Quick Update!

Just a quick home study update! Our social worker emailed me yesterday to let us know our home study report is all typed up and has been sent to the Tulsa office to be approved and signed (although we are already verbally approved)! They are currently taking 2-3 weeks to complete this step, and once it's done, we will officially be on the wait list!

Pelican's Perch

My sister-in-law, Tara, has a super sweet friend whose family has a gorgous home on Lake Claiborne. They call it "Pelican's Perch". Isn't that cute?! They offered for us to stay there for a few days this week, so we were so excited!

The kids and I drove down on Monday afternoon after our home study, and Ryan, Tara, Eden, Mom and Brooke were already there. My grandparents even drove down one day and spent the night with us. I enjoyed spending time with them so much!

The home was right on the lake and had its own boat ramp, so my brother brought his boat and we spent much of our time playing on the water. Riding Big Mable was our favorite!

Brooke and Tara

Me riding with Brody and Beckett

One of the most exciting events of our little vacation was Brooke and Brody learning how to ski!! There actually wasn't much learning to it...they both got up on their first try! I was one excited mommy watching my 5 year old water ski behind our boat. We were using trainer skis, and they were fabulous. They were called HO Hotshot trainers...I highly recommend them if you are wanting to teach youngsters how to ski!

Doesn't he look tiny behind the boat??!

We enjoyed a nice walk one evening...

And the kids loved the pool that was right against the water's edge...

I stayed at the house one morning and watched these sweet babies while the others were out in the boat. I kept them busy with Cheez-Its :)

Tara and I even took Levi (yes, he's in pink) and Eden for a ride on Big Mable. It totally relaxed them. They were in a daze by the time we finished.

Something about a nice boat ride always puts babies to sleep :)

We had a great week making family memories at Lake Claiborne...I hope we can make many more there!

Home Study...Check!!

WhooooHooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is how I feel right now because we COMPLETED OUR HOME STUDY!!!

Our super sweet social worker came out on Monday morning to do our in-home visit that is required for our home study. I will admit...I was SO nervous the last few days leading up to our visit.  I just found myself so anxious about every little thing. Was my house going to be good enough? Was I even going to be able to get it clean? Was she going to ask me something that I didn't know the answer to? Were the boys going to behave and mind while she was here? I hate that I let myself get so worked up about it, because it really was so super laid back and easy.

There was something funny that happened that I want to remember. In our autobiographies we had been asked to write a descriptive sketch of each of our children describing their personalities. I described Brody as being outgoing and talkative and one of those kids who never meets a stranger, while Beckett is more reserved and quiet and a little harder to get to know at first. (My description of each child was much longer than this...I just wanted to point out this little part.) We were so surprised that when our social worker arrived, Brody hid behind me and wouldn't talk, while Beckett grabbed her by the hand and drug her inside to show her his room. Ha! He took her to every little thing and said, "Dis is my fan, and 'dis is my bed, and 'dese are my legos" and on and on and on. We got so tickled! He warmed up to her immediately and was practically sitting in her lap by the time she left. Brody eventually came out of his shell and was talking to her some, but he just was so teased the whole time she was here! I guess he is old enough to realize the whole situation was a little out of the ordinary, and it just took him a bit to get comfortable with her being here. So unlike him though! I guess you never know about kiddos!

Anyway, she came in and we did the home walk-through first. She just walked through the house and pretty much just peeked into each room. I waaayy overcleaned. Everyone tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. Seriously, to anyone wondering...there is no need to organize cabinets and bleach baseboards and clean out every little drawer. It was so low key. She just has to make sure your home is safe and that there is room for the child. Then, I got Brody and Beckett busy with a few activities, set Levi up to play in the living room, and we just sat on the couches and talked. She asked us a few questions, we asked her some, she "interviewed" us individually (super easy), she talked to Brody for a little bit, we went over some financial stuff and our special needs checklist, and that was it! Done! We were finished before lunch, and honestly, I was enjoying talking to her so much that I didn't want her to leave! Brent even said it was easy and comfortable, and he wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. He is super private and doesn't like people intruding in his business, and I don't think he ever felt uncomfortable.  We are so thankful for our sweet social worker! I am so sad that I didn't get our official home study picture with her before she left. I thought about it soon after she left.

What's next? She has to type up our home study report and send it to the Tulsa office for approval. She thought she could possibly have it on the way to them by the end of the week. Depending on how busy the Tulsa office is, she said they should have it approved within 2-4 weeks of receiving it. Could be longer if they are really backed up, but hopefully it wont be any longer than a month. Once they approve it and sign off...we are OFFICIALLY ON THE WAIT LIST FOR A CHILD!!! Yaayy!!!!

