Celebrate Me Home*

So I'm a little late, I know that, I'm a little late in saying this...but WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!!!! Home at last. As you can see by the non-post last night after 11, I tried to write about our homecoming last night but ended up finally hitting the proverbial wall and entered a coma-like state until 11 this morning. Emily just called and informed me that my post last night was very uninformative so I needed to step it up and post tonight. :) Sorry for the delay. And apparently being a parent is a pretty time consuming thing, are you aware of this? (Parents around the world just let out a collective, "Uhh, ya think?!") But we're back baby and I'm ready to report.

Adam, Mom, and I left Seoul at 10am on Sunday.

We took a bus to the airport and were ready for the long journey home. I prayed and prayed and prayed that Adam would handle the trip well, or at least that we would be traveling with understanding saint-like passengers, who appreciate the sound of a crying baby like others appreciate music and art. And thankfully God blessed us again. Adam handled the plane rides like a champ!!

He slept most of the long flight to Vancouver and was happy and content in the small amount of time he was awake. We were absolutely blessed again because we were in a row with 4 seats, and once again just the 3 of us so Mom and I took the end seats and Adam slept on the 2 in between. Passengers on all of our flights commented on how amazing he was, content and happy. We flew from Seoul to Vancouver to San Fransisco to Denver. Adam got just a tiny bit stressed on the last flight home but by that time we had been traveling for 24 hours and I myself was screaming and throwing things at other passengers so his stress was understandable.

We arrived in Denver at 8:30pm on Sunday and were so surprised to see Rose and Matt had gotten special permission to meet us at the gate, and the party began!!!! The laughter, the tears, the hugs, we were a regular Hallmark commercial! :) Everyone was so happy to meet Adam, but no one more than his Dad. Matt picked him and said, "I'm never letting him go." I knew he was going to be a wonderful father, but there are no words to say what it is like to see him with Adam. You can just see on him face how much he loves him and it melts my heart. I am one lucky lady to have these two guys in my life! Well the 5 of us headed on the train and to meet the rest of the group. We were quite the spectacle and soon we met the rest of the homecoming party. We were met by Dad (Papa), Grandpa Jerry, Lisa, Dante, and Christian. Lisa had made signs for everyone to hold and Dante was yelling, "Adam you complete me!" :) It was so wonderful!! Adam went easily to everyone and LOVED Christian! He smiled and yelled and tried to hug his cousin right away. They will be true partners in crime. Then we took the party and headed back to our house. Adam did not like the car-ride home or his new car seat and voiced his opinion on the matter. When we got home, Matt stayed true to his word and would not let him go. He gave him a bottle and got him ready for bed. The rest of our family stayed for just a short while. It was a wonderful end to the most important trip of my life.

Yesterday and today have been excellent. Adam has slept through the night with just a few tiny interruptions. He has bonded so well with Matt and goes to family and friends easily. He has been taking 2 naps a day and even takes them in his crib! He is very happy and content. He yells LOUDLY when he is happy and has a big appetite, so he's in the right family. He loves kids, especially his cousin. Thank you so much to everyone who has called, sent cards, and even food. I cannot thank you all enough. Matt and I could not feel more blessed and loved. I am so excited for Adam to meet the rest of his family and friends. Thanks also for your comments on this blog. It has been really fun to read them. I'll keep posting pictures and details of our new adventures to come. Love to you all!

****Apparently Kenny Loggins is the official singer/songwriter of our adoption, between this title and our nursery. Thanks Kenny, your sound is timeless! :)

Our Day Out in Seoul....A Hair Raising Adventure (That's How We Roll)

Hello again! This will probably be our last post from Seoul. Tomorrow Adam, Mom, and I head to the airport early for our long journey back to Colorado. We are hoping for a little bit of room on the plane (like we were so blessed with on our way here) or for Adam to become extremely relaxed and feel the need for a 18 hour cat-nap so that he can arrive peacefully back home to meet more of his family. I will post more after we are home for all of our wonderful friends and family in other states. Thanks to everyone for all of your comments and prayers. I love you all. Especially to my students!!! :) I love you and miss you too. I can't wait to bring Adam in to see all of his friends in third grade!

