VP confirmed!!!

We found out this afternoon that Kai's VP is indeed scheduled for August 4th...YIPEE!!!! We are so excited that things are moving forward. Once his physical is complete we will receive his wavier...this usually takes about two days to get to us. It has to be signed and notarized, then overnighted to the main office. In order to save time, we are thinking of driving it there so that it can go out the same day we receive it. The faster it gets to Korea, the sooner our baby boy is home:)

Since Kai has already made his embassy appearance, our next step (after his VP) will be his Visa Interview...the last step before our Travel Call!!! We re hoping to get that call in two weeks from next Wednesday. We are getting so anxious to meet him.

Today, Kai turned 11 months old! It also has been exactly 4 months since being matched with our little boy and seeing this precious face...

VP next week....maybe

AGAIN, I am relying on another AP to hear of any movement on Kai since our agency won't give us any new information...ughh! I will be so glad to be done with them. Anyways, we were in the same EP batch together and she found out her daughters VP will be next Wednesday, August 4th. Usually, all of the kids from a batch have their VP's on the same day, so we are praying Kai's is as well. IF VP takes place next week, we should have about two weeks to go...two weeks can you believe it???

They see his picture!!!!

Another AP posted this morning that that her daughter had her embassy appearance today. Since we are on the same time frame, we decided to call DC, and guess what??? Kai made his embassy appearance this morning as well. When Justin called the lady said, "Oh, I see his picture! It's a boy! He's a cutie!"

This basically means that Kai had his photo taken so that his Visa can be issued. Since we still have not been notified of when his VP will take place, his Visa can not be issued. VP's usually happen on Wednesdays, so we are praying for tommorow or at least very soon. It won't be much longer!

More about Kai

Every time I would get an email message from the mom in Korea, she would always write at the bottom, "promise to write more on him". I couldn't wait to hear what she had to say about him. On Sunday afternoon another message came across and she had the sweetest things to say about our little man. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget any of it, so I will just post her response here.

"It MOVED ME so very much! So I can imagine if he was my own son how awesome it would be. He is a GORGEOUS baby. He is so sweet and a cuddlier. I think he is 11 months? We all were surprised he just pushed himself up and started walking, I screamed to my hubby to video tape it! That was the BIGGEST reason the RC MOVED me so much, I was praying to find his family on here!

OK when we first got there... I was drawn by him, I saw him and sat down by him, he looked at my very curiously and turned his head to the side. He crawled over and climbed up on my lap and instantly buried his face into my chest and laid his head on me. I was in love! It was so sweet. I stroked his hair and he laid like that for a few minutes. I could feel his little heart beating. He is a HEAVY boy! NOT fat not real "long" just solid heavy. He has the most amazing eyes. He has a very sweet personality. He would keep coming back to me for a "hug". Once he crawled away and looked back, Zoe came to me. She crawled up on me and that is when he stood up and took about 4-6 steps. Then hubby got his camera and we cheered him on a few times he walked again towards me and then back the other way again to a worker. The way everyone was cheering I asked the girl who spoke english is the first time he walked she said YES! I had chills! I looked at the birthdates and no baby was 1 yet. Your son is amazing. He seems very healthy otherwise and on target".

LOVE it! Can not wait until this little boy is laying on my chest, letting me rub his little head and listening to his heart beat. Coming soon baby boy!

You are not going to believe this!!!

Friday morning I woke up from an email from another AP telling me to check out the Korea board ASAP! I quickly opened my favorites tabs and clicked on the forum. There was a post from one of the mommas that is in Korea and had just visited the RC. She wanted to let all of us mommas know that she had lots of photos and video of our precious babies. The biggest shocker was when she mentioned she was able to capture one of the boys taking his first steps. What??? One of these babies was walking? One of the boys? Was it my little boy?

I sent her a private message right away, to let her know Kai was at the RC and described him to her. I also gave her our email in case she had any photos or video to share with us. I was trying soooooo hard not to be glued to the computer all morning, but that wasn't happening. I sent the pm about 8am and heard back from her at 5:30 pm. I quickly read what she wrote:

"YES!!!!!!!!! I held him!!!!!!! OMG he is soooo LOVABLE!!!!!! He sat on my lap for at least 30 minutes! He didn't want me to put him down!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK I think I have a HUGE surprise for you!!!!"

I then checked my email, and these sweet pictures were waiting for me.



