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
Thursday, July 25, 2013
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.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
National Adoption Month
Friends and family,
November is national adoption month!!! It is also the month in which House Bill HR 4373 and Senate Bill S 3616 goes to the floor for vote. I cannot urge you enough, our as the apostle Paul would say: beseech you, to contact your Representative and both of your Senators and ask that they co-sponsor their respective bill so that the adoption tax credit can pass and continue to give families the ability to adopt and certainly give the world's babies loving homes! This bill doesn't distinguish between the type of adoption. It provides a tax credit for all adoptions, domestic, private, foster, and international. This bill is so very necessary, I can't begin to explain. Please follow the link below to read what Holt has written about why this is important. It breaks it down entirely for full understanding. We all showed up yesterday to vote so please show up today and call your Senators and Reps! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.
http://holtinternational.org/blog/2012/11/speak-up-act-now-the-adoption-tax-credit-needs-your-support/
BTW-I picked out the recordable book for Isaiah's birthday care package and cried while standing in Hallmark. If you know me, this is a big deal. I'm not a crier. The book is called "Under the Same Moon". I don't know how I'm going to record myself reading it, I have no concerns about Chris' pages, but mine...sheesh.
Thanks again for the support,
Umma & Abba
(Mom & Dad)
November is national adoption month!!! It is also the month in which House Bill HR 4373 and Senate Bill S 3616 goes to the floor for vote. I cannot urge you enough, our as the apostle Paul would say: beseech you, to contact your Representative and both of your Senators and ask that they co-sponsor their respective bill so that the adoption tax credit can pass and continue to give families the ability to adopt and certainly give the world's babies loving homes! This bill doesn't distinguish between the type of adoption. It provides a tax credit for all adoptions, domestic, private, foster, and international. This bill is so very necessary, I can't begin to explain. Please follow the link below to read what Holt has written about why this is important. It breaks it down entirely for full understanding. We all showed up yesterday to vote so please show up today and call your Senators and Reps! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.
http://holtinternational.org/blog/2012/11/speak-up-act-now-the-adoption-tax-credit-needs-your-support/
BTW-I picked out the recordable book for Isaiah's birthday care package and cried while standing in Hallmark. If you know me, this is a big deal. I'm not a crier. The book is called "Under the Same Moon". I don't know how I'm going to record myself reading it, I have no concerns about Chris' pages, but mine...sheesh.
Thanks again for the support,
Umma & Abba
(Mom & Dad)
Monday, November 5, 2012
It's been a while
No, really...it has. But, truth be told there's not much to say. When people ask, "How's the adoption going?" The response almost always is, "Slow. Now you know what we know." Unfortunately, that's about the truth of it. Don't hear me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom like that just sounded. It simply takes a long time. It has to be legal in both countries, otherwise it's kidnapping. :)
We occasionally get updates on Isaiah (Song, Yu-jun). Most recently, the update included photos!!!
Just look at this little dude, he looks like he just woke up! I have a feeling he's plotting his revenge against those who woke him while this photo was shot.
He's definitely grown into his ears and that hair will be mohawk ready when he gets home, or if he wants to grow it out to attain the look of the new Journey leader, then hey, this mama's cool with that too!
So, the specs are:
October: 23.9 lbs and 30 inches long. He's is greater than the 50% in height, at the 75% in weight, and greater than the 50% for head circumference.
September: 22.1 lbs, 28 25/32" long. Get this...25% for height (eeekkk! shorty!), at the 75% for weight, and less that 50% for head circumference.
August: 22.7 lbs, 28 23/64" long. Still 25% for height, greater than 75% for weight and greater than the 50% for head circumference.
Dude's been growing. :)
We still have to do our Parents in Process Training. It's either 8 or 16 hours of online training (since the in person ones all seem to be in Kansas). Either way, we aren't chomping at the bit to do it, I have a feeling it will be a little brushing up from college for me. Nature vs nurture kind of stuff. Of course it's necessary and educational for all who take it and I am eager to learn about some new things.
