To put these events on a timeline is kind of surreal. It has been such a long endeavor but it almost feels like yesterday I was sitting at our kitchen table completing the adoption application for Holt. We hope to get some photos of Isaiah soon since we haven't had any since June 2013...6 months ago. ugh
2012
January 21, 2012--We decided to start the adoption process
January 27, 2012--We completed the adoption application
March 7, 2012--First part of the home study was completed
March 14, 2012--Second part of the home study was completed
2013
March, 2013--Home study update was done
June 28, 2013--I-600A was approved
July 18, 2013--Matched
July 25, 2013--Our Emigration Permit was submitted
October 21, 2013--EP was approved
November 14, 2013--Our case was submitted to the Korean courts
December 4, 2012--We were notified of our court date
2014
January 12, 2014--Leave for Korea
January 14, 2014--Arrive in Korea
January 15, 2014--Meet Isaiah!
January 22, 2014--Appear in court
February 2014--Bring Isaiah home???
Of course there was a bunch of paperwork done in between what you see here, but the above events are the highlights of the adoption.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
EP Approval and the St. Louis Cardinals!
This post is super exciting and very nerve wrecking all at the same time! We received notice Monday that our EP (emigration permit) was approved that day. This is the 4-6 week process that took about 3 months. So you can imagine just how anxious, fed-up, discouraged, and on edge a person can become during that time. Once we received the notification we were super excited. Next, our travel certificate will be issued this week and it takes one week to be approved (a real one week). We won't receive notification of this approval, it just happens. We were told several months ago that the time frame from EP approval to our first travel call was running 4-6 weeks. Keeping in mind the last waiting period of "4-6 weeks" and I'm confident in saying we will be traveling in 2014! Okay...that was kind of obvious as it's nearing the end of October and time frames aren't accurate any more. BUT, in the past three months I've settled my heart with the understanding that we will spend Christmas and New Year's as a family of two and I can't handle having to settle my heart again. Time frames are out the window right now because Korean employees are going through their biannual rotation. Every two years the Korean government rotates their employees throughout the government departments and now is that time. I think this is to minimize corruption, but I'm not 100% sure. They are also relocating some government agencies to different cities. This is creating a delay in adoption processing. But, processing has not stopped yet this year!
While trying to be optimistic, I've concluded this will give us time to continue to prepare financially for all of the traveling. At least enough time to have enough cash (hopefully!!) to afford the first trip.
Here's what lies ahead:
At this time, to buy two coach class round trip tickets to Korea with one week's notice is in the $2,600 range. This is airfare only. We will still have to afford one week of lodging, food, incidentals, and keep paying bills back home. We are estimating $5,000 for the first trip with a $1,000 variance either way. This in no way means that we, at this vary moment, are capable of dropping 5 G's at a moments notice. But, we're getting there. I am confident that this will be the case by January 1, 2014. Why? What makes me so confident? While my thoughts remind me constantly that flat tires happen, my windshield could bust again, Christmas is coming up, my dog could be (probably is) pregnant...I still feel at peace with the possibility of major, unexpected expenses and upcoming planned expenses. This isn't to say that I don't have moments of freak out and act as if I will never buy groceries again in an attempt to save money. Due to the strong demand encouragement of my amazing friend Julie we are participating in the Run for One More 5k on November 2. Funds are raised for our adoption by way of race fees paid by participants who sign up under "Team Isaiah" and in kind donations from non-runners. If everyone who has committed pulls through that is $500 as of today that is going towards our adoption!! Yayyyyyyyy!!!! If you're interested in running or donating through Room for One More let me know and I can get you hooked-up.
Now...on to some St. Louis Cardinals fun! Bluff Top Quilting is generously donating a homemade ST. LOUIS CARDINAL'S t-shirt quilt for us to raffle off! In case you've been living under a rock, the Cards are in the 2013 World Series. That means, this quilt has the potential to have a WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP t-shirt in it! Whoop! Whoop! This has the potential to raise some great funds as well!!
This is a completed and sold quilt that was made for a customer. The quilt measures the same as a queen size bed and sells for $300. Hello Christmas gift!!! If you want a chance at this amazing thing let me know. Tickets are $2/each or 6 for $10! Hit a girl up and win a Cardinal's quilt!!!
