Someone's been sleeping in my bed

And it's not me!!! Just kidding, really, Sophie is sleeping better. I snapped this photo this morning because Sophie ended up in our bed at 5 a.m., then Alex came in at 6:00 and I got up...when I went to wake him up for school I found them snuggled up and couldn't resist.

Sophie's crib is in our room...next to the bed. She is there most of the night, and for the past few nights has seemed to sleep more soundly. I think it is dependent on how she naps. Anway, that's it for now, we're all doing very well.

Photos

I don't think I need to explain these...they are just cute :)

Some photos from Korea...

I have photos on the camera of Alex and Sophie...but a couple of people asked to see some photos from Korea. So, here are a few. Description from top to bottom:

• A picture of the outside, front, of Eastern Guesthouse where I stayed. Also housed in this building is a nursery where there were 41 nearly newborn babies who were waiting for foster care/adoption, a small facility for pregnant women to live while they are making an adoption plan, and various offices for social workers, etc. Additionally there are guest rooms located on 5 floors with a kitchen on each floor, and a lovely cafeteria to feed workers. One day Eastern hosted a lunch for the adoptive parents one day where we were able to eat with the directors.
• A picture of the kitchen at the Guesthouse where I stayed...there was a kitchen on each floor, they provided OJ, eggs, and bread.
• A Buddhist temple I visited on my one sight-seeing afternoon
  
• Octopi (sp?)...this was taken at a resturant....NO, I did NOT eat there
  
• This is the Hanbok that Sophie's foster parents gave to me for her 1st birthday
  
• Taken at a restaurant one evening with fellow Adoptive parents that I hung around with, we are still e-mailing each other. I feel very bonded with these people that I only spent a few days with.
  
• Sophie with her foster parents at one of our meetings.

Computer time has been a little limited, but I'll try to post some recent photos of Sophie and Alex soon.

Sophie's doing great by the way....sleep still not the best but I think it is getting better. She is starting to babble a whole bunch and loves to watch Alex sing and dance. I took her to the school gym (at the school where my sister works) and she loved walking around the gym with her push toy while Alex played basketball. She still loves her carrier when she is fussy, so it has proven to be well worth the investment.

That's all for now.

Update

Here is a darling photo of Sophie which I am crazy about...I only have a minute to post as I need to get by butt to bed while she is sleeping, which unfortunately is still very little during the nighttime hours. Sophie is a delightful child...very quiet and very happy. She is teething which makes her fussy a little. Sleep is our big issue...she wants to party like rockstar in the middle of the night. We are working on it and I am trying some new strategies tonight. Below is video...I haven't uploaded one before so I have no idea if it will work, anyway she sure is cute isn't she?

Alex is the best big brother in the world, he loves to come home and play with Sophie...he carries her around, and doesn't like to see her upset. Accordingly she is wrapping him around her little finger and training him to do as she pleases...I have warned Alex that this will backfire as it is impossible to make a child happy all the time (take Alex, for example :) ) but I guess he will have to figure that out on his own.

We're home!!!

What an exhausting trip! Isn't Sophie adorable? I haven't yet put my photos from Korea on the computer but these were taken our first full day home. Here is a quick overview of what happened the last day of my trip:

• There was a formal lunch and meetings with the heads of Eastern Social Welfare Services in Korea. It was quite an event...in fact it was all overwhelming.
• Dr. Kim, the founder of Eastern held a prayer service for families getting their children, myself and two other families. It was such a tearful event, very touching. He took a moment to talk a little about each child and his hopes for their lives and for the future.
• The foster parents transferred care to me, it was gut-wrenching. Sophie was crying and arching her back, and the foster mom would pull her back to her. Then they would hand her off to me...Sophie would cry again, and the whole cycle would repeat. It was awful. Everyone was crying, the staff, the foster parents, the babies, and the adoptive parents.
• I took Sophie up to my room and held her for a couple of hours while she cried and arched and grieved...it was so sad. She finally cried herself to sleep and when she woke up was still very sad and refused a bottle the whole night...but was no longer hysterical.
  

