Adjusting to a New Life!

It seems like today was the day that Sophia decided she belonged here. It probably started with finally figuring out that 3 am is really not daytime. She slept through the entire night for a total of 12 hours! (I slept for 11 hours)! The next milestone she accomplished today was sitting by her brother in a cart while shopping at Cub. She thought the whole excursion was fascinating. She also decided that the car seat really isn't that horrible of a place to be and promptly fell asleep on the way home. But the most exciting news of all is that Sophia found the joy of walking again!!! Ever since we got her last Thursday, she has screamed if we tried to let her feet touch the ground, but today, she finally felt comfortable enough to venture off of my lap and walk around her room. Then she was walking down the hallway; then she was pulling books and puzzles off the shelf; then she was climbing on the coffee table! She has been a happy toddler today which makes my heart so full of joy! The saddest thing we've had to go through during this process was the sorrowful look she had on her face most of the time for the last 5 days. Today she's a different girl and it's so encouraging! I know there is still a long process ahead of understanding our language and establishing more predictable patterns, but we know we're heading in the right direction. Here are some more pictures from the last couple of days.

I wanted to include a picture of Jacob with his favorite new vacuum. It's a USB powered mini vac!

Home at last!

It's so good to be home! The whole time I was in Korea, I kept thinking, "I'm glad I get to soak in all the sights and culture, but I just can't wait to be home with my baby." I don't have time right now to give a detailed description of our trip, so I'll just summarize. The flights we took to Seoul were on time and uneventful. It's a painfully long trip when you factor in the time spent waiting around the airports. We were basically traveling for 20 hours with about 14 hours in the sky. We stayed at the agency guest house in Seoul and met some other nice couples who were adopting as well. One couple lives in Blaine, so I'm sure we'll plan to get together with them in the future. We got to meet Sophia on Tuesday. It was confusing and awkard and special. We got to see her again on Wednesday for a special birthday party they had for us. It was so cool to be a part of the Korean traditional birthday celebration. The foster mom gave us a photo album with pictures of Sophia. It made me cry. On Thursday, we met with the founder and his daughter (of the adoption agency in Korea). It was pretty formal, but wonderfully touching. Then, at 4:00, the foster parents all came (there were 7 couples picking up chidren) and the founder said a blessing. Then we went up to our guesthouse room where the foster parents tearfully said goodbye. The foster mom helped put Sophia in my backpack carrier, and then she left. Sophia proceeded to cry so hard that she threw up on my back! She cried hard for about an hour, and then fell asleep in Chris's arms. She was up for a few hours in the evening, but was very sad. Thankfully, she slept through the night. We had a grueling journey home, but overall, Sophia did pretty well. She threw up on the plane at one point, but didn't seem to be sick, just upset. During that plane ride the thought crossed my mind that this is probably our last child because I'd never want to go through it all again. When we got to Minneapolis, my sister, Sue, along with Jenny, Jackie, and Jacob met us at the airport. When I got through immigration and walked into the baggage area, I just stopped short and cried. It felt so good to be home! We came home to a home cooked meal by Sue, a banner of special messsages from friends, and the company of Chris's mom, sister and niece for the weekend. They have been so helpful in entertaining Jacob and helping us celebrate his actual birthday today by going to Chuck E Cheese. Sophia is slowly adjusting. She was very fitfully asleep and mostly awake all last night which was pretty much a nightmare. She doesn't smile very much and she is extremely clingy to me. She doesn't want to get down and play or walk yet, so we're still looking forward to getting to know the "real" Sophia soon. Here are some pictures!

Korea, here we come!

GREAT NEWS!!! We just got our travel call this morning, so we booked a flight to leave Mpls on Sunday, August 17. We'll spend the week in Korea, then fly back on Friday, arriving in Mpls on Saturday, August 23rd (Jacob's birthday). Jacob literally gets a new sister for his birthday present!!! His birthday party will be postponed until Sept 6. More details later!

Happy Birthday Sophia!

What a strange feeling...knowing it's my daughter's first birthday, but not knowing exactly what to do about it. We are still waiting for that all-important travel call, and I was feeling pretty patient until today! We really don't expect it for another week or two, but since it's Sophia's birthday today (August 3rd), I've been thinking about her all day. I decided to make "birthday cinnamon rolls" for breakfast. Jacob sang "happy birthday" to Sophia while I took a video. At church, Amanda marked the occassion by giving us a hand-made quilt for Sophia! It is beautiful, and just what I needed to help me feel like it was really my daughter's birthday. Then, after church, Chris, Jacob and I went to a Korean deli for lunch. (Jacob has decided that he doesn't like Korean food...we'll have to work on that). I'm so glad that we'll have a life-time of birthdays to celebrate from now on!

We've been enjoying our summer by doing some typical summer activities. Last weekend we headed up to Roseau for the annual county fair. We always have fun taking Jacob on rides, playing games, watching the derby, and most of all, eating the food. We also found time to hang out at a great little beach on Lake of the Woods.

Last week, we went to the Minnesota Zoo for a day with Amanda and her friend from Iowa, Michelle. It was the first time we've seen the new rennovations with the fun fountains, and the new Grizzly Bear exhibit.

We also made it out to Elm Creek Park for a swim on Friday. Jacob loved playing in the water with his friends Sydney, Josh, Chloe, Caleb, Sadie, and Emma.