Behind the scenes...

Did you ever wonder what is going on behind the scenes to get our son home? Well, instead of an original post tonight. I thought I would copy part of the Korea Guidebook so you can see what is going on while we wait for "the call".

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From the Holt Korea Guidebook:
After we receive the acceptance papers from the family, we Fed-Ex them to Korea. These documents indicate to Holt-Korea that the adoptive family has accepted the child assigned to them.

After Holt-Korea receives the acceptance papers from the adoptive parents and the child’s family registration is in order, the next step is to get government permission for the child to leave Korea for the purpose of being adopted by a family overseas. The Holt-Korea office first applies to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for an Emigration Permit. After the Emigration Permit has been received, Holt-Korea applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Travel Certificate. The Travel Certificate is similar to a passport; however, it is good for only a one-way journey out of Korea.

Each child must have a visa physical examination. This can be done any time after Holt-Korea has received the acceptance papers from the adoptive family. It must be done before the Holt-Korea office can apply for the child’s visa at the US Consulate. Children are given their visa exam at the Holt-Korea clinic, but must also be examined by a doctor appointed by the US Embassy.

After the Travel Certificate is issued and the visa physical examination is completed, Holt-Korea can then apply at the US Embassy for a US visa for the child. The Embassy examines and approves the family to adopt based on the I-864. They also check to see that USCIS has issued their approval of a visa (I-600) for this child and family. It usually takes a couple of days for the visa to be issued.

Many parents assume that, when the USCIS issues a visa approval for a child, he/she will be home very shortly. This misconception is common since the USCIS visa approval process is the only part of the process that adoptive parents are involved in. Please note that there are two Korean Ministries and a District office that your child’s paper work must pass through before it reaches the US Embassy. At the US Embassy, visa approval by USCIS is the last item checked. Visa approval by USCIS is the icing for a cake that also has to be mixed, baked and cooled prior to spreading.

When all the child’s papers are in order, he/she is ready to travel! Most children from Korea fly home to their new families by “Holt-Korea Escort.” When the child is ready his/her name is then put on a preflight list. He/she usually leaves the country seven to ten days later.

About a week before the child leaves the country, the actual flight list is made up. Holt-Korea will inform Holt International headquarters in Eugene of the date and time of the child’s flight. A few days before the child’s departure, the child is seen by the Holt-Korea doctor for a pre-flight physical.

On the day of the flight, the foster mother brings the child to the Holt-Korea office three hours before the departure time. The child is seen by the doctor for the last medical checkup. A new outfit of clothes is provided for each child. A wrist band with the child’s name, case number, gender, and date of birth, and the family’s name are put on their wrist. The worker prepares diapers, powdered milk formula, extra clothes and extra bottles for the flight bag for each child.
It is finally time to leave. A circle is made with everyone present: the children, the foster mother, sometimes the foster father, foster siblings, the caretakers, the child’s social worker and the escorts who will take care of the children on the flight. The Holt-Korea staff prays for the children, their caretakers, and their adoptive families.

Then the children are taken by the Holt van from the Holt-Korea office to Seoul’s Incheon Airport accompanied by the escorts and a Holt social worker, leaving behind the foster mother or child care workers who are waving, crying and praying for the children as they leave for their new families in a new country.

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So that's all that has to happen before Brandon arrives home! Ha!

Just thought you might like to know!

Happy 8 month birthday!

Brandon is 8 months old today! How I wish he was here and I could celebrate with him, it is so hard to have this precious little baby, who I already love so much, so far away from me.

Today Patrick and I went to our PIP V class which was pretty much a review of PIP I-IV...except with more families. Nothing too interesting except it gave me a good opportunity to brag about my little man to all the other moms and dads!

So that is all that is going on here, just wanted to keep you all informed!

EP

I only have a few minutes but I wanted to just let everyone know that there is progress being made! I got an email from Holt that Brandon has been submitted for his EP (Emigration Permit), woo hoo! Approval takes 3-4 weeks so we should get both his I-600 and EP approvals by mid to late May!!! Please continue to pray that each step of this process goes smoothly and we get our approvals quicker then anticipated!

