I-600 Approval

Hi all! Well, the piece of mail we had been waiting for was in the mailbox tonight! We received Owen's immigration approval today! Now, don't get too excited, it could still be a few months before he is home, although we are hoping for him to be home much sooner! Just wanted to let you all know we are 1 step closer to having Owen home! I'll post after we get his next doctors report!

Owen is 8 months today

Hi all! Well, it has been 2 months since we got the referral for Owen, and today is his 8 month birthday. Everyday I run home to check the mail to see if we have our immigration approval. Once we get that it should be about 4-5 weeks until he comes home. Hopefully we will have it soon!

Things are moving along with the nursery/upstairs renovation. My mom and I put the 2nd coat of paint on the walls in Owen's room Monday night, and my dad has been over every night working on getting the other room back together. I think we will be ready for the new carpet (I guess we better get that ordered) in the next week or so. And my goal of having the big stuff done by the end of Jon's summer break should be met!

We got an email from our Social worker last week that Owen was sick and had to stay overnight in the hospital 2 weeks ago. He is better now, just had a really bad UTI. It is so hard to know that he was sick and that there is nothing we can do about it. We just keep doing what we can to get ready for his homecoming.

I did the first load of O's laundry tonight, towels and washcloths from last weekends baby shower. It was fun (and yes I know, the thrill will be gone with that soon enough!) I also washed some of the cups and dishes we got this weekend. The shower was great! Thanks again everyone who made it possible.

I will post some new pictures of the renovation progress and the baby shower this weekend. Hopefully I will have another update with some new pictures soon!

Kelly (and Jon)

Owen's 7 month Well Baby Report and NEW PICTURES~

Hi everyone! It is hard to believe that it has been 6 weeks already since we found out about Owen! We got home from camping this weekend and had an email from our Social Worker with Owen's 7 month doctors appointment information and 3 new pictures of our little man! We are so THRILLED to have the new pictures, he seems so big, probably since the other pictures are so old!

Medically, he is doing fine, he is steadily gaining weight, so we are thankful for that. He is up to 16.5 pounds, almost a pound bigger than last month and is over 27 inches long now. We are just so excited, and anxious to get him home!

Our paperwork was sent to US Immigration last week. It can anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months for that approval to come. Once that is approved we are waiting on the Korean government to give their approval, we have to sign a few more documents and then he should be ready to come home. We are still thinking around 3-4 months from the time we received our referral until he is home, so that means int he next 6-10 weeks and he could be home! How crazy is that!

I am hoping to have some pictures showing some progress in his room soon, but for now, enjoy looking at his sweet face!

Kelly and Jon

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?