Catching up: Seoul June 2016

June 11: First day in Seoul: tried (and failed) to sleep in, breakfast in hotel, trip to a supermarket, lunch at cafe mamas, afternoon browsing at Itaewon, little nap, dinner of SPICY (but tasty) pizza at Salvatores Kitchen (in our hotel). If we can manage to stay awake we'll go find some dessert :) also missing our little man and fur baby.

Day 2: lots of walking (fitbit was happy). We went to church this morning, lunch at Paris Baguette (yum), walking, more walking, nap, more walking, and then after an unsuccessful attempt to find a burger, we ate more pizza.

Day 3: started the day with an early morning trip to emart where we found lots of stuff Jonah and Zoey don't really need :), PB&J at the hotel for lunch, afternoon nap and laundry, long evening walk searching for a burger but finding something much better (pasta, steak, AND pizza--be still my ❤), and finally a trip up the cable cars to the N Seoul Tower for sunset and the night view.
Our vacation/second babymoon is finally at an end. GOTCHA DAY begins in a few hours, at last. Can't wait to see our girl :)
Adoption is not all rainbows and sunshine. Our sweet children have experienced an indescribable loss, but we KNOW that in ALL things God works for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

June 13/ GOTCHA DAY: She's ours! We're just waiting to go to the embassy. Poor girl got in a fight with mosquitos and lost. she's doing very well considering it's nap time. Foster mom still with us so she's happy for now.
PM: Gotcha day: I'm just gonna be real here. It has been rough. Baby girl is sad. Like worst day of her life and she's too young to understand sad. Hoping for some sleep and a better tomorrow.

June 14: So thankful for all the prayers that went out last night. I finally got her to sleep last night around 9 with an extra bottle and snuggles. She woke up several times but mostly got a decent amount of sleep. Daddy was feeling better and got up with her this morning pretty early. She's now in the don't put me down phase, which I consider an improvement from laying on her face crying like yesterday. She is still a sad girl but she ate her breakfast and smiled a little when we gave her snacks. She's passed out right now. I'm just grateful that I can comfort her a little bit today. Nothing hurts a mom's heart more than a sad baby. Thank you for all the prayers and keep them coming. We head home tomorrow. #gratefulbutterrified

June 15: Last day in Korea: we are exhausted; just got little bug to sleep. We're heading to the airport very early and we are ready to be home. We had a laidback day with little miss. Just trying to keep her happy. She did not enjoy bath time but we did see more smiles today and finally some happy babbles. Getting better every day, but tomorrow will be tough for all of us. Good thing big brother is at home and well rested-it's his turn to cheer her up!

Catching up: June 9, 2016

Quick update:  We're in Detroit waiting for our long flight to Korea. We will arrive tomorrow night and spend the weekend getting adjusted. Originally we were supposed to take custody on Monday but they had to change it. the plan now is to take custody Tuesday morning and then our visa appointment is that afternoon. Lots of potential for an unhappy baby girl, but hoping she will handle it without getting too upset. Then we get to spend one more day with her before we head back. Back in Louisville on Thursday at 5!

Catching up: May 25, 2016

Big things today...Woke up to find out (unofficially) that our adoption is approved and our visa appointment is likely going to be June 14 (or 16)! We have not heard our official custody date yet but at least we know it's SOON! Also found out some long-awaited information about my future at work today so that is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I have been praying like crazy that the people I serve at work will be well taken care of while I take time for my family. GOD IS GOOD!

Oops, I forgot this little page...

After our court date, we did most of our updating on Facebook. I was recently contacted by several people who found me through the blog, so I guess I better update this thing. If this little page helps one child become one less orphan, it's worth the effort.
Updates coming...

Korea takes us to court, again.

It's much harder to blog the second time around. Maybe it's because life is a little overwhelming at the moment. It seems to ring true that house, cars, appliances, and life in general tend to fall apart when a family is adopting. Last time it was our house. This time, it is job related. Changes are coming for both Zach and me, so stress has been at a high level the last few months. 

Thanks to God, we know it will work out. I keep hearing songs that remind me of how God has got this, how he works all things together for the good of those who love him, and how things are not falling apart but falling into place. For me, this is a leap of faith to move in the direction we know we have been lead, but walking through a fog of uncertainty along the way. 

To update: 

-our paperwork for the EP (emigration permission), for Zoey to leave Korea, was finally submitted on January 27. 

-on March 11, we found out our EP was approved and our paperwork was submitted to court. 

-I estimated about 5 weeks to get our court date, but hoped for sooner. It was a perfect estimate because we got the news on April 15, for a May 13 court date. Best birthday present ever! I had the plane tickets and hotel booked by the end of the day, because that's what you have to do when you only have 3 weeks til you travel! 

Now we are in prep mode. Zach will probably have his suitcase packed by tomorrow but I tend to be up late the night before any trip despite my best intentions to pack early. 