An award and an update!

I just found out that I got a blog award, thanks Sunny Mom!!!



For this award you are supposed to list 7 random facts about yourself and pass it on to 7 other people. Since I'm not 100% certain 7 of you even have blogs, this should be interesting! :)

1. I am a mother without a child, my daughter Madelyn died in my arms in August of2006 and her death was the HARDEST thing I have ever been through in my life

2. I love my husband so much, he is so amazing! I couldn't have gotten through the past 2.5 years without him

3. I am married to a pastor; God has a sense of humor!

4. I have won $500 and a Wii from contests on the internet

5. Even though I hate writing my feelings down I have a blog

6. I miss living close to home and wish HERE was closer to THERE

7. I was a math major in college and worked as a systems engineer for 8 years until we moved to Nebraska. Now I only work 3 days/week at an insurance agency!

And now to pass on this prestigious award! :) And I do realize that there are only 4 of you but all the rest of my blog followers don't keep blogs! :)

Lauren @ The Holy Lands

Mary & James @ Heart and Seoul

Rach @ In His Hands

LuAnn @ Daily Grace & Mercy

Ok, now onto the update!

I have been a little stressed out because we hadn't heard from USCIS about our fingerprints. I emailed the Omaha USCIS office last night and heard back from someone before noon today. She informed me that our fingerprint date is May 4th! I freaked out a little at this point because that is almost an entire month away. I prayed (a lot) and tried to calm myself down. Well, God always has a way of reminding me that He is in control so not even an hour later I got an updated medical report for Brandon (his 7 month Well Baby Check)!!!!

He is doing really well and is on track, developmentally, for a 7 month old. He is 26.5 inches long and weighs 17 pounds. According to the US height/weight percentiles he is between the 10th and 25th percentiles for both! He's a tiny little guy and so stinking cute! The WBC says that he has 2 bottom teeth erupting and he is shy to strangers! I can't wait to love on him, he is just the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!

We just got the April monthly update from the Holt Korea program and they are moving along matching families in the regular program! As part of the update they defined some of the steps that need to happen before we get the much anticipated travel call so I thought I would share some of them here:

P3-The packet that Holt-Korea submits into the Embassy for the one way travel visa. This packet contains; I-600, I-864, birth/marriage/divorce certificates of adoptive parents, 1040, W2,legal document of child, vaccination certificate, visa physical examination, medical acceptance letter (if needed), photo of child and IR4.

VI-Visa Interview (there is not a actual visa interview with the child)

Visa Physical Exam-this is done once a month by an outside Doctor and is usually done after EP

NVC log-in-National Visa Center has received your approved I-600 from your local USCIS office and has logged into their system

NVC log-out-National Visa Center has sent your approved I-600 to the Embassy is Seoul

EP-Emigration Permit

I600-Holt-Korea does not need your approved I600 until the very last stage of the process (submitting your P3 into the Embassy). Your I600 will only have an effect on your travel time if one, you delay in filling once you receive your Legals, or two, if USCIS needs additional paperwork once you have submitted or if they are back logged therefore it takes them awhile to approve the form.

Whew! I know that's a lot but did you catch the last one???? "Holt-Korea does not need your approved I600 until the very last stage of the process" Praise God that the step I thought was THE ONE we were waiting on is actually not. There are other things taking place at the same time!

Praise God!

New Pictures of Brandon (7 months old)

I got a surprise in my inbox today...7 new pictures of Brandon! These were taken on his 7 month birthday or the day after, look how big he is getting. Isn't he cute?

Here he is in a little furry suit:





And here are some pictures of his left arm (the one that had been broken and in a cast).

What a great early birthday present to me! I am SO in love with this little boy!

Last trip home before Brandon arrives!

Today is Brandon's 7 month birthday! Happy birthday little man, I hope you had a great day! We got donuts tonight and sang happy birthday to you.

Patrick and I arrived in PA to visit friends and family for 2 weeks. Well, I will be here for 2 weeks but Patrick has to go back in just 1. On the way here I was thinking about how different it will be the next time we fly here, with our little man!