We are still waiting for legals to come in from Korea. This typically takes 6 months to arrive, so if that holds true than we are looking at January or February to start on paperwork for the U.S. and Korea. It takes up to 12 months, on average, to get your travel call. So, that puts us at sometime in July to be headed his way. We are suppose to be going to Haiti again in August. I. Love. Haiti. I want to go so very badly. So much has changed on the campus of MyLifeSpeaks and in the community of Neply, I'm hoping that the timing works out that we can still go. As long as Haiti falls before a trip to Korea we will be going, if not, we won't be.
Right now, we are preparing to send Isaiah's birthday package. I hope to send it off by Friday or Saturday. There are still many things to collect, but I have to say my favorite thing in the box is a camera. I'll detail on that in a future post.
Sorry for the delay in posting, but it has been slow going, although now we feel as if we've made leaps and bounds since we have updated pictures and he looks so much older!
Thanks for the prayers!
Connie and Chris
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Isaiah Song Smith
So, I know this is a little over due to our faithful followers and distant family. However, these past few weeks have been quite...well, raw. Emotions have been high. Chris was out of town when we first found out about Isaiah. Chris left town the Friday before last, I got the call the following Monday, and he didn't return until that Friday. In complete honesty, that.was.tough...for both of us. We were, and still are, so very excited. Unfortunately, not everyone is nice and some even seemed upset when we told them. It was almost like some were okay with the idea and not with the reality of us giving an orphan child a home. Finding out that I was a mom, having Chris out of town, and encountering one too many unfortunate comments made for a rough Thursday. The good news is that we are parents of a beautiful baby boy and negativity has no part in our new life!
Onto the details! It was about 3:30pm and I was in one of my daily meetings that got started rather late. We were on our second patient and my phone began to ring. I assumed it was Chris giving me a "I have a quick second. How is your day?" phone call, but when I saw it was Judy, one of the social workers from Holt, I jumped out of my seat and said, "Oh my Gosh! It's our social worker! Maybe we have a baby!!!" Of course, the room of women yelled at me to take the call. So as I stepped into the hallway, Judy said hello and told me they have some good news. I immediately asked, "Is it a baby!" I think she went on to tell me about his gender and name, at which point, this seldom a tear shedder lost it. Fortunately, our Activities Director was in the hall and looked at me with concern and I mouthed to him, "We have a baby!" I wish it were my husband I was standing next to, but it wasn't. The amazing thing is that Lee and his wife just recently completed their own domestic adoption so he knew my very state of emotion and I can't put to words the look on his face. He nodded his head with a wonderful smile and I turned away. Judy went on to tell repeat his name and gender while I tried to stop sobbing. Then she asked if I had any questions, and apparently to her surprise I said no. I think this threw her off because she again repeated his name, gender, and date of birth and asked me again if I had any questions. At that point, I asked if he was healthy and she said yes (this question was out of curiosity alone, Chris and I already knew that the baby Holt would refer us to would be the baby God had set forth for us). She then asked to email me his clinical records to which I agreed and we hung up.
Then I sent Chris a text that read:
"Call me! 911"
And he did, I mean, within seconds he called me. For anyone who has ever attempted to contact my husband at any time (myself included) knows that there is a 4 hour turn around time and after 12 you've been forgotten (as an accident, the guy is so busy!), so this was monumental. How else was I suppose to get an immediate response?!?!
When he called I was in a small room echoing like a cave and began crying again saying, "We have a baby!". I was responded to with a "Huh, what?" then "What do you mean a baby?" then "Who?" then again, "What do you mean about a baby?" That's when I said,
"A KOREAN BABY! COME ON!!!"
Eventually in the phone call he told me that he at first thought I was calling to tell him I was pregnant (a big can't do while doing an adoption with Korea), but then he realized I was telling him I thought Pieper (my dog, who is 11 human years old!) had babies, which is how I refer to our dogs and their, well, babies.
Seriously, Chris? A. I'm not taking a pregnancy test at work in the middle of the day. and B. WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ADOPTION!
I think the whole thing is hilarious! Totally fitting for us and our crazy communication style. It's totally going in the memory bank! LOL
It was in this phone call that Chris suggested a completely off list name for our baby, Isaiah. Two phone calls to each other later and we agreed on Isaiah Song (his Korean name).
