1 Year of Waiting

Tomorrow marks our 1 YEAR anniversary on LL’s Korean Waiting list. We are currently #8 on the list….. which we are very happy about. If you would've asked me last year at this time where I’d thought we’d be; I would have told you much closer to #1. When we got on the list, waiting time to Referral was about 12 months and waiting time from Referral to Travel Call was 3-4 months. You may or may not recall, that babies in Korea are available for international adoption at 5 months of age (referrals are given to families when babies are 5 months old). So last year at this time, babies were coming home around 8 or 9 months of age. In the past year, the wait time from Referral to Travel call has significantly increased. Referrals are still given to families at 5 months but, the wait time until travel call has increased to 7-9months. This means babies are coming at about 13 – 14 months old.
I would be lying if I didn't say at times the wait really bothers me, and the idea of missing major milestones in our son's life makes me sad, and bringing home an older baby scares me a bit. But, most of the time, I'm okay with everything. It will all work itself out. We also now have all the uncertainty about how LL’s merger is going to affect of all this. We should know more about this by the end of the month. I’m hoping for positive news and not much change to the program….let’s all pray and keep our fingers crossed.

March..

March has been a pretty slow month at LL. There have been no boy referrals....which means we have not moved up on the list. LL announced earlier this month that they will be merging with another agency. This has us, and most families we talk with, feeling pretty uneasy. The reason being.... there are so many unknowns with this merger. How will this effect our "spot" on the list? How will this increase our wait time and what else will change? Money obligations, etc.?
I called the director of the International Program at LL to try and get some answers. But, there really wasn't much, "legally", she could share with us at that time. So, really we are just waiting until the final announcement is made to see what implications this will have on us. She did say one thing that sticks out in my mind. I asked her how this will effect our spot on the list and her response...."It's a good thing you are where you are and that you are already on a list"....Hmmm? Not sure what to think about that but, we'll just have to wait and see. Kirk and I just have to keep reminding ourselves that what was meant to happen will happen. Once you think you have everything figured out with the International Adoption Process....It will change ;)

A Huge positive....Our SW has finished our Home Study and sent it into DCFS...One more thing to check off the list.

DCFS License

We received our DCFS license in the mail on Thursday. Since it seems like our journey has been a little slow lately, this was a nice reminder that things are still moving along.

I just finished reading I Wish for you a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children. Our SW recommended this book to me a number of times but, really encouraged me to read it after our last meeting. I made some comments to her about how I can't even imagine the pain a birthmother feels knowing she will give up her baby. This book is a collection of letters written by birthmothers to the children they gave up for adoption. Many of the letters explain why the mother chose adoption and the life she hopes for her child. Some of the letters give some background leading up to the decision and some even speak specifically as to why the birth mother chose International adoption over domestic adoption.

Although, some of the cultural stigmas have changed since this book was published and it was very sad; I am SO glad I read it. It was almost like I was meant to read this book at this point in time. I’ve been thinking a lot lately that if referral timeframes stay on track (which as we all know, this could change at any time) our son has already been brought into the world and is just waiting to be placed with his forever family....our family.

Fractured Wrists

Our little princess went all out this time and fractured now 1 but 2 wrists. It's been about 2 weeks since she first hurt them. As most of you know, she is constantly moving...jumping, flipping, spinning. She is usually using some piece of furniture (even though we are repeatedly telling her..."you're going to hurt yourself")to practice her gymnastics and dance "moves". :)))) This time she was doing somersaults and jumping on our bed. We think she just landed wrong and her wrists buckled. They hurt a great deal at first but, she is doing really well now.


Here's a picture of her with her braces. We were so happy they did not have to cast them. She takes them off to shower and wash her hands and pretty much functions as normal. She's such a little trooper.


We go back to the doctor next week for more xrays. They will decide at this time if she can go without the braces or needs to wear them for a few more weeks.

Short but SWEET!....

Adoption update. I sent our SW a quick note today just to check in and see how things are moving along. She let me know we are #9 or #10 on the waiting list and our Homestudy is next in line for her to complete.
This is wonderful, happy news :) Happy Valentine's Weekend!

I am hoping and praying those families that received referrals months and months ago, can soon go get their babies. To make a long story (or explanation of the process) short, there are quite a few families who received referrals back in May and June that are still waiting to be called to Travel. I can't imagine what this wait feels like and hope everyday that things speed up and get back on track. The wait for a referral is difficult but, the wait from referral to TC (travel call) must be agonizing.

Fun Family Outing

Today we took Gracie to see Disn*y on Ice. It was fantastic! As you can tell from her expression, she was completely mesmerized. It was so fun to see the joy and excitement in her eyes.

Gracie home sick

Grace has been home sick the past few days. She started out with a bad cough and fever last Wednesday. She seemed to be on the mend until Saturday night when she woke up with a high fever, (it had gone away) coughing, and throwing up. I took her to the pediatrician on Monday fully expecting to be told it was just a virus and continue doing what we've been doing....(hydrating, rest and Motrin). That has happened to me many times when Grace seemed much sicker than she is now. I thought MAYBE she would give us an antibiotic. I was completely shocked when she told me Grace has pneumonia. You would never know it looking at the kid, now. Like the pediatrician said, pneumonia can be very sneaky. Great news is the high dose of antibiotics has made her feel so much better already. She's bouncing off the walls today and is very stir crazy.

Needless to say, being stuck at home for days in the middle of winter can get old real fast. But, we're doing our best to keep busy...

We have played numerous board games. These are Grace's favs right now.

Coloring, crafts and baking are also keeping us busy.....

....and lots of doll playing.

She does tell me I'm not very good at the pretending part of this one. But , I do try. ;-)