Family Photo

Today we took our first family photo:



We took it to make a Thank You card for a group of Joe's wonderful co-workers who gave us the rocking chair at our shower (along with a basket brimming with other goodies). In the background you can see the banner that they also had at the shower, made by "Nana Hannah" (note: our name has been cropped to protect the innocent).
RA

I-171...

In our hot little hands!! (This document is the approval of our orphan petition) I am so happy, this means it is already well on it's way to New Hampshire! It brought tears to my eyes just to see our names on the form...with his name as the beneficiary...he's really ours!
RA

FINALLY...SOME GOOD NEWS!!

Today we received a phone call from our Senator's office, saying that our I-600 (orphan petition) was approved this morning!! This is what we've been waiting for! We don't know if it was approved as a result of our appointment with them last Friday, or if it's because the Senator's office called on our behalf, but we really don't care! It's approved! Now it must make a journey to New Hampshire (via snail mail, of all things), then it must be logged in and processed through the "National Visa Center" (NVC). From there it is sent to Korea. Once the hard copy arrives in Seoul, the embassy can start processing Kai's Visa! From this point, our agency is saying he should be home in 4-6 weeks. Yikes! That's cutting it awfully close to Christmas! We need lots of prayers that everything goes flawless from here, so we can be on the low end of that timeframe. We need to get our little boy home, so he can spend his first Christmas with his forever family!!
RA

Another month gone by...

Today our sweet Kai is 9 months old. Today I thought of him every time I saw the date (OK, who am I joking? I think of him all the time anyway...). Wondering what milestones he's met this month. Sitting up? Crawling? How we long for another update on him...or better yet to hold him in our arms. Hurry home baby boy!
RA

Ridin' the 'coaster

Yesterday was a roller coaster ride of a day if we've ever had one! We felt just about any emotion you can think of, all in one day...needless to say we're a little drained today!
We started the day out with butterflies in our tummies and high hopes as we had our appointment with the USCIS. Those high hopes quickly plummeted as we first found out that "the lady who deals with adoptions is off today", and then the news that our request to bring Kai into the US has not yet been approved. I tried to hold it together and stay composed, I really did. But, hearing those two things just sent me over the edge and I had a full-on breakdown right there in the CIS waiting room. I am so thankful that Joe was there and able to keep composure enough to speak with the supervisor and plead our case. We got the same story we've been hearing for the past 6 weeks- "the officer is new, having trouble getting them done, we hope to get to it in the next few weeks". We feel this is no excuse, it seems as if they have no idea that there is a real baby on the other side of the world who can't come home until they do their job. Needless to say, we left their office crushed, heart broken, devastated and hopeless. In the end, we left a message for the "adoption specialist" to call us next week with a status check (of course, we won't hear anything until Tues at the earliest since Mon is a holiday for them). We do know that our request is "on the officer's desk", but we also know it has been there for the past 6 weeks...
So, we headed home...and to a baby shower in our honor. After getting no info from CIS, I was crushed and really not feeling up to a baby shower. Luckily, we had a long drive to settle down, and thanks to the power of modern technology (cell phones), we actually made quite a few calls while driving home. By the time we reached our shower destination (LTD), we had contact information for one of our senators and placed a call to his office. We ended up leaving a message with an immigration specialist there who assured us she would inquire with CIS about our case (unfortunately she also needs to speak with the lady who was off yesterday, so we'll hear nothing from them until next week). After settling down, and beginning steps of getting local government involved, I was feeling better about the shower.
It was such a wonderful time, again blessed beyond belief by Joe's co-worker's and friends. We are truly overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and helping us prepare for our new arrival. After it was said and done, I was happy we had something fun to come home to and were surrounded by such supportive people after such a huge let-down. It was much better than if I had come home to sulk by myself.
Later in the day, I was able to speak with the head social worker for our branch office of Holt, and she was very encouraging. She said that even though we feel like our trip was a waste of time and nothing happened, something really did happen and it will bring our case to the fore-front in that office and hopefully speed things up for us.
We are still feeling very frustrated with the whole situation, but we're also feeling like we have more control if we get some local politicians involved. Or, at least we feel like we're "doing something".
We're looking forward to the weekend, relaxing, going through stuff from our shower yesterday, and perhaps a little retail therapy (with gift cards from showers- even better!!). Hope you all have a good weekend, and please continue to keep us in your prayers.
RA