So as I mentioned today Mom and I thought we would be brave and head out onto the subway system to do a little shopping. It went pretty well but as you can tell from the title not the greatest. However the beauty of the title is really two-fold. One is that it expresses some of the chaos that was our day and two, the three of us touring around Seoul was quite the sight to behold because, well Adam's hair speaks for itself. Mom and I on the other hand have been fighting the good fight that occurs between naturally curly hair and the humidity. Today that battle was lost my friends and Mom and I toured around town looking like frazzled Francis 'Baby' Houseman wannabes (Dirty Dancing anyone?). So it was slightly scary. Well we headed out on the subway thanks to the help of many kind strangers. We thought we knew where we were going, all seemed well, and yet an hour later we ended up at the train depot or maintenance station, with only the conductors and a few other foreigners, who, like us, had not understood the message at the last stop that it was in fact the last stop. So from then on, we decided cabbing it was the best decision for us. We did some shopping but a little after lunch time Mom and I were beginning to go cross-eyed from the lack of sleep over the past week and Adam had seen enough as well. So we headed back to our room for some naps and a bath. It was the right decision for the remainder of the day. And for those of you who will soon question whether or not your souvenir was something that could be purchased at the Incheon Airport.....ummm.....would you like to hold my son? :)

Here are some pictures from our day:

Gotcha!!

Well my dear friends and family....HE IS HERE! Well not here, here at the business center of our hotel, but up in our room with his Nana sleeping peacefully. My son is here and my heart is bursting. The only thing that would make this day better and more complete would be for Matt to be here with us. I literally cannot wait for us to travel back home and for Adam to fill the place in our family that was meant just for him. I am finding it hard to find the right words to tell you about this day without bawling (and I'm trying hold it together because people are starting to stare) but I just have to say that my heart is overflowing and I am so thankful to God for this amazing gift. We have our boy!!! And he is amazing!!! At first I thought we might have our girl....but I'll get to that in a second.

Mom and I left early this morning and took a taxi to Eastern Social Welfare early this morning. We were set to go with our gifts, camera, papers, the works. When we first arrived they brought us in to meet our son's social worker and Dr. Kim. We had a nice meeting with him and talked about all of the amazing work that Eastern does. Then we were able to meet with the elder Dr. Kim who is 98 years old and still works very hard to help children in need. It was wonderful to meet the people who have done so much for my son and my family, but as we talked I was so distracted thinking, "Is he here yet? Will he like us? Will he be afraid?" And then the time came. Our social worker came in and said my son was here. She led Mom and I to a playroom and then suddenly there was my bouncy baby....

...I'm sorry what? What a beautiful girl, but where is my son???? :) Ahh! I mean we always knew he had the hair...but what?!?!?! Once I looked into his face I thought, "Ahhh there are those beautiful eyes I have been staring at in pictures for months. But for the love, why has someone put a pink barette in his hair? Well after the initial shock we sat down with our social worker, his foster mom, and of course Adam and played and played. He responded to us right away and was not at all afraid. His foster mom and social worker were very pleased becaused he had been having quite a bit of stranger anxiety lately, but not with us! His social worker informed us that she had decided it was too risky for us to take him tonight incase he became ill or too distressed. Mom and I were a little sad but were happy for our time with Adam and knew we would have our gotcha moment soon. Then the foster mom and social worker left us to play with him for about 20 minutes and we had a great time. He is a tiny peanut of a thing, but doing great for his age. He crawls and says 'dad' and 'mom' in Korean and he has 6 teeth!

It felt so good to be with him finally. After our short visit the women returned. After watching Adam with us they decided he would be fine and said we could take him home with us tonight! Horray!!! The social worker was nervous because Eastern has never let a parent take home the child after the first meeting, but she decided to take a chance on us and we are so glad she did. She told us the first Mr. Kim wanted to take mom and I to lunch while they gave Adam a final checkup and gathered his things. Mr. Kim took us for a nice meal at Marriot Hotel. When we returned Adam's foster mom showed us all of the wonderful gifts she had for him. She had made a wonderful photo album of their time together. She also gave him a traditional outfit to wear on his first birthday and an enscribed necklace with the Korean flag, his name, and birthday. We can never thank her enough for all she has done. Then it was time to get Adam's things and head back to the hotel. The elder Dr. Kim met us outside and said a beautiful prayer for Adam and for our entire family. Then we climbed in the van and headed to the hotel. When we got back to our room we had some important things to accomplish. We called Dad and waiting family at home...

