I-600 APPROVED!!!!!!

OMGOSH!!  Yes!! We are I600 approved!!  I posted this morning with a not-so-happy post, tired of the wait, really needing something,  blah, blah, blah.  Well,  I picked Tay up from school this afternoon, got home, checked the mail, and there it was -  our I600 approval!  This is the last approved  form we'll need from our government - thank goodness!  Soon it'll all be up to the US Embassy in Seoul, Korea!

I can't believe it happened so fast.  Last Thursday, Mike and I went early to try and get our fingerprints done for the third time in 3 1/2 years. When your fingerprints are printed, they will expire in 15 months, silly, I know,  why would they expire?  It's not like your fingerprints ever change?!?!  We did finally get the appointment sheet, but it was for October 7th - nope, not good enough I said!  Got word that we could go in earlier than that, so we did.  Walked out of that office in 30 minutes with them completed.  Then, after leaving there, I went to my mom and dad's house.  I had arrived there  with my cell phone ringing with an "unknown" caller, it was USCIS wanting a copy of our completed Home Study, and our I-171H approval.  I ran home right then and faxed them. So I'm thinking..... this approval  may take a while.  I was hopeful for maybe a week to process?  But I was trying to think more logical, okay it could take more than a week, but I'd sure like to hear something by Friday of this week.  Got home today and my wish came true!

On the form it said "Approval Date" - September 24, 2010.  So that means we were approved (1) day after we had our fingerprints done- (1) day - WOW!!!  I've never heard of anyone getting approval (1) day after prints were completed.  I know it had to help that this was our third time getting them done, but "holy cow!"  We were fingerprinted on Thursday and were approved the very next day!  Have ya got all that or do I need to say it again!?!?  Yeah, I know, like I have to repeat it one more time?! :)

So now, we wait, yet again!  Now that our I600 is approved, it will be sent to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire.  The approval will then be sent to the US Embassy in Seoul, Korea.

Nothing here either....

It's Thursday morning.  Nothing new, nothing to report, nothing received.....just plain ole NOTHING.  I've got one more day of this week to get through, waiting for "something".  We'll see tomorrow afternoon if anything should come our way.  I thought this whole process would be hard, but it's true what other adopted mothers say, "the last part of the wait gets harder and harder."  We know Aiden will be ours soon, maybe that's the hardest part, knowing he's ours and we can't have him home yet.  I'm nervous, excited, happy, sad, anxious,  just a bundle of emotions these days.  I know there's an end in sight, but it sure is hard waiting for it.....

It's Monday in Korea...my thoughts

Yes, it's Monday in Korea, but it's Sunday night in the US.  So what's going on over there?  I could really use some sort of news this week.  Last week was Korea's (like-Thanksgiving) holiday, so their offices were closed all week.  I didn't think too much about it (okay, I thought about it only half the time).  : )  I worked a lot this week, which I was thankful for.  It kept me very busy,  I was so afraid the week was going to drag on and on and on....

I sent Aiden's care package on Sept. 13th.  I would love to get a new picture with him and all his goodies!  He's probably changed so much since the last pictures were taken.  Would love that next Well Baby Check too!!  Haven't had one since his July WBC was emailed to us.  I think we're about due, don't you?

In talking with the girl from USCIS in Missouri last week, she gave me some hope that maybe our I600 could be approved soon!  Would love to hear by this Friday if that was approved, but I guess I'd better not count my dad's chickens yet. (Yes, he really does have chickens!)  <*)

I try not to get too excited most of the time, you never know when the rug will be pulled out from under you and you go sailing!  And I hate to be tripped up and let down, so I try to stay more neutral.  I know most people may not understand why I seem so quiet, and even calm.  Everyone has their own way of dealing and I am no where near "normal"!  ; )  I'd just like to hear something this week, that is my main thought for now....

Well........we got 'em!! (fingerprints!) :)

Yep,  that's right, we got 'em (fingerprints)!  Mike and I left our house at 7:05 am this morning.  We arrived at the Application Support Center at 7:53 am.  For those of you who live near us, it's down and across the street from Nashville Airport.   We stood outside with a few other people waiting to go in, the ASC opened at 8 am. While we were standing outside, I noticed an older couple waiting to go in also,  they spoke with an accent, but I couldn't figure out where they were from.  (After we were inside for a few minutes, the guard asked them about their weather in Belgium.)  There also was a young man waiting.  He was talking on his cell phone, he had an accent too.  About that time they unlocked the door, a lady stepped out and said please turn off all cell phones.  I left mine in the car, I didn't want to forget and accidently leave it on and then get kicked out because it rang! (They probably wouldn't have done that,  but I didn't want to take any chances!!  See?  I'm schizo!)

We went in behind the others, waited in line and then a lady motioned for us to come around.  We gave our appointment forms to her.  (I stood there, just waiting for the, "your appointment isn't till Oct 7th" comment.) She asked to see our TN drivers license's, and then we each had to show her the palms of our hands.  She stamped our papers, signed them, stamped today's date on them and said fill out the top part of this form and we'll call you soon.  Holy cow! (as Mike would say!)  We're getting them! Yah!!

