Some more pictures as requested

Bella playing with the musical table that our prior two kids loved.
Picture taken on Thanksgiving Day.





A picture of Bella and Mommy taken on Thanksgiving Day




Okay a not so great shot but can you get one Mommy, two toddlers and one infant to look in the same direction at the same time and not have a sad or weird face?? Neither could we!!!

Our Sick Household

Bella was official diagnosed with a probable sinus infection with a croupy cough, one inflammed ear, and a yeast infection today. She is currently on an antibiotic for the infection and a cream for the yeast infection.

Jeff is under the weather...I've got a stuffed up nose. Ryan has been miserable today. Katie complains of a stuffy nose as well.

However Bella's tests that have been run thus far have come back normal.

YIPPEE for small miracles...

Now if I can just get her off of me and get her into the crib to sleep tonight I'll be happy.

Jen

WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!!!!!

We have a name for our baby sister. We like to introduce Isabella Grace Ryanne. We are calling her Bella. We are keeping her Korean name as well.

Mommy and Daddy were trying to decide between two names and finally decided on this one. The middle names were already picked. We like this name over the other name that they were thinking about.

We need to go since Bella is playing with our toys.

~Ryan and Katie

I'm the little Mommy!!!

Hi everyone, Katie here...

I just had to tell you all that I've been the little Mommy at my home. I've been helping Mommy and Daddy out with getting things for Tae Hee. I have been trying to feed Tae Hee her bottle but she cries whenever I touch it. Only our Mommy can touch the bottle. I have been able to give her toys and play with her. At times it's been rough having somebody cry in my room late at night when I'm trying to sleep but I love her very much. What is fun for the two of us is having "parties" in our room.

~Katie

Doctors visits for the Girls yesterday

The two girls had doctors appointments yesterday. For Tae Hee, she had her first doctor's appointment here in the US. She didn't want to let go of me. She didn't want me to lay her down on the table. She cried during some of the appointment...the only time she didn't was when I was holding her. Her doctor ordered up some blood work and stool cultures. So it was off to the hospital lab to get that all done.

Katie had her appointment as well and she did very well during the finger stick lead test until the nurse tried to put on the band-aid. It was then that she cried out. She is still complaining today that her finger hurts and that I had to kiss the boo-boo and rub the kiss in so that it stays.

Tae Hee's visit to the hospital lab for blood work went really well. Much much better than the other two kids. She was bottle feeding when we were called in. She continued to bottle feed only crying out when I had to take the bottle out of her mouth. She bottle fed during the blood draw without any issues. She complained only when the tech tried to put on the band-aid. The tech told me that most kids her age will scream and it requires one tech and one parent to hold the child down. (That was true of my other two kids). Not my little angel baby!!!!

The tech noticed on the lab request paperwork that she was an internationally adopted baby. She said that "we should go straight to Heaven for adopting this baby girl". She alluded to the fact that we "saved" this baby. I told her that we adopted three kids from Korea and that we are blessed...THEY chose US!!

Outside of a nasty chest cold that Tae Hee has and whatever the lab work finds out, she is healthy. We haven't brought her out anywhere except for to the doctors and back. We are heading back there tomorrow to have a test read.

Jen

Pictures of Korea

Here are just some of our pictures from Korea...most of them are private so we will not be uploading them. They are the kids' photos and our special photos.







from Gyeonghuigung Palace

From Gyeonghuigung Palace







Our Second meeting with Tae Hee




At Itaewon Market...one of the many shops here

Our children's birth hometown...I wanted to capture the narrow city streets here. For reference, you can fit a car/pickup type truck through.

Seoul from our window at Eastern's Guesthouse




Absolutely cool street sign we found near one of the palaces and Seoul Selection store. There was more on the sign however a van was blocking the view.






Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in Seoul...this is the side of the temple.





Time Capsule Park








Namdaemun Gate









Cityscape from Namdaemun Gate









Our photo from the famous Red Chair

We hope that you've enjoyed our pictures from our trip to Korea.

We're Home!!

Annyong Haseyo!!!

We're home!! We had our 4th meeting with Tae Hee an hour before we left for the airport. Due to this meeting going not as well as they had hoped, Tae Hee's social worker wanted us to contact her directly with Tae Hee's update after she landed here in the States. I don't see how her bonding to us and Ryan and Katie's bonding to us being any different due to us going to Korea after doing both escorting and flying over there to pick up our child. It really has to do with personality and age.

