Moving!!

First of all, we are moving along well with the process. I found out today that Holden has had his Visa Interview and they are currently awaiting the P3. The lady I spoke to was very nice and told me to feel free to bug them everyday!!

Second, I am going to start a new blog. I feel that Holden needs a blog that has his name in the address. The new blog address is: www.holdensforeverours.blogspot.com

Third, hope that you continue to follow along as this ride is going to get interesting real soon!!!

1600 approval!!!

We got our I600 approval today and I am just over the top with tons of emotions!!! The I600, for those who do not know, is a very important paper you get from immigration that say you can bring an orphan into the states and he/she will be considered your relative immediately. This, is A BIG DEAL!!!

So, what does this mean? According to my agency, we will have approximately 6 weeks to travel. That's right, 6 WEEKS!!!

Why different emotions? Well, this whole journey has been such a different experience from what we have endured so far with China. This journey has been on course for the most part and this piece of paper, has made it REAL for me. I thought seeing my baby's face would seal the deal but this paper has just made it that much more REAL!!!

I am a mommy, my baby is waiting and I WILL get him!!!

So much to do!! I hope the next 6 weeks just fly by!! I love you Holden, hold tight little one, mommy and daddy are coming to bring you HOME!!!!

Catching up

I have a few things to catch everyone up on. First of all, June 18th, Holden turned 7 months. Not that I don't think about him everyday, I was especially thinking about him that day and how he was not in our arms yet, what we were missing and how I wished I had his cute little chunky cheeks to kiss on.

Second thing, I need someone to hold me back on buying things, especially shoes. This child has 13, that is right, 13 pairs of shoes already. I don't know what it is but I have this obsession with buying him shoes. They are all different sizes which is a plus but really, what am I thinking??

Third, we went on a mini vacation to the beach this last weekend. The girl that watches my pups is such a sweetie, she has become like family in the fact that I KNOW my pups are well cared for while we are gone. Anyway, she has a 10 month old son and that was a Shaka test. I know Squeezy will be fine with Holden but Shaka has these droopy ears and tail that I know Holden will want to pull on. So, my friend's son pulled her ears, took her toy and pulled on her muzzle and my girl said Shaka just looked at her baby like, "let me know when you are done so we can move on." I was happy a relieved to hear Shaka did so well, I was glad to hear that she should be fine with Holden.

Last but not least, I had fun celebrating a mini father's day with Rob. I got him a card and we just had time to relax and talk, get reconnected. We really needed to just have the time to be together. We are looking forward to getting Holden and having him in our arms and celebrating Father's Day together as a family next year.

Family

Telling my family was hard, they are never all in one place at one time. I wanted to tell my sister first but we wanted to tell everyone in person, not over the phone. So, I found out my sister was out at Animal Kingdom, my hubby works for one of the Disney participants so he can get in and out of all the parks. He tracked her down with picture in hand and told my sis and BIL (brother-in-law) that they were going to have a new nephew and showed them the picture.

The rest of the family, I got fed up and told them to meet me at my aunt's house at 4pm. I got one of the pictures printed out on photo paper at Target and the girl there helped me cut the pieces out and make it into a puzzle. I took the pieces over to my Aunt's house and handed the envelope to my mom. This was a 9 piece puzzle and she was taking forever so, I finally put it together for her. She said oh what is it? It looks like a set of eyes, I said that is your new grandson, she looked again and just got excited and was thrilled to see the picture of her new grandson.

That was how I told my family!! It was stressful but fun!!

We have been trying to get the painting finished in our house, we have bought a few things for Holden but we still need to get the floors replaced before we can work on his room. I am so stressed about it, I feel like there is so much to do and we are going at a snail's pace to get there!! UGH!!!

How did I tell Rob???

Ok, so, I left everyone hanging, I know!!!