We sat down and filled out the little bit of information they wanted.  The guard called us up and checked  our forms.   I was beside myself!  I put Davidson county in the blank where they were asking  "country of birth" - duh!  I thought it said "county of birth"!  The guy just marked through it and put USA, no big deal.  At that point I didn't even care, we were about to get them done early!

We waited another 5 minutes and the lady called my number.  I stepped up, she scanned my fingers, asked about our adoption, what country, etc.  She was super nice!  She looked the prints over and said I was good to go!  Mike was after me.  Same thing with him.  By 8:30 we were outta there! :)  Needless to say, I was so relieved.

Mike went onto work, I left to go back towards home.  I decided to stop at the Parent - Teacher store in Rivergate to find a map to give as a  gift to the Foster girls in Korea.  I hadn't given up on my original idea of a map of the US that had neat colors and all the states outlined.  I found one! It was only $3.00, laminated, all the states were colored, outlined, and really easy to read the names of each state.  It was a good size too,  standard notebook paper size.  On the other side of the map was a world map - I thought, even better!

I was headed to my mom and dad's house then.  I got there, pulled up to their house and my cell phone rings.  I looked at the display and it said "Unknown, No number".  I thought - telemarketer!  So I answered it.  This girl asked if I was Leah, I said yes.  Then she proceeded to tell me she was with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,  USCIS, in Missouri.  Another "Holy Cow" moment!  I almost couldn't keep up with what she was saying.  She spoke slow, I was just in shock!   She said she needed a few things for our I600 that they received.  I almost had to slap myself to reality!  I said  hang on so I can get something to write on.  She said all they needed was a copy of our completed Home Study, and a copy of our I-171H (the approval notice we received from our I600A).  She gave me a fax number and gave me the info to put on a cover sheet.  I came to my senses pretty quick and asked her if she had any idea if/when they would get notice of our fingerprints.  I told her we just had them done this morning and she said she would put a note on our file that our fingerprints were completed that morning.   She said their office should see the approval of our fingerprints by Monday of next week - AWESOME!  She said she tried our home number first, but decided to try my cell number to see if she could reach me, thinking I could get those papers for her sooner!   She was awesome!  I told her I was running home after the call and would fax them the papers!  When we started this process I bought a fax machine, I figured we might need one.  Best investment I ever made!! : )  I ran home, found the papers, filled out the cover sheet and fax those babies quick!  I am so hoping this makes for a quicker turn around in Missouri!  I can always hope right?  At this point, it's all I have!

Well........we'll see....

Well,  tomorrow morning Mike and I are heading out  to "try" and get our fingerprints done early.  We did receive our appointment form from USCIS.  We were scheduled for October 7th, which is not quick enough for me.  Got a tip that we could try to go in earlier than that appointment time, so we're getting up early and heading out.  Mike's dad is going to be at our house by 7 am to take Tay to school  so we can leave and head out earlier.  

This seems like the last "thing" we have to complete.  Is that possible???   Of all the paperwork, tasks completed, and visits here and there, this is the last thing?  I probably should stop asking or something will miraculously appear that says, "Please complete and return"!  It's been 4 weeks since we sent our official paperwork to USCIS.  I'm sooooo hoping our re-fingerprints in the system will speed up our one of many approvals we need.  I really hope Aiden can come home before Christmas, and his first birthday, which is January 3rd!  I love the fact that Aiden's birthday is 4 days after our daughter Taylor's birthday!!

I can't wait to get the reprints done, it will be such a relief!  What am I saying!?!?  I can't wait for Aiden to be home so we can start our new life together! We've been "in" this process for 3 & 1/2 years!   I'm thinking it will be a long time before I know what it's like NOT to have the weight of this process hanging on my shoulders.   I really can not imagine how that will feel.  

I am consumed....

I had a day off yesterday  which was Friday - Yah!  Got a lot done around the house and outside.  We even got the final paperwork  on our home computer for the lightening strike that took out all our electronics upstairs over a month ago - grrrrr.  Now we've got to fill out another paper and send it into our insurance company and pray they give us enough to cover at least some of it what we lost.

Our dentist office called and wanted to verify that Mike had an appointment on Monday.  I said I'd check with him and if there was a problem I'd call back.  I emailed him at work and asked if he could make it then, told him a little of what I was doing around the house and waited for him to email back.  I was in and out of the house, cleaning, picking  up, etc.  So he emailed me back and said yes to the dentist appointment, and some other things.  I emailed back and asked if he wanted to ride the bikes this weekend and blow the cobwebs off of them.  He emailed back and asked if Taylor would be going and if not what could she do instead, that the weather was going to really nice and it would be nice if we all went since I'm 'consumed with this adoption 90% of the time'.  Hmmmm.... Didn't think too much about  the comment right then, but it stuck in my head.

