Catching up with Life

The weekend and this week so far have been a bit strange. I started with a headache on Sat. which led into a migraine on Mon. It was so bad, I did not know which way was up. For some reason, I did not think it was a migraine, I just thought it was a headache that was being caused by the change in weather, I was feeling a lot of "pressure" in my head. Well, Mon. it reared it's ugly head pretty bad, I had to leave work because I could not keep anything down. It was not pretty!!

I am finally feeling better today but I hate taking medicine because it makes me a little woozie.

So, we found out today that my Brother-in-law had a heart attack over the weekend and no one bothered to call and inform us of this. I guess the thing that upsets me most is I always think that when things like that happen, you call family, that is like my first instinct. Whatever, it's Rob's brother so I guess they need to talk that one out. I will just sit on the sideline.

It does look like the condo is going to be sold, we are just awaiting the Home Owner's Association's approval??? Never heard of such a thing in my life, did not even know that was legal? Whatever, I just want to be done with that already.

I did hear that immigration, USCIS, is done with our updated I-171H so, I am expecting that any day now and then off to Korea with our paperwork!! That will be a day to rejoice!! That's what's happening in my little world, what's going on with you??

What to do?

So, I called today about the Ugly dolls that I got a duplicate shipment on and they said since it was their mistake that I could "donate" them. So........ I am thinking I will bring them with us when we travel and give them to a couple of the babies there? I am not sure, since our baby will not be in an orphanage, how will that work? Any ideas? I was thinking we should be able to take them over to the guest house for the babies but I don't know and I want them to be put to good use. I am open to suggestions if anyone has any.



This is Wage, the one in orange and there is Big Toe, the one in blue. They each have a story behind them.

Is the universe telling us something??

This week has been kind of strange so far. I was supposed to be off on Mon. and that did not happen due to a death in the family of a co-worker of mine.

My crazy family all decided last minute to hop on a 4 day cruise. They asked if we wanted to go but it was VERY last minute. They booked it on a Sun. evening around 4 and left Mon. at 11am, my work would not of went for that!!

So, on Mon. my hubby received a check sort of out of the blue for quite a bit of money that we were not aware he was entitled to until about 2 weeks ago. That evening we were discussing how we were going to save the rest of the money for our adoption, as we are trying to do it all out of pocket, no credit cards. It was funny because I had told my hubby that we need not worry as we would figure it out and that we would make whatever needed to happen, happen.

Tues. was not without excitement. My husband received a phone call about a piece of property we have for sale, it has been on the market right at a year. We have an all cash offer and it is scheduled to close on Oct. 1st if all goes well, keeping our fingers crossed there as that would relieve some of the financial burden for the adoption.

Wed. my hubby went and signed the contract for the acceptance of the offer on the property. I received my Ugly dolls and for some reason they sent a double order which of course, I have to call about as that is the only thing to do.

I am hoping that what the universe and God are telling us is, "get prepared as your life is going to change quickly". I am thinking these are all "signs", "indicators", "blessings", whatever you want to call them that our little one is preparing to come. Things have a funny way of working themselves out at the precise moment you need them to!!

It has been such a strange and exciting week, I am looking forward to tomorrow to see what's in store for us!!

I have always thought that this was not the path I would have chosen for myself, yet, the path that God has laid before me. Thank you God as this is a much more exciting and educational path, I am honored to be able to go down this path and meet the wonderful people I have met along the way. I am looking forward to the rest of the journey as I know that God will make it happen. He would have not shown me a path in which He, Himself would not be willing to walk with me. This is what we are supposed to do and we are supposed to touch other lives with our story.

Happy Friday!!

I got an email from our local agency today. The Home Study has been completed, it was sent off to USCIS (immigration) today and will be sent to the NY agency next week!! Yippee!!!!

So, I have another mommy-to-be who is awaiting her referral, she was having a down day so I sent her a poem. I thought I would put it here as it is my most favorite, darn thing makes me cry every time!!!