I honestly can't believe that we are finished with those first few steps that were so daunting and scary to us when we first started. I remember being so afraid of all of the paperwork and the home study. But my fear was in vain. It really wasn't bad at all. Time consuming? Yes. Scary? No. It was actually very exciting to be making steps closer to our 4th child. I know the hard part is just beginning. The waiting. Waiting to see our child's face. Then, the long wait to bring him home. I know these next few months are going to be so busy with Brody starting Kindergarten, Beckett's 3rd birthday, Levi will probably be walking soon...I am hoping this will help in the wait! We will keep everyone posted as I hear updates about our home study! Thanks so much for all of the prayers and for the sweet messages I got Monday morning letting us know we were being thought of. Your support and exitement means everything to us.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

The kids and I left Monday afternoon to spend a few days at the lake...pictures to come!

Our Bracelet Adoption Fundraiser!

I am very excited to introduce our bracelet adoption fundraiser! I have been working on making these cute beaded bracelets to sell, and hopefully help us raise funds that are required to bring our child home from Korea! With the Korea program, the fees are due very early on in the process, so we are hoping to do a little fundraising to help with these costs.

I will be selling the bracelets through Etsy, so you can click on the link on the right side bar of the blog that says "SeoulJourney Etsy Shop". You can view the bracelets there. I have been wearing mine every day...and I love to double them up and wear a couple at a time! I hope and pray that you will consider purchasing a bracelet (or three! haha) to help us in raising some of our international fees required to bring our child home!

We would be honored if you would share this page on your blog or feed to share about our fundraiser!

www.etsy.com/shop/SeoulJourney

Overwhelmed and Questions Answered

Wow. First of all, we are so overwhelmed and thankful for all of the sweet, encouraging, and supportive comments and messages we received after announcing our adoption news. Thank you, thank you! It's such a blessing to have so many people in our lives who love us and are truly excited and supportive of this!

I also wanted to take a few minutes to answer some questions that we have been asked the last several days. I don't always have a great answer for all of the questions that come my way...I'm still learning so much about it myself...but I'll do my best to answer what I can.

Why adopt from South Korea and not the US? ~My answer is simply, Why not Korea? There is no fiber of my being that feels that any one child is more important that another. It doesn't matter what country they were born in. Brent and I feel led to adopt internationally, just as some people feel led to adopt domestically.

How did you choose Korea over all of the other countries? ~ We simply went through the requirements list for each country that our agency works with and found the country that best worked for us. China was out because you must be 30 to adopt from there, and I'm still a couple years away from there. Many of the European countries, such as Russia, require you to travel to their country for two or three separate trips, each trip several weeks in length. With three small children at home and with Brent's job, this just wasn't the best option for us. Some countries don't want you to have more than 2 bio children already in your home. Ethiopia is only accepting families who are adopting a child over the age of 5. So after going through all of the lists, we just narrowed it down...and South Korea was the best fit.

Why do we think that our child will be a boy? ~ Most of the children (about 85%) that are available for adoption from Korea are boys. Although in-country adoption in Korea is not popular, when it does occur, girls are adopted more readily than boys. So, that leaves many many little boys available for international adoption. And we say, why mess up our routine any? ;)

Why does the process take so long? ~ I really wish I knew exactly. Between them making sure we are fit parents, wait lists, legal procedures, immigration and citizenship procedures, government regulations, etc, it's just a really long process. I'm
sure we will learn so much about this aspect of it as we go through the process, so hopefully I'll have a better answer later!

Have we lost our minds?! ~ Haha. Actually, I won't deny this. With the three little monkeys I have at home, my mind is probably mush a lot of times anyway. But all joking aside, people can't believe we are starting this while Levi is still so young. But if you take into consideration all of the time frames, Levi will most likely be between 2 1/2 and 3 when our little one comes home...that's actually the biggest gap we've had! :)

Those are the main questions that come to mind right now. I'll answer more as they come along!

Application 2 Approval!!

(ETA: This post was orginally written on July 3, 2012.)

Things are moving right along! We are making baby steps in our adoption journey, and I still have to pinch myself some days to convince myself that this is really happening. We really truly are doing this...something I've dreamed about for so long. We are adopting a child. We will travel halfway around the world to bring him home. We will have four children (FOUR?!). It helps me to see these things written down, because sometimes I really can't believe it's true!

When I left off in the last adoption update, we had sent in our Application 1 and were awaiting approval. I received our approval email on May 30, and our App 2 packet was sent to us on June 5!

This application was much more in depth than the first and honestly, was a bit overwhelming at first. It includes a checklist a mile long of forms to collect, forms to complete, letters to have notarized, physical appointments to complete, autobiographies to write, reference letters to request, items to copy, and on and on and on. As daunting of a task as it was, it was very exciting to be "doing something"! Checking things off to move another step closer to our little one! I hear that once you finish this stage and move on to the waiting stage, it gets really hard, and you wish you could just be "doing something" again to move the process along. So, I put on my running shoes and went at it full speed. Finally, step by step, we got it all completed! What a relief it was to check the last item on this list!