Tae Hee screamed after she left her foster mom and everything she knew to be familiar in Korea. She screamed for half of the ride to the airport and finally sacked out in my arms. Jeff took pictures of the trip to the airport. I cried in the van heading there. I didn't want to leave Korea. I wanted to ask my children's foster mothers more information, I wanted to do so much more stuff there as far as sightseeing goes, I wanted to rock and feed the babies in the nursery and so much more.

When we got to Incheon Airport, Tae Hee woke up and screamed several more hours. She scanned all of the Asians there that were close by looking for her foster mom. When she didn't find her, she screamed more to have her come running...of course she never came. It was so sad!!

We knew she was overdue for a feeding and tried to feed her without any luck. One Asian American waiting for the same flight as us offered to help. Tae Hee took a little formula from her but not much. She was still kicking and screaming for her foster mommy to come and scoop her up and feed her and dry those tears. A Korean mother even tried to help us feed her to no avail.

In flight, she refused to take any formula for some of the flight. We were approached by a flight attendant that a Korean mother in the back of the plane was willing to help us out. We had to use her to get Tae Hee to drink her formula since she absolutely refused it from us!!! I hated to do it but had to get her to take her formula since she should have had a 2nd bottle by the time she had finished her 1st one with us. It was absolutely heartwrenching to see her go through all of this. I cried in flight for a part of this flight.

The flight itself from Seoul to Atlanta, Georgia was horrible. The flight attendants were fine but the turbulence was so bad my anti-anxiety med did very little in flight. I needed something much stronger than what I had. We had our seat belt sign on most of the flight. When it was off, the turbulence was there but not as bad. People rushed to get to the bathrooms. Changing Tae Hee in flight wasn't fun either since she was screaming so much. The only time she wasn't upset was when she slept...about 2 hours out of the entire flight. Jeff slept about 3 hours on that flight...I couldn't sleep at all. At one point with the turbulence, we had dropped what Jeff says was probably about 5 feet. I screamed out along with a few other people on the plane. I sat there in my seat shaking uncontrollably for half of the flight in shock.

Any time the flight attendants came around with water, I took some since God only knew the next time they were able to come around. I couldn't eat anything besides crackers or rolls in flight due to the turbulence. I couldn't watch anything on the TV screen in front of me for the same reason. Our landing was horrible. We fishtailed on the landing. While Jeff held Tae Hee, I wondered if we would make it to Atlanta Airport alive after this horrific flight.

We almost didn't make the next flight due to immigration at Atlanta. What a fiasco!!! We waited for over an hour for them to call us up to the desk and say..."I'm sorry you've waited so long, you can now go". We have no idea what was done, who worked on it, or anything. All we knew is that we could go. Our flight was leaving in less than an hour and we still had to go back through security in order to board our flight. We were also sent to the wrong terminal and gate so we had to rush to the correct one all the time Tae Hee who was in the baby carrier, screamed any time we went on an escalator. She hates them!!

We made it to the correct gate where we found that one of our bags didn't fit in the overhead bin so we had to check it in to checked luggage planeside. After boarding we were told that the weather in Albany was bad and there was a chance that we wouldn't fly there that night. They were fogged in. 10 minutes into a 5 minute wait we were cleared for take off but we had to wait since we were 5th in the queue. Our take off was flawless. I had taken another half of anti-anxiety med about a half hour before take off and it was making me sleeping now. Jeff held Tae Hee during the flight from Atlanta to Albany. While she slept I reminensced with Jeff about our trip and cried and smiled and cried some more.

Tae Hee woke up in Albany after a flawless landing screaming some more. Jeff handed her to me and we put her into the baby carrier. He carried the luggage. We had our family and friends (his parents, his brother, and our nephew, along with my parents with Ryan and friends of mine who adopted from Korea years ago with one of their daughters holding Katie) along with a whole bunch of other people there at the airport watching us leave the secured end of the terminal. We were home. I survived all 4 flights and we were home. Tae Hee did alot of crying. I must of looked horrible to everyone since I had formula, tears, snot and God only knows what else on my shirt. My hair was a mess but we were home. My kids were a little tired but were happy to see us.

Ryan, Tae Hee, Jeff and I were up until 2 am when Ryan finally went to bed. Tae Hee was up until 4 am Wednesday morning before she finally fell asleep with us on the floor of the girls' room. She was crying for Omma. She fought sleep. She wanted no part of it since all she wanted to do was cry. After she fell asleep, Jeff and I fell asleep and we all woke up at 12:30 pm.