Every time I opened a picture, a new picture would appear. As I opened the last picture I was hoping for one more, but instead received another private message. When I opened it these are the words that followed:

"YES your boy is WALKING now!! I got to see and tape his FIRST steps!!!!!!! We ALL cheered him on!!!!! It was so adorable I told hubby to hurry up and tape it!!! His first steps in Korea time.... July 23 around noon time!!! :) I PROMISE to write MORE on him!!!"

I could not believe it. Our baby boy was walking!!! That just didn't seem possible. He's still just a baby. He isn't old enough to be walking. He will not be 11 months until Friday.

So again, I waited by the computer for hours waiting for the video to come through. I hit the refresh button every few seconds, but still nothing. At 11:30pm on Friday night I gave up and went to bed. Of course, I couldn't sleep and was up at 4 and 5 and for good at 7am...still nothing. I just didn't have it in me to sit in front of the computer all day, so we decided to get out of the house for a bit. Then as soon as we got home I was checking my email again. Saturday came and went, but nothing ever came across. Then, this moring, I decided to check again praying for a new message to arrive. There it was. A video of our sweet boy taking his first steps. Words can't even describe the emotions that came over me that morning. I just LOVED it.



Even though I was in complete shock and I will admitt a bit saddend I missed my little boys first steps, I was praising God for this special moment. I have always been a bit worried that Kai may not walk since it was noted he had posture issues early on. With each passing month we would receive a WBC and he would hit every milestone:) Our baby boy was doing great! I would pray every night that Kai would walk, but did not want to miss his first steps. Today, God granted us with both. Seeing him take his first steps and knowing that he will walk was just... unbelievable.

I am so grateful this mom took the time to visit our sweet babies at the RC and loved on them until we have the chance to love on them ourselves. I will never be able to thank her enough for capturing his first steps for us. I am feeling so blessed to have so mnay wonderful memories of him while we wait.

What's next?

After 6 weeks and 5 days we finally got the news we have been waiting for...Embassy Approval(EP). This has been the longest wait we have had this far. The groups in front of us, as well has behind us were receiving approvals and we were not. It was a very difficult and stressful time, but all that matters now is that we have approval and Kai is coming home soon!

So how soon you ask? From other families time lines, it usually takes two weeks from approval for his VP (Visa Physical) to take place. Since Kai has a visible special need he will also need a class b wavier...basically a form noting his need and we have to sign and notarize it letting them know we are aware of of it and will follow with whatever treatment he may need. That is usually sent to us 2 days after his VP. Once Korea receives it, he will have his Embassy Appearance (EA)...this is when they see his picture. Once that is complete he will have his Visa Interview (VI). Those steps usually happen within the same week. Travel can happen the day of VI, the day after or up to one week after. Usually families travel four weeks after EP.

I also contacted our agency to see if they could give me a more concrete time line, and as usual, they were less than helpful. They told us that we would not be notified of when our VP was to take place. I know for a fact that other Bethany families have been notified...why we won't I have no idea. They also said we probably won't travel for another two months...I don't think so. This momma is ready NOW!!!

So as usual, we are crazy busy around here trying to get everything ready. We still have a few last minute things to finish in his room, a few more gifts to buy and pack.

Please pray these next few steps run smoothly and we are headed to Korea very, very soon!

Guess what we have?

More details coming soon!

Getting Antsy

I can barely type as I am shaking so badly. I am seriously about to be sick. Another AP in our 6/3 group just found out today that there EP has been approved. We still have not heard if ours has been approved yet, but praying today is our day as well. Usually, everyone in the batches are approved the same day so we have a good chance. I feel we are getting so close...ring phone...RING!!!!!!

This week isn't much better

Well, this week is not off to a very good start. Last week we thought we would receive approval to bring Kai home, but ended up not receiving it. We contacted our agency and they were unable to hear a response back since it was already the weekend in Korea. The main contact person is in the states for the next week, so we were not confident we would hear anything for the next few days.

This morning we ended up receiving and email from our agency stating that our approval is still being processed. So that means they haven't lost it (I hope) but also means we didn't get approved like we thought could have happened and just not notified. I so badly want to ask for more information from the agency to see what the hold up could be. However, Justin thinks we should just sit back and wait until we hear about our approval...he doesn't want to stir up anything or cause more of a hold up.

