Meeting YeongJin

After a crazy night’s sleep, it was finally the day to meet Madden. I sat and colored with the kids that morning and was surprised at how calm I was. I really expected to be a nervous wreck, but I was filled with such peace. We all got our showers and got dressed up and then hopped in a cab to head to the agency. It was snowing and so cold outside on the way there.

The only way I can describe all of this is “surreal.” It’s hard to believe that we sent in our application in September of 2009, received his referral November of 2010, and now we actually were on our way to meet our son. We pulled up in front of the agency & I just couldn’t believe that we were actually here. This was really happening. I was about to become a mommy again.

We walked in the doors and met our social worker, gave her our bag of care packages that we took for other waiting families & she took us into a back room to fill out one piece of paper (one piece…felt so small after the stacks of paperwork I’ve filled out during the past 2 ½ years!) She got our travel itinerary, copied our passports, and then she came in the room and said “Your baby is here.” We walked out of the room and were surprised to find him standing right there in the office. He was standing there in a pink rain coat and had the sweetest, little sheepish grin on his face. I walked over to him, knelt down, and tears were filling up in my eyes. I hugged that sweet boy, kissed those cheeks I’ve waited so long to kiss and he was just smiling and giggling. I’ve always wondered what the first thing I’d say to my son was…and honestly…I have no idea what I even said! Haha! I just remember telling him hello and that I loved him. He gave me the biggest hugs and gave me a big kiss. (Which of course made my year!!) I then passed him off to Tyler and he gave Tyler hugs and kisses and we were led up to the room to play with him. We were so caught off guard that we don’t have any pictures or video of the first moments. But…I can definitely say that it was hands down one of the best moments of my entire life. This kid that I’ve waited so long to meet was in my arms, giving me hugs and kisses…does it get better than that? Hearing YeongJin (Madden) call me “umma”, call Tyler, “Appa” and call Mason & Millie “Hyung-a & Noona” was AMAZING!

When we got into the room, we quickly realized that we have a silly, funny, and BUSY boy!! (14 hour plane ride home…not going to be fun!!) He giggled, laughed, and put on quite a show! Balls were thrown all over the room, more hugs and kisses were given, and we laughed and laughed at him. It’s so hard to believe that I am the mommy of this wonderful little boy! He loves balls, cars, and our video camera (Which he ripped out of our hands and ran around the room. He didn’t want to give it back and we caught our first glimpse at the typical 2 year old behavior! Haha! He folded his arms, turned his back, and pouted when his foster mom asked him to be a good boy and give it back. Too funny!)

While the kids and Tyler played with Madden, I took a few moments to ask the foster mom questions about him. She said he’s very smart. (which we noticed right away. He was picking up on things Mason was saying and was repeating them. Having siblings is really going to help him learn English quickly!) She said she has had over 100 foster children and he is very special to her. He’s her last foster baby (which breaks my heart for her.) He has been loved and adored and I am so very grateful for her & her family for opening their hearts to him and loving him until we could come and get him. She told me he’s easy going, independent, and loves to play with her hair when he’s sleepy. He’s scared of the vacuum and doesn’t like it when people scream. The social worker also told me that Madden is very smart & she’s always so impressed with him. After about an hour or so, we said goodbye to Madden & gave his foster mom some gifts for her and her husband. We were told we would come back on Friday at 2:30 to pick him up.

We then had lunch with Dr. Kim, the Turners, and another family. We were told we were the first travelers of the year and that they are sorry things have taken so long because of the delays with the government. We were also told a lot of the history of Korea and Eastern Social Welfare Society. It was such an amazing experience!

Sigh. It all still feels a bit surreal. But, in the most amazing way possible…like it was the world’s best dream. This dream that we’ve been dreaming about for so long is finally a reality. We are the family of the sweetest, cutest, funniest little Korean boy. Please continue to pray for all of us, as we are all about to begin one of the biggest transitions of our lives. Please keep Madden & his foster mom in your prayers. Saying goodbye to each other is going to be so difficult & please pray for their grieving hearts for the weeks to come.

Welcome to our family Madden YeongJin Penn. We are so thrilled and thankful that God has placed you into our family. You are such an amazing, precious gift!

Here's some pics from our crazy, wonderful, better than I could have ever imagined day!












First family Photo: