Well Baby Check!!!!

I've been stalking my email  for a while now, just waiting for anything.  I worked a long day today, Mike picked Tay up after work, so I could work later this afternoon.  I arrived home around 6 pm, really tired.  Mike and Tay were playing in the back yard.  So what's the first thing I do when I get into the house....checked email, of course!  There was an email from Lisa at Holt.  I held my breath and clicked!  It was a Well Baby Check from Lisa!!!  Aiden went to the Holt office  for a Dr. visit on September 30th.

According to the report,  he is 28 inches tall now and weighs 21 lbs.  Under gross motor development they have him rolling over, creeps and crawls, sits briefly, sitting balance is good, sits up alone without support, pulls to standing position, walks holding on to furniture.  Under fine motor skills, they have him reaching out for and can grasp large objects, transfers objects from hand to hand, rakes at a raisin (yep, that's what it says! lol), picks up raisin with pincer movement of forefinger and thumb.  Under personal, they have that he prefers foster mother, and responds to sound of name. And last under language, they have him saying single syllables, and imitates speech sounds.  He is assessed at the developmental age of nine months!  My baby is right on target!! Yeah Aiden! :)  

This was a great welcome home this evening!  I was so glad to get it!  I'm just so bummed that there wasn't a picture attached. :(   I posted on the Korean Forum that I finally received a WBC, but no picture with his care package.  I asked in the post how I can find out if Aiden's care package made it to Holt in Korea.  The moms answered me right away with the answers I needed - you all are awesome! They told me to track the package using the tracking number on the customs receipt (duh Leah!) So I googled USPS tracking international packages and there it was, don't you just love Google!  There on the screen was each step that package made, from White House PO on Sept 13th, to Miami, FL on Sept 17th,  arriving into Foreign Customs in Korea on Sept 20th, out of Foreign Customs 46 minutes later, then at Foreign delivery unit by 5:35 pm, then delievered to Holt by Sept 28th, 9:46 am.  Okay, so the package made it there on September 28th,  Aiden had his WBC on September 30th.

So where's a picture?  Some of the moms also answered me with this:  Most of the time pictures with care packages usually arrive a few days after the WBC does.  Ohhhhhh, okay,  so I'm .... waiting.... again.... :)

Shopping!! and the US NVC letter!!

Today I went shopping!  WHEW!!   And I did not buy one thing for myself - typical! (that was my conscience chiming in!)   I went to the Mall here with my handy itinerary of what I needed to look for.  I was looking for certain gifts to give to some very special people when we travel to Korea!   Since I'm budgeting,  I had to stop before I completely finished - it's okay,  I'll finish the next go round! (conscience again)   Here's a look at what I've got so far!

I bought two Ambercrombie shirts (on sale of course) for the Foster Girls, ages 17 and 15, and two pair each of the 'stay at home' socks - (they are soooo soft!), a map of the US, and  two lip glosses each.   I'm also going to buy them some candy.  Saw some great things at Cracker Barrel (all made in the USA, some even made in Tennessee!)  That should  finish up their gifts!

For the Foster Mother, I bought her some Centrum vitamins and found a great Clinique gift set at Macy's (also got a different  Clinique gift set  free  for buying the one!)  You know how they throw in another just for buying the one - great deal! For the Foster Father,  I also bought him some Centrum vitamins, and found two really nice ties.  I'd read that  the Foster Father was an 'office worker', hence the reason for the ties.  One is a Van Heusen tie, clearanced for around $7, and the other one was a Calvin Klein clearanced for $15!

When I was researching  what to buy for all these people, I found many suggestions on the Korean Forum - thank goodness!  Most of these items I bought were  suggested as good gifts for the Foster Family.  One thing that was mentioned was to buy things Made In The USA or from our state where  we live.  I'm also going to give out boxes of Goo Goo candies, they are made here in Nashville, Tn.   Do you see the Moon Pies in the picture?  Well, they are made in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Those will be part of the gifts I give our drivers, tour guide, Holt workers, etc. (My budget ran out, so I'll get the rest of theirs later.)   Cracker Barrel has a lot of candy items that were made in the USA and lots were even made in Tennessee!  Gotta get those girls some of our good  Tennessee candy! :-o

I know you're probably thinking,  Vitamins?!?  It was a suggestion for the Foster Parents.   I had heard that  their vitamins are really expensive in Korea.  So giving vitamins as a gift shows that you care about them and their health.  The last thing on the table in the picture is Gerber's rice cereal.  These are going to be donated to  the Holt office when we travel there.  I plan to get more, like I said my budget ran out..... This is the explanation under donations on the Korean Forum why rice cereal is  needed for Korean babies:    There are a lot of premature babies in care. These babies cannot tolerate the multigrain cereal that is available here, and single grain rice cereal is not available.  Also heard that their rice cereal is expensive in Korea.  Really?  Sounds contradictory, but  just goes to show you how different cultures can be.

