Last full day in Seoul!!

First, thank you all for your kind words of love and support and for all the prayers!  My Facebook was lit up with them and I really appreciate it!  They are working!  Emersyn had a pretty uneventful rest of the evening and slept through the night...

We went to breakfast this morning on our own while sam-chon cleaned up...

girlfriend loves her some elevators!  She's going to wonder why our house doesn't have one!

She did some exploring on her way. :)

And a little game of ga-ku with mommy!

She's a bit like a bird when it comes to eating...never a large amount at one time, more like snack all day long!  But she took this hard boiled egg to town this morning!

People probably thought I was crazy taking pics of my kid while we ate free breakfast in our hotel! 

 But seriously, isn't she a beauty?!?!

She even took her own dishes to the attendant to wash and bowed and said kamsamnida on her way out!

Then we took a little trip to the local emart!

It was grrrrrrrrreat!

Had some Korean Pringles (they were different than the US ones and smaller!)

Spotted some Capri Sun...

And rode the cart escalator up to the second floor!

Super cool invention. :)

I was really nervous about taking Emersyn to Holt today to meet with Zoey's foster mother.  In fact, if I'm being completely honest, had mini panic attacks about it all night. Lol.  So I got in touch with DJ this morning to let her know as I just didn't think it was good to take her back a third time this week and be even more confused.  DJ agreed and let Zoey's foster mom know we would all go out to lunch instead.  But by the grace of God, Em fell asleep in the cab on the way there and slept thru the entire few minutes we were at Holt waiting for her to arrive. :)

She never even knew we were there!  

And I just had to show off her super cute kicks! 

Lunch with Zoey's foster mom was wonderful!  When she drove up, I saw her right away and she ran to me and helped me take sleeping Hui-a to her car!  She was so pleased to see me as I was her!  I really love that woman!  We went to Bulgogi Brothers and on our way I learned that her mother has been sick and she has been caring for her in her hometown, four hours away.  She made the drive all the way in just to meet with me!  I was honored.  Besides the fact that the food was delicious and Em was very well behaved, I answered tons of questions from Zoey's foster mother and she remembered Seon-mi's personality so well!  It was truly a joy to spend time with her again and the look on her face as she flipped thru the pictures I brought of her were priceless.  She kept saying eppuda over and over again!  She was happy to hear that she still goes by Seon-mi and eats lots of Korean food. :)  I did get the chance to take a picture with her, but for her privacy, have decided not to post it.  She looks just as I remembered and I was so very happy to see her again.  I only wish Zoey had been with me to greet her.  She said Zoey was her last foster since taking her home with me three years ago, and she thinks about her and misses her very much still. What a blessing it is to have this special woman as a part of our lives!

After lunch, we headed to Eastern to drop of a friend's care package, whose daughter just so happens to have a birthday just a few days away from Emersyn, is being adopted by a Korean American family as well, and to top it off, is also named Emerson. :) (just spelled differently!)  It was an honor and privilege to do so and the staff chatted with me for a few minutes, knew of the family and child I was referring to, and told us to apologize to them for the wait to get her home being so long.  It was a very sweet visit!  She asked about me being adopted from Eastern and I introduced her to Hui-a and she asked if we were through Holt.  These dedicated social workers really care about each family and child and I can assure you they are all doing their best to get each and every one home as soon as possible!

We then attempted to go catch some cherry blossoms, but with no real luck and we're about a week too early. :(

But that didn't stop Em from enjoying a little play time!

There were still some beautiful flowers to see!

Finally headed back to the hotel to start packing and Em decided to have a little snack of yogurt that her foster mom had sent with her.  She got excited when I pulled it out of the fridge!

But INSISTED that all I was to do was take the lid off and hand her the spoon!  She even cleared the entire coffee table in preparation!

She's a good little self eater!!  I love how she dips in the spoon and just licks the bottom of it, too cute!

We then headed down to the playroom again where, yes, the same kids were playing, but this time their moms were there so it wasn't nearly as strange! LOL!  Em of course got right in the middle of everything and kept trying to steal snacks from them. :)

We ended up just going to the hotel restaurant where Em wasn't interested in eating but rather dipping her cheesesticks and potatoes in the sauce and just licking it off.  This girl makes a mess when she eats and cannot sit still to save her life!  High chairs are foreign to her, but I think it's going to be necessary!

She was thrilled though to pick out some ice cream on our way home...

And what would a blog post be without bath time pics?!?!

No shortage of thrashing and splashing yet again!

She was pretty tired after only having that very short nap early in the day and started to cry pretty hard when I took her out of the bath.  But once again, I strapped her on my back and off we went for a walk in the courtyard.  Worked like a charm and she has been sleeping peacefully ever since.  No grieving tonight...

I love this country.

I love being here.

I love being Korean.

I love Holt.

I love adoption.

I love my new daughter very much.

I love her foster mothers for taking such excellent care of her.

And I love that I have had the opportunity to visit the country of my birth yet again and come full circle with the miracle of adoption.  

Thank you to God for giving me all that I have in my very full and blessed life.

****************************

I, however, do not like 12 hour plane rides with crazy toddlers!  Wish me luck and please pray for us!!

****************************

Goodbye from Seoul, see you back in the US where we will be united as a family of five!