Happy Henry Christmas

We got a huge, happy suprise in the mail today -- 9 mos. pictures of Henry!! I don't know why we got them (maybe because I'm visiting?) but we're so thrilled to have them. There was no written information included, but Henry's happy face says a lot! Just like in his 7 mos. pictures that sweet Foster Mom dressed Henry in an outfit that I sent over in a care package. This is the first time we've seen his smile. I just can't wait to get my hands on that boy. :)

Christmas Package

I found out that an online friend, Sandy, was travelling to pick up her son (finally!!) over Christmas. She had an extra long wait and I'm so glad she finally got her travel call. Anyway, I of course wanted to send a package to Henry and his foster family. It's hard to pick gifts for people you don't know. I settled on a ladies watch and ladies pair of leather dress gloves. I thought the foster mom and daughter could choose what they wanted. For the foster dad and son I chose black leather gloves and a black scarf. Since Seoul is so cold in the winter I hope that the warm things will get used. For Henry I send a teddy bear with a rattle inside that used to be Lydia and Trixie's. I also sent a Christmas card that makes me laugh every time I look at it. I took a picture of Lydia and Trixie kissing a doll and then their picture was photoshopped onto Henry's picture so that it looks like they're kissing him. I hope Henry's foster family has a sense of humor because I think that picture is the cutest thing! Thanks fo my friend Caroline's dad I was also able to send a couple letters translated to Korean. He was so nice to do this in a hurry for me. This is my third care package that I have sent over. I love making the connection with the foster family. The next time I'll be taking things in person and it'll be my turn to take care packages for others. I can't wait!! Hurry up and get here, Jan. 17!

Trip to visit Henry!!

Many of you already know this, but I'm going to visit Henry this January!! I can't believe the idea never occurred to me before, but once the idea of a visit to Seoul was planted I couldn't let it go until I made it happen. Turns out that Brent and I had just enough miles for me to go round trip to Seoul for free. The very first availability is on Jan. 17 so I'm taking it! I leave on Jan. 17 and arrive in Seoul on Jan. 19. I leave on Jan 23 and return back on Jan 24. I even get to have a one night layover in Tokyo on the 18th. Brent laughs that I'll be in the largest city in the world all by myself, but I think it's a bit exciting. I know I'll get to visit with Henry once maybe even twice. I'll also have time to explore Seoul, do some shopping, take lots of pictures, figure out the money system and figure out the subway system. My friend Beth Ring will be there with me since she's adopting a boy who is 10 days younger than Henry. We get to stay at the Eastern guest house and I'm excited to see some of the workings of the agency that we're adopting Henry through. I have to admit that even though it probably won't happen, I'm secretly hoping that Henry would get his Visa issued while I was over there. Any extra prayers in that direction would be greatly appreciated.

Another care package!

I'm extremely late in posting this (if I had 2 extra hours each day I might have gotten to this earlier!) but way back in early November a sweet family finally got their travel call to pick up their son in S. Korea. Sweet Stephanie graciously took a care package over for me. I knew this would be my last chance to send a care package before Christmas, so of course I had to send a Christmas outfit. I had always hoped to get Henry before Christmas, but since I can't I figure I can at least dress him for Christmas. :) I also sent some mixed nuts for the foster family (evidently nuts are a real treat for them), another disposable camera, a family picture of us at the pumpkin patch, a teddy bear that we recorded a message for Henry , a letter translated to Korean, and Lydia made Henry a Christmas picture. I took a picture of where she signed the picture because it was so funny! Lydia is starting to get interested in nicknames, so she put nicknames on the picure. I love it!! She wrote From:Lydia (the Lyd) To: Henry(the Hen)

Henry Weekend

After God kissed me by giving me the unexpected update and pics from Henry we bought a new car the next day. We have to have a bigger car than our Rav4 because when Henry gets here we'll need room for 3 carseats. I researched and test drove and narrowed down the choices to the Toyota Highlander and the Chevy Traverse. The Highlander gets better mileage and is smaller and the Traverse has room for the double stroller and other stuff but gets 1 mpg less than the Highlander. I decided on the Traverse and when we went in to talk to the dealer about buying a Traverse we walked away with the exact car we wanted. Lydia and Trixie were so surprised!! It's a beautiful care and has a lot of great features -- it's just way bigger than anything I've ever had. I guess when a small car kind of gal gets a big family she has to change into a big car kind of gal -- I just hope I don't run into anything or run over anyone! Now whenever we bring Henry home we can drive him home from the airport. At church of course we showed off Henry's new pictures. Yep! It was a Henry Weekend all the way around. :)

Surprise Update!!!!

I can't believe it!!!! I have been telling everyone when they ask (and believe me it's often) that I wouldn't receive any update photos or information until I pick Henry up. Well, today in the mail an envelope comes with these 2 adorable pictures and information about Henry for a 7 month update. The paper said that Henry is 7.7 kg (about 16 lbs.) and enjoys time on his tummy but is not crawling yet. He sleeps with his foster mom through the night from 9 p.m to 8 a.m. He grabs at toys, says eomma (mom) and eobubba (piggyback) and likes to play games. It also said that he is learning to relax a little and not tense up quite as much around new people (this was an issue earlier). The outfit Henry is wearing in the picture is the one I sent over in his care package -- I thought it was really sweet and thoughtful that his foster mother dressed him in that. I'm looking forward to having a chance to tell her that in person. =) Henry sounds and looks delightful and I'm just a bit more in love with him every time I look at his picture. Please, please Lord make things go quick and smooth and bring on the travel call!!

Lydia's lost tooth

I couldn't resist putting this in the blog. Lydia lost her very first tooth!!! It has nothing to do with Henry, but it's a huge humongous deal to Lydia. The look on her face says it all. The only thing it doesn't show is that she had happy tears because she was so excited. Yes, the tooth fairy visited her and left a golden fairy coin (worth $1). Lydia was so excited you'd have thought Santa Claus paid her a visit.

Wishing for Henry!

Lydia and Trixie love to throw pennies into fountains and make wishes. Well, today we had lunch out at the Snows and there was a fountain with Mary and Baby Jesus. Of course they needed to throw pennies in and make wishes. Lydia will not tell her wishes because she wants them to come true, but Trixie says hers out loud as she throws the penny in. Her very first wish was that "We get Henry soon" Lydia then told me that she had wished that, too. I'm so very, very glad that my sweet girls are as anxious to get Henry as I am. Well, almost as anxious as me!

Henry's Care Package

We sent a care package for Henry over to Seoul! One of the families travelling to pick up their child, Rachel and Josh, were gracious enough to take our care package over for us. Rachel and Josh have waited extra long for their travel call so please say extra prayers for them that everything goes smoothly. In the care package I put an outfit for Henry to wear, a lovey that our family slept with to try and get our smells on it, a picture book with pictures of Brent, me, Lydia, Trixie, and each set of grandparents, some coffee for the Foster parents, a disposable camera (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the foster mom will use it!), a letter to the foster parents, and a picture that Lydia made specifically for Henry. I know that Rachel will drop the care package off at Eastern and that the foster mom will receive the package. I just hope she uses the items in it and shows the things to Henry -- especially the pictures. I wish Henry could feel all the love that was included in the care package!

Referral!!!

We got our referral!!!! I can almost hear the Hallelujah Chorus now. Carol actually called and told us about Henry yesterday, but she sent us the pictures of him today. We will meet with her tomorrow to take care of paper work.

Our Henry was born on March 10, 2009, and he was 7 lbs. 4 oz. His Korean name is Joon Seong Lee. Seeing his picture makes it very real that someday -- maybe Jan. or Feb. -- we're actually going to get our son!!!!

When Carol called yesterday she had to leave a message and she called Brent at work. He actually found out before I did. It's pretty ironic because for the last month whenever my phone rings I drop everything I'm doing to rush to the phone hoping that it will be Carol. Yesterday I heard the phone, but I was in the middle of singing Trixie her songs to put her down for her nap. I wanted Trixie to nap early because I have to wake her up early so we can pick up Lydia from kindergarten. So when I heard the phone I thought, "That won't be Carol!" and ignored the phone. I'd say God has a sense of humor and a sense of irony. We told the girls about the call over supper and for a minute I thought Lydia was going to cry because she was so happy. When the girls saw the pictures tonight they kissed them and carried them around and looked and looked at them. We are all so happy! :)