Bunco Baby Shower

Last week at Bunco, the bunco babes threw me a baby shower. The bunco babes are absolutely the best, and are all so excited for our sweet baby boy to come home! I've been playing with this group of wonderful women for (I think) about 7 years now, and they've all been so supportive through our journey. It was so fun to celebrate our son with them, and they're all asking when he'll come play Bunco!! Thanks you guys- you're awesome!! (Be sure to take special note of the cake that Chris made herself- decorations and all!!) Click here to see the pictures!
RA

Party Time!!

As you can probably guess by now, we have no "adoption news" to share yet. We are still on pins and needles for our USCIS approval. Even though I am expecting through adoption (vs. pregnancy), I fully believe I am going through the same (or some) stages that occur in pregnancy. Right now, that would be nesting. I have been for a while now, but I am just really feeling the need to finish up projects and make things "homey". So, my weekend consisted of some major nesting activities yesterday, and a family birthday party at our house today.
Yesterday I spent cleaning, making a card collage for Kai's room, and working on sewing projects for Christmas. I made the card collage with ribbons from shower gifts (thanks, Kim), and cards from our showers and random baby cards from friends and family. Sorry, I cannot disclose more about the sewing projects since the recipients read this blog...
Here is a picture of my creation for Kai's room.Today, we had a birthday party for my Mom and Dad (Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Dave), our niece, Bea, and our nephew, Ryan. It was lots of fun, but we were all sad that Joanna (the kids' Mom, and our sister-in-law) was home sick. :-( (Hope you feel better soon- we're praying for you!) Here's a small slide show with pics from that event. Some of them came out dark, but were so darn cute I had to share...

At this point, I'm not planning to hear anything about out CIS approval until our appointment with them later in the week, but will definitely share when we hear something!!
RA

The wait continues

So, if anyone out there is keeping track, we are now at 11 weeks since our match, and 9 weeks waiting for US immigration approval. Do I need to say we're getting tired of waiting? (we won't even start on how long we've been waiting to have a child...) Everyday we're getting increasingly frustrated. For the last 18 months, I think I've been pretty good at just sitting back and letting everything work itself out, but I've decided it's time to "make waves". OK, don't think I'm going to do anything drastic, I've just decided it's time to start making more calls, more inquiries, and maybe having our name floating around the office will spark some interest in approving our request. I really don't know if this will do any good, but at least we'll feel like we're doing something. I realize that we really have NO control over this, and we're at the total mercy of our government-how scary is that??
As always, thanks for checking in- sorry I didn't have any good news to share...
RA

Perfectly said

This article was published today in the Boston Globe. It is about a family that was recently united through adoption. I know the Mom from the Korea family web forum, and have followed their journey since I joined the forum in May. Their home study went to Korea 4 days before ours, and they received their referral about 2 weeks before we did. A few weeks ago, their son came home. The writer of the article is a long time family friend, and very beautifully put into words the feelings behind stories like ours. It is so true and in fact, after reading it, I realized it could very easily be about us (with the exception, of course, that our miracle is not yet home). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
A free fall than a soft landing
RA

Straight to the source

Today was a BAD day! Today was probably one of the hardest days I've had on our adoption journey. Nothing really happened to make it that way (well, that in itself is the problem), it was just a rough emotional day. I think the only other day I've felt this low was the day (in early Aug.) when our social worker told us it might be another few months before getting our match. So, like any woman having a bad day, I tried all the normal "pick-me-ups": working out, talking to people who would make me laugh, retail therapy, treating myself to my favorite treat (carmel apple with M&M's from Rockie Mountain Chocolate Factory), and out to lunch with my hubby.
I am just so frustrated that we are still waiting for our USCIS approval...it's been over 8 weeks now! They keep saying we should get it "any day". I feel so out of control, there is nothing I can do to make this happen any faster! Or is there? I've seen on the board several families who have requested appointments with CIS in attempt to get resolution to their case. So, that's what I did, I made an appointment with CIS. Unfortunately, it's not for a few more weeks, and I don't really know if it will do any good, but for now it's made me feel a little better and like I've "done something about it". So, now we are still praying like crazy that we'll get this approval soon, and have to cancel our CIS appointment, but at least we have that to fall back on.
For now, I am feeling better, and looking forward to a beautiful fall weekend! Enjoy!
RA