So.....I still have to buy for the Doctors at the Holt office in Korea, nurses, and  the Social Worker.  I hope that's all.  If I've forgotten someone, Forum ladies, please chime in and tell me!

NOW......for some good news!  I received a letter in the mail today, dated Oct 5 2010,  from the United States Department of State, National Visa Center in New Hampshire!  The letter states that they recently received our approved Form I600 and our petition will be forwarded to the appropriate visa-issuing post where the adoption interview will take place.  This is the beginning of the end process, where there's a hand full of requirements Aiden has to have before we get our Travel Call - TC!!  All these hand full of requirements don't add up to a hill of beans unless he gets his Emigration Permit, the document that says he can leave South Korea this year (see earlier post)!!  I'm on pins and needles waiting for that!!  Till then......still waiting.....

NVC out!!

Called National Visa Center this morning, sat on hold for only 17 minutes this time!  The girl informed me we were logged out on October 4th.  I guess the weekend made for a long turn around, but no matter!  Our file is on it's way to Korea!!!  There's lots of things needed from Korea for him to come home.  Somewhere in their process, we're waiting for the Emigration Permit - very important at this point!  An Emigration Permit says Aiden can leave South Korea.  But,  Korea has a "quota" for how many adopted children can leave their country every year.  Being it's towards the end of the year, that "quota" could be getting close to FULL!  If Aiden doesn't get his Emigration Permit, he can not leave Korea this year!  : (   I am sooooooo nervous about this!  I would love for him to be home for his birthday, which is January 3rd.  So I'm on pins and needles till we hear if he's gotten it or not!  Yeah,  little stressed these days, but what else is new.  So pray, pray, pray for us!  We  want  Aiden  home  this  year!

I'm excited and starting to get nervous.  I have no idea how quickly or slowly this next hurdle will go.  It's all out of my hands and the US.  So back to the 'hurry up and wait'.... again.  

I cleaned up Aiden's room last weekend.  Got some things in order,  taking inventory,  whew!  My sweet cousins have mentioned giving me a baby shower, so maybe I should get  my invite list together.  Seems  weird not having a big belly to go along with the words "baby shower".   But I love baby showers!  Just love all the baby stuff!  : )

I've been stalking my email to see if we'd received a new picture of Aiden the last couple of days.  Nothing!  The last time I saw him was his July Well Baby Check picture at 6 months old.  He's 9 months old right now!  I sent his care package in September hoping to get a new picture soon and some other moms have gotten updated pictures in the last couple of days, so PLEASE Holt, send me something, I'm dying over here!  ((not really, just being my usual melodramatic self))  So, what's the hold up?  Is he just so healthy, they don't feel the need for a check up? Wishful thinking....   Or is it that there's so many others in line it's delayed?  Maybe....  Or some other possibility I haven't a clue of?   Probably....

So I'm asking all who read this....pray, pray, pray for us that we can go get Aiden  and bring him home soon! Hurry up paperwork, please!  (asking nicely of course, my momma taught me well!)

NVC in!!

I just sat on hold with the National Visa Center for 26 minutes!  This is a good thing! :)

After we were I600 approved - YEAH! - on September 24th, our file was then sent to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire, where our approved I600 info was  logged in.  Our official  logged in date was September 29th.   It usually takes 3-4 days, then we'll be  logged out.  And by  logged out, I mean our info will then be sent to the US Embassy in Seoul, Korea, where lots of other things will be taking place - UGGG!  Yes, there's more to be done, but the good news is, we're done on the US side!  Everything else has to come from Korea's side.  Our info has to be sent to Korea so that when all the paperwork is completed on Korea's side, the US can issue the one way travel visa for our son to come home to the US.


Wow,  that actually makes sense to me now!  I knew this blog would come in handy!  All this may sound easy to understand right  now, but when I've  read so much of what is to come, I get overwhelmed!  Thanks to the  Forum ladies  for their posts to the Korean Forum.  I could not have understood this without you! ;)

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....