A little behind!!!

I'm so far behind on blogging I thought I would do one blog to try and catch up.  Daria is doing so good.  We had a lot of doctor appointments to go to when we got home so it felt like her first month home was spent in the doctor's office.  She has been cleared and is off of all medicines that she was on.  Such a huge blessing to us all.   She has really adjusted well into our family and everyone loves her so much.  Her brothers are totally in love with her and she loves them too.  When we pick them up from school she is so happy!! She breaks into a huge grin and starts squealing with delight. Here are some pictures of when we got home with her and what we have been doing!

Aunt Polly giving Daria her bottle while I get a bath.

Uncle Shawn, Daria and Cross giving her bunny ears LOL!

Uncle Shawn getting some Daira love!

My cousin Anna and Tony Ray holding the princess for the first time.

I just woke up and I have bed head

I'm going gangster!

Daria with her sweet cousin Maggie.

Daria and her brother Mason.

Happy!!

Daddy, Daria and brother Brantley at her church dedication.

Our Family

Daria carving her pumpkin for Halloween

Our sweet little lamb

First trip to the zoo on Brody's field trip

Riding the train at the zoo with mommy and daddy

Happy girl!!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures until next time.

Sonia

Finally Home

We are finally home.  It was a long trip with little sleep but Daria did great!! We had a very long lay over in Chicago.  We made it to Birmingham around 9:20 last night.  We were greeted at the airport by a huge group of family and friends.  It was so wonderful to introduce them to Daria.  We felt like celebrities with all of the camera's flashing and the signs.  Some friends from my church Mandy and Amy made a huge sign that said Welcome home Daria.  She had all of my 2 year olds from church hand's stamped on there along with friends and teachers it was so sweet of them.  We LOVED IT!  I'm still really tired and the jet lag has hit us hard.  Brandon is still asleep and it's 1:09pm.  We did come home to some very sad news, Brandon's grandfather passed away Saturday morning.  So we have a funeral Wednesday to go to.  Please keep our family in your prayers!! Thanks so much Sonia.  Here is one picture from our homecoming last night.

Headed Home

We are finally headed home.  It is around 4:30 a.m. here in Seoul and everyone is still sleeping except for me.  We have had a wonderful time here in Korea but I'm so ready to get home to see my boys and family. Daria's personality is really coming out.  She is already spoilt.  Yesterday she should us she could throw a good little fit if she didn't get her way.  Wow what am I in for...only time will tell and I'm sure this flight home should be interesting.  I hope that she does well.

My heart is still so full from all of our experiences here and how much of God's grace we have seen along the way.  Brandon and I knew that we were doing what God wanted us to do but the evidence has just been so overwhelming it still brings tears to my eyes as I write this.  Brandon told me yesterday...Sonia we are doing something pretty big here aren't we. I said yes, I think we are.  You just don't realize how big until you are in the middle of it.  We are changing a child's life forever.  Daria is no longer an orphan.  She is our daughter and we will make sure that she knows that she is a child of God.  I will share more about some of our stories when I get back home and can process more.  All my emotions are still very raw and I can't think without bawling.  Then I can't see to type but I will get to them soon.  Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement along the way.  We love each and everyone of you!!  Sonia

Headed Home

We are finally headed home.  It is around 4:30 a.m. here in Seoul and everyone is still sleeping except for me.  We have had a wonderful time here in Korea but I'm so ready to get home to see my boys and family. Daria's personality is really coming out.  She is already spoilt.  Yesterday she should us she could throw a good little fit if she didn't get her way.  Wow what am I in for...only time will tell and I'm sure this flight home should be interesting.  I hope that she does well.
My heart is still so full from all of our experiences here and how much of God's grace we have seen along the way.  Brandon and I knew that we were doing what God wanted us to do but the evidence has just been so overwhelming it still brings tears to my eyes as I write this.  Brandon told me yesterday...Sonia we are doing something pretty big here aren't we. I said yes, I think we are.  You just don't realize how big until you are in the middle of it.  We are changing a child's life forever.  Daria is no longer an orphan.  She is our daughter and we will make sure that she knows that she is a child of God.  I will share more about some of our stories when I get back home and can process more.  All my emotions are still very raw and I can't think without bawling.  Then I can't see to type but I will get to them soon.  Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement along the way.  We love each and everyone of you!!  Sonia