She hates going to bed. She screams for Omma when it's bedtime. It's very hard watching her go through this. She is physically attached to me all day. It's so bad that I can't even go to the bathroom without having her in the room with me and she is still screaming. While I like the physical attachment, I don't think that she is bonded to me at all. I think it's just because she recognizes me from Korea, from her past. I tried wearing her on my back in the baby carrier like her foster mom did to soothe her and she screams even more.

We delayed going to the pediatrician's office from today (Friday) to Monday. I'm hoping that her need to have a deathgrip on me and my clothing 24/7 will subside somewhat so that she can learn to trust others as well. She screams when I have to give her to Jeff.

I am getting some small bit of respite right now since she is asleep in her crib at the moment...major miracle here but I know that this won't last since she will wake up screaming around 1 or 2 and be up until at least 5 screaming and playing. Meanwhile, I'm doing laundry (5 loads yesterday and another 3 today) and typing this in as fast as I possibly can to update you all.

Ryan and Katie are doing well with her with the occasional "I want Tae Hee to go home now" coming from Ryan. We know that he doesn't mean it but he is still saying it. Both kids are being helpful getting toys, bottles, and diapers for Tae Hee.

We are eternally grateful to my parents for putting on the Thanksgiving Day feast since my mom cooked the turkey and all its trimmings for us at our house. So a big Kamsahamnida to them.

Gotta go since Tae Hee is stirring!!

Jen live from her home back from the trip to Seoul, South Korea

Our Outing Yesterday

Annyong Haseyo!!

We decided to go to Namdaemun Market as well as a Korean folk village who's name escapes me at the moment except for the fact that it's near Namdaemun market and the name is similar. The folk village was neat and we got to see Time Capsule park as well.

Namdaemun Market...I can't use one word to describe it. It's a very busy market place where I think you can find just about anything you need to wear or eat and more. We found a place similar to a Staples but had other stuff in it too called Alpha. I picked up two things there. We also just people watched and store/stand watched. It was interesting to see all of the stuff for sale...particularly at the food stands.

We are sad to be leaving here today but we know that we'll come back for a visit...to see more of the sites, to visit with the kids' foster mothers, and so much more.

We are eternally grateful to Eastern Social Welfare Society for all they have done for us...from taking care of our children, getting matched up with Ryan at the begining of our adoption journey, organizing our visit here, and so much more.

Kamsahamida to our Eastern family and to the wonderful families we have met here!!

Annyong from Seoul, South Korea as this will be my last post from here this year!!

Jen reporting live for the last time from Seoul, South Korea

3rd Meeting with Tae Hee

Annyong Haseyo!!

We had our meeting with the two Dr. Kims and having Bibimbap with them. Our meeting with the two Dr. Kims was enlightening. We learned about Eastern and it's facilities. We also received gifts from them as well. And we gave ours out to them.
The Bibimbap was good and did I forget to mention that I think that I had Octopus with it??? At least that's what Jeff identified it as...so please feel free to blame him if it wasn't.

Immediately following lunch we met with Tae Hee for our third time. She is having a hard time with separation anxiety and stranger anxiety. Any time the foster mom is outside of her sight she start crying. We had her for 20 minutes by ourselves just walking her around with her in the baby carrier on me today. She wanted nothing to do with me and kicked and screamed. The only time she didn't scream was to catch her breath to scream some more.

Her social worker scheduled yet another meeting before we fly tomorrow. Both her social worker and us think that she cry most of the flight. If we are extremely lucky she will fall asleep during this flight. I can completely see me having to stay completely at home for awhile like I did with her big brother just so she gets used to us.

We got two photo albums from the foster mom today. We learned through the photos and from the foster mom that she loves puppies!!! She had two of them in the home so better watch out Maggie cause Tae Hee's coming!!!!

Please wish us good luck with her for the flight. We're going to need it!!!

Annyong!!!

Jen reporting live on her last night from Seoul, South Korea

Today's Outings and Thoughts about Korea

Annyong Haseyo!!!

We visited a palace this morning in the brutally cold weather. The one we visited was Gyeongbokgung Palace (the Palace of Shining Happiness). The place was absolutely beautiful and breath taking. We got to see the changing of the guard when we arrived. What perfect timing!!! It was 6,000 Won (the currency of Korea to get in). I took video of the changing of the guard ceremony and many still shots.

After that we went to Jogyesa Buddhist Temple which is close by. It is very peaceful here. We saw a Buddhist monk outside with no hat, gloves, coat or scarf on. Wow!!! After the emotions that we have been dealing with this week, we needed something so peaceful.

