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Peace out, Quarantine!

   14 days later, and we are all done with our quarantine!   At 6am tomorrow morning (10/23!), we blow this popsicle stand!  While the first few days were extremely slow, a routine finally set in, and the second week as seemed to have flown.  We got to open the door three times a day for food, and one time, where they took our temperature, and we practiced our very basic Korean. We watched shows, got work done, snuck out on the balcony, I took nearly daily baths where I listened to music or books, and we watched the most beautiful sun sets.  Each evening, we fought sleep, to stay up until our evening work hours.  The slower pace has been nice, in a way, though I don't think I'll ever get used to eating all my food at room temperature.   Our marriage is safely in tact, with only a few disputes, one over who got to open the door at a meal time, one heated moment over who was playing the workout tunes, and a few other grumpy moments here an...
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Waiting for our real life to begin. (Timeline going forward!)

    I'm sitting here, watching videos of Rowan from June, pouring over our most recent written update, taking her in.  Seeing her mannerisms.  Her sounds.  Her looks.  All the things that I take for granted with our big kids.  All the things I can't wait to know about Rowan.  And I'm dreaming of messy family life - tears, screams, tantrums.  Laughs, smiles, and giggles.  Eyes locked.  Knowing day to day life with each other.  We have been waiting for her,  thinking about how she will be, and what are lives will be like.  But that's not the case for her.   Rowan isn't a blank slate.  She has had experiences we haven't known.  She has likes and dislikes.  She has attachments, to her family, her home, and her life.  It breaks my heart that it could not be permanent, and at the same time, I hope to honor her past, and look forward to being in her future.  We are plan C, and we feel so blessed...
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Thankful for Korean Quarantine!

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   It sounds weird to be thankful for the inability to leave a room for 14 days, but as strange as it sounds, we are.  We are thankful that the Korean government has made this possible, that although we need to go to through quarantine, that it has been such a great experience, and that we allowed to enter the country in the first place.  Covid has delayed so much in our process, but it did not halt it completely, and we couldn't be more grateful!   After we arrived into Seoul, we had a 4.5 hour process of going through various stations, all doing seemingly similar things.  Taking our passport, making sure we healthy.  Noting on the purpose of our stay (the letter translated to Korean from our adoption agency was very helpful!).  Double, triple, quadruple checking that we were, indeed, up for the quarantine process.   We had to download various apps on our phones to be able to report our health status each day.  Everyone was ve...
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A long time coming! On our way to Rowan!

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   After so much waiting, and so much time, actually leaving for Seoul was incredibly surreal!  We spend the last few weeks before leaving, spending as much quality time as possible with our big kids, making some amazing last few memories as a family of 4.    Soon, we will be all together, as a family of 5!  But first, we have a 14 hour flight, and two week quarantine, before meeting Rowan!  Early Thursday, October 8th, two kids snuck into our room in the early morning hours.  Our bed is much too small for these growing kids, let alone another little girl, will surely follow her big siblings in here someday.  We had some snuggles, and then it was time to get ready to leave.  The night before, we gave the kids bears with their nighttime songs recorded, and they carried them around this morning, with Quinn saying "you're the best mom ever!"  Give the girl a teddy bear, and you suddenly are the best mom ever.  Steve and Jerri...
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Finishing your room!

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   The original plan, was for the girls to room together.  That might still happen, someday.  But when one of your daughters doesn't go to sleep very well, (cough... cough... Quinn!) and makes some questionable choices... on the regular,  you rethink the original plan, and decide to go to plan B.  Plan B, being that Palmer is moved over to our former guest room, with his own bathroom, and you turn Palmer's former room, into Rowan's new digs.  Her room, and Quinn's, are connected via a Jack and Jill bathroom.  Hopefully, someday, they can share rooms.  But for the time being, they have separate rooms.     Ross made an amazing "house" bed, and her room has come together, with so much love from others.   Her bed:  Ross worked on this bed for weeks, and it really came together!  It started out with a simple frame, and then we brainstormed together, to make an easier way to get out, and adding strength to the str...
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Little girl, your brain is SMART!

 Its a really strange feeling, when all you know about your child, is through written reports.   Until covid hit, we were getting updates every month, usually with a photo of Rowan at the Holt office.  We survived on those updates!  And then, when covid hit, the updates stopped coming.  It was too dangerous for foster families to bring children into the office.  Most families do not have cars, and thus, must take multiple subways and busses in order to make their way to the Holt office.  It made sense, and and at the same time, it was really sad to know we could not send anything to Rowan, and we could not receive anything as well.  At her birthday, (as I wrote previously about) we were able to send a video singing happy birthday, in our very best Korean that we could.  It felt like we could finally send her our love in a small way. After that day, we got back a video of her foster family singing to her.  And it was on repeat, and s...
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Happy 2nd Birthday, Rowan!

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 On the other side of the world, Rowan is at the very end of her 2nd birth day!  It is so strange to be away from her, especially on a day we had so hoped to have her home for.  We sent a big package at the beginning of April, but most likely, due to Covid, it has not reached her yet.   We asked our agency if we could send her a video, singing her Happy Birthday, and to our surprise, they said yes!  We learned how to sing Happy Birthday to her in Korean, and the kids picked out a cake, so we could sing and celebrate her life.   Rowan’s gifts! As a mom, my heart thinks of her birth mom, and what a hard choice she had to make.  I am so thankful to get to be Rowan's mom, and to never miss another birthday, and yet, I wish that adoption didn't have to be her road.  I am so thankful to her mom, for the incredible gift it is, to be her third family. Her second family, her foster family, is also on my heart.  They are caring so well for he...
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