Today is Saturday, we all got up, none too early - it's Saturday - YAH!  Took showers, had breakfast, did a few things and decided to go ride the bikes.  So, Mike, Taylor, and I  went down to Hendersonville's Indian Lake area and decided to eat at Red Robin.  While we were waiting for our food, I asked Mike what he meant by that statement - "consumed 90% of my time",  keep in mind I'm not angry or upset, just wanted to know his thinking at that time.  He mentioned that I spend a lot of time on the computer in the evenings, notebook beside me, always thinking/preparing for the next 'step', and how much time I spend  "thinking about the adoption of our little boy".  In all fairness, he's right.  I do spend a lot of time on the computer in the evenings (researching),  uhhh the afternoons too, and yes a little in the mornings, in between checking on Taylor to see if she's getting ready for school.   Am I consumed???     I asked him did he really think I was consumed 90% of the time?  He said, it may just seem that way.  Of course the only time we're all together is in the evenings after work, school, and before bedtime........when I'm on the computer.  And yes it's true, I am totally consumed!

I think about this process close to 90% of the day, kind of a shocker to me! It's true though.   But how could I not?  It's all I have at this point, all my thoughts are surrounded by this process, what's next, what needs to be done, what we'll need in the close future.  You start out this process with the "it'll happen one day".  Then you move a little further with the "one of these days".  Then you get to the "one day soon" to "is it ever going to happen?!"   This process is not for the weak, not for the strong, not for the impatient, not for the sain.  This is what we Adopted Parents go through to welcome a child into our homes.  But it's so worth it in the end!

We finally received our fingerprinting appointment!  They have us scheduled for October 7th.  Hmmm .....  that's just NOT going to do, now is it?!  I've read on the Forum that other parents have gone into their fingerprinting places and had them done early.  I thought - YEAH!  We're going do that too!  We're  going to try next week.  I've been told if we get there early, a little before 8 am,  maybe we can get them done fast and be out of there.  But this place is very close to the Nashville airport, and Tay has to be taken to school, so not sure what we're going to do about that yet, but I'll figure out something.  May have to call on a grandparent. ; ) I sure hope this helps move our I600 approval along.

I have been stalking our email every morning and afternoon waiting for anything really, a Well Baby Check would be nice!  I've been told that August is  a busy month over there and to not expect a WBC...... bummer.  I'd so love an update on how Aiden is doing.  Is he walking yet?  How many teeth does he have?  Is he eating good?  I guess I really don't have to tell you I'm tired of waiting.

Just heard from Mike.  We're going Thursday morning of next week to try and get fingerprinted! YES!!!

But...... next week is  Chuseok  in Korea, which is kind of like  Korea's Thanksgiving.  Their offices will be closed on  Sept. 21, 22, 23.  So it's VERY possible that nothing will be happening that whole week if workers take off Monday and/or Friday since Chuesok falls in the middle of the week.  If you're curious about Korea's Thanksgiving, try this link:     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuseok

Sent it today.....

I finished work today around 3:30.  I ran down to Wal Mart to pick up the rest of our photos to put into Aiden's photo album.  Ran back up to the post office, got there at 3:54.  They closed at 4:00!  Oh no, and there were 2 people ahead of me!  I got the big flat rate box from the clerk because they were out of them on the shelf in the lobby.  I packed that box as fast as I could, time - 4:06.  The girl came around to lock the door, so no one else could come in, but I was locked in, no matter,  I kept packing!  I taped that box up, turned and looked at the clerk with a "please help me 'look' on my face and don't make me leave and come back tomorrow!!"  Judy said,"I'll get ya right here at this window" -- YES!!  She gave me a label to put the address of the Holt office in Seoul, Korea.  I filled it out, then ran out of room at the bottom -- ugggg!  Had to ask for another address label - time 4:10!  I gave her the box and she said, "oh this is gotta go through customs." OMGosh,  then she gave me this receipt to fill out with things like 'list items in package, the addresses', etc,  time - 4:15!  Judy  never said anything, just kept working!  I finally filled that out, gave it to her and she put all that info into  her computer, time - 4:19!    

Then she let me take a picture of it! Time - 4:22!  Judy at the White House post office is AWESOME!!!!!  She did all this and never complained.  I thanked her twice and tried to hurry up and leave.  I am going to drop by there in the next day or so and give her a thank you card and $5.00.  She went above and beyond and she deserves something!!!   

Yeah, Aiden's care package is on it's way!   The next time Aiden's Foster Mother takes Aiden to Holt for his monthly checkup,  the Holt workers will give them his care package.  Most of the time when a child received a care package,  Holt will take a picture of the child and his/her care package and send it to the adoptive parents!  I will be stalking my email for the next month.  (I do this already to see if we've gotten any notices from other things, waiting to be approved.) So now I'm on double duty checking email!!   I am sooooo glad to have that  on it's way!!   Life is good!  :)

OMGoodness! Could this be?

Got a message on Facebook from a friend yesterday that made my day!  I don't have time to explain it all right now, but I will try my best to get it on here as soon as I can!  Wonders never cease!  We may be able to get our fingerprints done without waiting on the notice letter of appointment time from the government! And yet again.....waiting.........

