EP APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holey Moley................we got it.

EP APPROVED as of yesterday 4/28.

I cried and haven't stopped shaking since receiving the email. In just one short week our lives and this crazy roller coaster of adoption has changed sooooo dramatically. Last week at this time we found out we had been submitted for EP in early April. And now just one week later we have

APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are getting so so close...I can actually see the finish line....and it looks like a beautiful trip to Seoul and meeting our beautiful daughter!!!!

From here on out those wonderful people of Seoul will be working like crazy to finish these last few steps...

1. A travel certificate will be issued for little Miss.

2. She'll make her Embassy Appearance (EA) where her adorable little picture will be taken.

3. She'll have a Visa Physical by a doctor at the Embassy. And depending on his findings we may have to sign a Class B waiver...which may hold up travel for a week at most.

4. She'll have a Visa Interview.

5. All this will be placed in a packet called P3 and sent back to the US

6. Her Visa will be issued and...........................................

7. We'll get the TRAVEL CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In 4 weeks we could be almost in Korea, heading to Korea, or already in Korea. Can you believe it????????????????????????? I guess Korea in June sounds fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can someone pinch me..............I just can't believe soon soon soon we'll be meeting our baby girl.

Easter Fun

This post has come a little late....oh well, I guess when your an "expectant" mommy things can slide!!!

We had a fun Easter weekend. Jae-min loved coloring eggs.....
And very "delicately" dipped, took out, and re-dipped multiple eggs over and over again!!!
He was excited to see what the bunny brought on Easter morning. Although he went to Jaelah's basket first....because it is his favorite color right now....PINK!!!
He found lots of eggs that the bunny left. All Jae-min wanted for Easter was a magnifying glass and a toothbrush with batteries.....Our silly silly boy.....
And the little smarty pants used that magnifying glass to look for the eggs!!!! Very inventive if I do say so myself.
The fun he had "investigating" and telling us it was a "mystery".
The weather was perfect for an outdoor egg hunt with all of Jae-min's cousins.....yet our boy liked his new toy bubble blower better!!!!
Miss Jaelah received some awesome clothes that will come in handy when she gets home!!!! Thanks Easter bunny for leaving her her very first bathing suit, and her own magnifying glass. We hope you visited her in Korea!!!!!

EP Submitted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just when you think you can't go on one more day, the most amazing email appears in your inbox!!! We found out today that Yun-jeong's EP (exit permit) was submitted to the embassy. This is the news we've been waiting for. This is the beginning of the paperwork that needs to be completed in Korea before she can come home. And the best news is that her paperwork was submitted on......

April 6th!!!!!!!!

That's right.............she was submitted over 2 weeks ago and we didn't even know it yet. That's exciting because approvals are coming anywhere from 3-6 weeks from submission date. So we've got 2 weeks of waiting under our belts already. Wahoooooooooooooooo!!!!

Now before we get overly excited let's be real.....approvals can take up to 6 weeks and then after that there's lots of paperwork stuff that happens, usually taking 4-6 weeks more. But that's ok. Because we are on our way.........................Hang on tight.................the ride is in full swing now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you think???? Korea in June is now a possibility!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We'll be there soon, girlie. Now to work on the room and all the fun stuff. A HUGE weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Our dream is coming true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sesame Street Live!!!!!

On Saturday we took Jae-min to see Elmo's Green Thumb in the city. It was his first stage performance and he did well.....he loved seeing Elmo and all of his friends.He sat in his seat like a "big boy" until he heard the woman over the speaker talk about how it was going to get dark in the show.....um yeah, we have a little fear of that dark...so he spent the entire show on mommy's lap!!!
The show was full of dancing, singing, and laughter. Jae-min wanted to "go up on stage and see Grover", but we convinced him that we were the audience and Grover needed us to stay in our seats Haha

And if you look at the picture below....there were even some ladybugs in the show.....Yun-jeong was with us in spirit!!!!
We had a great time. We had been wanting to do something like this before traveling to Korea...something just for Jae-min!!!! And it was a fun family day!!!!

Korea Family Day!!!