Jonah is going with us, so it should be interesting. He's not the worlds best traveler, but we have broken our screen time rule and got him a kids kindle fire, for our own sanity. We have contacted his foster family and hope to be able to see them when we are there. We've been on trip advisor getting lots of ideas of stuff to do with our little dude. I kinda want to go here, just because of the phase of life we're in with Jonah: poopoo land, a theme park about poop! Check it out at playpoop.com 

We're really looking forward to heading back to Seoul. Though this country girl still gets a little freaked out by such a big city, it is a wonderful place. The people are mostly nice and wonderful. The food is amazing. So much cool stuff to see. AND 3 of my favorite people are from there ;) 

We get to Korea the day before Mother's Day, what a gift! We get to meet Zoey on May 10! We see the judge on May 13. We come home the next day. 

We don't know when we will get the call to go back and get her. It's hard to predict because we have a new judge that has only done adoption cases since February. There are only so many families in our In process group on Facebook so we don't know of that many families that saw this judge. We will just have to wait and see. Hoping and praying like crazy that it will be early June! 

That's all for now. Jonah is ready to share most of his stuff. We're ready to meet our girl! God writes the best stories, so we are looking forward to how it unfolds. 

Well here we go again...on the crazy

Well this time around I swore I wouldn't freak out during the waiting process. Of course I said that when it seemed like things would go quickly. Now it seems that we are stuck...again... with nothing happening. 

I haven't updated lately, but in a short nutshell:

-We waited FOREVER to get our home study approved because someone thought we should wait in line behind families without referrals, since we already have a kiddo. GREAT logic. Our amazing case worker went nuts on the director of our agency and got that cleared up. HELLO, it's not about US--IT'S ABOUT THE BABY IN KOREA GROWING UP WITHOUT A FAMILY. I managed to stay calmish for most of that. 
-Our home study was approved on 9/21/15. 
-We got our acceptance paperwork and overnighted it to our agency in Michigan the next day. It was in Korea by 10/1/15. More paperwork on 10/22/15. 
-December 31, Zoey turned ONE without us. We look forward to seeing pictures and videos soon. Koreans know how to do first birthdays!
-Jan 4, they requested MORE paperwork and let us know we would likely be submitted to the ministry at the end of the month. 

Jan 22, after 3 days of snow and potty training, I've officially lost my patience. I've stalked everyone on the facebook IN PROCESS group. There's not a lot of SWS (our agency) families in the same phase as us, so it's hard to guess. I'm making those darn timelines again even though I know they just make me more neurotic. It's just so hard to do nothing (nothing on the adoption front. I'm a mom! I NEVER do nothing!)

Waiting ever so impatiently, for our sweet girl. 

Oh snap, it's a girl!

The Facebook world has already been alerted, but this is a more detailed description of the shocking week we just had. 

When we started this paperwork phase about a month ago, we had a "plan", though God has taught us time and again that He laughs at our plans ;). (It's like he's patting me on the head saying "oh YOU have a plan. That's so sweet." 

Our plan was, start the paperwork now, get the home study done so we can raise money before we get a referral, and hope it's a girl. Well, the only part of our plan that actually happened was the girl !! 

Despite being warned that it is a miracle to get a girl from Korea, I just hoped without any kind of restraint that it would be a girl. We literally could not think of any boy names. 

The referral:

We are almost done with the paper gathering for the home study. I did my physical last week and Zach goes this week. We have one final employment letter to get, besides Zach's medical form, and we are done with our part of the home study. I've been asking lots of questions because for one, the paperwork has changed in the last 2 years since we did all this last time, and two, because I don't remember any of it! When our agency director called Thursday, I was at physical therapy with a heating pad on my just yanked neck. I had missed the call but called right back, thinking it was yet another form request or something. I was NOT expecting to be told they had a little girl that they felt would be a good match for us. Of course my pt and the techs thought I was insane with the gestures and crying, but they got to be the first to see her, after I called Zach of course. 

When we got Jonah's referral 2 years ago, we had to wait an excruciating 2 days to meet at Starbucks and see his pictures in person. This time, we got an instant email with details and pictures. Ah the joys of technology! Within 60 minutes the grandparents were alerted and I'd taken the study to our doctor to look over. There is no reason for us to say no based on her health and history. We are just required to have it reviewed before we accept. 

What's next:

Everyone is asking when we will travel. We have no idea! 

They tell us to prepare for anything from 6-18 months. Jonah came home 11 months after referral but there really is no average because things are always changing. 

The next steps:

-we officially accept & turn in a mound of papers

-we send our home study to Korea and they decide if they accept us (in a waiting child situation, our agency matched us. When you get a referral, like we did with Jonah, you are matched in Korea)

-if they accept us, we send a big fat chunk of money to Korea. (This is the leap of faith part)

-we get our legals

- we apply for her visa and wait for the paperwork to be submitted to the foreign ministry in Korea, and wait for the EP (emigration permit). This step is where we got bogged down for 5 months last time. 

-after EP, the agency submits to the court. Eventually we get a court date...travel to Korea twice and hopefully get our girl! 

We're so excited to finally have a sweet face to look at while we pray for our sweet girl. Jonah can't wait to meet his baby sister, who he been talking about non stop. Keep praying for sweet Zoey! Once again, part of my heart is on the other side of the world.