It's hard to believe that our stay here is almost done. We have one more full day left and then after that it's a partial day on Tuesday before our 6:30 PM flight out of Incheon Airport.

Part of my heart will always be here in Korea with my children's foster moms and their families, with their birthmom, and in the place my children were born. I know that all be coming back to Korea with my children to visit their homeland with them and show them the sights, sounds and smells of Korea that we have seen, heard, and smelled ourselves with this trip.

I hope that those of you reading this can make sense of what I'm saying in my blog here and can picture some of the sights we've seen. This country (what little we've seen of it) is amazing, the people are amazing.

For the first time in my entire life, I am the outsider, I am the minority. I needed to experience that. Going to KAAN earlier this summer helped me to decide about traveling here to this country. I needed the connection to my children's birthplace. I needed to see for myself what life is like here. I needed to spend some time here (as much as finances and my Mom and Dad would allow since they are watching our other two kids).

From what I've seen of this country, it's my 2nd homeland. So if you visit my home, please consider it to be a Korean home and take off your shoes at my door. And perhaps I'll even greet you with an 'Annyong Haseyo' as well.

Jen reporting Live from Seoul, South Korea

Baby it's Cold Outside...

Do you know the song that has the line "baby it's cold outside"?? Well it's brutal here. Here are the actual highs and lows for Seoul since we arrived:

Tuesday November 13th High 56 Low 41 precipitation .01 inch
Wednesday November 14th High 57 Low 47 precipitation N/A
Thursday November 15th High 52 Low 43 precipitation N/A
Friday November 16th High 48 Low 35 precipitation .08 inch
Saturday November 17th High 49 Low 35 precipitation N/A
Sunday November 18th High 33 Low to be determined precipitation to be determined winds gusts of 18 mph as of 11 am

The temperature at 11 am was 30 degrees F. Using Weather Channel/NOAA's wind chill calculator this means that it felt like it was 18 degrees F.

We thought Troy was cold...this puts Troy's cold winters to shame. (Troy is where Jeff went to college for those of you reading don't know).

Of course the day we're leaving they are predicting high of 38 degrees and chance of snow.

Well tomorrow we see the two Dr. Kims and have lunch with them. We are also meeting up with Tae Hee tomorrow as well. If I'm not too busy tomorrow night, I'll let you all know how to the meeting goes. I just hope that we aren't venturing with her outside...brrrrr.

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Sights of Seoul in November

Annyong Haseyo!!

When we arrived here in Seoul, it was in the mid 50s with very little wind during the day. Now we're in the low to mid 40s with wind. Let me tell you it's cold out there. I'm so glad to have brought my winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves.

It's amazing what Koreans are wearing in this type of weather. I'm seeing mini skirts with knee highs and shoes with a thin coat. I'm seeing men with business suits on and no coat over the top of it. I even saw one woman with shorts and a tee-shirt on!! Jeff and I are wondering how can they venture outside with no coats on?? They are definitely daring!!! However we are also seeing folks in winter coats just like us as well.

It hasn't snowed here yet but it feels like it will soon. There are still green leaves on some of the trees. We've seen beautiful yellow and red leaves as well.

When you step into one of the open air type market places it's amazing. The hustle and bustle of the shop keepers and buyers. We've seen plenty of places to buy veggies and fruits along with several butchers, and fish markets as well. There are things for sale in the food part of these markets that we can't even identify. Some of them alive still but most are dead. You might see somebody taking live seafood and eating it raw.

We found kids running through the markets and laughing. They were playing various games. We found some people who wanted to try out their English on us as well. The most we get from them is the occasion 'hi' or 'hello'. We found that to be true mainly with the younger crowd (under 30 years old).

Like any major city, there's the general hustle and bustle to get from Point A to Point B. If you're not careful you'll get hit by the many scooters and motorcycles in the city that don't have the need to obey the traffic laws like nearly everyone else driving. People will honk their horns to get through an intersection even though the light is red. We saw police driving around with their lights on all over the city.

We've walked on many streets in the city. Not once did I feel like we weren't safe at all. We've walked down Wedding street (where you can get your wedding gown, tux, and get your hair done for your wedding) and we've walked down Furniture street (as the name suggests you can get furniture at the multitude of stores here).

It's been hazy here nearly every day. It's only rained once while we were out and that was yesterday. And I think we've seen the sun twice for a little while since we've been here. Some of the people here (old and young alike) wear masks. Seoul is a polluted city (hence the haze we have here).