We aren't solely relying on other people's money to get our son home (duh!). We are spending less and selling more while also paying off debt. I've sold my super nice bike for a legit amount and I've decided on a used crib that my awesome father-in-law is stripping and repainting red, we will be buying used clothes for him when he comes home, and as of right now we have decided that a rocking chair in his room is not a necessity at this time (although my heart says it is--I've not stopped eyeing the one I want-lol!). Also, we have a Christmas budget and are sticking to it. Chris has assured me that the girls will not be greatly impacted if we don't lavish them with gifts but spend a moderate yet fun amount on them. Outside of them, the folks that gave us life are getting gifts and the rest are "getting Isaiah". Ha! I hope to have a petite (and COLD) yard sale in the next few weeks, but that may not happen (insert crazy busy life). The only remaining expensive items for Isaiah is the car seat for my car, his dresser, and his night stand and rocking chair. (Unless I'm missing something that I don't yet know about-ha!) I have a plan mapped out on how to afford these things over the next three months without upsetting our saving plan.
By staying focused on the financial plan to bring him home I hope to keep my mind off of things like: will he love me as much as he loves his foster mom? Will we bond or will I look at this like a task similar to the adoption? Will I be able to handle the stress of a crazy adjustment in his daily routine? Will I become unnerved worrying about finances (adoption obviously isn't considered a short-term disability like birth) while I'm bringing in $0 a month. I work with a great group of women and I know they will be checking in on me often. They are the most positive group of women I know and we have so much in common, so I know they won't let me stay frazzled for long...if at all! Prayers, thoughts, and support are always appreciated!
GO CARDS!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Emigration Permit...WhAt?!?!
Warning: I did not proofread this, so don't judge the grammatical errors and incomplete sentences! I'm sleepy!!!
You my friends and family are some patient folks! I see that the blog gets views almost daily and yet no one hassles me to update it. I am super blessed by the obvious desire of those we know to know what is going on but the graciousness to not ask me to write it all out. Because prior to today this is what it would have looked like:
Title: Adoption Update
Body:
Closing: Chris and Connie
But oh no, not today my friends, not today! Let me start by saying when my heart gets heavier than I can carry, something happens with the adoption. When adoption emails come in they always come in between 1pm and 3pm. Our agency is on mountain time so their morning emails are sent in our afternoon mayhem. On July 16 I receive what felt like *another* endless email from our adoption agency about a webinar we can be a part of. With a flutter in my heart I checked my phone at the chime and saw that this was not what I call a 'meat and potatoes' email. It was in fact a webinar email. I was so frustrated and on the verge of tears I sent Chris an email that read word for word:
"I am so sick of these <explicit> adoption emails from our agency!"
I was so flustered about it I couldn't even form an adjective of any kind to explain what I thought of the emails so I literally wrote <explicit> as if that were the business of adjectives. Looking back, I find that hilarious. My sweetest friend (who I also have the joy of working with!) immediately noticed my tear wiping in the office and came in to console me. Her emotions towards our adoption are so sentimental and genuine. I literally can't get enough of it. On July 19 I received an email asking for our I600 forms to be filed. This is not a time sensitive thing to do. It's completion does not slow us down or speed us up. Regardless, that dud was sent via 2 day mail to ensure it's timely arrival. I was pleased to have something productive to do with the adoption so no complaints here. Right before I crawled into bed that night it occurred to me that July 16, 2012 was the day we received our referral. The first time we saw our son's picture, heard his name, and called him by his new name. No wonder I was having a melt down over an email from our adoption agency!
Prior to all of this in May we received notice to complete our second acceptance packet. My phenomenal friend, former student, and former colleague came to our rescue and notarized about 50+ pages so we could send the info off. That was a difficult experience and I will spare you all the details. But boy do the ladies at work know about it! I didn't blog about it because I didn't feel like it was blog worthy. The experience was stressful to say the least and I didn't want to relive it.