Checked the mail......

I've ran to the mailbox all week, looking for our appointment time for fingerprints.  --Nothing--  I know, I know, Hailey our Social Worker just sent  me the email saying we "should receive something soon".  There always has to be hope, ya know?

Mike, Taylor and I just got back from running errands.  We had some photos of us printed to put in Aiden's little photo album.  The album was one of the things I'm sending in his care package.  I'm hoping to send his care package this week.  Still had to get a few things in order for that.  Here's a glimpse of the items again.

I've changed my mind about the Funshine toy and the Aquaphor.  I'm going to send it in the next care package.  Yep, Aiden's gonna get another one in a month or so, hehehe! :)   There's one thing I'm adding to this care package though.  We went to Barnes and Noble today to try and find a laminated map of the United States that wasn't too big, but not too small.  Found one, it's not exactlly what I was looking for but it'll do.  My idea behind that was to outline Tennessee  with an arrow pointing to it to show the Foster Family where we live in the US.  I had a thought that if the Family fosters more children after Aiden, they might can keep up with what state the other families are from.  Surely they can figure out our map, right?  Do I get an 'A' for effort?  Or did I fail miserably?  Well,  I am the one that came up with the idea,  so I'd give myself an 'A', but in all reality I might have gotten a 'C'.

I can second guess myself all day long about this kind of stuff.  Korean culture is so different from ours.  It's hard to try and figure out what is appropriate and not appropriate.  On the Korean Forum, the moms have posted so much about what can be considered good gifts verses bad gifts.  As an adoptive family, gifts are considered appropriate.  So when we travel to get Aiden, I will have a carry-on suitcase full of gifts for everyone who will be there to help us:  the driver that picks us up from the airport,  the volunteer tour guide who will show us those amazing sites in Korea,  the doctors and nurse at the Holt office,  the Social Worker at Holt, and not to mention the gifts for each of the Foster Family-- the father, mother, two daughters - ages 15 & 17!  So how am I supposed to know what's appropriate for each of these very important people!?!?  Thanks to those great moms on the Holt International web Forum,  I now have a clue!  Thanks ladies!!!!!!  :)

Don't ya just love the government?!

We've been waiting on our appointment time  and date to get re-fingerprinted because our fingerprints expired on July 30, 2010.  Let me try to  explain exactly what that is, for those of you who don't know.   At this point, I can't remember if our agency or the government requires us to have fingerprints done......hmmmm, it's been so long I'm not really sure now!  I think it's for the government, because the FBI has to check our record to see if we have "anything" on our record! (Which we don't!)   Anywho,  the first time we got fingerprinted, it was weird to say the least.  It was back in October of 2007, we went to some small office out in Nashville.  We went in with our appointment paper and signed in.  Waited a while, then we were called.  We went into another room with these big machines.  The people taking the fingerprints  would take one finger at a time and roll it over a small screen on this big machine, digital  images, kind of neat.  The lady had to do a few of mine two or three times.  Then some guy came by, looked at them and okayed them.  Mike's process was the same.   They signed/stamped our "paper" then told us we're done.  I almost felt like we were criminals lol! Weird I tell ya!

Since this was so long ago, I checked my binder that has all our important adoption "stuff" in it.  I  just looked back at our original (2007) notice to be  fingerprinted from the U S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  We were first fingerprinted on October 27, 2007.  Our fingerprints were in connection with the government form - I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition).   One of the first documents we had to be approved for.  It's a form the government looks at after they've checked our fingerprints with the FBI to make sure we're not terrorists - and I do NOT say that lightly!  After our record showed clear, and they did whatever else it is  that they had to do,  they sent us an approved I-600A.  This approval came in the form I-171H.  The I-600A form is "good" for 18 months.   It basically said, yes you can start your process to  adopt a child internationally - THANKS government, glad we have your approval! :)


If during that 18 months, we had not completed our adoption, the form expired and  we would have to submit it again.  Which we did.  Also, keep in mind each time you submit your I-600A for renewal it's not free, they want money to process it! Thanks again government!

Now back to the fingerprints.  When we were fingerprinted in Oct 2007, we had 15 months until THEY expired.  If we had not completed our adoption in that time, we would have to send a letter to USCIS requesting to be re-fingerprinted., which we did.  Then they would send us another letter with an appointment time and date to appear at the "fingerprinting place" which they did. So we went and had our fingerprints taken, again. WHEW!

Now up to July 30, 2010. Our fingerprints expired, yet again!  So on August 1st 2010, I sent our official letter stating we were requesting to be re-fingerprinted   to our Social Worker (so she could send it in) and a check for the amount to process it - THANKS again government!   I have waited and waited and waited for that appointment time and date form.  Last week I sent our Social Worker and email asking exactly when she sent it to USCIS.  She answered and said she sent it on Aug 3rd.  OOOOOkkkkkaaayyyyy,  that was almost a month ago.  Is the government that slow on simple processing? (Yes - stupid question huh?!)  I checked and the bank stated that the check posted on Aug 6th!  Ummmmm  HELLO!?!    You collected payment a month ago and haven't sent notice yet?!?!?!  Don't ya just love the government?

