Our first meeting (and other stuff!)

I'm trying to figure out how many hours we were up before we were able to pass out in our bed and go to sleep.

We were up by 6:00am on Tuesday December 18th. Our flight left at 9:30pm. We had a very short layover in Las Vegas and then we headed to S. Korea. We got to Seoul around 6:40am on Thursday December 20th, which would have been 3:40pm on Wednesday December 19th at home. We did not sleep at all on the plane. (it was miserable, because it was a nightime flight - we wanted to sleep, but couldn't) Anyway, when we got to Seoul, we had a full day ahead of us, and didn't get to bed until 8:00pm on Thursday, December 20th, which would have been 5:00am on Thursday December 20th at home. I have no idea how we were able to function! OK, enough of that ...

***

Our first meeting was at 2:00pm on December 20th. We went to the room that they told us to go to, and right away M's social worker came up to us, and put us in a tiny little room and told us that M's foster Mom should be there any second with her. Before we knew it, M's foster Mom walked in and M was on her back with a blanket over her head. As they went to pull the blanket off of her head, time seemed to stand still. It was like it was in slow motion. When they finally got it pulled off, the tears started flowing. G and I looked at each other, smiled, and both started crying. This moment was like no other. I honestly cannot even begin to try and describe it. I could not get over how cute she was, and how much hair she had. ... and she was so petite! We had just received an updated picture of her at 7 months old, and she looked so big! I was expecting a very tall girl ... not this tiny petite little thing!

Her foster Mom sat her on the floor and then quickly picked her up and handed her to me. M did not like that one bit. She started screaming and saying "omma" (Korean for Mom) - so I handed her back to her foster Mom, as I didn't want to upset her. G and I kept looking at each other and saying "she's so cute"! I really thought I was dreaming. I was so tired, and the moment did not feel real at all.

M had a cold, so she was miserable and tired. I tried feeding her a bottle, but she didn't want anything to do with me. I felt so bad for her. She had no idea what was going on. I did get her to play with some toys, but I had to keep my distance! ;-)

G was able to hold her for a few minutes, and she was calm as could be. She just looked up into his eyes and really checked him out. It was one of the moments that will forever be etched in my memory. G was finally holding his little girl ... a little girl that we had dreamed about for so many years.

It was then time for our meeting to end. (it was very short!) We exchanged gifts with M's foster Mom. She gave M a gorgeous Hanbok, and a photo album filled with pictures of M while she was in her care. That photo album means the world to us!

Because M was a bit unsure of us, they decided to have us meet with her again the following day at 11:00am.

I got M to smile at me as she was leaving, which melted my heart. I gave her a kiss and told her that I loved her, and they walked out of the room. G and went back to our room where we looked through the pictures that we had taken ... we looked through them SO many times! (just to remind ourselves what had just happened - LOL!)

We got changed, and then met up with a guy that we had met during our meeting with Dr. Kim. He was from the same state as us, and was a Korean adoptee, and was back in Seoul because his birthfather had passed away. We walked around Seoul (yes, we were nuts ... we should have been sleeping!) and A showed us the subway and then we went to eat at Pizza Hut. Mmmmm, Pizza Hut in Korea. There is nothing better - seriously. Because A is Korean, everyone just assumes that he can speak the language. Our waitress came to our table (a young girl) and looked at A and started speaking Korean. He started laughing and shook his head "no" ... this immediately gave the girl the giggles. We then went to order Coke with no ice. She didn't understand the no ice part. I think we had everyone who worked in the restaurant over at our table at one point. We were all laughing at each other. It was hilarious trying to explain to them that we didn't want ice. Finally, after about 15 minutes, they understood. ;-) I was so tired, so I got the giggles and couldn't quit! We ordered their cheese pizza and it was DELICIOUS!!! Yum!

We went back to the agency, and collapsed. We got a few hours of sleep, and then I was wide awake at 1:00am. I couldn't get back to sleep! Our next meeting was at 11:00am on December 21st. I think it was a combination of still being on US time, and the anxiousness of meeting with our daughter again.

... to be continued!