On Saturday we attended our agencies Korea Family Day....a fun day full of presentations, fun activities, lots of chatting, and yummy Korean food. The entire group were families who have adopted from Korea. It was a bit of a surreal feeling to be among 200 families, all looking like your own. All with a similar story, all with a similar experience. They ALL went through what you went through. It was so nice to not have to explain the process, or your family, or how hard it is to wait and wait....each and every family just knew!!!!!!Jae-min had a blast with lots of Koran cuties, and we had a blast talking and meeting so many families, many of which we had met on line...it was fun to finally meet in person!!!
Jae-min loved the tae-kwon-do presentation, the korean drummers, and dancers. He was mesmerized. When all of a sudden he began rummaging in my bag and found the photo album with Jaelah's pictures. He opened it up and had her "watch" too!!! She was never far from our minds.....we were able to chat with our social worker and others who are helping us bring her home.

There were also 2 social workers from Holt and 2 foster mother's (omma's) that made the long journey from Korea. We honored them for their years of service and then they spoke through a translator. The omma's shared that each Monday the foster mom's and staff at Holt pray for the babies and their families waiting. I started to cry. Yup, big ole tears ran down my face. It's such a great comfort to know your baby is so loved and cared for. And it gives a small sense of peace to know that when she's not with you, she's loved beyond measure by these amazing people, many of who we'll never meet. But who love each and every baby who comes into Holt with such love and care. I am peaceful in the awesome Korean agency uniting us, in the awesome US agency who work tirelessly to unite us, and in our own hearts that these two children....born in Korea, were always destined to be ours!!!!

We had a wonderful day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New WBC!!!!

I opened my email today to find a new well baby check for sweet Yun-jeong!!! She's doing great

~weighing 20pds and is 29 inches tall.

~has 4 teeth on top, 4 teeth on bottom.

~able to stack several blocks and use a pincer grasp for small objects.

~plays social games (pat a cake, waving)

~drinks from cup and bottle

~has more words....omma, appa, baba, and now mama (which means food/eat in Korean) and she uses them specifically.

~Can now walk alone!!!!!

~And throw and kick a ball!!! Wow our little princess is going to be a sports star haha

She's assessing right at age level...14 months!!!

These reports are always bitter sweet. It provides comfort to know that she's doing so well and thriving, yet makes me cry every time I read one to realize all we are missing. She's growing up very fast....ah I just need her home!!!

On a big brother note....our little man has been very very sick. Last week we went to the doctors and he was having a severe asthma attack. He was put on his neb every 4 hrs with an added oral steriod. They wanted to see him again yesterday and discovered that now he has bronchitis. They gave him an antibiotic and want to see him again tomorrow. With all this sickness has come absolutely NO sleep (naps and night) because of the coughing. Which makes for one cranky, clingy, whiny, non eating, glued to the hip mamma's boy. My poor poor baby boy. It's so sad to see him soooo sick. Although during the last few days he wants to hold my hand and tell me "momma I love you sooo much" over and over again. Gosh, I love this boy!!! Wish he was feeling better, but I am loving all the snuggle time with my sweet boy.

So....looks like we've got one sick little one on this side of the world....and one healthy little one on the other side of the world. This mamma's heart can't take much more.

Coincidence????

When your an adoptive family waiting (and waiting and waiting) your mind can tend to wander (and wander and wander) about the most random things. So I ask you this....

Is It A Coincidence or Meant To Be????

Yun-jeong was born on Feb 1, 2010. That day seemed so familiar to me and then I figured it out. I went back through our saved emails and found that on Feb 1, 2010 we received an email from our agency informing us that their Korea program was reopened. That night Joe and I had a conversation about starting the process again....and at 9pm Feb 1, 2010 we emailed our agency and started the initial application process for our second child. Little did we know that the very night we decided to expand our family, our daughter was born!!!! As we were filling out paperwork with hope and excitement, her birthmother was giving birth and saying goodbye. On Feb 1, 2010 we said yes to adding another child to our family, and she had just been born.

A Coincidence or Meant To Be????

Today Yun-jeong turns 14 months old. My heart aches for a child I have yet to meet. I love her so much already and I have never even touched her. The other night Joe and I were talking and I made a statement about "watching the KIDS play in the back yard" He got this funny look and said that sounds so weird KIDS...but we are the parents of 2....one is turning 14 months today and just a world away. And we know that she was truly Meant To Be!!!!