So, I sent an email last week stating all the info I was told to submit to USCIS and asked what our status was as far as getting re-fingerprinted?!?  No response for a week!  I was very patient during that month of waiting, really I was.  I said to myself, I'm not going to pester them,  I'm going to wait for our paper to arrive and we'll go get our fingerprints and this will not hold us up at all!  Well, a month is all I'll wait.  After getting no where with  the girl on the phone at USCIS (she's the one I talked to that said, send an email with "this" information and they will answer you),  I decided to email our Social Worker, knowing there was nothing she could do.  She answered me back the next day and said, "I got in touch with USCIS that's handling your case and you should be receiving your appointment time in a few days."  OMGosh, thank you Hallie (our Social Worker)!!!!

Here I am, waiting on that appointment sheet from the USCIS..........again.

I don't write all the detail to bore you.  Just trying to give you some idea as to what is involved in this process. We started our adoption journey in March 2007.  It is now September 2010.  That's a long time to keep your heart and your feelings on hold!

Aiden,  we are going through so much to get you home with us.   Each little thing is accomplished and we're another step closer to you.  I had a dream about you last night.  You were so close but so far away.  I could see you, but I couldn't touch you.  I can't wait till I can see you and hold you!  : )

What is he doing?

Happy Labor Day everyone!  I can't help but think of Aiden more and more each day.  I wonder what he's doing right now.  Well, thanks to my wonderful hubby Mike,  I now have a clock on my blog that displays the time and date in Seoul, Korea!  I tried and tried to figure out how to get it on my blog.  I'm not a computer tech person like he is and I feel like I've struggled to figure this "blog" thing out! (I'm getting there!)  He figured it out, so now I CAN  imagine what Aiden is doing all day long, every day! ((OMGosh, do I really wanna know that?!))  YES, I do!  :)   My guess right now?  He's up for a night time feeding, or he's fast asleep in his foster home.  Some days, I really get excited and can't wait for him to be home with us!  Some days,  when we're in the throws of home life, what it would be like with him here, and some days I get shear terror thinking, "what was I thinking?" Yes,  I already have fears!  BUT,  I know in my heart he is the one for us and we are the ones for him!

Is he walking yet?  What sounds does he make?  What does his laugh sound like?  What facial expressions does he make when he's mad or sad?  What is his favorite toy?  Is he eating good?  How much does he weigh?  I wonder all these things sometime.

My hopes for  this next week -  we'll get  the August WBC (Well Baby Check).  My hopes for the other AP's is that they get their Emigration Permits, ALL approvals,  and Travel Calls, !  I could really use some new information!  As far as the wait - uhhhhhhh.  Still waiting...... (hope everyone has a great Labor Day!)  :)

Now we wait....

Now we're waiting on all those documents to get approved.  The first document we need is our I600 approved, like I said that could take 6 to 8 weeks, depending on if there aren't any bumps in the road.  And from what I've heard, anything can happen at this point.  I've heard stories of  AP's  (adoptive parents) finding out their child's Korean name, which has to be on all paperwork correctly because it is their legal Korean name until they are adopted here in the US, was spelled incorrectly!  Then you have to call that specific office and try to get it corrected in their system  before other paperwork is submitted with the wrong spelling, yes that makes it void! NOT GOOD when you're on a timeline~!  We are pretty much at these peoples mercy.  One parent was told they didn't send a much needed updated Home Study with their documents and the worker said it would sit on a shelf till they received their updated Home Study!   To my understanding, we are at these workers mercy.  Some parents have had their paperwork submitted rather quickly, others have had struggles and delays.

So, how do I make it through all these "wait" times?  I've become a "stalker!"   Holt International has a  great web site: http://www.holtinternational.org/.  On this web site is literally tons of information!  I go to  the "Holt Forum" everyday.  There, they have this Bulletin Board  which is a Web Community.  This is for all families in the being of the adoption process as well as those that are seeking support prior to the adoption process. They have a Forum for every country people are adopting from and it is a world of information!  It has literally been a life saver for me.  I do not know how people can go through this process and not have this much information or help!  I go to the Korean forum (you would've guessed that huh?!).  The community of women and sometimes men are a life saver when it comes to help and support!  If I'm having trouble understanding something, I can post a question or even just a comment and they respond with "everything they have!"  I've had to get a small notebook and write things down that I want to remember, so much great info! Thanks ladies! ; )


So, lots have asked why Korea?  Why adopt from there?  Well first and foremost, the children are adorable!!  (Have you seen the picture of Aiden on the page there? Need I say more about that!? )  As Julie from Catholic Charities first told me,  "these children are well taken care of  and have excellent medical records!" And yes she said it with the (!).  She sounded  really excited when she said that.  She also said we didn't have to travel to Korea to get him, that he could be escorted to us in the US.  I thought WOW, that's great.  But now, after reading so much about Korea and all the other moms stories and their travels to Korea,  I talked to Mike and we've changed our minds and we're going to travel and go get him!  I'm really excited about this!  We have to be there, in Korea,  a required 3 - 4 days, and factor in 2 whole days for traveling.  I'd say it'll take a week.  All the moms have posted on the Forum about the history, sites, landmarks, and of course the souvenirs!!!  Taylor has already put in a request for a souvenir!   I wish she could go with us, but it would be too nerve-racking for me!  You that know me, I'm already a spaz when I'm nervous!  ; )  I just feel this was our choice to be.  It feels comfy and I think we made the right decision!  It fits!

