FINAL APPROVAL!!!!!!

At 6:58 this morning my phone rang... I let out a shriek as I ran to pick it up. It was the call we have been waiting for- FINAL APPROVAL!!! We are now officially and legally the parents of Jonah RiYoon! There was a time when John and I thought we would never be parents and now we have two sons. I can't stop crying - so overwhelmed with joy and relief.

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm126:3

I am so sorry to all those who have followed our journey and to my family and friends that keep up with us through this blog for having to take down blog posts and for not being able to post updates from Korea. Just prior to our first meeting with Jonah, we heard that officials may be monitoring social media and would not look favorably upon posting pictures or details about our adoption process so I needed to be cautious. Now that we are legally his parents I hope to be able to post some pictures and details about our trip.

Overall, we had a great trip. Joshua is a fabulous traveler. He did so well on both plane rides and touring around Korea. He also handled the meeting with his foster mom really well.

Our court date went great. We had the nicest judge. He told us we had approval at the end and that he thought we would be great parents for Jonah (almost made me cry). We still had to wait for the written preliminary approval, but it was such a relief to know we had approval. We are living proof that you can still get approval with a somewhat disruptive, not perfectly behaved child. Joshua only got a 20 minute nap and the court was running late, so by the time we got in there, he was not at his best! As soon as we got in, he loudly pronounced that he was hungry, wouldn't sit still, kept talking, etc, but the judge didn't even blink an eye over it.

The most difficult part was the meetings with Jonah. Our first meeting with Jonah was especially difficult; he was very shy with me and wouldn't interact with me at all. It was way beyond normal two year old stranger anxiety. It was obvious he knew something was up and he wanted no part of it whatsoever! Who could blame him. He was much more receptive to John though, which makes complete sense because he is closest to his foster mom. He and Joshua also did not get along very well. Our social worker visited him last February and we know from her description that the way he was acting was very out of character. It makes me sad that we didn't get to see his real personality prior to his world being completely turned upside down.

Our second meeting with Jonah was much better. He still overwhelmingly preferred John, but I did have a great moment with him taking turns blowing bubbles, I would blow some air, make a face, and he would just crack up. Made me so happy! I was just so grateful for this; he actually gave me eye contact and it just made me feel like eventually everything will be okay. The most challenging part was the two boys, they did not get along well at all. Let's just say that we are calling it a win, since there was no blood. In all seriousness though this will be one of the most challenging aspects of bringing Jonah home; the level of violence was way beyond brothers fighting as brothers do, so PLEASE don't tell me they are just fighting like brothers. Brothers may fight, but they still share love and a bond which Joshua and Jonah do not yet have. We would so appreciate your prayers for their relationship.

I will be heading back to Korea next week!

19 Months of Waiting....

...has almost come to an end! We leave VERY soon for Korea. We will meet Jonah on August 23rd in Korea (9pm Eastern, 6pm AZ time on August 22nd in the U.S.). Immediately following our meeting with Jonah, we will meet with Joshua's foster mother and possibly foster father. I am hoping he will be there; Joshua was very close to him and even though it may be difficult, I think it may be good for Joshua to see him.

Whether to visit with Joshua's foster family was a difficult decision. Many kids from Korea seem to enjoy looking at pictures of their foster family, but Joshua completely shutdown after coming home and did not want to look at them. He went through a period around 16 months home where he would finally look at their pictures and even hung them on the refrigerator, but that didn't last long. When I would ask Joshua if he wanted to visit them, he would tell me no. We have been praying about this and asking others to pray. We have seen God move in answer to prayer. Joshua has been talking about going to Korea, even telling his teacher he was going on "two airplanes" when she asked if he was going on an airplane to Korea. And when I asked him who we were going to visit, he told me, "Mrs. Choi" and seemed completely at peace about it.

We have also seen God moving in preparing Joshua's heart for having a brother. Prior to very recently, Joshua would answer no when asked if he wanted a brother. Now whenever we read a story that has a mommy animal and two babies, he says, "That's me, that's Jonah, and that's you." :-)

After our meetings, we will sight-see and hopefully have at least one other meeting with Jonah. We go to court on August 28th at 2:30pm (1:30 am Eastern, 10:30 pm AZ time). So pray for us before you go to bed on August 27th!