Solace in a sunset

I have been finding the wait for a referral increasingly difficult. Today I was at a breaking point!! I know, I know there's nothing I can do about anything but wait and how could I get to a breaking point?! Well, I just felt like I couldn't handle it anymore and I don't know what I was going to do but I felt like I would die or explode -- one of those two! Then as I was driving to pick up the girls from Julia and Ella's bible school crying and feeling sorry for myself that God wasn't making things go quicker for my family, I looked at the sky and was breathless. There in the sky was the most beautiful, breathtakingly fabulous sunset I've seen in a couple years. (That's saying a lot because I'm an avid skywatcher and look at sunsets, the moon and stars everyday.) I wish I could have taken a picture because it was so gorgeous. In looking at the sunset I felt God put his arms around me and let me know that He was right there with me and that He was in complete control -- I just need to trust Him and get over myself. I had the thought that God is GOOD, He can make amazing sunsets, and He can give referrals and travel calls at His perfect time for us -- not Our perfect time for us. That sunset just calmed me and helped me feel that everything was going to pe fine. Aahh ... the feeling of peace is like no other. :)

Trixie's Prayer

Trixie loves to pray and we never know what to expect when she prays. Tonight's started with her classic intro, "Oh, Lord!" and then she continued with, " I don't know when we'll get Henry but it needs to be soon! I will give him some food and mango to eat." From there her prayer skipped on to how "we're all connected to other stuff" (something she picked up from a Pocahontas song). So sweet that Trixie is praying for Henry and how funny that her concern is feeding him. That's my girl! :)

Approved

We got our approval today from immigration for our I600A application. I was starting to get worried since it has been over a month since we mailed the application in. What a relief to get these things taken care of. I also found out today about a couple more referrals. 8 referrals since April 1. We've got to be right at the top of the list -- I hope the referrals keep on rolling out!!

Mother's Day

Today was the best Mother's Day I've had yet! There was one particularly sweet moment that I want to remember so that Henry can know about it some day. This morning I was giving Brent a kiss and hug to thank him for the card and of course Lydia and Trixie wanted to join in. They always want to join in with Brent and I's hugs. As we were all hugging and kissing each other Lydia shouts out "Let's send kisses and hugs to Henry!" We all blew kisses to Henry. Then Lydia said "Let's give extra big hugs for Henry!" As we're all hugging Lydia shouts out, "Happy Mother's Day, Henry!" It was just so sweet.

We're getting there!

I just checked the Lifelink online group and saw that there has been another referral. There have been a total of 5 since April 1. If my calculations are correct we should be about #3 on the list now!!!! We're getting so close -- yikes & yahoo! Looking at the referral pictures makes me so excited ~ those babies are incredibly cute. There's some major things to do, though. We need a new car, another kitchen chair, Trixie needs to get moved into Lydia's room, Brent and I need to take our adoption courses and wow! can I really do this?! The answer is a definite YES!

Ridiculous Red Tape

Just when I thought everything was going smoothly we get caught in a snafu of govt. red tape. We got a letter saying that something was wrong with our homestudy and we couldn't be approved until changes were made. Our Social Worker tried to find out what the problem was, but immigration wouldn't release the info. to her until we sent in a privacy consent form. We scanned and emailed our consent form in, but they didn't like that one. So Carol had to come out to our house so that I could sign a new consent form to scan and email to them. It turns out that there was a sentence that they didn't like and needed to change about when our post placement visits would be occurring. This just strikes me as a bit petty to make us go to all that trouble over a couple sentences. Seems like their time could be better spent in other ways. Oh well! I'm glad it was an easy fix and hopefully in a few days we'll officially be approved. That will be a relief.

Sweet Lydia

Sweet, sweet Lydia is always thinking of Henry. Tonight in Mission Friends we made a picture of bluebonnet flowers (the Texas variety) with blue tissue paper. The children were supposed to draw of picture of themselves on the paper as well. Lydia drew extra butterflies and a picture of an Asian boy (Henry) and then wrote across the top "to Henry." I was complimenting her and telling her how proud and happy my heart felt about all this and she said, "I want to hang this in his room so that when he gets here he will see it and feel welcome." What a gal! Someday when Henry and Lydia are older and arguing I need to remember this. :)