I got off from work and I just was beside myself because I wanted to have the full experience of telling my husband the wonderful news. I have to say, Thank God the minute one holiday ends, they are already set up for a new one. I decided to get a Father's Day card and put the pictures inside. I was clever in picking out the card, I have this thing with Rob where I buy him cards out of the blue just to say I love you, I appreciate you and thank yo for being crazy enough to be married to me!!! LOL I got him one of those mushy cards that was not an obvious father's day card. It did say Happy Father's Day on the inside.

What I did, I made sure I stayed up for when he got home and I set up the camcorder, I told him I was filming the dogs doing some tricks. Not sure why he believed that but whatever. Anyway, I put the card on the dining room table and waited for him to come home. He came in and I greeted him of course, he worked his way over to the table and asked, "what's this?" I just replied, "oh, a card, open it." He did and he read it and then he opened the pictures, his leg started shaking so bad he had to sit down. He just sat there staring at the pics and said how cute Holden was, he also said, "he is not an Ethan". I said, "yeah, I know", he said, "he is definitely a Holden", I just smiled and said, "I know". I asked Rob how he was feeling ad he said, "terrified", I started to laugh just because I knew in that moment, it was REAL!!

That's how I told Rob but, how did I tell the rest of the family????????....................

May 14, 2010

This was an ordinary day with ordinary problems at work. I was getting antsy so I decided to email the NY agency to see what I could start getting together as a care package to send over. I asked what would be appropriate to send over for the foster family. I figured I would go shopping that weekend and see what I could find.

So, I was just sitting at my desk and my phone rang, it was a NY number so I figured it was the agency wanting to discuss my email. I answered the phone and of course it was the agency, the SW on the other end said she wanted to go over my email with me but first she wanted to discuss the referral they had for us. I said, "what, are you for real" and she said yes. They had been waiting for the local agency to get back to them so they could do a three way call but she decided to go ahead and tell me about the referral since they had already waited a day. I was in shock, I started crying, I was anxious, I just kept saying, "oh my God, oh my God." The SW said she would send over some pics of our son. She had told me his Korean name, his birthdate and anything beyond that got lost in the oh my God I am a mom translation!! LOL

I sat there and waited and waited and waited, it seemed like an eternity, I think it was only about 10 minutes. The pictures finally came and although they were in black and white and fax quality at that, I started to cry again, I knew this was our son and I knew for sure his name was not Ethan Jacob, that was not his name. I looked at him and just knew this name did not fit him. Luckily Rob and I had discussed other names and I knew he was a Holden, I was not sure of the middle name but the first name for sure was Holden.

Here I was, staring at my son's face trying to think of how I was going to tell Rob, what was going to be the most creative way to tell him. Then, it hit me, the perfect way to tell him.

May 7th 2010

Today is an important day for us, this marks the one year anniversary that we made the decision to pursue Korea. We had weighed all the pros and cons and made the decision to move forward with another adoption other than China. This day also marks a 7 month waiting period for us since we sent our paperwork to Korea. I feel like today is special because we were able to make a hard decision about how quickly we would like to be parents. We still have our paperwork in China, maybe that will work out, maybe it won't but we are at peace with what that may or may not hold.

Today, I am reflecting on the ability to move forward and have the knowledge that what we decided to do a year ago today was a decision that was prayed about and made with an open mind and open heart. I look forward to what the month of May will bring us. I know there is a flower blooming half way around the world for us and I can't wait to see our precious child's face for the first time. I know we are next in line for a referral and will probably be on edge for the next few weeks waiting for the phone to ring and to hear we are the proud parents of.............
I may not have a reason to celebrate Mother's day this year but I have a reason to celebrate life. I have a wonderful life with wonderful friends and family and the support we need.

Happy 1 year/7 months day to us!! Thank you God for giving us guidance and knowledge to follow our hearts. I know you are nurturing our child and everyone around him or her, hold our baby close as we are but a phone call away from a wonderful change in our life.

Happy mother's day to all the mothers and mothers to be!!!