Now, about the children, have I mentioned they are adorable!?  Another great thing Julie at Catholic Charities told me is that most of the children are in foster homes with whole families!  There's usually a foster father, foster mother, foster children, even inlaws sometimes.  This is the same with Aiden.  He has lived with the same foster family since he was given up for adoption at birth.   Holt took custody of him and he's been with this family ever since.

Every month these children are seen by a doctor for a Well Baby Check (WBC).  We received all of Aiden's medical check ups since birth with his file, and we will receive any check ups from now on till it's time to go get him.   I'm stalking my email because it's almost time to receive another WBC soon.  I'm dying to get another picture, but may not get one : (.  But I'm also dying to know his progress!  Dr. Plemmons  at Vanderbilt said each time we get updates to send them in and he'll review them and if there's anything significant, he'll let us know.

Another thing about the wait is AP's can send "care packages".  We send them directly to the Holt office in Korea. So when it's time for the children's check up, the Foster Mother brings the child in and Holt will give the care package to them when they arrive each month.  I've gotten Aiden's care package all together and waiting to send it!  It's complimentary to send little things for the Foster Family, so this time I picked hand lotion for the Foster Mother  and sweet smelling peach hand sanitizers for the Foster Siblings (both girls). For the Foster Father, I picked some Chow Chow relish.  It's made here in a neighboring town to where we live.  I have no idea if he'll like it but it's kind of traditional to give things that were made here in the USA.  Since it was made near us, I thought it was appropriate.  (Really have no idea what to get him!)  I'm waiting on a WBC for August before I send it.  Most times when a child receives his/her care package Holt will send a picture of our child with their care package.  I'll post that picture as soon as I (hopefully) get Septembers WBC!

Trying to catch up...still.

As I said in yesterday's post, I'm trying to catch you up to where we are now. And as I also said in the email that went out last night, this will be therapeutic for me! (I sure hope so, there's just no getting around the "waiting" issue!!)

I left off with Dr. Plemmons at Vanderbilt's Adoption Clinic and having a conference call with him.  Keep in mind, I'm in Myrtle Beach with friends over the weekend, trying to have a good time and not worry about this adorable little boy that was about to come into our lives and the upcoming decision we had to make!!!  Yeah try that one on for size!!  UGG!!   Dr. Plemmons had Aiden's medical file and had a chance to review before our conference call with him the following week.  When the call came, I had pen and paper ready to write anything and everything if need be on our little boy.  Dr. Plemmons (to sum up) said he's a healthy little boy and he was surprised to see him on the Special Needs list!  He kind of  chuckled a bit and said this little boy is growing fine, weight and height were in the normal range, head circumference was good, motor skills great, and developmentally on target, etc.  So,  the first thing I asked was, "what about the meds the birth mother was on?"  ((Unfortunately,  Aiden's medical file did not disclose the actual names of the meds the birth mother was taking while pregnant.))   Dr. Plemmons said the meds weren't a big issue.  And that the only issue a pain medicine would present  if the child was born 'addicted' to the pain medicine, and the repercussions of that would only be short term withdrawals.  I asked Dr. Plemmons if I were to get the actual names of the meds she had been taking, could he advise us of any possible issue there after.  He said he'd be more than happy to review them - THANK YOU DR. PLEMMONS!!!  ((love this doc!))  So..... we were informed that our little boy was healthy, and as perfect as he could be!!!  Yes I was over the top at this point, but who wouldn't be, right?!


After the phone call with our doctor,  I jumped on email and emailed Jessica at Holt.  I asked if there's any way we can get the actual names of the medicines the birth mother was on while pregnant?  She returned my email rather quickly and said that Holt had already put in a request  to Holt in Korea for the names of the meds! Yeah - it was already in motion.  I felt good about it at that point, keep in mind we still haven't officially accepted our little boy yet.  After a few days,  Jessica at Holt forwarded the email from Holt Korea the names of the medicines.  I then forwarded the list to Kelly at Vandy, and she forwarded it to Dr. Plemmons.  He returned my email by that evening with a full write up of explanations of all the meds she was on! Yes I was amazed again!  I thought a busy Pediatrician at Vanderbilt would be just that, a very busy pediatrician at Vandy and I wouldn't hear a thing for a long time!  The explanation filled the whole page!  His first summation listed a medicine, said it had a low chance but still a chance of causing physical  birth defects.  ((Our son wasn't born with any birth defects!!))  So that one was in the clear! Then he listed the others with less importance,  some meds were identical to our meds we have here, he explained what everyone was and what it's used for.  They weren't of any significance, mostly minor meds and even supplements or vitamins.  So here's that recap again - He's fine!!  Aiden's original medical file didn't contain his Hematology report, or it hadn't come in yet.  I received that another couple of days later, forwarded that to Kelly, she forwarded it to Dr. Plemmons and answered back rather quickly  and  said all is fine - still!  All blood work was normal, and no abnormalities!  Whew, another big sigh....!

