Ready

We are finally ready.  All the bags are packed and all of the plans and preparations made.  We board our flight at 9:20 am tomorrow morning!  We feel as if we have been on the journey forever, and it is only just beginning.

Almost 16 months ago, after already having been in the adoption process for quite a while, we received a call from our case worker.  She said, "We have a referral for you.  Look over the file and let me know."  We looked over it, and asked for the photo.  She sent along this...

Yep, that's him.  That's our baby.  For this child we prayed!  A week later we had accepted the referral and things were in the works for him to come home.

We expected to get him soon- maybe before Christmas 2011?  But, things happened.  There was a slow down in the adoption process in Korea, and nothing we did could change it.  For a while, I woke up every day searching desperately for anything to get him home sooner, and every time I came up short.  There was not one thing we could do but pray for our baby.

Over the long months leading up to now, God has shown His immense love for us through our community.  He had not forgotten us or our situation. Time droned on and on with seemingly no change, and it was tough to think about, talk about, and stay positive about.  But, He kept reminding us that He put this desire in our hearts, chose this child to be in our family, and was still in control of what was happening.  Now, finally, it is time!  His little heart is ready, and our family is ready.

While in Seoul, the real adventure will begin! We are excited to share our new journey with those who have been used to lift us up, carry us and support us all of the way.  Thank you for your prayers...we appreciate all of the kind words and sentiments you all have sent to us this week.  We will update everyone as we can.  Looking forward to a wonderful trip and to meeting our son!

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. -John 14:18 

We're coming!

  

18-Month Update

We got an 18-month update today on Joseph.

11.7 kg (25.8 lbs)
79 cm tall (31 inches)

4 teeth on top, 6 on bottom

Social Worker Remarks:
Eats rice, meat, fruit, snacks and cheese.  Does not like sour food.
He takes one nap per day. Does not like to take a nap.
Sleeps from 9 pm-9 am

Here were the items checked on his development list:
Walks well
Throws ball forward
Builds tower using three cubes
Turns two or three pages at a time
Identifies at least one body part
Uses voice in conjunction with pointing
Jabbers at play
Imitates doing housework and other realistic activities
Enjoys imitating adults
Indicates discomfort over soiled diaper verbally

Joseph's Room

We've been adding to Joseph's room slowly...here are some recent additions!




Memo board and vintage calendar

Changing table with modge-podged comic book name

Lamp and Legos

The subtle supehero bed

Rocker and Spiderman stool

Comic books from the birth year of Joesph, his birth mom, Mom, Dad, Kylie and Kat

Superman poster and action figures

Art that Kylie made at school. It seemed to fit in great with the room!

Avengers poster on the back of his door so he won't be scared at night

Seventeen Month Photos

Weight: 11.3kg (25 pounds)

Height: 78.8cm  (31 inches)

Korean Travel Packet

Our case worker sent us our Korean Travel Packet today!  It outlines all that we need to get done and consider before our travel to Korea.  This is really exciting...the people on our adoption forum are counting down the days until 2012 because that means that emigration permit processing will start again, and we will all be closer to going to get our children!

We enjoyed reading through the packet, which basically took us through the whole process from the travel call onward.  Some things we will be considering and doing in preparation to travel:

-Passport for Erika...Kyle already has his
-Gather gifts for the foster mom and various other Eastern representatives
-Complete educational requirements including a couple other books we are needing to read, several online seminars, and CPR classes
-Figure out what all we will bring for Joseph for the trip back home
-Decide what places we will want to visit while in Seoul
-Consider various details about our visits with the Joseph prior to departure back home
-Make loose plans for the girls' care while we are out of the country
-Do research on Korean customs and traditions
-Finish up his room, including placing the new lamp Granny got for Joseph for Christmas...

As we visited with our adoptive families at the Chosen Marathon for Adoption this year, I realized just how fortunate we are to be so close to receiving our child.  Many others we talked to anticipated two or three years until they would travel.  Adoption is a long process with lots of red tape to navigate through, and we are nearing the end.  We are feeling so blessed to know that we will travel to pick up the child that God has chosen for our family...in 2012!

