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!)

6 Months and counting

Well, it's official, today is marks 6 months since our information was sent to Korea, so 6 month of waiting down, and hopefully 6 monts or less to go until we get our referral! There is really no way for us to know for sure, but some of the families on the message board I read received there referral in as little as 9 months, while others are still waiting 14 months after their information was sent. Hopefully we are closer to the 9 month side, we just keep praying for patience!

Our first grant application is filled out, but we still need to write our personal statment of why they should give us $15,000....hopefully my marketing skills from college will make their way into that letter!! I am also getting a second job to try and off-set some of the expenses, I figure I can work until the baby comes, and then we will have a little bit more peace about the cost. Once school is done with, Jon hopes to get a job working with a friend of ours at a marina by our house.

Well, this isn't much of an update, but there has not been any news from Bethany Christian Services, so we just keep waiting. We do our 3-month update in a few weeks, so hopefully we will get an updated timeline then!

Is It 2009 Yet?

Happy New Years (Eve)! I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of 2009, the year that, as my friend Char's dad would say, 'the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise', Jon and I will become parents!

It's been an interesting Christmas holiday for Jon and I. On the 23rd we were sitting at home relaxing when all of the sudden our Carbon Monoxide detector started going off. Of course, I freaked out a little, while Jon called our dad's to see what they suggested we do. Long story short, we had to leave our house for a few days, and Jon's Christmas present to me was a new furnace, and mine to him was central air (which we didn't have before). Needless to say we are SO thankful that we had those detectors, while the levels weren't lethal to us, who knows what could have happened to the dog, or if we had been exposed for a long period of time!

So, with 2009, we are hoping our luck will change, at least that is what my fortune cookie said last week! This weekend my parents came over and my dad and Jon figured out some renovations that we will be doing upstairs to get ready for this baby! Just think, somewhere in Korea right now, a women we don't know is carrying a baby that she will eventually give up for adoption and he or she will become ours! It gives me chills!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYBODY!

Five Months and Counting!

Well, as of today we have been 'officially' waiting for 5 months for our baby. Depending on a variety of things, we could be at the half-way point of waiting for our referral. We were told 10-18 months for our referral to come through. Right now, on the BCS discussion boards, most families have been waiting 12-13 months to get theirs.

Jon and I will be taking the next month to get 3 different Grant applications together. Some of them require letters of reference from our friends and family, some require copies of our taxes, and all require written letters from us explaining why we are adopting, and why we need help financially with the adoption. We are not banking on getting any of these grants as it seems everyone is struggling right now, but we are hoping (and praying) that something comes our way to take a bit of the burden of our loan payment off of us.

Just think, some woman is walking around South Korea right now pregnant with who will become our Son or Daughter! Isn't that crazy! We just keep praying that she takes care of herself and the baby, and that she knows how much we will love the little one that she is giving up. The more and more I read about the experience of the birthmothers in the adoption process, the more I realize how much of a gift adoption truly is. I can't wait, WE can't wait, to "unwrap" our Korean gift!

Happy Holidays!

Kelly and Jon