PICTURES!!!!

Last week I contacted another adoptive mom that was getting ready to travel to Korea to pick up her son. She posted about wanting to visit the Reception Center were Kai is living. I asked if she got the chance to visit, to send some of our love to Kai. A few days later I heard back from her saying her and her husband would be visiting the center on Monday. I was glued to the computer all morning long.

As I was messing around on facebook, a message came across. It was the soon to be momma letting us know she met Kai earlier that day and that she had lots of pictures to share with us. This is what she said about our little guy on the chat:

-He is adorable & quite a personality
-From what the caregivers have said he likes cheese! SEND CHEESE!!!
-He seems very happy go lucky guy. Smiling & clapping his hands. Super cute personality

LOVE what others have to say about him...always makes me laugh, but also puts a huge smile on my face.

These are the two pictures she sent to us today. Once she is home and settled with her new little one we are hoping to receive a few more.




Did you notice the little red circular block in his hands? Since she mentioned his love for cheese, the first thing that popped into my head after seeing this picture was mini babybel cheese. Do you see the resemblance?

______________________

As I was waiting for this email to arrive, another mom posted about visiting the center as well. She was there the day before. I described Kai to her and she sent an email back asking if this was him. Sure enough, it was!






I am so thankful to both of these moms for these precious pictures and sending a little love to our little guy! Thanks Laura and Barbara!

Caring Connections Grant

When we accepted Kai's referral at the end of March, we were given an application for a Caring Connection's Grant. This is a grant our agency gives to parents adopting special needs children. When we were filling out the application, we didn't have much hope that we would be receiving yet antoher grant. Especially since were were previosuly granted over $10,000 from LifeSong.

We went ahead and filled out the form and our agency said we should hear something in the next few weeks. After not hearing anything for over a month, we gave up on the idea of getting a second grant. Then today an email came across with some very exciting news for this happy, happy family. The Caring Connections grant was awarded to us in the amount of $3800. We feel so blessed to once again receive such an amazing gift.

Current time frames

A lot of people have been asking lately when we expect our travel call. I personally want it today, but I don't think that is going to happen. A few other not so patient mommas want to know as well and posted about it on the Holt boards. Here is what they are saying about the current time frames:

Approval for EP: 6-8 weeks
Approval for TC after EP: 3-5 weeks

Tomorrow will mark our third week waiting for EP. We are hoping to have it in the next 3-5 weeks if not sooner...much sooner. So if you add the two time frames together, we should expect travel call in the next 6-10 weeks. We also think there may only be one group ahead of us to get EP approval, so that could speed up the process putting travel a few weeks ahead of schedule. Here's to hoping!

Love updates!

My morning routine consist of checking email and the Holt Korea board. There isn't much activity over the weekend, but one title post caught my eye..."Another Korean Blog with the Holt RC". RC stands for Reception Center and that is where Kai has been living since moving to Seoul. I clicked on the link and another adoptive mom was talking about the blog. The blog author is a Holt adoptee who lives in DC and is spending several months in Seoul touring and teaching preschool. The AP that posted the link has a little girl living at RC and said she had pictures on her blog of the RC and some of the children. Her little girl was one of them. I knew Kai was in the same room as this little girl, so I quickly went to the link...and there he was! Not one, but two new pictures of our little guy!




This is what the blog author (the lady holding him) had to say.

"Being with the babies, I began to well up with tears. Tears of sorrow, pain and hope for each one of them. Each child was so beautiful and innocent. Each of them without a family, living in this room which would be like an infant room at a daycare. The one little guy, actually he was a chunky lil fellow, locked eyes with me and reached toward me from his caregivers arms. I reached out to him and he came to me. I held him tight with tears streaming down my face. He was a most precious little guy. The caretakers said he looked like me. The two photos are of me holding my little friend. It is my hope that these children will live a blessed life beyond here. I hope they become part of a loving family who will give them the beautiful life they deserve."

Seeing his precious face and hearing her describe our little boy filled my eyes with tears. It makes me miss him like crazy, but also thankful he is so loved. I am honored that we have been chosen to parent this sweet little boy. He know has a family and we are coming soon!

Hope is Fading

I found this video on another adoptive parents blog. It was created as part of a Senior project at the University of Cincinnati. This video is very real and touching.