Tuesday morning I mailed off all the acceptance paperwork to Holt so they will hopefully get it tomorrow or Friday. I'm not sure of the next steps but I know that they will let us know. Mary with Holt is just awesome. She is so quick at responding to email and gets into the office so early! She called me last week at 8:30am my time which is only 6:30 in Oregon! Yikes!

We had to fill out the official adoption form, I864 and I864A forms, provides copies of our tax returns from 2007 and 2008, fill out duplicate and triplicate copies of various other forms. Some of these documents had to be notarized so it's a good thing that I work with a notary!

Serious Life Magazine and Paperwork

I am knee deep in paper work to accept Brandon's referral. We are still waiting for the paperwork that will be mailed to us from Holt, hopefully tomorrow. My goal is to get everything filled in, copied and notarized before the weekend. If I could mail things out on Friday that would be amazing!

I also wanted you to know about this publication I am a part of called Serious Life Magazine. I blogged about it in February and they just published the March issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It is a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Please take a couple minutes and check it out,www.seriouslifemagazine.com !

Thanks!

Introducing Brandon Hye-seong Marshall

I just got word that we are OFFICIALLY matched with our little man. It is my pleasure to introduce you to my son, Brandon Hye-seong!

He was born August 18, 2008 so he is almost 7 months old (I love his birth date 08-18-08 but then again I am a dorky numbers person)! We are still in shock as we weren't expecting a referral until the fall of this year. The reason we got matched so early is because we were open to babies with minor medical conditions, Holt calls this the Waiting Child Program. He was exposed to tobacco use in the womb and, at some point, got a broken left arm. The arm is the only remaining issue for him as he still has some range of motion limitations as well as weakness in that arm since his cast has been taken off.

Our doctor, Dr. Kolb at Boys Town, says that he may need physical therapy to regain full use of his arm. He also said that, if the growth plate is involved, Brandon may have some permanent weakness in his arm and possible differences in length between his left and right arm.

So, now we start the long wait for our travel call. We will not be traveling so Brandon will be escorted to the USA, hopefully to the Omaha airport! We don't know exactly when this will be but it should be 3-6 months from now, we are hoping it will be before his 1st birthday. That would mean he would come home sometime between June and September. We weren't even expecting our referral until October so that is just amazing!

God is awesome!

Thank you all for supporting us on the journey, we appreciate all your prayers and comments!

It's a boy!!!

It isn't completely final yet but we have a baby boy from Korea! We are still in shock! :-). He was a Waiting Child but he is perfectly healthy!

God is awesome!!

More details later!

We need your help

The current tax credit is set to expire in December 2010. This is a credit that has helped many families afford to adopt. It is a credit that will help us adopt, we hope!

Could you please take a few minutes of your time to call, write or email your Senator or Representative about H.R. 213.

We have to take action to allow families, like us, to afford the expenses of adoption. These children need us!

This could affect many families who have a desire to adopt in the future. Click on the button above to find links to find out how you can contact your representatives!

Thank you!

I600A trouble

Yesterday we got our I600A application back in the mail. The day after I sent it in the bank called to let me know that, instead of an $830 check, they gave me an $850 check. I figured it would not be a big deal, USCIS could just keep the extra $20. Well, I figured wrong!

Patrick got a new check today (for the correct amount) and I mailed out the forms. The Nebraska USCIS office takes about 6 weeks after they get your application to invite you in for finger printing. After they get them it takes about 6 more weeks to get approved. So we should get our I600A approval by the beginning of May.

This shouldn't be a big deal as we are not expecting a referral until later this year although we are praying for a faster referral. If you could, please continue to pray for patience for us, it is a long wait and we are so ready to be parents.

Please also continue to pray for baby Joel and his family, they have been on such a roller coaster since he was born and they really need our prayers.

Dilated pupils + a very sunny day = OUCH!

I had an appointment with the eye doctor today and he dilated my eyes. I had walked to my appointment since it was a beautiful sunny day, notice I said sunny day. On the walk home, even with sun glasses on, I couldn't see anything! If I saw you on my way home and didn't acknowledge you, I'm sorry. I got home and had to lay down in my darkened bedroom and felt much better. I also got to take a little nap too! :)

I talked with the Waiting Child program today at Holt. This is the program for children with some sort of health problem that can't go through the normal adoption process. We are open to some health conditions as some are fixable or not too severe. The WC person said that, since we are home study ready (i.e. our home study is complete), they will call us when there are children available who meet our criteria. So, we will see if anything comes from that.