Gotcha Day Pictures

The past two days

So sorry that I have not blogged about our adventures here with Daria in a few days!!  She has been doing really well. For the first 2 nights she slept in the crib beside our bed but last night she seemed very restless and ended up in the bed with us.  I'm not sure if it was grieving or if she just didn't feel well.  On Wednesday we went to Time Square.  Yes, Korea has a Time Square...We went to the Times Square Mall and it was huge.  There were so many levels and everything in there was so expensive.  I was trying to find Daria a pair of shoes since I didn't bring her any because I did not know what size she might be wearing.  I found her one pair but they were $75.00.  I think she will just wear socks until we get back to the states.  I'm amazed at how much Mason is already so much in love with his baby sister.  He has been such a big help and keeps her totally entertained.  She is a very serious baby but we have been getting some smiles and laughs from her.  She has her daddy already wrapped around her finger but I think the feeling is mutual because I see this little glimmer in her eye when she is playing with her daddy.  She still wants me though when she gets upset, so I'm still number 1 right now we will see how long that lasts.  But I'm going to enjoy it while it last!!
Thursday we stayed in out apartment for most of the morning.  Daria laid down for her nap earlier that normal so we just relaxed for a little while.  When she woke up we grabbed a cab and went back to one of the markets.  The markets here are so busy and bustling with excitement.  You see all kinds of things here.  There is everything from designer knock offs, scarfs, PJ's, Korea souvenirs to fruit on a stick.  Ohh the fresh pineapple on a stick is so good.  Yesterday at the market Daria was loving the pineapple she kept grabbing mine.  I couldn't give it to her fast enough.  After the market we came back to the apartment and Brandon and Mason went to order our food downstairs.  The guy in the lobby ordered food for us from a restaurant that delivers food to this area.  When the delivery guy got here he was carrying a little metal warmer opened it up and started taking out all this food.  All the food was on glass plates, metal utensils, and even a table cloth.  We didn't know what to do with the plates and utensils.  We were sure that somehow that got them back so Brandon went downstairs to ask.  The man in the lobby said to just put everything back outside your door and they would come back and pick it all up.  I thought this was so neat.  I guess that is one way to cut down on waste of styrofoam and plastic.  We had a really good dinner of fried rice and sesame chicken.
Our friends the Weigner's are leaving today so last night we went to their room and spent a little time with and to say our goodbyes.  We are so glad that we met this family...I know that they will be lifetime friends of ours.  I will blog tonight about our adventures we have today.  Until then Sonia

Gotcha Day!!

