1 Month Down!!!!!!

...waiting for KB!! Today marks one month since we joined the line for a sweet bundle from Korea. Waiting stinks but we have committed ourselves to making the most of it. So, last night we realized this day was approaching so we talked and decided that each month that goes by in our wait we'll mark with a little fun activity to celebrate this journey to KB. So tonight this tradition began. We found a book titled Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born (after lots of time in Borders). Its a great adoption story for kids. We both loved it and decided it was perfect for tonight. We also have a special about festivals in Korea on our DVR so we plan to watch this too. Tonight we celebrate you, KB!!!!!
Some will probably wonder why we don't celebrate each month's anniversary for Ava. Well, that would just be too depressing!!!! We celebrate her each year on our anniversary of paperwork to China (it looks like we'll have plenty of those to celebrate). I was talking to a "friend" on an adoption group on line and she was complaining about waiting 6 months already for her baby from Korea. Little did she know that we are old pros. Its been 16 months in total for us. Someone recently said that your wait begins the moment God puts these children in your heart and mind. If thats the case we've been waiting far to long!!! Happy 1 month KB How many more to go?

Remembering 9/11

Today we remember exactly where we were on that sad day. We took time today to remember all those that lost their lives on that horrific day. Its weird that even after all this time seeing the pictures just sends chills through you. We learned from that day just how precious life is. I'll give Joe an extra kiss and snuggle tonight, knowing just how lucky I am!!

OOPS-we jumped the gun

As you probably have seen, in the world of adoption things move pretty slow. So, with that in mind Joe and I had seen that our fingerprints and immigration forms were expiring on Nov 2nd so being the organzied, worriers that we (well I) are we decided to reapply in August thinking it would take months to get it done. Nope, lightening speed!!!! That fingerprint appointment came quick and this weekend our new immigration form came in the mail. So, we basically "screwed" ourselves over by two months. And two months in the adoption world can be like years.
We were so afraid that there would be a glitch and it couldn't expire (as now we need it twice) that we panicked and did it way to early. It's good for 18 months so will we have to do it again? We just don't know. Oh well, better safe than sorry.
Someday we'll be able to relax again!! Someday when we see those sweet faces. Until then we'll continue to keep track of all this paperwork and get things done lickety split!!! Two months we could have used on the other end. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Stork Has Landed

...From China, that is. Referrals began arriving today alittle unexpectedly due to little to no rumors that they were on their way. It looks like the cutoff is 2/9/06 for this month. That's 9 days closer to seeing our sweet Ava. We'll take it!!!!

Mission Accomplished!!!

Today we had to be at the fingerprint office in RI by 8am. Why RI and not Boston you ask? We're not sure but after todays experience we'll take it, it was heaven!!! We arrived, filled out paperwork and brought it to a kind man who congratulated us on our adoption. We sat in a very short line and a very nice girl called and did our fingerprints in record time Whala done. Done I asked her? Yup they look great and you'll hear soon. The first time we went they had a hard time with mine (it's the teeny tiny fingers) but today the first try. She was really sweet and asked where we were adopting from. Lately, thats a tough question to answer especially if people don't have alot of time for us to explain. I first told her China and then knew Joe was coming next and would probably say Korea, and then she'd be very confused. So, I explained everything as she did my fingerprints. She was really sweet and interested. The whole process was great. And we were out of there by 8:25. Now what?

Well, we took advantage of the day off together and went into Newport and had a fabulous day. We went into an asian shop and found a small silk purse that I will use to house my new camera. There were beautiful silk table runners but they were very expensive. My plan is when we go to China we'll buy plenty of silk items at cheap cheap prices!!!!! A girl can dream right? All in all a fabulous day with the one I love. What could be better than that? Well, a fabulous day with the three I love (Joe, Ava, and KB-this is what we have been calling our baby from Korea), but we're working on it!!!!!

More contact, yahoo

We received an email from our contact person at the agency on Monday welcoming us officially to the Korea program. She had a very nice letter with our date of application as 8/19/08. There was still no mention of the homestudy to Korea date so we became alittle nervous. I decided to drop her an email and ask. Well, apparently this little term is not all its cracked up to be and really doesn't mean much. She said 8/19 secures our spot in line and thats all that matters. She explained it further but we won't bore you with the details. The only important thing is we OFFICIALLY JOINED THE LIST ON 8/19 and thats our spot in line. Yahoo.

She sent along other info as well. Info on escorting and traveling. Reading this info made me tear up and get this shaking feeling all over like maybe, just maybe, this could really happen!!! We just feel more guarded than ever and feel like if we say it out in the universe then we'll jinx it. Its so hard after this year of disappointment to get excited, but we don't want to look back after we have our baby and wish we had celebrated the wait more. We'll work through it. When we have quiet time we find ourselves dreaming of a new little face. And he/she is oh so adorable!!!

Rolling Right Along

Today I got home from work and Joe had multiple pieces of mail from the mailbox pertaining to our adoptions.(he always gets the mail when its the good stuff!!!) We found 2 very important documents from the government stating we have an appointment next Friday to have our fingerprints updated. It all worked out great as I took next week off because I have so much vacation time I have to use still.
We got info from our agency about waiting family groups now that we are officially waiting. We are very interested in these as we are hoping to connect with others who are waiting too. We plan to check them out. I guess when it rains it pours. All this action and then for months there won't be anything. Oh well over the past 15 months we've gotten very used to waiting. We'll be old pros by the time this is all done.