Fingerprinting Fiasco

The way things went, I'm pleasantly surprised that we actually got our fingerprinting completed today. We were afraid that Brent would be on strike duty in Kansas, so I was very happy that he was here to get his fingerprinting done. I had been telling him the address of the federal building over and over and his response was always, "Don't worry! It's a new, beautiful building right by my office." We head in for our 8:00 a.m. appt. and are right on time getting to the new, beautiful federal building. Problem came when we discovered that our room didn't exist and the guard finally figured out that we needed to go to the OTHER old federal building. Well we hightail it several blocks over through the snow (Can you believe SNOW on April6!) and arrive late and there is a room full of people. The wait is long, which would be fine on other days, but today I have to be at Lydia's school to work by 9:30 a.m. Impossible on this day. I call Mom to tell her my predicament (she's home with Lydia who's sick & not going to school) and get the school phone # so I can tell them I'll be a little late. I had to sneak and do this in the lobby because cell phones are NOT permitted. Well, a few minutes later my cell phone rings. I dart out of the room and try to dodge all the dirty looks I'm getting and what do I hear when I answer? Lydia yelling, "Mama! It's snowing!!" It was very cute and sweet, but I was too frazzled to enjoy this cute, illegal phone call. By now I'm sweating and my blood pressure is high over everything that is wrong on this Monday morning. I finally get my turn and am telling this to the fingerprint lady and she say, "You could have just come later today or any Wednesday. You have 87 days before your case is considered abandoned." Sure wish I'd known that!

USCIS I600a application

Carol brought our final draft of the homestudy by and we're ready now to send in our USCIS I600a application. This is an application that we send in to immigration -- a department of Homeland Security. Doing this is significant to me because Carol has told us from the beginning that, once approved, this is only good for 18 mos. She has said we won't send this until much closer to the end of the process. Here we are ready to send it!! When we get back from the Disney cruise we should have received word on when we go in to get fingerprinted. Getting our federal fingerprinting done is an important part of being approved.

Exciting Revelation!

Jill called and totally brightened my day! She told me that she had been talking to Carol and was told that right now the wait for referrals was pretty short. Carol said that the time from signing up and getting on the list to referral was 8 months. 8 months!!!! We got on the list Oct. 1, so 8 months from that is June. I can't believe how soon that suddenly is. If we get a referral in June we should be traveling 3-4 months after that wich would put us in September or October instead of December. I'm incredibly excited and also as this reality is barreling towards us I'm finding several things to be nervous about. In those nervous/excited moments I remind myself that God has brought us here and will be with us. Me and my family have a lot of love to give and God is on our side, so everything will be fine. Oh, I just can't wait!!!!!!!

Hurray!

This past Wednesday our Social Worker, Carol, and I braved the snow to meet at the Bread company. She had just a few questions and then gave me some information that I've been dying to know. She said that Henry might be born sometime around this time or is about to be born!! Of course I won't know for a while when he's born, but it's exciting to know that it's sometime around now. Every time I think of it I say a prayer for him, his mom, his foster mom and for us. This is also exciting news because around 5-6 months after Henry's birth we should get a referral and picture. AND THEN 3-6 months after that we can go get Henry. I'm thinking that my goal of getting Henry by Christmas might not be so far fetched!!

Korean video

Our good friend Jill gave us some clothes that Max has outgrown in case they would fit Henry -- of course we won't know until we get a referral what size Henry will be. Anyway, yesterday,Lydia very excitedly pulled each item out one by one and held it up for me to see. All the clothes were so cute and we had the best time. Lydia had a comment for each piece and was visibly excited at the thought of one day having Henry to dress up. We had the best time!

Our family also watched a video today from the library. It was about 2 children from South Korea and one of them was from Seoul. It followed each child for a day as he/she went through their daily activities. After watching for several minutes Trixie sat up straight and said, "When will Henry be on there?" She was quite disappointed that we weren't going to see him. Lydia watched the video silently, but her eyes were glued to the screen and she was taking it all in. When the video was over Lydia immediately shouted, "Let's watch it again!" It really was a good video.

Feeling antsy

This past weekend our family went to a fun and festive Chinese New Year party with other adoptive families. The girls had a great time. They did some crafts, but by far their favorite part was running around and yelling with all the other children. Brent and I enjoyed meeting new people and hearing about their adoption story. We got lots of advice and stories about where to stay, how to book travel plans, good sight seeing sites, etc. Today Lydia and Trixie and I went to the Biehl's house to play with Sophia, Julia, and Max. The girls just love going over there. Jill was so sweet to give me a bag of clothes that Max has outgrown. It is the very first "boy" item that we've got. Between hearing the stories on Saturday and getting the boy clothes -- that are absolutely adorable, by the way -- I'm very antsy and ready to go get Henry tomorrow! I'm certainly hoping for Henry to come sooner rather than later.

Let's get going

After a couple months of Thanksgiving, DisneyWorld, Christmas, and procrastinating I finally decided to get my blog up and running. I still have to figure out how to insert pictures and try to remember from a couple months ago everything Jill taught me about setting this blog up, but this is the beginning. May this new year also be the beginning of the year we get our Henry.