Since coming home Sophie is adjusting well. Our times are a little messed up and she is teething...nights are tough, but she is a delightful child with a beautiful smile. She loves to play...Alex is the best big brother and is so patient with her. He sent his friends away so he could spend time with Sophie...it has been very sweet. Just now he went to a friends and asked me to call him when she woke up from her nap so he could come back. We are all so happy.



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Yikes!

That's all I can say! Today I found out I get Sophie a day early!!!!! I'm excited and very nervous...she isn't too fond of me just yet. Okay, actually...she pretty much is terrified of me. She cries if I try to hold her, I mean, red faced hold your breath kind of crying, not just wimpering...so this is going to be very rough. I'm all over the place with emotions. I'm so happy for me and scared and sad for Sophie and the foster parents, etc. In the morning I need to repack everything so I have it all organized. Wow--we spend all this time planning and waiting and talking and waiting some more and it's finally here.

After our visit today I turned to this nice woman, a fellow "about to be" adoptive parent, and started bawling. She just looked at me and gave me a huge hug. It is so nice to be staying in a place where the people totally get it.

After my meeting rather than fretting I hopped in a taxi and went to Insadong, which is a wonderful shopping area. I managed to tick off the taxi driver because I think he was frustrated that I wanted to go some place so far away with heavy traffic...he just kept shaking his head and letting out these really loud sighs...
When I got to Insadong I was interviewed for Korean television (ask me later), went to a Buddhist temple, and took a taxi back to the guesthouse. From there I went out to a fabulous restaurant with a couple of other families...it was a great way to take my mind off of all my worries and to pass the time while waiting for Sophie. At the restaurant I learned that when you say you want your dish with "only a little spice"...that Koreans have a very different idea from Americans as to what that means.

Tomorrow, other than becoming a mom for the 2nd time I will attend a luncheon held by the staff for the new adoptive families and meet with Dr. Kim...who is the head of Eastern. He will conduct a prayer services for all of the new families, I'm expecting this to be a tear jerker.

That's it for now...

Meeting Sophie

What an icredible experience! It is difficult to put into words. She is beautiful...of course :) Most of all I was overhwelmed by the love and generousity of the foster family. She is very well bonded with her foster parents and their two sons...they asked me to please send pictures as she grows up. The foster family gave me her Hanbok, a whole package of pictures, and a little purse with money (as a wish for her to have a plentiful life).

This is what I learned about Sophie:

• She has 4 teeth
• She can pull herself up and stand
• She likes to hold something in her hand while drinking a bottle
• She is eating some solid foods, but not too many
• She has a temper (according to her foster mom)
• She sleeps with her foster mom and usually naps while her foster mom carries her on her back.
  

Sophie was very leary of me in an appropriate way. She didn't let me get too close to her...but she did let me touch her hand by the end of the meeting. It will take time for her...but I am so thankful to know she has a healthy bond with her foster family.

I am fortunate in that I get to meet with her again today, and possibly Thursday. When foster mom left the room for a couple of minutes during our visit Sophie was bawling...the social worker was in the room and she wasn't able to get her to calm down, and she has been visiting her regularly since birth. So, Friday will be very hard for her...I feel sorry for the people sitting next to us on the plane ride home.

Tuesday night I went to dinner with another adoptive parent, Erin, and her friend. We went to a fusion Korean place and it was good, and interesting. I tried Kimchi and it was spicy but yummy. I also had this dish that was an egg...kind of spread out thin and cooked in an omlete, then stuffed with rice and spices like a burrito, and on the top was this cream sauce with corn in it.

As I said, Wednesday (today for me as I post this), I will meet with Sophie again in the early afternoon and I will take a taxi after to go to a shopping area and possibly a palace close by. Thursday I was invited to have lunch with the agency workers and to meet Dr. Kim, the head of the agency...along with all of the other adoptive parents here.

And Friday of course we come home! I will need to leave for the airport by 8:30 Seoul time so will just spend Friday evening trying to get everything perfectly organized for the long trip home.