...went shopping for some food and clothes for Adam for the next couple of days and then.....

...got his first hair cut. Ahhhhh, much better. Now my son doesn't need to fuss with those pesky barrettes. :)

It was one the best days of my life. I feel so blessed to have Adam and I'm so blessed Mom was here. There are no words to say how thankful to her I am for everything she has done. I hope to be even half of the mother she is. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. Can't wait to bring Adam home to his Dad, grandparents and all of the family and friends waiting for him!

It Is Well With My Seoul

Hello All! We have just arrived at our beautiful hotel in Seoul! I will try to make as much sense as possible however we have been traveling for about 24 hours and I've had about 3 hours sleep total in the past two days so even spelling my name is a little difficult. I just wanted to hop on and say that God has truly blessed us on this trip and everything has gone so smoothly. Our flights were smooth and we were blessed to be seated in a row with four seats and only us in it, for the long haul. We had a small set-back when we arrived in Seoul, because we were expecting a driver to come and get us, but I guess the Eastern did not receive our request in time. Not a big problem, and with the help of a few very kind strangers here we were able to hop on a bus and head to our hotel. And speaking of the hotel, HOLY COW UNCLE MIKE!!!! It is absolutely the most beautiful and luxurious hotel Mom and I have ever stayed in. What an amazing treat after the long day of travel. In other exciting news I talked with Eastern when we landed to confirm that we would be coming in to meet Adam tomorrow. Yay! Our appointment with his foster mother, our social worker, and most importantly Adam is scheduled for 10am. We are thrilled. We also learned that there is a chance that we will get to keep him from then on, because Eastern is technically closed on the weekends. However the very nice woman at Eastern did say that because the babies are older, he may not be glad to see us in which case we will get him Sunday afternoon. Mom and I are a little nervous about both possibilities. In scenario 1 we get Adam tomorrow (woohooo) however we did not pack enough clothes, diapers, or food for him since we thought we would get him right before we headed home. It could make for some exciting shopping in Seoul though. In scenario 2 we see Adam, it is so wonderful to finally see him, but as is natural he is nervous about us, they tell us to come back on Sunday where we will pick up a nervous little boy and put him on a plane for 12 hours. Either way we are finally getting Adam and I could not be happier and look forward to the adventures. We know God will put us on the right path and that whatever happens, we are so excited to meet Adam. I can't believe it is just a few hours away. Mom wanted for me pass on that her phone is out of commission and she can't pass on texts or pictures like she had hoped. However we are going to try to upload pictures of our meeting tomorrow. Can't wait! As always thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers. They have made a difference!

Don't Vancouver your eyes folks...We're in Canada, eh

Just a short post. Mom and I have arrived in Vancouver and are awaiting our flight to Seoul. Our flight here was perfect, except for about 10 pesky flies who stowed away. Although maybe they were off to pick up their children as well, so I'll cut them some slack. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts. Can't wait to meet Adam soon.

Carly from Canada, over and out.

