First off let me start by saying that it is after 8PM Seoul time and Clint and I are both still awake…I know…quite amazing since we have been snoring logs by this point every other night.
We did our usual run/work out this AM although we were both quite sore from our hike yesterday. We headed out after breakfast to head to the agency to take photos for a couple of the other families meetings. After taking photos we had about 30 minutes of free time and used that time to get lattes at the Eastern Cafe, the money from the cafe helps support single moms. We then had a meeting with Dr Kim who is the president of Eastern, the Korean adoption agency that both Paxton and Edric went through. There were two other families in our meeting and she shared a lot about the culture and history of Korea and adoptions. It was fascinating to hear her talk. We then joined 4 other families for lunch with Dr Kim. We had previously met most of the other families but got to meet a couple new ones. Dr Kim sat at our table and we learned all about kimchi and how it is made which was fun to listen to.
At 1PM we had our second meeting with Paxton. He got off the elevator and let me hold his hand as we walked down the hall to our meeting room and take off his shoes. He jumped right into playing and we joined him. With foster mom today came one of her daughters who we learned Paxton adores as well. The room we were in this time had a lot of toys and even a little kitchen and slide to play with. It was fun to interact with him and he seemed very warm to us. I tickled Paxton and he is quite ticklish, when I tickled him I said “tickle tickle tickle” and by the end he was repeating those words. Part way through the meeting I had been asking foster mom some questions about Paxton and his routines and asked if she had any questions for us. She teared up and shared how he makes her smile every single day and she is going to really miss him. I of course then started crying and we both gave each other hugs. I told her that we were so thankful for the love and care that she has given him each day and we will always tell him how much he was loved and cared for. As I told Clint later, the first meeting is all exciting focused on getting to meet the child and experience him for the first time, the second meeting is when reality sets in and everyone realizes more how hard this is going to be for everyone, but especially the little one. The rest of the meeting went too fast, Paxton got upset when his foster sister had to leave for school towards the end. After he calmed down I was tickling him again and trying to watch his head but somehow in the process of him wiggling he bumped his little head on the ground and got a little abrasion by the eyebrow. He recovered quickly but I felt terrible. It was all over too quick. I wish I could still hold and snuggle him in my arms.
After our meeting Clint and I got to volunteer in the nursery area for a couple of hours. By our guess there were about 30 babies in the two rooms. We got to hold and give bottles to a couple and Clint’s little guy and him just snuggled right up to each other. After I was done feeding the first baby I was handed a second, and after that one was done a third. There were a couple of babies crying and so I tried to pick up one of the crying ones and before long I had two babies in my arms. I had the two who at the moment were trying to out scream each other. I think for both of them it was almost time to eat but not quite yet and they were not happy about that. It was humbling to see all the babies and know how many families are needed, especially since what we saw was just the ice berg as there are many foster parents with their foster child as well. So many little ones needing homes and families. We finally left the nursery around 4:30, but it was such a sweet time to love on and hold the little ones.
We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then set out walking. There was a cathedral near where our hotel is at, it was built in the 1800s and was the first Catholic Church and the only one in pure Gothic style in Seoul. It was beautiful, and made me think I was in Europe.
From there we walked the busy crazy streets of Myeongdong market to dinner. I even found some giant statues promoting the 2018 limpid There were a number of tasty restaurants along the way but we had decided to check out a fried chicken and beer spot. Fried chicken and beer is quite popular here. And the chicken we got with a spicey and tangy sauce on it made it easy to see why. 
After dinner we walked back through the market and actually bumped into an adoptive family on the street and talked with them for a bit. We then turned the corner and found all the street food. Just about every stall we walked by we said “oh, that smells/looks good”. I think I know where we are going to dinner tomorrow night. From there we found the Myeongdong under ground shopping area and wandered around a bit and found presents for the boys back home. We also picked up some dessert and called it a night. It was a really good day. Looking forward to being able to bring Paxton home for good. Tomorrow we meet Coppelia.
Hiking Mommy 