WOW as I write this I am still filled with so many emotions...excited, nervous, anxious, happy, and sad.  Sad because Daria is leaving the only family she has ever known and loved...and let me tell you that baby girl was so VERY LOVED and taken care of.  I will get into that more later but first I'll tell you how are day started.
Of course none of us could sleep and were up by 2.  We set around on the couch and talked...finally decided to start getting showers and get ready.  We were ready and out the door for breakfast at 6:40 and they don't start serving until 7:00.  We ate breakfast and our friends the Weigners came in and we talked to them for awhile. I want to share with you a little about this family.  Mark, Karen, Narae and Adah  have truly been a gift from God for us on this journey in our life. Words cannot express how grateful this family has been to us.  They offered to video and take pictures of our gotcha day so we could just enjoy the moment of this miracle unfold.  Bless their hearts Mark had the video camera, Karen had the camera and Narae even got in on the action of taking pictures with my phone so I could upload those to facebook.  Such a precious family!! I kind of got ahead of my myself so I will pick back up here.  We left the hotel with our rice cereal and gifts and walked outside to where there is normally 4 or 5 cabs waiting but this morning we weren't having the best of luck.  We started walking to the main road and finally flagged down a cab but he said he didn't know where Holt was.  So Karen flagged down another cab who understood the directions on the card in the meantime Mark is on the phone with someone trying to get the other cabbie directions.  By this time Karen had another cab pulled over but Mark had finally got the direction for the first cab.  Somehow cab number 4 had pulled up beside us.  Yes 4 cabs all out in the street trying to help these 2 American families.  I know this was quite confusing but it made for a very funny moment that gave us all a laugh and eased the anxiety I was having.  We finally got everything loaded and was off to Holt.  We pulled up to the Holt building and got our stuff out.  We were just in front of the building when here came DJ walking down the street.  I heard her say Bice family and I got a lump in my throat.  I said yes, we are the Bice family.  She was such a warm person and gave us all a big hug. She told me that Daria's foster mom had come by yesterday and that she was having a really hard time.  She had been crying and very emotional about this day.  Daria was her 11th foster child but she had been with her the longest and had been through all of her surgeries with her.  After she told me this I knew that it was going to be total cry fest and yes it was.
When I saw Daria come through that door smiling and walking with her foster mom I though my heart would burst.  She came right to me and let me hold her.  We sat on the couch and she just held me so tight.   Her foster mother said she is a hugger....I love it.  She stayed in my arms the whole time and fell asleep there for the meeting.  She slept through her final exam at Holt.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.  I was so happy to be able to share this moment with the Weigners and especially Narae and Adah.  They were able to see how much the foster parents loved them and took care of them.  It was a wonderful moment.  We walked over to the reception center with Mark, Karen and the girls. Adah was going to see her foster mother. We also had the pleasure of seeing some of the babies at the reception center. I fed Daira a bottle here and we got a little smirk but that was about it.  She was still not sure about us yet.
We grabbed a cab from there and made it back to the hotel.  When we got back we skyped with our families to share with them our little princess.  During this time we got to see a glimpse of Daria's personality. She was playing and smiling. She started pushing the stroller around and this is where it went downhill.  The stroller went to fast one time and she fell.  She fell forward and caught herself with her hands but when I want to console her she realized right then that her Omma was gone.  She grieved pretty hard after this.  We went up to the Weigner's room and had a 7 eleven dinner. LOL  During that time Mason said he didn't feel good and wanted to go back to the room.  I gave him some pepto for his stomach and he went to bed. Please pray that he feels better in the morning.  I decided to give Daria her bath, her foster mother said she loved a bath. Well she was not feeling the love for this bath. I quickly bathed her and got on her PJ's.  I have to write about the PJ's.  For any of you that does not know I lost my mother to ovarian cancer a year ago.  Everytime I was pregnant she would almost always buy something for a little girl.  Well, last night those PJ's finally went on my little girl. Talk about an over emotional day.  She still was grieving hard.  I just help her close and loved her.  She finally let me give her a bottle and fell asleep around 10:00.  Praise the Lord she is still asleep.  During the night she would cry out for her Omma but never really wake up.  She is sleeping in her crib and it seems to work for her.  It will be try and error from here on out. Please continue to pray for us.  Also, please pray for Mark, Karen, Narae, and Adah as they go today to pick up their baby girl Hanna.  Well until next time!! Love you all Sonia

Early Tuesday Morning!!

Well it's almost 5 on Tuesday morning and we have all been awake since about 2.  When we got home yesterday we were so tired we thought it would be nice to take a nap.  That nap turned into about 8 hours of sleep.  Everyone is very excited but it makes my heart so happy to see the excitement that Mason is experiencing.  He is going to be such a good big brother.  Daria...Mason loves you very much!!  I still can't believe that this is the day we have been praying for since we became Daria's family in November.  There were MANY times in this journey when I tried so hard to make this happen faster but God has showed me in so many ways that he has this. He is always in control and his timing has been perfect in every way. Daria we will see you in 4 hours.  Our little princess will be ours!!!

Seoul day 2

Today was our city tour of Seoul.  We had a wonderful tour guide named William.  He is a post grad student and is studying law.  He is a volunteer for our adoption agency.  He told me that it felt good to volunteer for an organization like Holt that helped in international adoptions.   He took us to GyeonbokGung Palace, the Korean Folk History Museum, a traditional Korean lunch and ended at Insadong Market.  It was a busy but fun day.  We are now back in our room.  Brandon is asleep on the couch with Mason and of course you know what I'm doing.   Tomorrow is the big day and I'm getting very nervous and excited.  It still doesn't seem real that I'm in Korea and that tomorrow I'll will be meeting my daughter for the first time.  I hate to cut this short but I'm all over the place emotionally and really can't think straight right now.  Maybe I'll settle down and come back later but for now it's goodnight.  Please pray for us tomorrow and everyone involved.