So, after that I was of course useless and had to leave work. I immediately went to the hospital in which I used to work to have one of the pediatricians I used to work with review the clinical record with me. Of course, the amazing Dr. Greg Cugini was there and he is not only my favorite pediatrician, but also moving into clinic. SCORE! So, I updated him on our adoption, and that I received a referral 20 minutes ago and need him to review the records with me. He was ecstatic and when I told him that he is the only pediatrician I wanted for Isaiah he said he'd be honored to be his doctor. We reviewed the chart, I called Chris and we accepted.
So today, our little Turkey baby is 8 months old! We couldn't be any happier! He's 100% ours and 100% real, so there's no need to ask about having "real kids" or "our own kids" because he is really ours. Obviously he is adopted but we have chosen to never use biased words when describing biological differences. Chris and I have never had the strong desire to conceive and we can't say that we ever will or won't. But for now and until the Lord reveals his next plan for our family, we have adopted our own, real baby and we have never been so blessed in all of our life!
Our acceptance paperwork was received yesterday, but that is the first of MANY stacks of paper. We were told to expect a year wait and they won't send our acceptance pack to Korea until we've paid the final bill in full...which, when you are expecting 9 months to save and fund raise that's not biggie, but when you get your referral in 17 days it's a BIG biggie! So we are making some immediate decisions and I am crafting my socks off because every penny counts! We don't want any amount of money to extend the time between us and our baby!
Keep us and our Isaiah in your prayers, more than anything, this is what we all need. Love and prayers.
If you are interested in support of any other fashion you are welcome to contact me or Chris, but again, we covet your prayers and love.
That is it for now, updates may be scarce due to paper work, crafting, fundraising, and "normal" life things, that definately does not include dishes or laundry!
-Mom & Dad
Onto the details! It was about 3:30pm and I was in one of my daily meetings that got started rather late. We were on our second patient and my phone began to ring. I assumed it was Chris giving me a "I have a quick second. How is your day?" phone call, but when I saw it was Judy, one of the social workers from Holt, I jumped out of my seat and said, "Oh my Gosh! It's our social worker! Maybe we have a baby!!!" Of course, the room of women yelled at me to take the call. So as I stepped into the hallway, Judy said hello and told me they have some good news. I immediately asked, "Is it a baby!" I think she went on to tell me about his gender and name, at which point, this seldom a tear shedder lost it. Fortunately, our Activities Director was in the hall and looked at me with concern and I mouthed to him, "We have a baby!" I wish it were my husband I was standing next to, but it wasn't. The amazing thing is that Lee and his wife just recently completed their own domestic adoption so he knew my very state of emotion and I can't put to words the look on his face. He nodded his head with a wonderful smile and I turned away. Judy went on to tell repeat his name and gender while I tried to stop sobbing. Then she asked if I had any questions, and apparently to her surprise I said no. I think this threw her off because she again repeated his name, gender, and date of birth and asked me again if I had any questions. At that point, I asked if he was healthy and she said yes (this question was out of curiosity alone, Chris and I already knew that the baby Holt would refer us to would be the baby God had set forth for us). She then asked to email me his clinical records to which I agreed and we hung up.
Then I sent Chris a text that read:
"Call me! 911"
And he did, I mean, within seconds he called me. For anyone who has ever attempted to contact my husband at any time (myself included) knows that there is a 4 hour turn around time and after 12 you've been forgotten (as an accident, the guy is so busy!), so this was monumental. How else was I suppose to get an immediate response?!?!
When he called I was in a small room echoing like a cave and began crying again saying, "We have a baby!". I was responded to with a "Huh, what?" then "What do you mean a baby?" then "Who?" then again, "What do you mean about a baby?" That's when I said,
"A KOREAN BABY! COME ON!!!"
Eventually in the phone call he told me that he at first thought I was calling to tell him I was pregnant (a big can't do while doing an adoption with Korea), but then he realized I was telling him I thought Pieper (my dog, who is 11 human years old!) had babies, which is how I refer to our dogs and their, well, babies.
Seriously, Chris? A. I'm not taking a pregnancy test at work in the middle of the day. and B. WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ADOPTION!