Bring us to today. This day was mayhem at work. This week has been stressful in my life and at work. So, because I wasn't expecting any adoption emails and had no idea what time of the day it was, I didn't even notice the chime of the email. Then next thing you know I see an email from one of our social workers and the subject says "EP Submission!"
Insert ear to ear grin, a super happy heart and me busting into the front office to interrupt the 6 people who were in there having work related conversations.
"Everybody! Hello! Everyone! I have a really important announcement!"
Lane knew. She always knows. Anytime I am excited she says, "What just happened?" or "What did they say?"
"Our EP has been submitted!!!"
Lane of course is excited. The boss is highly confused along with the 4 other ladies in there. Then it hits them that I am of course talking about the adoption. Excitement begins to flourish but not to my standard so I boldly state, "Uhh, can I get an excited 'Yay!?!?!' Then the loudest YAY!!! bellows through the front office! Lane is near tears and I'm pretty sure my boss is having a minor freak out about maternity leave. He never said it, but I could see it in his eye. Hehehe!
So, what is an EP and what does it mean, you ask? The EP is the emigration permit which essentially allows us to come into the country for the reason at hand. The estimated time frame from submission to approval is 4-5 weeks. After the approval is received Holt will submit our travel certificate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This takes about one week for approval and we will not be notified of it.
Once the above happens then we will have our paper work submitted to the courts. There are four judges that do adoption and one will take the case and then assign us a court date. A COURT DATE!
I'm sorry...A STINKIN' COURT DATE!!!
Once the court date is set then Holt will notify us to get things together to travel to Korea!!!! During this first trip we will meet Isaiah for about an hour. An hour. A lousy, stinkin hour. BUT, an hour!!! A whole stinkin' hour with our baby! Our son! And truly, our first born! We will then spend the week out there going to court and doing some paperwork and sight seeing. It's not by choice that we are there for a week, it's required because things don't happen one day after another. There are days of down time with nothing to do but sight see. This is going to be a great opportunity for us to learn about the culture of Korea and experience without Isaiah and take in a lot of the history and culture. After this trip and all that it entails we will then return home. Childless.
About 3-4 weeks later, after all the appropriate paperwork is completed and approved in Korea they will call us to go back to Korea. We will get our son permanently. He is ours. We again have to spend another week out there and we will then have the opportunity to sight see and experience the culture with Isaiah. Once we get everything completed we will head home. Once we hit US soil Isaiah will be a permanent US citizen and 100% ours!
All of that leads me to this:
He could very well be home by Christmas. I'm confident that he will be home by Christmas. I'm claiming that to God and have complete faith that he will make this happen.
This also means that we may be with him on his second birthday in November. Holy Cow!
I will update you all again in the next week or so with a random list of things we have to do, his bedroom plans, and the endless list of questions regarding what a person needs for a toddler?!?
Please, keep praying for a speedy approval in the courts and God's provision and perfect timing!
Thanks!
Chris and Connie
You my friends and family are some patient folks! I see that the blog gets views almost daily and yet no one hassles me to update it. I am super blessed by the obvious desire of those we know to know what is going on but the graciousness to not ask me to write it all out. Because prior to today this is what it would have looked like:
Title: Adoption Update
Body:
Closing: Chris and Connie
But oh no, not today my friends, not today! Let me start by saying when my heart gets heavier than I can carry, something happens with the adoption. When adoption emails come in they always come in between 1pm and 3pm. Our agency is on mountain time so their morning emails are sent in our afternoon mayhem. On July 16 I receive what felt like *another* endless email from our adoption agency about a webinar we can be a part of. With a flutter in my heart I checked my phone at the chime and saw that this was not what I call a 'meat and potatoes' email. It was in fact a webinar email. I was so frustrated and on the verge of tears I sent Chris an email that read word for word:
"I am so sick of these <explicit> adoption emails from our agency!"