So, we received Aiden's  file on July 22nd and we officially accepted him on July 27th!!  I sent the email to Jessica and she responded with his official acceptance note.  Jessica told me that she'd now turn us over to Mary at Holt to handle our case from now on.  They sent us the acceptance forms - WOW.  I referred to their Guidebook on Holt's site for the help with all these documents.  Here's what we had to have completed to send back with the acceptance forms.  ((1))  I-864 Affidavit of support - (2 original copies needed)  Mike had to fill this one out;  ((2))  I-864A Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member - (2 original copies needed) I had to fill this one out;  ((3))  Affidavit Concerning Exemption for Immigration (2 original copies needed, must be notarized).  These documents were sent by email to print out:   ((1)) Statement of Adoption (4 original copies needed and must be notarized); ((2))  Foreign Travel Release form - (one copy for Mike and I and had to be notarized);  ((3)) Travel form (3 original copies needed).   These were sent by regular mail to us:  ((1)) Placement agreement -- received 3 original copies that had to be notarized then sent to Holt's office in Oregon, our Home Study agency and we were to keep one;  ((2)) Invoice -- 2 copies received, one was to be sent back signed with the acceptance documents, the other we kept for our records.  PLUS (no I'm not done yet!!) -- copies of our certified marriage license, both our birth certificates, recent tax forms plus W-2's!  Now are you dizzy yet!?!?

Mike and  I completed them, went to have some notarized the next  morning.  He went on to work late, and I went home with the jewels!   When I got home to look at all of the documents, I realized I had missed one that needed to be notarized with Mike's signature only- EKKKK!!  He's already gone to work, now what!?!?  I called him and told him I missed one for him. He couldn't  miss any more work, so I told him he would have  to go Saturday morning to a pawn shop that had a notary - yeah that's what I was thinking - ewww - but it had to be done!  Come Saturday he went and had it notarized, everything was fine.  I got all the documents together  the next Monday morning, plus the other things they requested and sent them off  to Holt in Oregon by Tuesday, August 10th!  I got an email from Mary on August 13th saying she received all the paperwork, it was fine,  and it'll be sent off on Friday August 13th to Holt in Korea.  And you thought Friday the 13th was bad luck - HA!  ;)

At that point Mary said it would take at least 2 weeks for Aiden's 'legal' government documents to get here from Korea after they receive the acceptance documents from her.  I got an email from Mary on August 19th, my birthday, that the "legals" were on their way to us from Oregon and that they would be delivered Fed Ex by August 24th ! Wow what a great birthday present!!!  On Monday August 23rd, I got home from picking Tay up at school to find our "legals" in the Fed Ex envelope laying next to our garage door! A day early!? Oh my!!   I opened the envelope to find these documents:  " (1) Affirmation and Oath Certificate: Certification by the President of Holt Children's Services Inc. of Korea that the legal documents are true and correct, (2) Certificate of the Guardian: Without parents the child is considered an "abandoned child" by Korean law.  This document certifies that guardianship of the child is granted to Holt Children's Services of Korea, (3) Family Register: the Child receives his own family register thus severing all ties with parents and establishing him as independent,  (4) Statement of Guardianship:  Transfers guardianship from Holt Children's Services of Korea, Inc., to Holt Internatinal Children's Services, Inc."  Now, can you imagine reading every document like these 4 I just posted?!?!  Yeah - do you understand why I'm a little schizo sometimes?!?!

All 4 of those documents were in Korean, translated to English.  So each document had a Korean copy and one in English.   In a way it was kind of sad, because one document was the release from his birth mother.  The others were like reading what you just read above!  When Mike got home, I took the documents over to my mom's to make copies of all of them and copies of all the other required papers to have: copy of current tax forms and the Government form the I-600,  Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.  I found the directions on the Holt web site on how to fill it out, thank goodness! I filled out the I-600 and put it with Aiden's legal documents we had received and sat it on our kitchen table waiting to be sent the next morning.

On August 24th,  I sent our I-600/legal documents to the USCIS in Lewisville, Texas (lock-box).  From there they went to Lee's Summit,  Missouri to the National  Benefits Center (NBC) .  We received notice that it's there and inline for processing.  So for now we wait - AGAIN for these documents to move to another location.  I've been told that this process could take up to 6 to 8 weeks.  I'm hoping it won't take that long, but so does everyone else that's waiting!  The big thing we're waiting on is the Emigration Permit (EP) for Aiden to be able to leave Korea.  South Korea has a quota registry that says how many children adopted can leave the country in one years time.  If Aiden gets his EP approval this year, hopefully he will be able to travel this year and we can go get him.  But as of right now, we're waiting on that.  So ...... If you ever have any clue as to what all this means, please understand,  if I'm acting weird, seem stressed, and a little absent minded,  I think you'll know why now!  :)

Here's where I'm starting.

