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!