Oh I should mentioned some of the differences in food here. Chicken sandwich here isn't like getting a chicken sandwich in the US. Here it includes the skin on the thin piece of chicken that they serve you. Also when you order up a lemonade it is either served hot when you order it up with no ice or served carbonated (which may sound weird to most but it isn't that bad and it doesn't taste like Slice, 7Up, or Sprite...it's better than those).

That's about it for now.

Annyong!!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Yesterday's Outing

Annyong Haseyo!!

We went out to the birthplace of our children. I'm not saying much about it or posting pictures here. It's my children's information. It's their story. I will say this...it was very emotional just being there.

We went to Lotte afterward as well. Remind me never to eat at Lotteria again. It's like a McDonald's or a Burger King kind of place. YUCK!!! I guess I'm too used to American food. I ordered a chicken sandwich and what I got was unedible. So I ended up sharing Jeff's chicken filets and they were spicy...too much for me.

Lotte is a hotel, supermarket, mall, indoor amusement park, cinema, bowling alley, ice skating rink, and department store all wrapped up into one building. We just went into the mall portion of it looking for a doll for Katie. We found a baby carrier that is perfect for her since she likes to carry her dolls on her in her shirt of all places.

After that we went to Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral. While I hoped to get inside to take pictures of it, there was a wedding going on and we couldn't go in. I did take some pictures outside though of the grounds.

We are heading out to the Palace of Shining Happiness today and we're also heading to Jogyesa Buddhist temple. I'm not sure what else we'll end up squeezing into our schedule...perhaps a shopping trip to Namdaemun market???

Annyong!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Today's outings

We were invited by another couple who arrived here at the Guest House last night from Australia to come to their first meeting with their son and take photos and video. We did so gladly.

After that we went to Itaewon and got a bunch of things for the kids. Shhh don't tell them but here's what we got them:

~ we got each a name chop (a name stamp with their Korean name in the hangul)
~ Tae Hee got a jewelry box as well as Korean mask set, a norigae, and a Korean doll
~ Ryan got a norigae with a big Korean drum on it, and special video but we're not saying what it is because it will ruin the surprise
~ Katie got her cookies but we are still looking for a doll for her...we hope to find one that she'll like

I didn't pick up anything for ourselves since just being here and experiencing everything is absolutely priceless.

Oh dear brother if you're reading this I found something for you. I hope you'll like it.

Mom, sorry no necklaces like you wanted. We tried.

We hope to visit our children's birthplace this weekend and take some photos of that area before we have our meetings on Monday. And on Tuesday we're leaving. Seems like such a short time that we have been here. Gosh there are so many things I want to do here...National Museum of Korea, see Seoul Tower, go to Namdaemun market, see the DMZ (no I haven't done that due to all of the other emotions I have been having here and how much time you need to devout to it), and so much more.

With everything here in Seoul, you can spend a lifetime here and not see everything there is to see here. Angie, if you're reading this I think you would love it here.

Annyong!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

2nd Meeting with Tae Hee

Annyong haseyo!!!

Our 2nd meeting with Tae Hee was yesterday. She looks like her older sister but seems to have some of the personality of her older brother. We had her alone for 30 minutes and more than half of that time she cried. We took her upstairs to our room for a bit and then back downstairs for a stroller walk outside. She calmed down a bit in the stroller but still wasn't happy.

Due to the difficulty of this meeting for her, we have another meeting scheduled on Monday afternoon. We are hoping that this goes better than the first two.

Annyong

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Meeting with Seong Tae's & Eun Seong's Foster Mom

Annyong haseyo!!

That's the romanization of hangul for 'hello'.

Yesterday we met with Seong Tae's (Ryan) and Eun Seong's (Katie) foster mom. I won't say much about it since most of the information is private and it is the kids information. If they want to share it with all of you when they are older, they can however I will say this...I KNOW the kids were very much loved by the entire family and by others as well. I am so grateful to their foster family for taking care of both kids.

KAMSA HAMNIDA!!!!

That's the romanization of the hangul to say 'thank you' to the foster family for taking such good care of Seong Tae and Eun Seong.

WE LOVE THEM VERY MUCH!!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Met with Tae Hee this Morning

We met Tae Hee this morning after finishing up the business stuff here.

Tae Hee cried alot but was happy with her foster mom who loved seeing pictures of Ryan and Katie. Tae Hee is a normally happy smiling baby. But we're new so it's not too surprising. She loves music just like her brother and sister.