I was so flustered about it I couldn't even form an adjective of any kind to explain what I thought of the emails so I literally wrote <explicit> as if that were the business of adjectives. Looking back, I find that hilarious. My sweetest friend (who I also have the joy of working with!) immediately noticed my tear wiping in the office and came in to console me. Her emotions towards our adoption are so sentimental and genuine. I literally can't get enough of it. On July 19 I received an email asking for our I600 forms to be filed. This is not a time sensitive thing to do. It's completion does not slow us down or speed us up. Regardless, that dud was sent via 2 day mail to ensure it's timely arrival. I was pleased to have something productive to do with the adoption so no complaints here. Right before I crawled into bed that night it occurred to me that July 16, 2012 was the day we received our referral. The first time we saw our son's picture, heard his name, and called him by his new name. No wonder I was having a melt down over an email from our adoption agency!
Prior to all of this in May we received notice to complete our second acceptance packet. My phenomenal friend, former student, and former colleague came to our rescue and notarized about 50+ pages so we could send the info off. That was a difficult experience and I will spare you all the details. But boy do the ladies at work know about it! I didn't blog about it because I didn't feel like it was blog worthy. The experience was stressful to say the least and I didn't want to relive it.
Bring us to today. This day was mayhem at work. This week has been stressful in my life and at work. So, because I wasn't expecting any adoption emails and had no idea what time of the day it was, I didn't even notice the chime of the email. Then next thing you know I see an email from one of our social workers and the subject says "EP Submission!"
Insert ear to ear grin, a super happy heart and me busting into the front office to interrupt the 6 people who were in there having work related conversations.
"Everybody! Hello! Everyone! I have a really important announcement!"
Lane knew. She always knows. Anytime I am excited she says, "What just happened?" or "What did they say?"
"Our EP has been submitted!!!"
Lane of course is excited. The boss is highly confused along with the 4 other ladies in there. Then it hits them that I am of course talking about the adoption. Excitement begins to flourish but not to my standard so I boldly state, "Uhh, can I get an excited 'Yay!?!?!' Then the loudest YAY!!! bellows through the front office! Lane is near tears and I'm pretty sure my boss is having a minor freak out about maternity leave. He never said it, but I could see it in his eye. Hehehe!
So, what is an EP and what does it mean, you ask? The EP is the emigration permit which essentially allows us to come into the country for the reason at hand. The estimated time frame from submission to approval is 4-5 weeks. After the approval is received Holt will submit our travel certificate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This takes about one week for approval and we will not be notified of it.
Once the above happens then we will have our paper work submitted to the courts. There are four judges that do adoption and one will take the case and then assign us a court date. A COURT DATE!
I'm sorry...A STINKIN' COURT DATE!!!
Once the court date is set then Holt will notify us to get things together to travel to Korea!!!! During this first trip we will meet Isaiah for about an hour. An hour. A lousy, stinkin hour. BUT, an hour!!! A whole stinkin' hour with our baby! Our son! And truly, our first born! We will then spend the week out there going to court and doing some paperwork and sight seeing. It's not by choice that we are there for a week, it's required because things don't happen one day after another. There are days of down time with nothing to do but sight see. This is going to be a great opportunity for us to learn about the culture of Korea and experience without Isaiah and take in a lot of the history and culture. After this trip and all that it entails we will then return home. Childless.
About 3-4 weeks later, after all the appropriate paperwork is completed and approved in Korea they will call us to go back to Korea. We will get our son permanently. He is ours. We again have to spend another week out there and we will then have the opportunity to sight see and experience the culture with Isaiah. Once we get everything completed we will head home. Once we hit US soil Isaiah will be a permanent US citizen and 100% ours!
All of that leads me to this:
He could very well be home by Christmas. I'm confident that he will be home by Christmas. I'm claiming that to God and have complete faith that he will make this happen.
This also means that we may be with him on his second birthday in November. Holy Cow!
I will update you all again in the next week or so with a random list of things we have to do, his bedroom plans, and the endless list of questions regarding what a person needs for a toddler?!?
Please, keep praying for a speedy approval in the courts and God's provision and perfect timing!
Thanks!
Chris and Connie
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Overdue
Anyone of you ever been overdue in your pregnancy? Seriously, I couldn't imagine carrying a baby for 10 months and then going past my due date. I tend to get kind of impatient. Kind of like how on April 1, 2012 when we announced our adoption, I knew I would freak if we didn't have our child by the average time frame. Well, here we are, nearly one year later and I find myself having to tell everyone that we probably won't get him until 2014. Ugh. There are two reasons for this. First, I can't tell myself he's coming this year and have to endure December 31, 2013 as a family of two. Second, the law changes in South Korea regarding international adoption have delayed things quite a bit. The laws changed August 1, 2012 and the first international adoption court date isn't scheduled until mid April.