"Where In the World is My Shoe?" and Other Fun Games to Play After Midnight

So it is not quite 3 am like I predicted, but considering I am a supposed to be up in 3 and 1/2 hours to get ready to go to the airport, we're on adrenaline and Starbucks time now anyhow. I am sitting down for the first time since my last post and wow, it is amazing how much I accomplished (with much help from co-workers and family alike) in the 9 hours since receiving the call. It makes me wonder about how much more I could accomplish on a regular day if I approached it with the kind of determination I approached this afternoon, but then I think, "Who would watch my TV?" :)
On to the important details. As I mentioned, with the help of Matt and my teammates I was able to call the wonderful woman who is subbing for me over my leave and have everything ready for her to start in the morning. Matt and I then spent the rest of the evening in a sort of whirlwind packing, making calls, saying prayers, and yelling, "WOW THIS IS REALLY IT!!" (ok that was mostly me). Around 10 pm we loaded up the car with all of my luggage, our crazed dogs who have absolutely no idea how their world is about to be turned upside but so far love it, because they get to go on car rides when they should be in bed, and headed to my mom's house. We decided to spend the night there to save some time in the morning. There we met my very excited mother and finalized all of the packing and plans. This was all going well and good until I asked the age-old question, "Hmmmmm, why did I pack only one shoe? Going to be a little tough to go half-way around the world on one shoe." Now for most people this would be a pretty big concern considering it is 11:30 at night, you need to leave in a few hours for the airport and the trip home and back will take over an hour. Luckily I am world-renowned for forgetting or losing crucial things on trips and so a shoe was a relatively minor thing, even if it was the only pair I was going to bring. Plus the fact that I found this out before I was actually getting dressed tomorrow makes feel like I'm growing. So off I ran for my shoe and am now back at my mom's in the wee hours of the morning. Not to worry, all extremely crucial items, like my passport, papers, and wonderful baby things have been checked and checked and checked for months. I am trying to will myself into sleepiness but I am so filled with excitement and anticipation it is difficult. I cannot wait to go to Seoul and most importantly to meet and hold my son. I have been dreaming of this day for so long that to think it will happen in a matter of a few days is amazing to me. I feel so blessed and so excited to have Adam coming home.
My mom and I are leaving Denver tomorrow morning at 8:15 am for Vancouver. There we have a 2 hour layover and then head out on a flight to Seoul. We are staying at The Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul with all thanks going to my Uncle Mike. We are not yet sure how close this is to Eastern Social Services (where we will meet Adam) but we'll figure it out. This hotel is located at the World Trade Center of Seoul and very used to dealing with foreign guests (and hopefully anxious and overly dramatic soon-to-be-moms). It is typical for a family to fly into Seoul and then to meet their child the next day (even if you are staying at Eastern) so we will have time to figure out the other details. We will be leaving Seoul on Sunday at 5:00 pm and then arriving in Denver at 7:58 pm Sunday. Of course the amazing thing is that while seemly only 3 hours have passed we have actually been traveling for about 18 hours. Time zones are amazing things. Thanks again for all of your support and prayers. I can't wait to post pictures of Adam and more about our adventure!

WE GOT THE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Ok breath, Carly. Sorry I tried to think of a witty yet pertinent title for this post but seeing as how I am leaving for Seoul, Korea in 15 HOURS nothing came to mind. To say that I am excited is the understatement of the year. This is a short post since I suddenly have a million things to do, but I'll try to add more tonight, probably about 3am since I will most certainly be doing anything but sleeping. A few fast fun facts: 1. Mom and I are leaving tomorrow at 8:15 am and will be returning on Sunday evening. 2. There is no room at Eastern for us to stay until after November 1st and while the thing I want to do most in the world is wait some more, that's just not gonna fly. Thanks to my uncle Mike, we'll be staying in a great hotel. Thanks Uncle Mike! Well that's it for now. Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers and for all of the comments. I love you all. Guess it was a good thing to start this blog yesterday. And Carolyn hats off to you for knowing it would be this week. If I had a million dollars I would give it to you. I don't so I'll just say you are my Ambassador of Awesomeness! Love to all!

Journey Back With Me, Won't You?

So yes this is my second post in like an hour (did I mention I was waiting?) but I thought you guys might like to see some pictures of our journey up to this point. So travel back with me to the simpler times of June 2007, seems like only yesterday, I know. Life was good, times were sweet, and Carly was filled with a hope, anticipation and down-right giddiness that can only come from a teacher on summer break. With the help of the grandmas, Aunt Lili, and Christian we started on the nursery.

We bought a very serene blue to cover over my former Trading Spaces colored-block wall. Farewell crazy wall, we bid you adieu. Matt put together our beautiful crib set. I know ladies, looks and handy-man capabilities, Matt is the full package (well minus his unintelligible emails and hatred of the Broncos). Thanks for the crib and changing table Papa!

Then my mom, Lisa, and Christian came over and we painted a tree on the wall along with some clouds, bees, and butterflies. The theme of the nursery is Classic Pooh, so we also painted some of the words from the Kenny Loggins song, The House at Pooh Corner. It turned out beautifully!

