A baby for Christmas

As if getting another healthy, beautiful niece at Christmas time wasn't enough, God has blessed our family with a baby boy. We have accepted a 7 month old South Korean baby boy. We should have him in 3-6 months. I am not sure of the exact time line, but I will update as I get more information. We are so excited about becoming a family of 5 in 2010!

Possibly our baby?

We are pursuing a 6 month old S Korean baby boy that was born @ 32 weeks. Med info is with pediatricians & we're praying a lot! I can not post pics or more info at this time. Please pray for this child & for God to continue to guide us through this process. So exciting! Blessings to you all!

All I Really Want for Christmas

All I Really Want by Steven Curtis Chapman is the song that moved Scott's heart last Christmas. Scroll down & pause the playlist then double click on the video on the right to hear it. I get goosebumps every time I hear it! If you have not read my first post, scroll down to read the first post on July 10, 2009. Then you will understand the significance of this song...

T-Shirts for sale soon!

Good News! Holt International has approved our home study. We have not received approval from USCIS yet, but we are eligible to receive referrals with Holt's approval. Holt will contact us by phone when they have a referral for us. So, we wait for the phone to ring!! Timing is totally in God's hands. We wait....we pray....WE SELL T-SHIRTS!! Over the next couple of weeks, I will post t-shirts that our family will be selling to raise money to bring our child home! These t-shirts are for orphan awareness & will be available for men, women & children. Check the blog over the next few weeks...we hope to have the t-shirts available soon!

Fingerprinting

We went to Atlanta Tuesday to be fingerprinted. This is the last step on our end for now. Once we receive approval from USCIS we will begin to get referrals. It should take 6-8 weeks to receive the approval. So, if everything goes according to schedule, our first referral should come around the first of November. Meanwhile, we wait. Please continue to pray for this child we have not yet met & pray for our family as we prepare. Thanks & God Bless!

Great Article!

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2009/aug/23/ut-athletic-director-tells-how-he-and-his-wife-wer/

Good News!

We have a fingerprinting date! We received a letter from USCIS today with an appt scheduled for Sept 1 in Atlanta for the fingerprinting. Such a roller coaster already. Just last week we got a letter saying they were behind on processing. Evidently, we can go ahead & fingerprint though- good news...I want to keep things moving along. Hopefully the home study will be finished this week. Next step, Holt International sends our info to S. Korea & we wait for a referral! So surreal!

First Setback

Received a letter from USCIS today. They have received the I600A & basically it stops there (for now). Evidently they are approx 2 months behind on processing the orphan petitions. It will be a while before they get to ours & send us a date for fingerprinting. It's a def disappointment, but I guess I was fooling myself to think it would happen faster. God's timing...God's timing...that's what I keep telling myself. In the meantime, I am treasuring these last few days with Caleb & Emalee Grace before they go back to school. I can't believe I have a first grader & a fourth grader!

I600A mailed

The I600A is an application for advance processing of orphan petition. It is mailed to USCIS (U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). In approximately 2 weeks, we should receive approval & a date to be fingerprinted. The fingerprinting will take place in Atlanta & we will be given a specific appt time to go. The home study is also sent to USCIS & will follow the I600A shortly. We are very close to being finished with the home study. Upon completion of the fingerprinting & I600A approval, we should begin to receive referrals. Assuming no stumbling blocks, our social worker seems to think this will be in Sept. 2009. Hopefully in about 2 weeks I will have the appt for the fingerprinting & we'll be that much closer. Please keep our family in your prayers as we continue this process!

Home Visit

Well, we had our home visit for the home study this morning. We passed!! It went well. God must have been on our side because when we were standing in the room with the piano (if you've been to my house, you know it is all windows) a deer with her fawn came out of the woods, across the street and into the woods beside our house. We could not have planned it better! They were sooo cute!
More paperwork to be completed....then done with home study...I'll keep you posted!

Oh, where do I start? What a journey God has our family on!! In the fall of 2008, Scott & I began to discuss the possibility of adding another child to our family. We talked about having another child biologically or the option of adoption. Throughout the fall of 2008, my heart kept going back to the idea of adoption. Knowing that I tend to be a little too emotional & compassionate, I prayed that God would speak through Scott if adoption was His will for us. Scott has always been content with 2 children, esp. since we have been blessed with a boy & a girl so I knew it would have to be God if Scott jumped on board to the idea of adoption. The first weekend of December 2008, Scott ran a race downtown & we planned to get a Christmas tree as soon as he got home. On the drive up the "W" road, Scott was listening to a Steven Curtis Chapman CD & heard the song, "All I Really Want for Christmas" about an orphan wanting a family for Christmas. God used this song to speak to Scott. He heard it loud & clear & had me listen to the song on the way to get the Christmas tree. I was excited & scared @ the same time!! I really didn't think we would actually go through with an adoption, I just thought it was a great thing for other people to do! I called my friend, Michelle, in Michigan who had adopted a child from South Korea last year & told her we were thinking about adoption. I explained that Scott & I both felt God nudging us & were talking about the possibility. Michelle responded by saying, "If you & Scott are both hearing the call, then you are adopting, you're not just talking about it. " She said, "God has a heart for adoption & if you are both considering it, God's not going to say no! She continued "If I were you, I'd be more worried about hearing God's call & the consequences of not following it, then the actual adoption!" Wow!! I heard her & God loud & clear. I hung up the phone & burst into tears telling Scott "We're not just talking about this anymore, we're doing it!" I was overcome with excitement!!
We told the children on Christmas Eve & their response was amazing. They started jumping up & down & Emalee Grace said "they can sleep with me in my extra bed!" (trundle bed). Next came from Caleb, "I want a boy!" & from Emalee Grace, "I want a girl!". Scott & I have not specified the gender. We believe God has a child for our family & I'm more concerned with finding the right fit for our family, than the gender of the child.
We spent the next 3 months (Jan- March 2009) looking at different agencies & countries. For some reason, both Scott & I felt called to an international adoption. After learning of the potential wait of 2-4 years for a healthy child, we began to look into special needs children. Being that Scott & I are both physical therapists, disabilities are something we are quite comfortable with. We decided that since we were open to a special needs child, we should look into that possibility a little further. After a lot of research & prayer, we decided to use Holt International & to pursue a special needs adoption from South Korea. South Korea only places children with special needs in the state of TN; no healthy children are available for adoption in this state. Through Holt, we applied for a "waiting child" & had to fill out a medical consideration form where we had to mark what disabilities we were comfortable with taking on. Obviously, this was difficult. With every check mark, we were saying "yes" or "no" to sweet little orphans. We discussed each special need & carefully & prayerfully placed our check marks. We ultimately requested a boy or girl age 0-4. Upon completion of the home study (which we are in the process of now), we will begin to receive referrals for children according to our medical consideration list & age range.
The home study is moving along quickly & should be finished by the end of July. Our social worker seems to think we should begin to receive referrals by Sept. I am trying not to get my hopes up because I know most adoptions move slowly. I can't help but be excited!!! It's like being pregnant with an unknown due date without the extra lbs, fatigue & morning sickness!!!