Kisses In the Wind

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.
I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

~~Author Unknown~~

A few days of catching up

Sat. Sept. 12th was Rob and I's 6 year anniversary. Unfortunately he had to work, it looks like our weekends are full so we will celebrate later in the month.

Sun. was an awesome day, we went to an adoption support group and it was interesting and fun. We had a chance to meet other couples and listen to their stories. Most of the couples have or are doing domestic adoption. After listening to the stories, domestic adoption still scares me. We did meet one couple who has 3 children adopted from S. Korea. The oldest one is 22 and I believe the youngest is 16? They are an interesting family, they have one bio child, 3 Korean children and one african -american child, quite a mix and range in ages. The oldest is 27 and the youngest 5. I don't know how it has happened but it seems as I may have the opportunity to help lead this group. It is exciting and a bit daunting at the same time.

Today, I received an email from a friend of mine asking how the process was going for us and as soon as I read her email, I got an update from my SW from our local agency. It seems they are just waiting for approval from the international director from the NY agency to approve the home study and then the local agency will print it, notarize and send it to the NY agency. Getting closer to our baby!!

I also received our pics from the photographer today and some books that I had ordered about Korea. It has been a good day!!

Child Safety/ child proofing

Every since we had our home study, there were things that the Social Worker (SW) brought up that I have been thinking heavily about. One of them is child safety/child Proofing. I decided to start doing some research on it to see what it would entail and what products I could find. I found a website that has tons of stuff, they have baby knee pads for crawling, stove guards, toilet locks, seems like everything you could think of and plenty you would not dream up in a million years but makes sense. I thought I would share the website with everyone and you all can check it out. Safety proofing. I am going to use this blog not just to report on our experience but to pass along info I find useful.

Jumping the Gun?

I know that once we get our referral, we will be able to send a care package. I guess I am a little ahead of things. I have already been scoping out items and have actually purchased a few. It's funny because my hubby and I want to send things that in later years will be relevant.

I found these stuffed animals in Vegas that I thought were just plain cute, I later read the story behind them and they have gone from cute to almost symbolic for us. They are called ugly dolls, if you are interested in reading the story behind them, you can go here http://shop.uglydolls.com/home/index/322.0 We thought it was perfect, we have order Wage and Big toe to send to our little one when the time comes. We will of course send a small photo album that is designed for children to drool over if they want and I am also going to look into a few of the discovery toys.

Anyway, I just thought I would share that link with my other S. Korea adoption mommies-to-be in case they were interested.

Finally!!

Well, I got very anxious and sent out some emails to find out what was going on with my home study. I guess I am a stickler that way but hey, sometimes you just gotta do what feels like harping on someone. I was told yesterday that I would get the draft of the home study this morning.

I got up just remembering what a day this was and where I was 8 yrs ago when the twin towers were hit and how surreal it was. I have mixed emotions about this day, I was actually sitting in an interview when portions of the days events were happening. That was a day that changed my life, I started working for a company that I would end up meeting my husband the very next day at. That fills me with joy so, you can see where this day brings mixed emotions for me. While people were loosing their lives, a path was being set before me.

Anyway, I got up and the first thing I did, before brushing my teeth, before showering, before saying hello to my hubby was check my email. I figured it was a long shot but why not. There it was, the email I was waiting on , I hear "AAAAHHHHH" as I opened it, it was almost like an angelic song was playing, a blinding light was coming from no where. Granted it was 7AM and I had just rolled out of bed and there were no lights on. But hey, it's my memory of what happened so just roll with it!! LOL I printed it out and read it once I got to work. Do you ever wonder if sometimes people just don't play jokes on you to see if you are paying attention? My name was changed to Jennifer 2x's in the report.

So, they are going to fix those 2 errors, add our billing address and hopefully if Rob reads it and is good with it, it will be on airplane or whatever it needs to be on to get to our agency in NY. From there, off to Korea!! I am hoping to have it where it needs to be by the first of Oct. at the latest!!

On a side note, this is also the eve my hubby and I's anniversary, tomorrow will be 6 years we have been married. We have know each other for 8, I plan to have many, many more years with this wonderful man. I tell you, this has been a good, good day!!!