We would appreciate your prayers so much. We have already seen how God is working in answer to them. Please pray for:

• Safe, smooth travel and for Joshua to do well on the long flights
• Meetings with Jonah and his foster mom go well, able to ask questions and get answers that will help tell his story of his life in Korea
• Meeting with Joshua's foster family go well, no anxiety for Joshua, and for him to be open to them
• Fun time as a family in Korea seeing the sights
• Court appearance go well and that we would be able to satisfactorily answer the judges questions and receive quick approval
• Joshua be well behaved in Court!!!

I can't believe we will finally be in Korea meeting Jonah! Here he is receiving his 2nd birthday care package - love his little smile. Can't wait to meet my sweet boy!

Sickness and Such

Wow, I can't believe February is almost over already. The only thing that makes me happy about that is the EP process is supposed to start up again this month. I am hoping and praying daily with all of my friends who are waiting on their little ones to come home from Korea. A number of these families have been matched with their children since December 2010. At this point, they are going to wait at least 15 months to bring home their children - it is just heartbreaking. Even though we are also waiting, in many ways it doesn't feel like it because barring some sort of miracle we really have no hope of traveling to bring Jonah home this year.

February started out fantastically with a visit from my dad and stepmom (Papa and MeMe). Joshua did really well with them and seemed less anxious than with our first overnight visitor (Grandma - my mom). I am hoping he becomes more and more comfortable with having new people here because we like to have house guests whenever we can. My stepmom is my favorite picture taker. Over the years, she has captured some of my favorite photos of John and I. She was also the one I turned to when we needed to take a family photo for our adoption application. During their visit, she took some family photos and also some pictures of Joshua and I, since I don't have many of those being that I am the picture taker in our family. I will post them later, but I have to share one of my favorites now.

Following their visit, we have had a rough couple of weeks. Joshua got very sick. At first it seemed like a cold, but by day three, I was rushing him to the doctor's office with wheezing and increased respirations. The only reason we didn't end up in the ER is because I get VIP treatment at John's work from one of his colleagues. I am so grateful. Joshua's oxygen level was very low. It took 3 breathing treatments, plus oral steroids to get it back up, but even then he was still wheezing. Our NP put us on around the clock breathing treatments plus inhaled steroids. That particular week, John was working 12 hours shifts due to a base exercise so he wasn't able to help out at night at all. Needless to say I was exhausted. The next morning we ended up going to the ER because he was still wheezing. Thankfully, some time between me deciding to bring him in and the doctor seeing him, the second dose of oral steroid kicked in. Because this is now the third time this has happened, Joshua's NP has put him on inhaled steroids permanently as a preventative measure. Joshua has major risk factors for asthma, and it is looking like he probably has it.

Joshua recovered after several days and is now doing well. I got sick immediately after that, sicker than I have been in a very long time. Or maybe it just felt like that with it being my first experience with being sick as a mom. Miserable. I was running a fever and was endlessly blowing my nose, pretty sure it was RSV. I just wanted to lay on the couch and go to sleep, but not possible. I even tried to put on a movie for Joshua to see if he would sit and watch it and let me rest, bu no go. I was literally in tears. Never have I wished my mom lived near me more. While we have started to make friends here, I still don't feel like I have anyone to call in a situation like this (my friend Christy lives an hour away so a little far to help in this type of situation).

In the midst of all this Joshua started cutting his last canine tooth. I don't know how it is for others, but teething has been really difficult for us. Even with Ibuprofen, it really bothers Joshua. He usually sleeps through the night, but when he is teething his sleep is disturbed and he will wake up around 4am most nights, maybe the pain killers wearing off? I can get him back to sleep, but it leaves us both very tired. Also, his personality completely changes. My sweet happy little boy is replaced by a very irritable and very fussy little boy. I was literally at my whits end by the end of this past week and just desperate for a break. We haven't reached a point where we feel comfortable leaving Joshua with anyone yet, so I don't really ever get a break. Most of the time, I am completely okay with that, but after these past couple of weeks I really needed one. Thankfully, John was able to give me a break this past Saturday - got my haircut, went to Target by myself, then went to a 31 party. It was just what I needed.