A Christmas Update

We were so excited to get an update on  this little guy today!  The perfect Christmas present for us.  It makes Kyle and I so happy that he seems to be doing well.  This is very good news, especially since there have been some concerns with his development.  He seems to be making big strides lately!  Here is the message we received (this is as November 30th)...

YoSeb  is an active little boy who prefers to be outdoors and enjoys playing ball, with toys that have strings or electronics like cell phones or the remote control. If someone takes his toy away from him, he shows his temper. Then his foster mother talks to him and brings his favorite toy to him to calm him down.  He is not typically shy and if he is in a good mood, he is fine with strangers.   He is doing better developmentally and can stand alone and take up to 2 steps unassisted.  He can say “omma”, “mam-ma” (food),  and“ pa-pa”.  If we say to him “ po-po”, he gives a kiss.  He attempts to wave.  He can do “ jam-jam” (open and close hands) and clap.  He stares at person to copy the behavior.

YoSeb drinks formula twice a day, morning and evening.  He prefers to eat rice rather than formula.  If he is sleepy, he sways his body back and forth. If he does not take a nap, he goes to sleep after bathing around 8 pm.  He wakes up immediately if he hears sound while sleeping.  If he takes a nap, he goes to sleep from 10pm and wakes up 3 am for a feeding. Then he wakes up for good at 10 am.  There is another foster child, aged 17 months, at the foster home that he like to play with.   On YoSeb’s birthday celebration, he grasped money from Tol table.   The foster mother will send the pictures taken during the party.

As of Nov. 30, weight 11.15kg, height 77.8cm.

A November Package

We were able to send Joseph one Ziploc bag full of items in November!  A representative for Dillon travels to Eastern, who handles our adoption on the Korean side.  We could not fit too much in there, but were so glad to be able to send him a little something!

I-600 Approved

Our I-600 application was approved, so now we wait for our EP from South Korea.  Most likely, we'll be waiting until early 2012 to hear from them.

In the meantime, we have received more pictures of Joesph!

All the reports say that Joseph is a happy baby.  He turns one year old next month, and we are preparing a gift box to send his way.  Hopefully we will be able to post some video of him soon!

A Heartfelt Thanks

We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of our friends and family who have donated financially to bring Joseph home. Through our t-shirt and movie fundraisers, the Chosen: Marathon for Adoption, Pennies from the Heart, which was done by kids at our church, two garage sales, cake ball sales, a grant, an interest-free loan, and the generous gifts of our friends and family, we were able to raise just over $14,000!

When we began the journey to adoption, we knew that this was not something that we would be able to finance on our own.  We knew that we would need the help and support of our friends, family and community members to make it happen.  Putting ourselves in a situation where God had to come through for us is a huge step of faith.  But, He does not call us to do something without making a way!

Right now, we have to submit an I-600 form to USCIS for immigration stuff on this side.  In Korea, it's simply a matter of time while we wait for Joseph to receive his emigration permit, passport, and travel clearance. We looking at an eight month wait before we can bring him home (but hopefully sooner than that!).
We hope to raise the rest of the money that we will need to travel to Korea through the Chosen: Marathon for Adoption.  Consider running or walking either the half or full marathon with us on October 29, 2011! More details to come on this soon.

On behalf of Joseph, his mom, dad and his two big sisters, thank you for the sacrifice you made in order to help us get him home.  May you and your family be richly blessed because of it!

Legals In

We received our legals from Korea yesterday.  Now, we file an I-600 to US Immigration (notifying them of our intent to adopt Baby YoSeb).  Meanwhile, our file will be slowly working its way to the top for the Korean government to issue all the necessary paperwork to give us travel clearance.

At this point, we're 8 months out, at least.  Here's hoping we see YoSeb before the holidays!  Even still, we'll be patient until he's here.