So, I have been speaking with another AP who is in our 6/3 group and waiting to bring her daughter home...we are on the same time line. She also has a son adopted from Korea that arrived home last year, so this process is very familiar to her. We both decided to put a plea out on the Korea boards to see if anyone could offer information as to why this has happened. Here is what we have learned:

-Our whole groups file could be lost (probably not the case since Korea said it was still being processed.

-Our groups file could have been skipped if a family is requesting specific information from the agency.

-One or more of the children's files could be missing important documents. If this is the case the whole group could be held up. If and when they receive those documents they can not just be turned in and then approved, you have to wait for the next meeting to submit the needed documents and wait for approval from that point.

-Korea can only give out so many EP's per year. Each year the # of approvals is decreased. Last year they ran out in Oct/Nov. Again, I don't think this is the case since approval's are happening all around us. Besides shouldn't that have been mentioned when we inquired the first time?

I really want some concrete answers as to why we have not received our approval. If I knew of a reason, maybe I could stop stressing out as much and just letting things work themselves out, or pray specifically over what is causing the hold up.

Praying we hear something soon. These last few weeks have been so hard. I think this momma may just pack up and move to Korea until her baby boy is ready to come home:)

Rough week

This week has been a bit rough for us. We were really hoping to hear that our EP had been approved, but instead learned the group after us received their approval. Not really sure what this means. There is usually a group approved each week, and they always seem to be in order from when they were submitted. There is a good possibility we have also been approved, but just have not been notified yet. Praying that is the case!

We contacted our agency at 2pm Thursday for an update on our case. We of course did not hear back from them until late morning on Friday saying they would look into it. At this point it was already Saturday morning in Korea. They went ahead and inquired about our case seeing if we had already been approved, or why approvals were not processed in order. It will likely be at least a week before we hear anything since the lady in Korea they are contacting left for the states today.

Hopefully we will hear something soon...possibly just a surprise TC!!! We are going to remain faithful and know God is in Control over this situation. In His perfect timing our baby boy will be in our arms.

July WBC

We received our July WBC today. Kai seems to be slowing down a bit in his height and weight, which is nice since he is already so BIG. He is currently 28.7 inches tall and weighs 22 lbs and 11 oz. He has 3 teeth...one on the top and two on the bottom. He is on target for all of his milestones. He is even starting to jabber which is great considering everything that is going on with his precious little ear.

Want to see more pictures?

The program coordinator from our agency recently traveled to Seoul on a trip with her adopted son. While there, she visited the RC and met Kai. Here is what she said about our sweet boy:

"While in Korea I had the fun of meeting Kai! It was after lunch, and he had had visitors from our tour dropping in to play with him all morning, so he was rather tired of all the strangers by then. Even when he cries, he is cute! The staff at the Reception Center is calling him by his American name, and some of the families who played with him before I got there remembered him by name.

A staff person said that he is shy at first and waits to see what is going on before he enters in. She went on to say that he can clap and bow on command and likes to be picked up and bounced when he is sad. She said he is very sweet, outgoing, active, plays well, and likes to eat--especially cheese! She remembered that you had sent snacks and said that he liked those too very much.

Of course he was not too thrilled to see me--yet another person bothering him after a long morning--so you will see that he was not in the mood to smile. He is indeed very cuddly and adorable, and I told him his mommy and daddy and big sister love him and can't wait to meet him."

I just love getting these updates on him. Brightens up my day!



Not a happy little boy:(

I think I'm getting a headache.

I wonder if my momma's coming today?


Check out this boys feet...they are huge!

Could this be our week?

Before we can get our travel call, we have to have EP from Korea letting us know Kai is able to come home. The group submitted a week before us learned they got approval last week, which means our group is NEXT!!!! We are praying we get EP THIS week, hopefully no later than next. Once we get approval the time frame to travel is about 4 weeks. That puts us in Korea in mid August...just in time to have our sweet boy home by his birthday. I am trying not to get to excited just yet...but it is hard!

Here's to a week full of EP's!!!

Sweet Dreams!

Today we were blessed with a few more pictures of our sweet boy. Another mom was in Korea picking up her beautiful daughter and together they visited the RC. While she was there dropping off some donations she also loved on the babies there and took pictures for all of us waiting mommas. During her visit, Kai wa fast asleep in his crib. Doesn't he look like a little angel? Can't wait for his arrival, so I can see him peacefully sleeping in my arms. Oh, take a look of those lips. They remind me so much of Lydia's.