This week begins another week of 12 hour shifts for John, which actually means he will be gone for at least 13 hours (often more). These weeks are very hard on both of us. If you could, would you pray for us this week?

First Meeting with Joshua!!!!!

Our first meeting was fantastic, thank you all so much for your prayers. Joshua let both of us hold him and didn't show any stranger anxiety at all. His foster mom gave us an album of pictures, including the ones from his Dol (1st birthday). This is something I have been praying about for a while! We found out he chose the gavel indicating we may have a future judge or lawyer on our hands!!! We also have a picture of him at his dol with a famous Korean actress. I still have to find out who she is. Those moments of holding Joshua in my arms are among the best in my life. We also learned that his personality is very easy going and he has a gentle nature, though temper tantrums were mentioned. He likes going out in the stroller, but hates the car seat. I am so glad we are flying back into Tucson and not Phoenix. He is not afraid of much. He stops his actions in response to Andae (no), but if he thinks he is being chided for misbehavior, he crawls to another place to avoid being chided. :-) If he is told that he is going to go out, he goes to the hallway and sits and waits. I love him so much already!

He also has a foster sister that is also going home next week. I can't imagine how hard this must be for his foster mother. She was crying when she arrived and I could tell she didn't even want to look at me. Who could blame her, she has taken care of JoonSeo for 14 months and now she has to say good-bye to two babies in a week's time. My heart was literally breaking for her.

And now what you have been waiting for - pictures!

 

The last 3 were taken before our meeting. We had some time to kill - we arrived 3 hours early. :-)

Tomorrow we are meeting with the head of Eastern for a luncheon. We take custody of Joshua on Friday at 3pm!!!

We Are in Seoul!!!

We made it here with no problems at all. All our flights were on time, no lost luggage, and finding transportation from the airport was very easy. The only little hiccup was the traffic getting from the  airport to our hotel. We were exhausted by that point since it was the middle of the night on AZ time. We checked in to the hotel at 8pm and were in bed by 9 pm. We managed to sleep about 5 or 6 hours before the jet lag got the best of us, so we decided to just get up at 4am.

We meet Joshua in less than 5 hours!!!

All Packed Up and Ready to Go!

We are leaving very soon!!!! I really can't believe it is finally happening. I will try to blog from Korea as much as possible. Right now I can barely put a sentence together so this is going to be short, but I do have a few prayer requests.

Please keep us in your prayers for safe and smooth travels with no lost luggage. Please also be praying for our meeting with Joshua and his foster mother on Wednesday morning (Tuesday evening in the U.S.). Please pray that I am able to get answers to my questions in order to fill in the blanks of Joshua's life for him when he is older. And lastly, please be praying for our transition, attachment, and bonding.

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers throughout this whole process!

Flight and Meeting Time Set! Need Prayers....Updated

We have our flight booked, leaving early next week and returning next weekend. We will meet Joshua for the first time on Wednesday August 31st at 10am!!!! That is August 30th at 9pm on the east coast and 6pm here in AZ, which is exactly one year from the first time we saw his sweet face, how cool is that!!!

We have a hotel for our first 2 nights in Seoul, but are still waiting on our travel agent to find us one for our last 2. Almost everything in Seoul is booked solid right now. Please be praying he finds us a hotel room for our last 2 nights. I am not panicking yet, but I am getting close!

I also just found out that most likely my mom isn't going to be able to come and watch our dog Annie for us; her work won't give her time off. Now we need to find an alternate arrangement that will work for our highly anxious little pup. Could you also pray we find just the right place and/or person. It's also really disappointing for her and for me because now she won't get to come to the airport to at least meet Joshua. For anyone who might be curious as to why she can't come after we are home, it is because it is not recommended that you have other people around when you first bring your child home. It would be entirely too overwhelming and confusing for Joshua. He has no idea who we are or that we are his forever mommy and daddy. All he will know is that he has just lost the only family he has ever known. So until we can establish that bond with him, we won't be allowing others to visit much (if at all) and certainly we won't be allowing anyone else to hold him or meet his needs. I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but we have to do what is best for Joshua.

Thank you all for celebrating with us in your comments on my last post! I also really appreciate your prayers.