Double Digits

Today marks the start of our 10th week of waiting for Kai to come home. It's starting to get a little old...Don't get me wrong, I'm much happier being 10 weeks into our 3-5 month wait, than just 1 or 2 weeks. But, at 1 or 2 weeks, it was still so new and exciting. Now we're just tired of waiting and want our little boy home! We're still waiting for our USCIS approval, so until we have that we're pretty much in a holding pattern.
RA

Baby Shower!!

Last Sunday, my sister-in-law, Joanna, and Joe's Aunt Linda hosted a wonderful baby shower for me (at Grandma Sue's house)!! It was such a fun time, getting together with family and friends, to celebrate our new son. Once again, we feel tremendously blessed by the generosity that was shown towards us, and were quite overwhelmed by it all. Please enjoy the pictures below, and to all who were there: "Thank you so much for making it such a fun and memorable day!!" And a special thanks to Joanna and Aunt Linda for making it possible! Love you guys!!

How WE Remember...

As most of you are aware, our journey to a family has included many pregnancy losses. This past Monday, October 15, was International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. This is a subject that is not openly discussed in our society, but should be because it so deeply affects those who experience it. After losing my third pregnancy (which happened to be twins), I was having a discussion with a co-worker (who I did not know very well at the time), and felt compelled to share with her what I had gone through. By opening this door, I learned that she had also gone through infertility, and had a son from Korea. She reminded me that my miscarriages, and infertility, were part of "my story", and I should not feel ashamed to talk about it. By realizing this, and talking more about this "personal" subject, I have met (or rather, realized), that so many other people go through these same things, and I have gained so much support. If I had not been open to sharing my experiences, I may have never found out that my (now) close friend, Kim, was also going through this, and we have been able to lean on each other for support on multiple occasions during our journeys to our families. (By the way, Kim is now the proud mother of adorable boy/girl twins!) After that third miscarriage (which was not my last), I decided I needed to do something in remembrance of all our little angel babies. So, I started this cross stitch (only two and a half years ago), and when we were matched with Kai this summer, I made a goal of finishing it before he came home. Well, I did it! Take a look (just needs a frame now):

So, for any of you reading this that have gone through a pregnancy or infant loss, my heart and prayers are with you. I know it is one of the most painful losses to endure. God Bless You...
RA

NOW we're ready...

Since we got our match with Kai, whenever I talk to our social worker and mention how "unready" I feel, she always reminds me that all we really need is a car seat to bring him home from the airport. Now, thanks to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Dave, we are ready! Even panda thinks it's pretty cozy ride! We got the seat while in Portland this past weekend for a baby shower (stay tuned for details from that wonderful event)!



On another note, after a pretty good Monday at work, we came home to a not so good situation. Three phrases describe it all...Willie...our bathroom...big mess. Not exactly what I was expecting. After dealing with that, I was thrilled to find a mailbox (and porch) full of surprises! (Sorry, no new pictures). I received a truly thoughtful birthday gift from one of my dearest friends, Kim (see Crocheron family blog); a jar of 100 wishes for Kai (I made it through about 10 before I was bawling), and a first year (at home) scrap booking calendar- can't wait to get started on that one!! We also received a shower gift from Uncle Josh and Aunt Candy, and my order from Cafe Press:


It was already dark outside, so I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to put it on my car. It's beginning to look like a real "mom-mobile"!
RA

Happy 8 months, Kai!!

Today our sweet little Kai is 8 months old! I was really hoping to come home from work to find a new picture as our gift, but alas, it did not happen. Well, I guess there's always tomorrow. I am starting to fear I may not recognize him when we meet. (Luckily, there will be someone to connect us!) How we wish he was home with us...