I think the whole thing is hilarious! Totally fitting for us and our crazy communication style. It's totally going in the memory bank! LOL
It was in this phone call that Chris suggested a completely off list name for our baby, Isaiah. Two phone calls to each other later and we agreed on Isaiah Song (his Korean name).
So, after that I was of course useless and had to leave work. I immediately went to the hospital in which I used to work to have one of the pediatricians I used to work with review the clinical record with me. Of course, the amazing Dr. Greg Cugini was there and he is not only my favorite pediatrician, but also moving into clinic. SCORE! So, I updated him on our adoption, and that I received a referral 20 minutes ago and need him to review the records with me. He was ecstatic and when I told him that he is the only pediatrician I wanted for Isaiah he said he'd be honored to be his doctor. We reviewed the chart, I called Chris and we accepted.
So today, our little Turkey baby is 8 months old! We couldn't be any happier! He's 100% ours and 100% real, so there's no need to ask about having "real kids" or "our own kids" because he is really ours. Obviously he is adopted but we have chosen to never use biased words when describing biological differences. Chris and I have never had the strong desire to conceive and we can't say that we ever will or won't. But for now and until the Lord reveals his next plan for our family, we have adopted our own, real baby and we have never been so blessed in all of our life!
Our acceptance paperwork was received yesterday, but that is the first of MANY stacks of paper. We were told to expect a year wait and they won't send our acceptance pack to Korea until we've paid the final bill in full...which, when you are expecting 9 months to save and fund raise that's not biggie, but when you get your referral in 17 days it's a BIG biggie! So we are making some immediate decisions and I am crafting my socks off because every penny counts! We don't want any amount of money to extend the time between us and our baby!
Keep us and our Isaiah in your prayers, more than anything, this is what we all need. Love and prayers.
If you are interested in support of any other fashion you are welcome to contact me or Chris, but again, we covet your prayers and love.
That is it for now, updates may be scarce due to paper work, crafting, fundraising, and "normal" life things, that definately does not include dishes or laundry!
Our little boy in his 7th month of life...
Our newborn baby, God ordained to be with us before we even knew we were going to adopt, 5 days old. <3
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Another piece to the puzzle!
Some of you may have seen on Facebook that Chris and I still needed to get out biometrics completed this past week. Well, we went in on Tuesday and arrived, oh, a good hour early. We were very excited when they took us right back and did our fingerprints. They sweet lady doing the prints was genuinely interested in our adoption process and was asking all kinds of questions. I thought this was delightfully unexpected. I'm sure she sees TONS of parents in the adoption process every day, but yet she was greatly interested in they where and who of our story! It was kind of icing to the cake on a great half day with Chris. So, on this Tuesday the lady doing our prints said it would take at least a month for the approval to come in, but on FRIDAY I came home from work and there it was, the letter from the federal government approving us as "favorable parents of international adoption". HOW EXCITING!!! I'd like to think that the sweet lady doing our prints tells everyone a month on purpose. Kind of as a passive way to add excitement to everyones adoptoin. :)
So, now...I have this huge feeling that we are going to be getting a call AT ANY MOMENT! Like I said before, our social worker (Joy) said that since we are open to more illnesses and disabilities (see previous post) we are likely to wait less for a referral. I'm trying not to run away with this, but I have this gut feeling that it will be anytime, despite the now increased wait period of 8 months for an "average" adoption. This is where you would insert my stress. The baby's room in our current home still remains my closet and my nieces bed room. So, if we get a referral and accept and pay the rest of the amount for the adoption, ($XX,XXX!!!) it could be a few weeks to a few months before we go get baby. Those last two sentences should be able to identify to many of you what my stress level may be peaking to without even having to add how we make Kristina and Kylie's room into our baby's room.
Some more good news...I just learned yesterday from my favorite girl Cassi, that Dr. Greg Cugini will now be doing clinic and Southeast Pediatrics! I used to work with Dr. Cugini when I was a social worker at Southeast on the Pediatric unit, and.I.love.him! He and Dr. Martinique Johnson are my favorite pediatric physicians. Dr. Cugini and his wife, Dr. Cugini (OB) are great, down to earth, open to various parenting styles, doctors. Needless to say, I will be calling him on Monday to ensure we are his patient! =)
That's all folks!
