867-5309, Jenny, Jenny

No, this isn't the number of the state department, but I did call them on Monday to see the status of our case!  I don't usually make phone calls, but I have some friends on the same time line and I know that they called too. The very lovely lady on the phone told me that the Embassy in Korea has sent the Packet (P3) to our Korean agency on December 24th and when they return it the can schedule the visa.  What a great Christmas present.  

So in Korean adoption lingo, we have P3.  Now we wait for the agency to gather the necessary papers, return them to the Embassy, the Embassy schedules a visa interview to issue the visa, and then the travel call comes!  

In the meantime we're having our hallway floors refinished so "Bug" as a nice place to crawl or walk!

"Glory Days"

"Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days" ~Bruce

When I was in college, I was very blessed to have had some great roommates through the years. One of my roommates had a sock puppet called, "Lady Monkey." At one point, "L" my roommate" slept on the bottom bunk and I slept on the top bunk. Many mornings I would awake to "Lady Monkey" peeking up over my mattress to say good morning. Lady Monkey was particular good at dancing and puppet shows.

"L" also had the most amazing blanket known as "Woobie." I can't tell you the number of people who napped with that blanket. It was the most comforting thing in the world.

When we were waiting for our referral and going through a down of the roller coaster ride, I came home to a package. When I opened it, there was a homemade "Lad Monkey" for Bug. "L" made it herself and I"m so looking forward for him to do dances for Bug when he comes home.

Today there was another package for Bug. This one was the most amazing Taggie Blanket. I will try to post a picture, but I don't have my camera and it wouldn't do it justice anyway. It's like an "I spy" book but in blanket form and it has tags for Bug to hold on to and feel. Somehow she managed to put a picture of Bruce and Bug onto the quilt- Amazing!

Now Bug has his own little "Woobie" and Lad Monkey. I can't wait to tell him about the glory days of the originals.

Thanks Auntie L and Uncle J. Can't wait for Bug to meet you.

"And the snow is coming down"

Fountains of Wayne sings a song called "Valley Winter Song" and it goes like this..

And the snow is coming down

On our New England town

And it's been falling all day long

What else is new

What could I do

It's actually been snowing since yesterday at 1:00, and it looks beautiful as today. 

 So, what else in new here?  Well our information has been logged in and out at the National Visa Center and is on its way to the US Embassy in Korea.  My friend "K" seem to be on the same time line for our adoptions.  We met on a yahoo group and realized we were at the same adoption class for our agency.  We have an application date 3 days apart and received our I600 approvals in the mail on the same day.  So she e-mailed me to let me know she called the visa center to see if she had been logged out and told me to call.  

I called and was a nervous wreck,  I had to give my husband's birthday and the baby's birthday to prove who I was.  My voice was shaking  I was so nervous.  When I gave the baby's birthday the man said, "No, that's not what I have, but you're really close.  How about you try again. " I realized I gave the wrong year!  Thank goodness he was so nice to me.  

Anyway, now the NVC mails a packet called P3 to the US Embassy, the embassy does some things and then send it to our agency in Korea who will then fill out papers and gather documents and send it back to the US Embassy. When the embassy has what they need, they will make an appointment to issue Bug's visa.  After the visa is issued, the travel call comes!!  

And that what's new in this New England town.

"Movin' Right Along"

I Love the Muppets!

Movin' right along in search of good times and good news,

With good friends, you can't lose,

This could become a habit.

Today was a very eventful day in the adoption process.  In the mail was our I-600 approval and updated fingerprints approval.  Then I checked my email this evening to find out that we have EP approval as of 12/11.  

EP (Emigration Permission) is the Korean counterpart to the I-600 here in the U.S.  These documents represent the Korean and US governments' approval for our child to emigrate from Korea to the US for the purpose of adoption by us!  This approval is good news because it indicates that our adoption process is moving forward!