Day 1 in Seoul was wonderful!

We started our day off in Seoul with breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts.  It is a short walk from our hotel and it was so nice outside with a cool breeze blowing.  I'm trying to take in all the sights and sounds and smells of Seoul to take home with me.  Seoul is a very busy place and so are the people.  It's so strange to be in such a big city and see children riding bikes and scooters on the sidewalk by themselves.  I started thinking though most people live in apartments and thats the only place they have to ride.  As we were walking down the street I would look up at the apartments and start wondering about Daria is she up there in one of them with her foster family.  I start thinking of her foster family and my heart starts to hurt for them.  They know their time with her is almost over and she will be in a new home on the other side of the world. Then I start to think of Daria and how she will be leaving the only family she has known.  I get teary eyed and emotional over this.
On a lighter note we went to Namdaemun Market and met up with Angie Betts and her family. They are adopting from here also.  I have become friends with Angie through the Holt boards and facebook. Meeting in Seoul was so surreal.  This is there 3rd adoption from Korea.  They have 2 boys and now a little princess Isabelle.  She is such a doll..so happy.  I've heard many stories about this market but was not really prepared.  It is huge!!!  Remember me saying I wanted to take all the sights, sounds and smells in well I will always remember the smells here!!  It is a very crowded and busy place and I enjoyed every minute of it!  We watched a man make candy right it front of us from a hard piece of honey.  It was so cool.  He just kept stretching it and putting it in flour...and then it turned into what looked like hundreds of white hairs as fine as a spider web.  He then separated them put a mixture in the middle and wrapped it up into a little cocoon.  Of course we bought some...it was very good.  We stayed at the market for awhile and then we had our first experience with Seoul subway.  So glad we had Angie with us.  On the subway it was so funny to see all the different types of people of Seoul.  It is really funny how we are really a lot alike.  You had your older men and women in their suits and dresses, the middle age on the go people, and the teenagers with their ipods and phones listening to music, texting and playing games.  After many stops and transfers we made it to Lotte World.  It is hard to explain this place because it is so diverse.  I can't remember how many floors it had but their were a lot.  There is also an amusement park in it also.  It was so much to do there was no way we could take it all in at one time.  We met up with yet another family adopting here too.  Karen and her husband have  4 daughters and are adopting another little girl Hanna. They will get her Wednesday and we get Daria Tuesday.  We all had dinner at TGI Fridays.  Yes, there are American restaurants here.  We saw an Outback on our cab ride and I thought Brandon was going to yell stop any minute.  After dinner exhaustion hit me, Brandon and Mason all at once.  On our cab ride home I could not keep my eyes open and neither could Mason.  We both crashed on poor Brandon.  He kept trying to keep us awake which was a seriously hard job.  I slept really hard and woke up about 5.  I feel much better this morning.  We have our city tour today and we are very excited about this. We will meet our tour guide at 9:30 in the lobby!  Well that's about it for now.  I will blog later about our day today.  It's Monday here in Seoul and tomorrow is the big day!! Please pray for us and Daria!! Love you all Sonia

Day 1 in Seoul

I know that some of you are going to fall out that I, Sonia Bice am blogging!! Well, thanks to my dear friend Liz I have entered the blog world.  She wanted me to blog about everything I felt and did while here to get our baby girl.  I told her if you set it up for me and tell me what to do....I would.  I woke up this morning to a message with all the information for my new blog and guess what...it's kind of exciting. Well we arrived in Seoul Saturday at 4:00 and was met at the airport by a very nice man that Holt had set up to met us.  He brought us to the hotel and we crashed not long after that.  The bad thing we were up this morning around 1.  I haven't been back to sleep so I'm sure that I will crash again tonight.  Brandon, Mason and myself went out this morning to take a look around and we found a 7 Eleven right out the doors of our hotel.  Mason was craving an ice cold coke.  I met another adoptive mom in the lobby and she had been to Dunkin Doughnuts and brought us coffee.  How sweet was that....thanks Karen!!  We will be going to Namdaemun Market and Lotte Mart today.  I will try to post pictures later but as many of you know I'm technically challenged.  Until later!!  Love Sonia