Our little man at 5 days old...
Of course, there are things that give me hope that he may come sooner. Truth be told Kristina wants him to come for Christmas. As her gift or as her cousin I'm not sure, but she has suddenly and sporadically taken an interest to him. For example, she never wanted to talk about him, see him, or ask about him since we've been matched. I think there is some jealously that was leading the lack of interest. We're super close...super close. To put it into perspective, this girl told her mom she didn't want to live with her any more but wanted to live with me. Thankfully, my sister and I live next to each other now. While typing this I can see my backyard butting into her back yard. Kristina is my mini-me, if a niece can be an Aunt's mini-me. But, one of my dearest, sweetest friends Julie had a necklace made for me. It has a circle with "waiting" engraved onto it and lying inside the circle is a charm of Korea.
Kristina is quick to notice everything, every little thing...so she immediately new the necklace was new. She was enthralled with knowing what waiting meant and that the charm is a picture of where Isaiah lives. I can't revisit the memory without tearing up. My girl was finally wanting to know about my little guy! She started talking about him, that she missed him, wanted to see him, and from then on asks me if he is at my house yet. She had one little concern, can she still sleep in my bed and does she have to share her room with him at my house? I skimmed over the sleeping part and reminded her that he has his own room and my house and she and Kylie have their own room at my house. She was content with that. I'm hoping she doesn't want to sleep with us in 2014 because she is too much to sleep with in 2013! Bottom line, I cherish that necklace more than a person could imagine because it has started the relationship with Kristina and Isaiah.
Now, Kylie...she always asks to see "Baby I-say-uh". She says his name totally correct, but how she emphasizes different pieces is bar nun the cutest thing I've ever heard. She is constantly telling me she loves him, misses him, and wants to go get him with us. I could let her, but Chris says no. Meanie. I've shown her picture of other Asian kids and she certainly knows that they are not him. She is going to do great with him. They are going to do great with him.
Other people that bless my heart, our brothers. Luke and Hunter are so freakin' excited it is hilarious. While spending his spring break on the east cost looking at law schools (yeah, that's right...law schools--I may have just sat up a little straighter and smiled a bit in pride) he decides that VA is too far away when he has nephews in the Midwest. Hunter and Luke bought Isaiah a suit for church that is a size 8 after hearing one of Chris' sermons. Chris' dad melts my heart with his text messages and Facebook posts about his "klan" or grandson. My dad is good for a one-liner at random as well. Several people I work with give him shout-outs often too and it confirms that he is going to fit right in our lives. One sweet friend gave me a hand-stitched doll from Korea. It belonged to her mother, given to her by missionaries. The doll has authentic clothing and is a Korean mother wearing her son on her back. Let me clarify, she's 99% sure it's from Korea, but if it's not I'm okay with that too.
We've had conference calls with the Holt Korea team but we aren't at liberty to publicly say what's what, but I can say they have a team of advocates in Holt Korea that petition the court often for changes to the new laws and have been successful. For that, we are so thankful because staying in Korea for 3-4 weeks without our son was not looking like fun.
So, until things start moving we will be renewing documents for the adoption that expire after one year like home studies and bio-metric fingerprints. His room is painted, there is no crib for him, no toys, no decorations on the wall. I've placed some clothes in the closet so they don't settle with that funky plastic bin smell and I just printed the first set of actual pictures of Isaiah instead of having them solely on multimedia devices. We think about him often and talk about him in moderation. Don't judge until you've been there. Talking about a son that isn't even legally yours and could just as likely not be as he could be is a bit touchy.