On a side note, we are planning a vacation to Florida! Patrick's good friend JM is getting married on Saint George Island in May and we are traveling down for it. Our awesome friends, the Erde's, live near Tallahassee and we will get to see them while we are there! I need to call Tamra to work out the details but cannot wait to see all of them again. They were our next door neighbors at seminary and are an amazing family! We really miss living close by and haven't seen them since January of 2006. Tamra flew all the way here for Madelyn's memorial service and is just an amazing woman of God!

I haven't updated about them in a while but our friends Nick and Janell had baby Joel on January 30th. Joel is very sick and had heart surgery today. The updates we have recieved have been good so we just ask for continued prayers for baby Joel and for his parents, doctors nurses and all caregivers. We just ask for Gods blessing upon baby Joel, that He would strenghten Joel and heal him.

Look how cute!

I recently found the cutest artwork for the babies room.

Look!

Before we had Madelyn we had the room almost ready but had nothing on the brand new, dry-walled, Pooh Bear Yellow painted walls. I found these at Target and just fell in love. I can't wait to hang them in the room!

Check out the adoption timeline on the right side bar!

Serious Life Magazine

I wanted you to know about this publication I am a part of called Serious Life Magazine. They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It is a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is free, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

There's no place like home

Well, I finally made it back home on Thursday night! I worked yesterday and my boss was very happy I was back. Last night Patrick and I went to Sam's club and we found this awesome deal on car seats so we bought 2! Yes, that is right, we bought car seats about a year ahead of time...what can I say, I like to be prepared! :) It makes me happy to start buying things for this baby, although part of me worries that other people will think I am crazy!

I plan on posting a timeline of events thus far but I am sick today and have no energy. This always happens when I fly back to PA. I think part of it is the airplane and all the germs and the other part is that I don't get a lot of rest while I am there. I woke up today and just felt horrible. I am still in my PJ's and I plan to stay in them for a while.

Snowed in!

UPDATE: Baby Harper is off of her respirator and is eating from a bottle!!!!! Praise God!!!! If you want to follow her story, click on the "Praying for Harper" on the left.

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I should be waiting to board my flight at Philadelphia International Airport but, instead, I am sitting in my parents dining room writing a blog entry. I woke up this morning, all packed and ready to go, only to discover that my flight was cancelled. When I called, the guy on the other end of the line informed me that the 2 remaining flights for the day were uncertain and it would probably be in my best interest to re-book for tomorrow. So we will try to do this again tomorrow. Stupid snow and ice! It is nice to get one more day with my mom but I miss my husband and my kitty cats. Plus I was supposed to work tomorrow.

Oh well, since I cannot control the weather I will just go with it and enjoy!

Since I have been home I have been talking about the adoption a lot, filing in everyone on our progress...they should just read my blog but that is OK! I am so excited to find out who this little baby is that God has picked out for us! I am so excited to be a mom. I found these cute little books for the baby and I bought them. They are called God's Little Zoo and teach about manners, morals, etc. I couldn't help myself, I can't wait to read and snuggle with my little one!

Please pray today for all those out on the icy roads, for my baby and his/her birth mother, patience for Patrick and me as we wait to be matched, safe travels for me tomorrow and still prayers for baby Harper. She is doing so much better but still needs our prayers!

On the wait strip

I booked my flight to go home for Dyana's funeral. I fly out tomorrow and arrive in Philly at 8:40pm. In order to get a good price on a ticket back here I will have to stay until Wednesday. My mom paid for my ticket, thanks mom!!

On the adoption front we have made great progress! I am waiting on the letter from Holt and then Patrick will mail in the supporting documentation for the grant from Shaohannah. All the paperwork needs to be in by Tuesday, 1/27 so hopefully the letter will come in the mail tomorrow!

