Making Progress

Hi all! Just a quick update on where we are with Owen. We have been doing more and more paperwork, and are just about done....for now. Our social worker was out of town last week, so we are going to be turning in what should be the last of the paperwork for the time being on Tuesday. We have had to fill out forms for the Immigration Office, for the Korean government, as well as forms for the State of Michigan. Whew! Of course looking at his picture makes it all worth while. We are sending him a care package this week. We have gifts for him and for his Foster Family.

We are trying to get the house ready for Owen's arrival! We won't get a lot of lead time for his specific arrival date...only a week or so.....so we want to be ready for him by the end of August. We are going to rip out the old carpet this week, get everything painted, and hopefully have the new carpet in by the end of the month.

Last week Jon and I went and registered at Babies R Us and Target. That was WAY overwhelming, but fun! After we got into it, Jon was scanning everything. There are a couple of things that we are going to want that we aren't able to register for, so we will be taking a trip to Grand Rapids to get those things one of these days soon.

We are hoping to have an updated medical report for Owen in the next week or so, and hopefully some more recent photos. I will post when we get anything!

Hope you had a good 4th.

REFERRAL!!!!

Hi All! Just wanted to let you know that today, June 19th, Jon and I received a referral for a beautiful baby boy! He is 6 months today, and is healthy and happy! We have given him the name Owen Michael. I don't know if I can 'legally' post a picture yet, but as soon as I find out if I can I will! More details to follow, just wanted to share!

Kelly and Jon

Sorry I'm late!!

Hi all! Sorry this post is a day late. Yesterday was a crazy day, and while I started to write an update several times, I never had time to finish it!

I can't believe that June is here, and that we have been waiting 11 months for our referral! No news yet...but I think our time is probably coming! We are now number 3 on the unofficial waiting list on the Bethany message boards, and the family that was number 3 got their referral last week. (That is what is tricky about this self-maintained waiting list that is not a part of Bethany. There are so many different scenarios that happen that allow people to get referrals out of date order. You can sit at #1, the 'next' family to get a referral, for weeks and weeks and see many families who were approved after you get their referral before you....it's weird like that!)

We are trying to not get our hopes up, but still stay positive. I just keep reminding myself that when it is time, we will be matched with the baby that God has planned for us. That is hard some days, but I know it is true.

Hopefully I will have some REAL news before July 15, and if not, I'll post another update then!

Happy Summer!
Kelly and Jon

It's getting closer!

Well, 10 months down as of today. Who knows how many more to go, although we hope not too many! We are hoping to have the referral by September, and think that it is possible to get it even sooner. One family who sent their application to Korea just 6 weeks before we did received their referral about 2 weeks ago. It is hard because depending on what state they are in, and what, if any, special needs they were willing to take on determines when the referral is made. There are also other families who have been waiting for their referrals since last February. We are trying not to get our hopes up, while still staying optimistic.

In my last post I talked about Corey going to Korea. Well he brought back SO many wonderful gifts for the baby. Colorful picture books with words and numbers in Korean, the traditional carrier I asked him to find and Korean magnet letters. He also brought a few 'bonus' gifts that he found at a thrift store...the baby may be able to play with those AFTER they are heavily sanitized. But on a serious note, we are so excited and grateful for the things he brought and hope that they will help our son/daughter to stay connected to their heritage.

Tonight we are going to an Adoption Support Group at a church by our house. We have to have a certain number of training hours before the adoption is complete. Plus it will be a good opportunity to connect with other families at various stages of adoption. Hopefully we will meet some others who are also waiting that we connect with.

That is it for now, yet another month of no news! But just think, it is very possible that our baby is already born and in the process of being ready for adoption! Crazy to think about, isn't it?

Thinking Spring!

I can't believe that I am writing my April post already! Well, as of today we have officially been waiting 9 Months for our referral! It's hard to believe that this time last year (the 24th to be exact) is when this crazy journey really started with the informational meeting we went to at Bethany. Now, a year later we are trying (unsuccessfully) to wait patiently for our turn. The Winter seemed long, and I found myself feeling very impatient with the wait. But now that Spring is here I am realizing just how many projects we want to get done before the baby comes home and that Jon and I have to get our butts in gear! With Jon keeping busy with coaching baseball, I know that April and May are going to fly by. And I am sure everyone in Michigan agrees with me that the summers ALWAYS go by fast.

So, no real news. There is a shirt on one of the adoption websites I visit that says 'Yes, we are still adopting. And no, we haven't heard anything yet.' So that basically sums us up!

Corey Johnson is going to Korea next week for work. I told him to be nice to every pregnant woman he sees because she could be carrying our baby!

That is all for now. I'll be back in May, hopefully with news (I am finding it harder to make up something to write that is remotely interesting, bare with me!)

Kelly and Jon

March Update (or lack there of)

Today, March 15, 2009 marks 8 months of our 'official' wait for the adoption. Not much new to report since my last post. We did sign our updated Service Plan, which I had previously said we signed every 3 months, but it is actually every 4.

With spring just around the corner, Jon and I are starting to do a little spring sprucing, and have decided to postpone starting on the nursery until June or July. That is unless we get our referral phone call sooner than that, but we aren't planning on it.

Here is a link from the Bethany Christian Services Blog that shows how our baby will be used to being carried. http://www.wearsthebaby.com/babywearing/podegi.html
While I don't think we will use a Podegi, but most Korean adopted parents who are on the discussion board recommend a baby carrier called the Ergo. We are hoping to use this instead.

Well, that is all for now. Sorry we don't have any more news, we will keep posting every month, just to assure you that A) Yes, we are still adopting and B) No, we haven't heard anything yet!
HAHA!

Thank you all for your love and support!

Lucky Number 7?

If only we were in Vegas! That's right, as of today we have been 'officially' waiting for seven months. And while, yes, 7 is a lucky number, probably not for us. It looks like we are still on track with our original timeline, so we probably have about 5 or 6 more months until we get our referral, and about 9 or 10 months until the baby is home with us! We are just REALLY hoping the baby is home by Christmas!

Jon and I continue to plan out things to do around the house before the baby comes home. This weekend we went to Target and Toys R Us to see what kind of crib we may want. Jon was a little uncomfortable with it all at first, but after a few minutes he was shaking the cribs to see which one's were most sturdy. He is not happy with any that we saw, but I tried to explain to him that we are not going to be getting a Pottery Barn crib, and that there are safety standards, so I am sure the ones we saw will be just fine! We had fun though, going through the aisle's to see what we might want to register for. It will be very different than when registering for a newborn though, a lot of things we won't need since the baby will probably be around 9 months when they travel. It will definitely be an adventure.

As always we will keep you updated if there are any new events, otherwise, check back the 15th of each month for our monthly 'No News' update!

I leave you with these pictures of Jon. As some of you know, he prides himself on his pancake making abilities. They used to be HUGE, lately I have convinced him that they should be more silver dollar in size...he's not buying it and we usually meet in the middle. He said to me recently that he wanted to make sure that we had 'real breakfast' on the weekends after the baby gets here....I guess he was practicing this morning! And he wonders why he is so full still!

Kelly (and Jon too!)