such a happy, fun, curious, active little boy. We are so thankful that God chose us to be his parents. He seems like he will be a perfect fit for our family, and we are so excited for he and DW to meet.