And, as of January 6, 2009 we are OFFICIALLY on the wait list. Our home study will stay at headquarters in Oregon until Holt Korea asks for it. I have made two "friends" on a board for Adoption, Nancy and Christina. They both live in NJ and are adopting from Korea through Holt. Christina's log in date is about 4 months ahead of ours and Nancy's date is one week after our. So, since they usually match one month at a time, Nancy and I should get our referrals at the same time!

I am now signed up to get the Holt updates by email and so I should be getting more information about dates they are working on currently. I like that I will be able to tell when we are getting closer!

I am starting to look into fundraisers to help subsidize the cost of the adoption. If any of you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

Prayer requests this week: for my safe travels to and from PA, for our little baby and his/her birth mother, for Harper a 4 day old little baby with pneumonia, for the family and friends of Dyana, for my husband as he stays home alone for the next week.

Please pray for a dear friend

I know I don't have a very big following on my blog yet but, for those of you reading this, please pray for the family of Dyana (Sanders) Roberts. Dyana passed away Monday night at the age of 31. She leaves behind an 11-year old daughter (Marina), her husband (Joel), her parents, her sister and so many friends who just thought the world of her. Please pray for all of her friends and family during this difficult time.

From her husband, Joel:

Dyana had complications with her surgery and was not able to get enough oxygen. They put her on oxygen, but she was struggling to breathe. Yesterday they put her on a ventilator to help her breathe.

She had fluid around her heart and they attempted to remove 150 CCs of fluid. Dyana went into cardiac arrest and was revived 3 times. Her heart kept stopping and they did everything they could for an hour to bring her back, but her lungs and heart were just too strained. There was nothing else that they could do and Dyana passed away around 7 pm Monday night, 1/19. We are all really a mess right now, but have a lot of friends and family giving us support.

We are having a memorial service for Dyana at:
Founds Funeral Home
229 S High St
West Chester, PA
At 2:30pm on Friday 1/23

Please pray for our friends!

Our friends, Nick and Janelle, are expecting their second son, Joel. Joel has been diagnosed with many health problems and Nick and Janelle have been told that these problems are pretty bad. They will be traveling soon from Pensacola up to Atlanta, GA where Janelle will deliver baby Joel. Please pray that God would heal Joel, that He would be with Nick, Janelle and their whole family during this difficult time, and that they would travel safely to Atlanta. I am devastated for them and pray that they would feel God's peace during this time.

PIP I, II, III and IV

Patrick and I completed 4 of the 5 PIP (Parenting in Progress) classes we need to take before we are matched with our baby. The classes were supposed to be yesterday and today from 9:00am to 3:00pm in Omaha. (For those who know me well, 9:00am on a Saturday morning HURTS!) I say supposed to because we got done at 2 yesterday and at noon today. All in all, it was a good class. We talked a lot about our baby and the adjustments that they will have to make when they come here. We learned the importance of talking with our baby about their Korean heritage and watched videos of kids who have been adopted. It gave me some things to think about and gave us some good references to go forward with.

I pray that God would give us the right words to say and things to do to help our baby be well adjusted and have a good sense of self. I also pray that God would shield our baby and us from all the "well-meaning" people who may say hurtful things about/to us, our baby or the adoption. Before anyone asks, no, we haven't gotten any yet but just want to be prepared for the future.

We were in the class with 2 other couples so it was a small class. I was hoping to meet another couple that was adopting from Korea, but we didn't. The one couple is doing China's Child of Promise program and the other is adopting from Ethiopia.

Yesterday I was so tired after the class that I took at 3.5 hour nap when we got home. I was sure that would mess me up at night but I was able to go to sleep last night with no problems. Guess I just needed a little extra rest.

I still need to get the I600A paper work in the mail and get some supporting documents to a grant organization I applied to, we plan to do most of that tomorrow. So, hopefully early to mid next week I will have some more adoption milestones completed!

My friends Sharon and Aric are also in the process of adopting a baby in the US. If you could, I would just ask for prayers for them during this time. That they would find things to occupy their time as they wait for an expectant mother to pick them to be the parents of her baby.

Thank you all for caring about us and for being with us on this journey.