Forever a Family of 4 - December 15, 2011.

We woke up at a decent time.  I think for all of us, even though we slept a good 8-10 hours we were pretty much still tired.  Martin woke up earlier and as I turned to the other side I could see his E-reader light on. He said he couldn't sleep.  After that I couldn't go back either.  Nerves?  Ya, I guess.  We got ready and had breakfast at a cute Italian cafe around the corner.  We decided to walk around, but it was freezing and decided to have a quiet morning in the apartment before we picked up William.

Finally the time came to go and get ready.  We dressed almost in silence. We were getting nervous.  What I was really anxious was how was Olivia going to react to all this?  How is she going to be when we actually bring William home and keep him there?  It wasn't just a visit for William, he was actually going to stay.  Also, a part of this nervousness was also the fact that we weren't the family of 3 anymore.  Things were going to change again...but life has gotten even better. Doubts started to flood my head - Can we do this?  Will he attach? Will Olivia like her new baby brother?

We were ready to go, and walked up to the SWS office.  Last time when we picked up Olivia we met her in the lobby as she was going for to the doctors for her check up.  When we got there, no sign of William. So we went up to the 7th floor and met Ms. Bang.  We saw a bag full of stuff and a purse and jacket. It looks like they were already here.  Ms. Bang greeted us at the door and told us that William was seeing the doctor.  So, we waiting in the conference room for them to return.

Same yellow leather couch. Same wave of emotions flooding. Ms. Bang came into the room.  Final paper work. Showed us his passport and papers.  Gave us all the SWS paraphanalia and gifts.  All this things we put in Wiliam's memory box (ugh, which I need to get still).  ahhahah.  We read over the final report about his well-being.  Then in came foster mom and William.  A deer in the headlights - Martin was saying. hahahah.  We received the final report of physical condition.  All clear.  Oh crap, he has a cold.  Got a prescription for cold medicine and Tylenol.  Poor little guy, having a cold and travelling on a plane was not going to be fun. Olivia was her charming self and started playing with William. She offered him a snack and played with is toys. She was awesome.

We signed off the consent.  Then Ms. Sun the SWS director came in.  She is beautiful.  She came in a greeted us and gave us a little gift.  Then is it was time to go. Ugh...the dreaded elevator moment.  Ms. Bang and Ms. Sun escorted us to the door.  Foster mom was already in tears.  HATE HATE this moment.  9 months of her life - she dedicated her time and love to this little boy. On average foster families keep a child for 3-5 months. She raised him for 9 months. It's heartbreaking.

We got to the elevator, the door opened. Ms. Sun told me to go and get William from foster mom's arms.  We said our goodbyes and thank yous.  She whispered something to him in Korean and teary-eyed kissed him goodbye.  The elevator closed. All we saw was Ms. Sun holding foster mom very tightly and comforting her.  I turned to Ms. Bang and asked her how she does this all the time.  Ugh.

We got to the foyer of the building and said goodbye to Ms. Bang.  Then off we went to start our life together.  That was it. He was ours fovever.

We got back to the apartment and waited for William to freak out. But Miss Olivia did a good job with racing around the room and keeping him distracted.  We took off his 10 layers of clothing.  Man, the wrapped him up good.  We saw that he really got his name "muscle man" for a reason.  My family is going to have a field day with his chubby legs!   We took out the toys and played for a bit.  He got quite comfortable and started exploring the apartment. Good lord, he pulled himself up and starting taking a few steps.  But then he would drop down, and ape walk around. hahahhaha. He was having a blast exploring. Olivia was having a blast chasing him around.  :0P

Then it was time to give him his bottle. No problems taking it. So, Martin stepped out quickly to get us lunch (McDonalds ;0)). When he came back, we all sat down and had some lunch.  It was a great family moment. Our first meal.  When we were done, William wanted out from the high chair. We could see the 2 kids wearing down. It was nap time!  Ugh...here we go.

William got in my arms and was calm.  He was ready to sleep.  He had only a 20 minute nap in the car, so he was done.  Ms. Olivia was done from her entertaining William. The only trouble we got...Miss O was so hyper she gave a fight for her nap. She was down in a minute though, but man..the screaming and fight she gave. It reminded me of 2 years ago. I came out to see how Papa and William was. Yay! He passed out on Papa. Two sleeping babies! WOOHOO!

It's been an hour now that they have been asleep so that's why I can blog.  Tonight will bring it's adventures I'm sure.  I'm looking at my 2 beautiful babies, and can't help think how fortunate I am.  They are beautiful, perfect, and incredible in every way. It's time to go home.