We mailed in our completed Application 2 on June 22!!! We actually could have had it finished the week before, but we had to wait on doctors appointments for the kids' physicals. That's okay though. It gave me a little more time to go through everything with a fine tooth comb a bazillion times to make sure I had it all just right. I mailed it off the morning we left for our trip to Florida, and it was SO wonderful to be able to relax and enjoy our trip knowing I had our paperwork finished and that it was on it's way to Dillon! I was seriously like a crazy person those last couple days before we left, trying to pack for our family of 5 for 8 days along with working like crazy to finish completing forms and getting it all copied and organized. That beach trip was so very much needed.

Here's our stack of forms we had to collect!

And off it went!!! I was so nervous to send all of these important documents off in this big envelope. I checked my tracking number everyday (okay, okay, ten times a day) until I saw confirmation that it had been delivered!

Dillon received our App 2 on June 26! Our case worker "M" had been out of town for over a week and wasn't due back until the next day. I knew she would be behind on work and would take some time getting caught back up. Our agency requests that we allow them 30 days to completely go through and process our App 2. So, I wasn't expecting to hear any news for a couple weeks at least. You can imagine my surprise when Brent checked his email tonight while we were waiting for the fire works to start, and there it was. Our App 2 approval!!!!! Our case worker had gone through our entire application this afternoon, and everything looked great!!

Our next step on the list is our home study. Eek. This makes me nervous. I know we will be fine...there is nothing specific I am worried about. I guess the whole idea of someone coming into our home to evaluate and interview us is a little nervewracking. I know it will probably much easier than I am expecting, and honestly, I am just ready to get it overwith! I am not sure when this will take place yet...I am guessing by the end of the month. And once our homestudy is approved, we are officially on the waitlist for a baby!!!!! So, hopefully by the end of August? That's my goal, anyway. We will see. If there's one thing I've learned about the adoption process already, it's that the whole timing thing is out of my hands.  Right now, the current wait time once you are placed on the waitlist is 4-6 months. I am going to bank on the longer time frame there, just to prepare myself. At that point, you receive the information on a child that you have been matched with. If you accept that referral, then you begin the long process of getting things approved to bring your child home. Unfortunately, this is usually the hardest part. This can take up to a year or longer. So, you have this picture in your hand of your child and all of his information, a child being raised by a foster family halfway around the world. And you have to wait that long to go get them and bring them home. Wow. I can only imagine how trying that will be. But we will choose to trust in God's perfect timing in all of this! He is in control, and His ways are so much higher than my own.

I ran across this quote a few days ago, and I thought it was beautiful. I'll close with this...

Adoption Updates

(ETA: This post was originally written on May 27, 2012.)

And so it begins!!! We have taken the first few steps to begin the adoption process!

On Friday, May 11, we made our first trip to Little Rock to meet with the adoption agency for a private informational meeting. The director of the Little Rock office is who met with us, and I can already tell that she is going to be wonderful to work with.

She talked with us in detail about the agency, their South Korea program, and the entire aoption process. And most importantly, we got so many of our questions answered. We left there feeling very excited, overwhelmed with information, and so very anxious to get started! One thing she did tell us was that they were holding an adoption seminar at their office the very next Friday. This seminar is something that all adoptive parents are required to attend before their homestudy can be approved. This would be the last one they would be hosting until September, so she thought it would be a good idea for us to attend if at all possible.

So, we made plans for the boys to stay with grandparents and friends, and a week later we excitedly (and a bit nervously) drove back to Little Rock for this seminar!  There were three other adoptive families there, all adopting from South Korea. It was so great to get to visit with them and meet others who are walking the same road we are. The seminar covered so many topics, but they mostly focused on attachment and bonding once they child comes home. Our child will most likely be between 12-24 months old when he or she comes home, so the attachment period is so very important, to help them learn that we are Mommy and Daddy and that they are a part of our family forever. We learned so many great things!!

That very weekend, we completed our Application 1 and on Monday, May 21, we put it in the mail headed to Tulsa, OK to the Dillon, Itnl. main office!!!!!!

At the Fed Ex office with our completed App 1!

It made it feel so official to have our application in the FedEx envelope with Dillon, Intl's address on the front. This is really happening!

We had to include a recent photo of our family, and we hadn't had family pictures made since Levi was 6 weeks old. So, I just had a friend take this picture when we were at their house for small group a few weeks ago. Everyone is actually looking at the camera and somewhat smiling, so I'll take it!!

I received a phone call from Dillon on Thursday - they had received our application! Our case manager went over a few things, and she requested that we get a Physician's letter for Brent's 2 recent surgeries just stating that he had no complications from either procedure, etc. I am so thankful for a dr's office that is on top of things, because I had the letter completed and in the mail by Saturday! Once they receive the letter at Dillon, they will finish processing our App 1, then they will send us App 2 in the mail!! Yay! This ball is rolling!!!