Christian woke up again at 3am. He's killing me. I think I'm surviving on a combination of caffeine and dwindling adrenaline.
Today was the big shopping day. We went first to Namdaemun Market with Mari's foster brother's family. On one of the subway rides, Christian decided that he wanted to be held by Daddy instead of me. When I told him no, Christian had the mother of all meltdowns. It was truly epic, and beyond horrible. There we were on a completely silent and full subway with Christian screaming his head off. A woman even yelled at us. We got off of the subway and Christian was still melting down in the station. People were staring at us as they passed on by. I finally caved and Jeff took him; even then, it took Christian quite a while to calm down. Ugh! I keep on replaying that whole scene and beating myself up for not handling it better.
Anyway, after that inauspicious beginning, we walked around Namdaemun without finding anything of interest. We then dropped the kids back at the hotel with their daddies and then Lisa and I took the subway to Insadong to get our serious shopping done. I got Mari's name chop and the other essentials, but am completely exhausted from all of the running around. Seriously, I think we're all running on empty at this point.
So, let's end this post on a better note. Here are some pictures that Lisa took of our initial meeting with Mari and the foster mom. We also had the incredible opportunity to have dinner at her place. It was wonderful meeting the rest of the family and just hanging out with them.
6 comments:
Amy
SOOO SWEET!
Mari is just precious
your whole trip seems to be going well, except for the exhaustion!
Don't fret it, that is normal for all of us when we are on an adoption trip-jet lag, children's melt downs, emotions raging all over the board!
It is what it is, and it will get better when you get home
Christian is such a cutey!!
HUGS
Chris
what great pictures!!! And such great memories you'll have of spending quality time with Mari's foster parents. I hope you all manage to get some good sleep!!
Love the pictures of you with Mari!! So precious:) Hope you are able to get some rest!! Hang in there!
Fantastic, fantastic, photos! OMG Mari is sooooo gorgeous and excuse me but her Mama is so beautiful too, love those photos of you holding her in your arms, just so much joy.
I know its exhausting but it is just priceless that you have been able to make this trip, so wonderful for you all and so special that you get to spend time with Mari's amazing foster family.
Don't worry about the melt down, its like Chris said its all part of the trip and its impossible to handle perfectly because you are not really prepared for it and you are exhausted too!
Just so happy you got to take this trip as a family to bring Mari home, the meltdowns & exhaustion fade from memory (well almost ;) and you will be left with truly incredible and magical memories of Mari's birth country the people who loved and cared for her before you could and of sweet, sweet Christian and Mari's first meeting.
LOVE the pictures!!! Mari is just adorable :-) So wonderful you got to spend so much time with Mari's foster family. It's obvious they adore her.
Don't beat yourself up about Christian's melt down. It's totally understandable and might someday be a funny memory ;-)
Love these pictures!!! So sorry you are so tired! I feel for you! After we got home with Willa I was so tired I walked straight into a wall in our own house! (Hopefully it won't get that bad for you.)
So glad you got to spend such a good amount of time with Mari and her foster family.
Post a Comment