I didn't have a blog in the beginning so I'll recap some of what I can remember.  It's not all here, but you get the idea, I hope!   We started this "journey" in March of 2007.  YES, that was some time ago for you family members who remember it! We first started with a local agency and with the country of Russia.  After two lllooonnnggg years of waiting and not liking events, changing requirements, etc I talked it over with Mike and we decided we'd like to try and make a change of country.  The government would only allow a One Time Free change of country when you adopt internationally - thank goodness!   I did some research, even called our newly appointed Home Study Agency Catholic Charities for some help.  (Our old agency closed their local office in Nashville, so we were handed over to CC.)  In talking to the director, I found out about this great little country called South Korea.  Yes,  I said South Korea! :)   The director told me about the children, what would be required of us, and other tidbits of info !   I was really nervous to make such a big change of country, but it was what we needed to do! (Didn't know that at the time!)  We decided to leave our other agency that closed the local office and in talking to the director at CC, they suggested Holt International - great idea, thanks!

So..... after talking with Holt, we filled out the application and sent it in on March 12,2009!   Since we were from Tennessee, we had to be open to accepting a child with Special Needs.  This can range from jaundice at birth to more extreme medical conditions, but the great thing is, we could pick out exactly what we were open to, and what we thought we could handle, even make changes to the list  at any time if we wanted to!  They have a medical check list with a very wide variety of medical conditions.  We looked over the list,  accepted quite a few conditions (really, it's not that scary!) and submitted it with the application.  I was still a little nervous of our big decision to change countries, but it was the best for us!  Anyone who really knows me knows  I'm not a big fan of change, so really I was freaking out inside, just didn't want to alarm anyone!


We had already completed our home study  in 2007 by the previous agency and had completed our education classes also.    In updating our home study for the new agency, we had to re-submit all new expense forms,  background checks, new physicals, updated shot record on Taylor, work verification letters, insurance statements, copies of our certified marriage certificate, tax forms, birth certificates, etc.   When all these forms were completed, our Social Worker from CC came to our house for a visit.  She took all that paperwork and submitted our change of country form to update our I600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition).  Once all was in order our Social Worker submitted the paper work on  April 9th, 2009 to USCIS.  On May 18, 2009 our I600A was approved, meaning we were "granted" permission to adopt a child internationally.  Note:  Our I600A had to be renewed once already and will expire 12/17/2010!  Our fingerprints had to be renewed twice so far, not to mention updating our homestudy, yes, once again!  Speaking of our fingerprints (biometrics is what the government calls them),  ours expired on 07/30/2010,  so we're now waiting on USCIS to send us an appointment time and date to get re-fingerprinted - AGAIN!



Now moving forward to July 22, 2010.  We received our referral!!!!  Jessica called me from Holt at 3:30 that afternoon.  I was not feeling well and had laid down when the phone rang.  I almost didn't answer it, but so glad I did!!  She told me she had a child in mind for us, told me a little about him, and asked if we wanted his file to review.  I said, " YES PLEASE!!" ((When the agency calls you with a child in mind, they will send you his "medical" file.  This includes a couple of newborn pictures, most recent pictures, and all his medical visits up to that point. When we looked at his file, he did not have any medical issues at all!!  The only "thing" that put him on the Special Needs list was that his birth mother took pain meds while pregnant, but she had regular  checkups and prenatal care. The pain meds were for a herniated disk.))  Our little boy was perfectly healthy.  I saw our little boy's picture, and oh my goodness, what a cutie pie!  Since it was Thursday, it was too late  to have our IAP (International Adoption Pediatrician) look at his file that week.  Talk about timing!  I was leaving the next morning at 4 am to go to Myrtle Beach with some friends for 4 days!  ((Needless to say I had a very hard time sleeping Thursday night! UGGG!))  I went ahead and emailed Kelly Thursday afternoon at Vanderbilt's Adoption Clinic and told her we had a file of a little boy we wanted Dr. Plemmons to review.  How about that???  Our IAPediatrician's name is Plemmons! If you know our last  name you'll know the close similarity!!   Kelly emailed back and said send it on in and she'll have Dr. Plemmons review it.  She set up a time for Mike and I to have a conference call with him the following week.  We didn't even have to go downtown!  They were awesome for that!!

After I returned from my trip,  Mike and I had a conference call with Dr. Plemmons to discuss our little boys medical file.  ((Korea has the best medical records and in treating these children!  The Korean doctors are very thorough and even a little over cautious!  These beautiful children are very well taken care of!!)) Gonna have to stop here,  I'll pick back up tomorrow and try to catch you up to speed on where we are  in our process right  now!