Typically children are ready to travel 1 -3 months after EP approval.  So we are looking at January - March to bring home Bug!  Now our agency in Korea will obtain a passport for him,  and the "entrance visa" to the US needs to be issued.  We needed the I600 approval for the visa process to begin.  It has a bunch of steps.  There also is a visa physical by a US Embassy approved doctor.  We know that he has had that already because of an additional form we needed. 

It looks like we are movin' right along...

"Celebrate Good Times, Come on!"

My agency e-mailed me this afternoon that they received a fax of our I600 approval and approved fingerprints! Hooray!! We should receive the approval in the mail either this weekend or next week. They just wanted to let me know! Now it's off to the National Visa Center to be logged in and then out. They then send a packet to the Embassy in Korea to issue his visa.

We are one step closer to bringing our little guy home.

Cribs

After fingerprinting Saturday, we bought the crib. Here it is.....

http://www.munirefurniture.com/urban_01.htm

It Takes a Leap of Faith

It takes a leap of faith to get things going
It takes a leap of faith you gotta show some guts
It takes a leap of faith to get things going
In your heart you must trust

Many who have gone through the process before, say that adoption is a leap of faith. As a prospective adoptive parent you do your research and put your faith into your agency that they are ethical and do what is right for the children. You put your faith into doctors who give you the facts as they see them to the health and needs of your child. You put your faith into the government agencies, that they are working quickly and diligently to finish paperwork to bring your baby home. And you put faith into yourself that you can help your child through the challenges that lie ahead. So much of this process is out of your hands; so in your heart you must trust.

I’ll admit I had a minor meltdown this week. You can read below how our 1600 was approved, but then held till our new fingerprints cleared, so when I realized it could take 3-5 weeks for our fingerprints to be processed before our 1600 can be sent on I lost it for a bit. I’m sure to immigration it is just a little delay, but to us it is 3- 5 weeks of not being with Bug. But in my heart I must trust that the timing will be perfect. Maybe we’ll miss traveling in a snow storm, maybe we’ll get a great deal on a flight or hotel, maybe this was the plan all along. For now, I’ll put my faith into believing that the plan is unfolding the way it should.

Update from Korea

I'm a little too tired to think of a song lyric for the title of this post. This morning when I opened my email, I had a note from our contact at our agency. Our agency in Korea told her that there is currently a family who is in Korea picking up their daughter. They also have a son who is two, and they scheduled a meeting with his foster mother. (It must be wonderful for the foster mother to see him again after all this time.) Anyway, his foster mother happens to be Bug's foster mom. So they must have met Bug and took some pictures. When they get back to the states, they are going to send the pictures to my agency and then we will get them!! How great, more pictures of Bug and I hope some details about him as well.

I haven't been able to stop looking at his picture. It's amazing to be so in love with someone you haven't even met yet!

One step up and two steps back

Actually I think we just moved two steps up and one step back, but that isn't a Springsteen lyric. Here are my two steps up- First, my Dad came home today from the hospital after a 6 week stay and then I received a new photo of Bug! He is adorable and it makes me miss him so much. I can't wait to hold him and kiss his cubby cheeks! So in my mind that's two steps up.

Now for the one step back. Yesterday I posted that we had I600 approval and just needed to get our fingerprints done so they stay current. Today I received an email that said CIS was going to hold our I600 approval until our fingerprints clear. So while I thought we were on our way to NVC (National Visa Center) we are still at Citizen and Immigration. Bummer. Oh well, it's out of my hands!

Good News, Good News....I600 Approval is coming (I think)

Today, I think, we got one step closer to bringing home Bug. We received a email from our agency saying they got a call that our I600 was approved today. Hooray! They needed to let us know because we have an appointment with USCIS to have our fingerprints updated and we need to keep the appointment so they are current. Our agency didn't want us to get the approval letter and then think we didn't need to keep the appointment. I'm so glad they keep on top of all this paperwork for us.

Now I'm off to finish putting together a package to send to Bug in Korea!