9-9-09

So...today started off with a blast! Not!! Rob and I had a dentist appointment we could not forget, it was on 9-9-09 at 9, how funny is that? I had an opportunity at this point to ask when is the best time to start our future child with a dental program. I was told you don't really need to worry until they are 3. I explained about the adoption and all, they were really nice, they suggested that we bring the baby in after we get home and they would check the teeth out. they explained that children start teething anywhere from 4-6 months and that they thought it would be a good idea to bring the child in and they can see if the child had been put to bed with a bottle. I had heard that you should never put your child to bed with a bottle unless it is "PLAIN" water. The formula and "sugar water" can rot their teeth and affect their gums. I felt good that I had asked.

I am over-anxious today, I am not-so-patiently waiting for the draft of our home study. I was told oh 4 to 5 days and I will have it written up. I know how to count and it has been exactly 10 days since our final homestudy visit. If I subtract the weekend and holiday, that is 7 days, where is it already?????? I think I have emailed the local agency 4 times already about it and all I get is, she is typing away, she is working on it. I had your questions on the self study done in 2 days and that was "typing away" and 12 pages later, come on already!!! Sorry to vent but let's get on with it!!!

I am hoping to update very soon with the home study is done and on it's way to NY. Here's hoping!!!

Trying to figure it all out

I am off today and Rob is at work. I started thinking about books we should get. I was looking for Korean culture books, Korean cookbooks, books for children that deal with adoption, Korean music and then information on buying or creating a lifebook. I know I may be jumping the gun a little on these things but I was thinking, I need to learn some of these things now and not do a crash course.

The problem......I don't know which book or books on Korean culture would do what I want. I want my child to know about their culture and be able to "experience" it as much as a young child in America being raised by Caucasian parents can. I don't want a book that is boring or a tough read or gets to the point where I, myself, looses interest. Of course, everything I find, it seems like it is only available online and not in the store itself.

Then there is the children's books on adoption, I do not want one that uses the words or phrases, your lucky, we are lucky, you were chosen, you are the chosen one, we are blessed, you are blessed. I want a book that puts the word out there for the child, does not stress that because they were adopted that they are "special" any kind of way. I want a book that will open the topic up for discussion or has a positive connotation without being overly positive. I do not want to leave room for my child to ever feel or think if they act up or act out that they will be any less lucky, blessed or chosen.

I was looking for music, why can't just find some nursery rhyms or something that is sung in Korean? I want something that is of my child's birth country that we could both relate to. Something that could be used as a learning tool later on, a stepping stone for learning both languages.

On to the Lifebook, all I find is things that you should include in the lifebook. No samples, no on the first page, or how to start. Then, I see where you can out together a lifebook and they will print and bind it for you for $100 plus dollars.

I guess I am just frustrated that I can't seem to find exactly what I want. You know women get teased a lot about shopping, you never know exactly what you want. Well, this is a rare, off chance that I do and I can't find it!!!

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions, please feel free to share!

my impatience

So, you would think having been in the adoption game for over a year, I would have patience. Well, I don't!! I emailed the Social Worker to see how our home study was coming along as she now has to type it. I got, I am just typing away, I am hoping to have it to you soon!! UGH!!!

On a better note, we got our proofs back from the photo shoot we did and they were AMAZING!! I am excited to get the cd so I can get some prints made. I am SOOOO using my friend to do our pictures when we get this child home!!

Here is her website if you want to check out her work, I love it because it is sooo much more than just a studio shoot, she likes to go out in nature and take shots. www.aimeejunnilaphotography.com

The other thing I found exciting was since we are using our NY agency for the adoption, we see the baby the first day or two we are there for an hour or so with the foster parents and then, the next day, unless something unusual happens, we get our baby to have the rest of our trip and lives of course. That just makes me so happy, I have heard some agencies don't let you have the baby until a day or so before you leave! SCORE!!!!

Well, I still have more adoption education to do!! It is turning my brain to mush!