Our First Days Together

The last couple days have been busy and exhausting, in the best way. Thursday, we had our Visa Interview which was at noon. This meant that we couldn't do much before, as all of the families were meeting in our hotel to head to the embassy together.

We started the day with cartoons and snacks. Eventually, this led to a completely naked girl, refusing to put on any clothes. She is quite good at communicating even through the language barrier. I know when she wants something, and everyone knows if she doesn't. This lack of clothes lasted a long time, until we couldn't take it anymore and needed to get some breakfast. She was not happy about it, but we got her dressed. My sweet Maylee is an awesome eater.

The rest of the morning is a blur. We tried the playroom, but there were too many people and Maylee seemed overwhelmed, so we left pretty quickly. Other than that, I think we just hung out in our room, until it was time to meet our friends in the lobby.

It was so fun seeing everyone again! Three other families were with us- one of them Maylee's foster sister's family, one from Oregon too, and the family that we met for dinner earlier this week. It was the best to have gone through all of this together. We shared so many memories of our court trip and now here we were with our new babies. So surreal.

The Visa Interview was a breeze. Nothing to worry about at all. Just simple questions and a wait. The kiddos ran around each other and parents doted on them. I was hoping that Maylee would be excited to see her foster sister, but it looked as though they were both in shock. While they interacted a bit, neither showed signs of excitement. This made me so sad.

After our Visa Interview, we went back up to our room to drop off our things and headed down to get some coffee. Little Miss got a pudding cup (we doesn't Starbucks have these in the US??). We planned to venture further, but the wind was blowing and it was too cold, so we headed back and ordered chicken from the front desk. We visited the playroom again. This time it was quiet and she had a blast. Her silly side really come out then.


Bedtime we tough. Maylee was grieving so hard. She kept yelling for her appa (foster dad) and ayia (foster sister), over and over again. It was almost two hours of sadness and confusion. Our little girl has been through so much and the grief is so hard. She wants comfort, but not from me. Then she wants me to hold her, then she doesn't. She knows that I'm the one who took her from them and that makes it hard to want comfort from me.

Yesterday, we tried to stay busy. We all do better when we're busy. There were a few things Cassie and I wanted to pick up before heading home, so it was our errand day. We started with a walk to the square where the Olympic shops are, but they weren't open yet, so we went to a coffee shop to kill some time. Maylee had fallen asleep in the ergo, so it was a calm was to rest. After picking up some souvenirs and playing in the snow a bit, we headed to the subway station.

I wanted a hanbok for my sweet girl. Holt gave us one, but it is for a much older kiddo, so I needed one that will fit her in the next few years. Hanboks are the traditional dresses worn by Korean kiddos on their birthdays and other special holidays. Out destination was Gwangjang market. This is the best place to go for street food and a variety of shopping needs. We wandered the aisles of food and fabric for a long time. We finally found the perfect hanbok, then headed back to the food area for a snack.

We found one with kimbap and tteokbokki. Maylee loved the kimbap. I loved the tteokbokki, which is very spicy. After our snack, we headed back to the hotel. Mommy was losing steam quickly and needed a break. We played in our room for a bit, then went down to the playroom again.

Finally, it was dinner time, so we headed back to Insadong. I found the last few things I needed and we ate at a tiny restaurant, hidden in an alley. Maylee had hit her limit though- her crazies were showing, so we hurried our meal and headed back to the hotel for our nightly routine of bath, snack, bed. This time, bedtime was a breeze. She was too tired to grieve and laid down and went to sleep. 

We are leaving Seoul today. We are leaving Maylee's home, the only home she has known. We are going to begin our journey to her new home and forever family. By this time tomorrow, we will be in Seattle, just a 45 minute plane ride from home and my boys. I have missed them all so much and can't wait to see all of our babies together. Finally!