Happy to Be Home

Hello everyone! 

I apologize because I "went off the map" for several days during and after our trip.  We were exhausted and busy, so I had to put blogging on pause.  Also, sorry for the long post.

The day before our return trip home, was nerve racking because Hyun developed a bad case of diarrhea.  He seemed to feel fine - and we assumed it was because of a slight change in diet (I honestly think we fed him too much seaweed because he liked it so much). Praise God, it was cleared up by time to travel.

Our travel home was better than expected, but, just so you know - we had pretty low expectations :)!  Getting to the airport was quite an adventure that I won't get into, but I'm pretty sure I accidentally broke some Korean laws.  Now the story seems pretty funny, but it wasn't at the time.  Hyun slept a total of ~1hr on the 15hr flight to the US (10 minutes during the first hour of the flight and the remainder during the last hour of the flight).  He was good on the flight but was of course squirmy and active, so we walked around as much as possible.

Chicago was crazy!!!  Aside from the fact that we had an 8 hour layover, the line for immigration was many hours long.  Then we went straight from there to stand in another security line.  By the time we actually entered the airport, we had stood in line for ~3.5 hours.  It was hard on everyone.  The next 3 hours went by pretty quickly, but by hour 6.5 - Hyun was turning into a mess.  About 10 minutes before the plane was suppose to board, he threw himself down on the ground to throw a fit, and in mid-scream just fell asleep in the middle of the floor.

As we boarded the plane, I apologized as I walked to the very last seat on the plane saying, "Sorry if the baby wakes up." We knew it wouldn't be pretty.  They had Ron and I separated by 12 rows.  As soon as I sat down, the screaming bloody murder began.  The plane was slightly delayed in moving, but as soon as it started moving, he fell asleep... "Whew!"... or so we thought.  Just as the plane was about to take off, the pilots learned that there were issues at the Tulsa Airport, so we couldn't take off.  We headed back to the gate.  As soon as the plane stopped, Hyun woke back up.  He began screaming inconsolable for the next hour.  Thankfully, one guy helped us by supplying a phone that actually had power (both of our phones were dead at this point).  This definitely helped.

We had many friends greet us at the airport upon our return.  Wow.  I was so happy to be home, and see so many people who love us so unconditionally.  Thank you!

As for Hyun now...
He is doing very well.  He is sleeping fairly well and is eating great.  It seems that those 2 things must play a significant role in a good transition.  He doesn't "love" meeting new people, but it doesn't completely freak him out.  He continues to throw his fair share of tantrums.  Hard to say if this is part of the transition or if it is part of being 2 years old - probably both.

He is starting to mimic a lot of our words.  He often calls me "mommy-get"... I think it's because when we say my name, it is usually said with the word "get" after it, such as "Let mommy get that for you".  Reese is the leader in teaching him new words - whatever Reese says, Hyun wants to say also.

Not sure what all to tell... we are in a fog right now.  We are so incredibly grateful.  I plan to continue posting things on this blog for a while, and I am going to make it a public blog now that the adoption is finalized - so you should now be able to sign up for an email if you'd like.  My posts will likely be very simple, but will try to include pics of the family. 

Enjoy some pictures of our first few days home...

Our last trip to Dunkin Donuts before leaving Korea.  Nothing like going to Korea to get an American food chain!  BTW, Hyun had no interest in the donuts.

Prayer together at the airport thanking God for our safe trip and for a healthy transition.

Even Reese's best bud - Carter - made it to the airport!

 

First Mexican food - quesadillas!  He kept saying "pizza".  Of course we added a side of kimchi.  Have you ever had kimchi with your Mexican food... yummy!

First American pancakes - Ron makes pancakes every Saturday morning, and they were a big hit with the boy.

First swim - we made it over to Jim and Cindy's today.

Hyun was holding onto me like glue... until Jim showed up.  Who doesn't love Jim?