I can't get over the feeling I have when I watch this video. It touched my heart in so many ways...even left a peice of it broken. After watching the video I went to the website and viewed the waiting children page. I was searching through all of the countries and clicked on the link Southeast Asia. My heart broke in two. There she was. The little girl we requested information on so many months ago. The little girl we were matched with. The little girl we ended up saying no to. My eyes began to swell up in tears. Because of us this little girl didn't get her happy ending. Because of us this little girl still longs for her home. Her forever family.

Our agency told us there was another family in line when we chose not to parent her. I pray that family said yes. I pray she is on her way home to live a life full of happiness. I pray that this website has just not been updated yet. I pray if she is still available a family will come forward for this precious little girl.

I hope this video touched your heart the way it did mine. Adoption is one of life's most precious gifts. It is what made us a family, what brings us so much joy, a smile to our face. We are so blessed to call these two precious children our own!

June WBC

Today we received Kai's well baby check for June. I love getting updates! Our little man is growing so quickly:) He now weighs 22 lbs 6oz and is 28 inches long. He hit two big milestones this month...he has two bottom teeth and can stand on his own. The report says he prefers mother, responds to his name, plays peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake, waves bye-bye, plays with a ball, imitates speech sound and says mama/dada:) Not to much longer little man...we are coming soon!

Pray for quick EP!

We have a few more steps before bringing Kai home. Our next step is EP approval from Korea. Our agency told us this process takes several weeks. They quoted us 6 weeks, but have seen others wait upto 8 weeks. We were submitted on June 3rd, so we have been waiting 2 weeks. Once we get approval, Kai will have his visa physical, visa interview and then travel call:) Those steps could take an additional 2-3 weeks from EP approval. If those time frames are accurate, that puts travel in mid to late August. We just may be celebrating Lydia's 4th and Kai's 1st birthday in Korea.

Please pray that we will receive EP within this time frame if not sooner...much sooner!

NVC In and Out

We are so excited! Justin just got off the phone with the NVC and we are In and Out!!!! We were logged in on June 4th and were logged out on June 8th. So glad things are back to normal...praying they stay that way. From what we understand (and it is totally confusing, so we could be wrong) our P3 is on its way to Korea. Now we are waiting on Korea to issue EP and Kai's visa from the US. After that...the long awaited TRAVEL CALL!!!!! CAN NOT WAIT FOR THAT DAY!

Wonderful surprise part 2

After we received the updated pictures yesterday, I wrote a post on a Korean board we are members of. I wanted to share our new pics of Kai, but also share the picture of the two other babies as well. In the post I wrote about the home he is living in and asked if anyone else had a child in this home. I had a few responses back from some of the other moms that traveled to pick up there babies in the last few months. They all told me they remembered our sweet boy. They wanted us to know that he was very much loved and well taking care of. It brought tears to my eyes.

One of the ladies sent me an email with a little extra surprise. When she was there in February picking up her daughter, she was walking through the Holt home and took pictures of some of the babies. Kai just happened to be one of those babies:) These pictures were taken of Kai when he was 5 months old. I love what she wrote: "He is a BIG boy, he likes to drink barley tea out of a baby bottle and he is so cute!!!!" I knew he was big, but drinking tea out of a bottle and five months...wow!. This boy is going to fit right in.





She said he had just finished his bath (that's why he is only wearing a diaper) and that his caregiver was rocking him in his bed. That's right...that was his bed while he was in the baby nursery at Holt. He isn't going to know what to do with all that room in his full size crib.

Wonderful surprise!

I woke up this morning to a wonderful surprise...new pictures of Kaidon. When we sent his care package we shipped his clothing and toys in one box and food in another. The first package made it to him within a few days, but the food package just arrived last week...it was held up in customs. Anyways, as I was checking the email this morning there were new pictures sitting in my inbox. It is amazing how two little pictures can make your day:)

The pictures are of Kai with the food package. We sent him banana puffs and his foster family some lemon heads and red hots from Schimpff’s (a little bakery not far from here). In the picture Kai and his little friends are playing with the candy. I hope they know the hard-sour-hot candies are for the caregivers and not these precious little babies. It would make for some cute picks though...lol.



Take a look at those jaws!

I-600 Approval!!!!

After stocking the mail lady/box all week, I am happy to report we got our I-600 approval in the mail today. I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are to finally have this precious piece of paper in our hands. We are now officially approved to adopt our son Yi Seung Gi. WooHoo!!!! I think I may just have to frame this. Thanks for all of you out there that have been praying for us. God is Good!!