Update: A doctor at John's work has offered to watch Annie for us. Praise God!!! And we were able to get into the guest house for our last 2 nights! Prior to finding that out we were able to get a reservation at the military MWR hotel (Dragon Hill Lodge), but we are going to cancel it and stay at the guest house.

Travel Call!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the call at 6:12am this morning! I literally started shrieking when I heard the phone ring. Then I heard those words I have waited so long to hear, "It's time to go!" She actually called us last knowing the time difference, but wondered if it was too early. It wasn't! I actually woke up at 4:45 and thought, "It's 6:45 in Minnesota, I bet Jill is almost at work."

We still have to book our flight but I would like to leave on Sunday or Monday if possible.

I have been crying off and on all morning - it's so emotional knowing that this journey is finally coming to a close.

I can't wait to start the next journey as a mom (finally!!!!) to Joshua JoonSeo.

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3

EP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, we were submitted for emigration permission at the end of last week!!!!! I just got the news this afternoon. I was on the phone with one of my sisters when I heard another call. I figured I would just call the person back. Little did I know it was my social worker calling me. I had my email open while I was on the phone and since our social worker didn't reach me she emailed. I started exclaiming, "Oh, my God, Oh my God..." so my sister got to hear the first hand reaction to the news. I was literally  shaking. I immediately got off the phone to call John to tell him the good news. I am in total shock. I can't think straight. I really didn't expect this at all. They submitted 17 families to the ministry for EP approval, which was all the September and beginning of October families.

This means we should travel in July to Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please be praying we find a house quickly in Arizona or immediately get offered base housing. We will be on the road by the 31st of May.

Trip to Turkey - Part 2

Monday was a day to stay closer to home. We went to the Monday market so that Wendi could get some produce.

That afternoon following a rain storm, I got to jump in a puddle with Elijah - there is something about jumping in a puddle with a 2 year old that is just good for the soul. I love that Wendi is the type of mom that lets her kids jump in puddles (with rain boots of course!). That is definitely the kind of mom I want to be.

Monday evening we had dinner with some of Wendi's friends at a Turkish restaurant in the "alley" - what a great group of ladies. Tuesday, Wendi and I went to Tarsus to see the remnants of the Roman Road, St. Paul's church, St. Paul's well, and a beautiful waterfall where we had lunch.

Wednesday we met up with another friend from Eglin and then had a delicious dinner at Wendi's housekeeper Hatice's house. Having a housekeeper and gardener is strongly encouraged when you are stationed in Turkey to help support the local economy. Thursday we did a little shopping in the "alley" - the alley is basically a bunch of shops and restaurants just outside the base that are largely supported by the base population. Turkey is known for beautiful carpets and they are much, much cheaper than here in the U.S. A hand-made rug was still beyond our budget, but I was able to get a beautiful wool machine-made 5 x 7 carpet for our living room. I didn't get a picture of the one I bought (it is being mailed), but here were 2 of the contenders - so beautiful!

Friday, I headed home. What a great trip! I miss Wendi and her boys already. Isaac and Elijah, your "Beck" misses you!

Trip to Turkey - Part 1

I had a fantastic time in Turkey! It was wonderful to spend time with a great friend and experience a bit of Turkey.

I left Washington, DC Wednesday evening and arrived in Turkey on Thursday evening. I couldn't help taking a photo of the S.Korean flag right next to the Turkish flag in the international terminal at Dulles. Looking forward to the next trip :-)

Friday we took things fairly slowly to allow for a bit of recovery from jet lag. Wendi and I took the boys to a beautiful park that is right next to a large mosque in Adana.

 

On Saturday, we headed to Cappadocia - definitely one of the most unique and beautiful places in the world.

First stop was the Kaymakli underground city where Christians once fled to flee from Roman persecution.

Next was lunch at Bindalli restaurant near Pigeon valley - stunning views!

 

Next we checked in to our hotel - the Gamirasu cave hotel.

Then headed out for a bit more sightseeing.

Dinner Saturday evening was a traditional Turkish meal following by a little dancing.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. It started with a traditional Turkish breakfast, followed by a walk up to the top of the hotel to see an abandoned church, and then a trip to the Goreme Open Air Museum.

After lunch on Sunday we headed home - a beautiful drive through the mountains.

Part 2 still to come.