Then we went on with our summer and with our favorite past time.....waiting! :) Our prayers were answered on July 17th. At exactly 7:59am on that Tuesday morn, the phone rang with glad tidings from our wonderful AAC Debbie. She had a referral for us! Woohoo! She emailed me Adam's history and pictures. Matt was at work and I immediately called him. He was thrilled and could not wait to get home and read Adam's information. We had agreed that we would not tell anyone until we had decided that we were going to take the referral and sign the papers. Yah. Me and my iron will lasted about 40 minutes and I was on the horn calling friends and family alike. You probably heard about our referral on CNN. The thing was that for once there was nothing to wait on. Adam was a healthy, happy boy who was thriving and he was my son. I knew it. I headed off to nanny for the day and Mom and Lisa went out to buy gifts for Adam and his foster mom because the next day Matt and I would head to Berthoud to sign the papers. We were also able to send a care package to Adam with another traveling family. Mom and Lisa did a great job finding the gifts on such a short notice. That night we headed out with our families for a celebratory dinner at a Korean restaurant called Seoul Food. It was the perfect way to end the perfect day.

Well I have gone on enough for today. Thanks for letting me share (well not really like you had a choice but still, thanks). There is more to come in our exciting story, a surprise shower, a trip to Nebraska for a shower and a little cautionary tale I like to call: Guess What? The Government Has Changed the Required Forms, Just for Fun. Much love to you all!

Carly Kirwin: A Woman Who Exudes Calm, Patience, and Quiet Understanding

Bahahahahaha! No, not that. She's nothing like that.

Greeting friends and family! As you all know, Matt and I are anxiously awaiting the call to bring our new son Adam home. I decided to start this blog to keep you all posted on our journey, and to keep me a little occupied so I am not always staring at the phone, crying out with arms flailing to the heavens, "Ring you cursed thing! Ring!" (it's starting to drive Matt a little crazy and really scares the dogs). Plus blogging seems to be the wave of the future and if Creed Bratton can blog, well then by golly, so can Carly Kirwin. We are at the most difficult part of our journey now, The Great Wait. How can this be the most difficult part you ask? Wasn't the home study, the trainings, the series of fingerprintings, tracking down and completing seemingly hundreds of government forms with obscure titles like the I-600 (that's T900 for all you Back Yardigans fans out there), and signing some big checks the hardest part? No way! Even though that was a lot of work and at times stressful, at least we were busy and I felt like we were actually moving ourselves through the process. Now there is nothing I can do, but wait. And wait. And then wait some more. Stop saying wait. Up until these past few weeks I have felt at peace with our wait. I would look at my son's picture everyday and pray for him and say, "When the time is right, I'll be seeing you." Then a couple of weeks ago the Yuen's, a wonderful family who were on the list ahead of us, went to Korea to pick up their beautiful son, Sam. And Jill, the mom, has a fabulous blog which she updated everyday of their trip. And suddenly calm, peaceful, give it to GOD Carly flew right out the window and has been replaced by crazy, what in the world is the freaking hold-up, I want it now, Veruca Salt, Carly. (Don't you wish you were married to me right now?) The Yuen's blog was so helpful and Jill has been a constant source of support and answers all of my many, many questions. But also, when I read about the Yuen's journey and saw their pictures it was like, "Wow my son is right there. HOLY COW he's right there! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HE'S RIGHT THERE AND SOON I WILL BE THERE AND THEN WE'LL BE HERE. WE'RE SO CLOSE! AHHHH!" And thus Crazy Carly was born. At this point we know Adam's visa is in Korea and that the Korean government is processing our paperwork and will then schedule a visa interview for Adam (hope he's prepared a few things to say focused around his personal and professional strengths and goals :) and then we will get our call to travel. I am heading to Korea with my wonderful mother and she too is on stand-by, ready to head to Seoul. We are told it could be any day. It could be tomorrow, it could be in two weeks. So we wait. In the meantime, Matt and I appreciate all of your prayers and support. It is you all who make the waiting manageable. And I appreciate your enduring my long-winded, stream of consciousness, overly dramatic posts (oh there will be more to come)."Even for the internet, it's pretty shocking." :) Love to you all.