On a final note, on Thursday we received a few pictures of Isaiah...he looks like a kindergarten kid! I get the email and rush to my office to check it out because the subject says "Photos". I download the images, gasp, and send my mother-in-law a text (we work together) that says, "My office ASAP!!!" She responds with, "On the landline." I was ready to have a screaming fit over the pictures. The yelling, stomping, on the floor tantrum full of the notorious little kid lines such as, "It's not fair", "I hate this", "I want him now!" You get the picture. Instead, a friend from high school who is also a coworker stopped by on her way out to ask about my delight in concluding a difficult discharge. It threw her for a loop when I looked up with water bucket eyes. She came right in and gave me a hug then saw his picture. She was absolutely what I needed, complete with genuine sympathy, with love and support. I felt better after that, much better. But the truth is, it's not fair to my heart and I want him now.
Our little man at 5 days old...
Of course, there are things that give me hope that he may come sooner. Truth be told Kristina wants him to come for Christmas. As her gift or as her cousin I'm not sure, but she has suddenly and sporadically taken an interest to him. For example, she never wanted to talk about him, see him, or ask about him since we've been matched. I think there is some jealously that was leading the lack of interest. We're super close...super close. To put it into perspective, this girl told her mom she didn't want to live with her any more but wanted to live with me. Thankfully, my sister and I live next to each other now. While typing this I can see my backyard butting into her back yard. Kristina is my mini-me, if a niece can be an Aunt's mini-me. But, one of my dearest, sweetest friends Julie had a necklace made for me. It has a circle with "waiting" engraved onto it and lying inside the circle is a charm of Korea.
Now, Kylie...she always asks to see "Baby I-say-uh". She says his name totally correct, but how she emphasizes different pieces is bar nun the cutest thing I've ever heard. She is constantly telling me she loves him, misses him, and wants to go get him with us. I could let her, but Chris says no. Meanie. I've shown her picture of other Asian kids and she certainly knows that they are not him. She is going to do great with him. They are going to do great with him.
Other people that bless my heart, our brothers. Luke and Hunter are so freakin' excited it is hilarious. While spending his spring break on the east cost looking at law schools (yeah, that's right...law schools--I may have just sat up a little straighter and smiled a bit in pride) he decides that VA is too far away when he has nephews in the Midwest. Hunter and Luke bought Isaiah a suit for church that is a size 8 after hearing one of Chris' sermons. Chris' dad melts my heart with his text messages and Facebook posts about his "klan" or grandson. My dad is good for a one-liner at random as well. Several people I work with give him shout-outs often too and it confirms that he is going to fit right in our lives. One sweet friend gave me a hand-stitched doll from Korea. It belonged to her mother, given to her by missionaries. The doll has authentic clothing and is a Korean mother wearing her son on her back. Let me clarify, she's 99% sure it's from Korea, but if it's not I'm okay with that too.
We've had conference calls with the Holt Korea team but we aren't at liberty to publicly say what's what, but I can say they have a team of advocates in Holt Korea that petition the court often for changes to the new laws and have been successful. For that, we are so thankful because staying in Korea for 3-4 weeks without our son was not looking like fun.
So, until things start moving we will be renewing documents for the adoption that expire after one year like home studies and bio-metric fingerprints. His room is painted, there is no crib for him, no toys, no decorations on the wall. I've placed some clothes in the closet so they don't settle with that funky plastic bin smell and I just printed the first set of actual pictures of Isaiah instead of having them solely on multimedia devices. We think about him often and talk about him in moderation. Don't judge until you've been there. Talking about a son that isn't even legally yours and could just as likely not be as he could be is a bit touchy.
On a final note, on Thursday we received a few pictures of Isaiah...he looks like a kindergarten kid! I get the email and rush to my office to check it out because the subject says "Photos". I download the images, gasp, and send my mother-in-law a text (we work together) that says, "My office ASAP!!!" She responds with, "On the landline." I was ready to have a screaming fit over the pictures. The yelling, stomping, on the floor tantrum full of the notorious little kid lines such as, "It's not fair", "I hate this", "I want him now!" You get the picture. Instead, a friend from high school who is also a coworker stopped by on her way out to ask about my delight in concluding a difficult discharge. It threw her for a loop when I looked up with water bucket eyes. She came right in and gave me a hug then saw his picture. She was absolutely what I needed, complete with genuine sympathy, with love and support. I felt better after that, much better. But the truth is, it's not fair to my heart and I want him now.
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