The foster mom and social worker left her in the room with Jeff and I for about 15 minutes. She cried so much. I tried feeding her the bottle but Tae Hee wanted no part of it. We tried to get her involved with the mural on the wall but no luck again.

Due to her strong reaction, we (the social worker, foster mom, and us) decided on meeting again tomorrow afternoon. I didn't expect the first meeting to go smoothly. After our meeting, Tae Hee had a checkup and we got to see where the newborn babies are.

After all of our meetings we walked around Seoul and stumbled upon one of the palaces.

Well I'm exhausted so I'm heading to bed.

~Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea

Can't Sleep Anymore!!!

Well we went crashed at 8 pm last night and I woke up for the day at 4:30 this morning. I have never slept that long in a very long time. And it's not due to the excitement of meeting Tae Hee today either. It's more due to my body just staying "okay you've slept enough now WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!!!!!".

The room at Eastern's Guest House is your basic room. We have 2 twin beds, a TV with cable, and our own private bathroom. We can use the kitchen on our floor as well. Not too bad all things considered. We checked out a little of the building last night as well to see where we would be meeting today. I don't know if we are the only families in the building or not. Our room is on the 6th floor and the computer room is on the 2nd. The 6th floor only has a few rooms for the adoptive families and we haven't heard any other signs of life or seen anybody yet.

The computer room here is pretty cool. The keyboards are in hangul and English and I keep telling Jeff that I want one. So that when I learn hangul I'm all set with my keyboard!!

It's a good thing that I've brought over extra gifts since we are meeting a woman today who isn't on my list. Thanks Mom for making and giving me all of the scarves you knitted!!!!

Gotta go for now

~Jen reporting to you live from Seoul, South Korea

HELLO FROM SOUTH KOREA!!!

We landed at Incheon International Airport just fine this afternoon. If you tracked our flight, we went from Atlanta, Georgia up into Canadian, around Alaska, through Russia and finally to South Korea. We rode on a 777...huge aircraft by the way. I was so nervous that they would only feed us the one meal...boy was I ever wrong. I think we had 3 meals on the flight (none of them breakfast) and the last one was right before we were getting ready to land. I slept maybe 2-3 hours total of the flight and didn't sleep a wink on the flight to Atlanta.

We flew Delta Airlines and we were treated well by them. Let's hope the return trip is just as good.

We did have to call Eastern up to check on the driver situation. He was running late so we just hung out at the airport until he arrived. We didn't feel out of place at the airport...I'm not sure if it was just the lack of sleep or since we're around our kids so much that we didn't seem out of place in their world.

We learned this evening that we are meeting tomorrow morning at 9:50 and then meeting with Tae Hee later. I wasn't expecting this meeting so soon. OMG I get to see her tomorrow!!!!!!

Well I need to sign off since I'm tired out and I did promise two kids at home e-mails from Mommy and Daddy from Korea.

~Jen reporting to you live from Seoul, South Korea

We're Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

OMG THIS IS IT!!!! We are leaving around 3 am early Monday morning to head to the airport. I'm freaking out but excited. We're flying to Atlanta and then catching a flight direct to Seoul from there. The weather there looks like it'll be between 30 and 40 degrees during the day and dropping from 40 degrees to the upper teens the night before we're going to leave. We might have a couple of days where the temp is in the mid 50s but either way it's winter jacket, gloves and a hat weather.

And okay if you ever saw me with chopsticks, I'm pretty bad. Most of you haven't just because I know that I'm that bad and didn't want to embarrass myself in front of you. I was thinking of taking the kids training chopsticks with me at one point this weekend if that gives you any indication on how nervous I am to use my chopstick skills in Korea. I have decided that I am going to embarrass myself in Korea but I will use regular adult chopsticks. I'm hoping that I'm too horrible in Korea and who knows maybe I'll get some pointers as to how to use them properly.

The kids are excited to see their new sister and can't wait to get e-mail from us from Korea. Ryan is scared since he "doesn't know what Tae Hee looks like". I keep telling him "yes you do...you have pictures of her". Then he gets a big smile on his face. The kids are going to have a grand time with Nana and Papa (my parents) and perhaps even have a scheduled playdate or two with friends.

The bags are packed (God I hope that I'm not missing anything important!!!). My parents have everything they're going to need (I hope). The dog has her food. Our kids hopefully will behave themselves for Nana and Papa while we're gone.

Next time I post, we'll be in Korea!!!

~Jen