Connie and Chris
So, now...I have this huge feeling that we are going to be getting a call AT ANY MOMENT! Like I said before, our social worker (Joy) said that since we are open to more illnesses and disabilities (see previous post) we are likely to wait less for a referral. I'm trying not to run away with this, but I have this gut feeling that it will be anytime, despite the now increased wait period of 8 months for an "average" adoption. This is where you would insert my stress. The baby's room in our current home still remains my closet and my nieces bed room. So, if we get a referral and accept and pay the rest of the amount for the adoption, ($XX,XXX!!!) it could be a few weeks to a few months before we go get baby. Those last two sentences should be able to identify to many of you what my stress level may be peaking to without even having to add how we make Kristina and Kylie's room into our baby's room.
Some more good news...I just learned yesterday from my favorite girl Cassi, that Dr. Greg Cugini will now be doing clinic and Southeast Pediatrics! I used to work with Dr. Cugini when I was a social worker at Southeast on the Pediatric unit, and.I.love.him! He and Dr. Martinique Johnson are my favorite pediatric physicians. Dr. Cugini and his wife, Dr. Cugini (OB) are great, down to earth, open to various parenting styles, doctors. Needless to say, I will be calling him on Monday to ensure we are his patient! =)
That's all folks!
Connie and Chris
Sunday, June 24, 2012
A much needed update!
First, the lack of updates for everyone to read is a result of the lack of updates I had to give. But, after a crazy few weeks at work, and AMAZING week in Haiti (to which I plan to return to in September while Chris is in India), and absolutely crazy traveling roadblocks during that trip, I now have an update!
We are now on the official wait list!!!!
As of June 8 we were placed on the official wait list to be given a baby referral. We are scheduled to have our biometrics completed on Tuesday June 26. I would imagine this will take about 4 weeks to be officially completed, but we can possibly still receive a referral before then. I'm secretly dreaming that once Holt is notified of our completed and processed biometrics they will say, "Great, we've been waiting for that so we can refer this baby to you." Wouldn't it be nice? But, on the other hand there are some pretty big changes we hope to endure in our lives in the next 6 months that would not mesh very well with a trip to Korea and integrating a new baby in our home. Don't hear me wrong. This is obviously something that is hard to understand if you are not in the adoption process yourself, but when you are told 18-24 months you begin to believe that at month 18-24 you might bring your baby home. So, there is little difference in being pregnant and having your baby at 6 months and adopting and getting your baby at 12 months. Both can reek havoc on your home and be a HUGE blessing at the same time.
After we settle back down into the routine of life, I will be diving into more paperwork and grant applications. Also, Chris will be calling the potential buyers for our latest home this week. Please be in prayer with us as we show them the home. I call this home our "baby home" because the selling of the house plays a big role in our adoption.
I'll continue to keep you posted as we get updates!
Chris and Connie
We are now on the official wait list!!!!
As of June 8 we were placed on the official wait list to be given a baby referral. We are scheduled to have our biometrics completed on Tuesday June 26. I would imagine this will take about 4 weeks to be officially completed, but we can possibly still receive a referral before then. I'm secretly dreaming that once Holt is notified of our completed and processed biometrics they will say, "Great, we've been waiting for that so we can refer this baby to you." Wouldn't it be nice? But, on the other hand there are some pretty big changes we hope to endure in our lives in the next 6 months that would not mesh very well with a trip to Korea and integrating a new baby in our home. Don't hear me wrong. This is obviously something that is hard to understand if you are not in the adoption process yourself, but when you are told 18-24 months you begin to believe that at month 18-24 you might bring your baby home. So, there is little difference in being pregnant and having your baby at 6 months and adopting and getting your baby at 12 months. Both can reek havoc on your home and be a HUGE blessing at the same time.
After we settle back down into the routine of life, I will be diving into more paperwork and grant applications. Also, Chris will be calling the potential buyers for our latest home this week. Please be in prayer with us as we show them the home. I call this home our "baby home" because the selling of the house plays a big role in our adoption.
I'll continue to keep you posted as we get updates!
Chris and Connie
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