Baby steps

We're still waiting *patiently* for our USCIS approval. (Patiently is used very loosely here)
We did get a few tidbits of info today, and are hoping and praying this will be coming very soon! Stay tuned for further updates!!

The BIG 3-0!

Yesterday I did it- I became a full-fledged member of the "30's Club". It wasn't nearly as dreadful as I was expecting, and in fact I am now at peace with the whole thing. In talking with people at work yesterday, I realized that my 20's were not all that great- except, of course, for the wonderful, life changing events of becoming a wife and an aunt; and all the wonderful friends I made. My 20's were otherwise filled with heartbreak and questions, as we were struggling to start our family. So, now I'm ready for my third decade, and (almost) ready for all the changes, challenges, and amazement that it will bring! Here are some pictures of my birthday gathering with our family this past weekend. Hope you enjoy!

Dinner at Chang's- Yumm-o!

That's Grandma Anne- can you believe she's 95??

Bea's mesmerized by the fire- there were really 30 candles on it!!

Joe had me made into a bobble head!!

Now the whole world can know!

Kai has 2 teeth!!

You might be wondering how I know this- we got an updated well baby report (WBR) today!! We are so excited to get this update that we've been waiting sooo patiently for. After spending a fun weekend away in Portland, with lots of fun activities and family time, the mailman brought us this blessed gift! I'm sure he had no idea how much happiness this little envelope would bring us. OK, I know you're all anxious to hear the details, so without further ado... (his visit was done in early Sept., so he was nearly 7 months at the time) He weighed almost 21 lbs, and was almost 28 inches long. Yep, I better keep lifting those weights!! He was not yet sitting on his own, but has mastered creeping on the floor. And of course, has two bottom teeth!! The down side- no new picture, but we are thankful to have gotten the update on his growth and development. Also, it is much needed affirmation that he really is ours, and they are working to get him home to us.


As I mentioned, we were away for the weekend, it was such a fun time. I took Ryan, Bea and Peter (Kai's cousins), with their Mom's (Joanna) help, to Build-a-Bear. The three of them, together, made a bear for Kai. It was so sweet how they each got to put a heart in (yes- he has 3 hearts), after they had kissed it. We also ran into one of my friends from middle/high school, so that was a nice unexpected surprise. Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting another expecting (adoptive) Mom from the Holt board and we had a great time exchanging stories and having coffee- hoping to have many more get togethers with them (our sons were born 11 days apart!).
Then, Saturday night was my birthday party (I'm desperately hanging on to my last few days of my 20's). And Sunday, I took Bea to see Pollyanna, the play. It was our first auntie/niece outing and we both had a great time.

As always, thanks for checking in on us. Here's to more good news this week!!

EP!!!!

Today we received the wonderful news that Kai has his EP (emigration permit)!! This does not mean his travel is imminent, however, it is one BIG step towards getting him home. The last few weeks have been really difficult for us, we've anxiously been awaiting an updated well baby report, and checking the mail box daily for our I-600 approval (USCIS approval). So earlier today, in a desperate attempt for ANY information, I broke down and called our social worker. She called back saying she was just about to call us with this great news! (Must have been my mother's intuition kicking in) It was really something I was not expecting to hear, and so, so happy we can now check this off our list. Now we're just waiting on OUR government...

No girls allowed!

Kai's room is finally starting to take shape and look like a boy's room. Joe was a little concerned when we painted it pale yellow and white (stripes) how we were going to "boy it up", if we got matched with a boy. See for yourself, I think we've done a pretty good job. (FYI- the dresser and toy chest are a darker blue, but they appear black in some of the pictures.) We do need a little more decor on the walls, but here's what it looks like for now.

Home Sweet Home

Books desperately in need of a bookshelf!


View coming through the door

View through Kai's eyes

(Any excuse to show off my adorable puppy!) By the way, Willie already seems to be embracing his role as a big brother. We have found him a few times lying beside the crib, and this weekend, while we were working in there, he was lying under it! He's gonna be a good brother!