a father waits

I have JD's picture in my office and it is amazing how many times a day I find myself looking at his image...wondering what he's doing and how his day is going.  You feel an amazing combination of anticipation, anxiety, frustration and expectation.  As we get older, most of us wish that we could somehow slow down the hands of time.  I certainly feel this way more and more.....but as far as the next 5 months go, I hope that they fly right on by! 

D

seven

JD is 7 months old today!
We're sending him the biggest virtual hug ever!!!

when you wish upon a star ...

So we went to a "waiting family" support meeting at our agency last night. It was a chance to hear the latest goings on in Korean adoption, why the wait for processing has lengthened and what is going on with the annual emigration visa quota. We also got to meet some other waiting parents - some who don't yet have referrals and a few, like us, who do and are waiting to travel.

We learned that there is still a 10% chance we could make it within this year's Emigration quota (set by Korea) and travel by end of the year (December) to pick up our little guy. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that this 10% happens for us!! We'll likely know by mid October if this dream scenario could come true.

If not, then we wait until 2010 Korean Emigration Permits open up. And since January is a slow month with their processing, due to Nat'l holidays, changing of personnel at the various ministries and agencies, then we'd have to wait until February. Boo on that!!

We are 'wishing upon a star' and pray-pray-praying it's DECEMBER!!!!

- S

when is he coming home??!!

We've been told by our agency that we can expect to travel around February of next year ... yes, that's February 2010! Seems like forever away. There's always a slim chance that it could happen sooner, but so we're not disappointed, we're just planning on February-ish.

Reason for the wait? Korea has been slow this year in processing paperwork, PLUS they recently announced they are getting close to reaching their 2009 emigration visa quota. Basically, they only let so many children out of the country each year.

We'll fill up the next 5+ months doing all the things one does to prep for a 1 year old: turning an office into a bedroom - staring at his pictures - painting - staring at his pictures - shopping - staring at his pictures ... and so on, and so on, and so on. We've done nothing up to this point, so all this will help pass the time.

- S

start spreading the news ...

We told our parents this weekend. My parents and family learned at the tail end of my nephew’s birthday dinner on Friday night. I gave my mom what she thought was a framed photo of our new puppy, Ginger. Instead they found a picture of JD. My parents and family were surprised and beyond excited! I, of course, cried. This has been a long time coming.

David’s parents learned with a surprise email photo of JD and phone call (they live in NY and FL). They're all thrilled to hear they are becoming 1st time grandparents!

Some other extended family found out at a weekend gathering – it was so fun to share our news!

Now that we've shared with family, we will shout it from the mountain tops (or maybe just my rooftop) to tell our friends and coworkers!!

- S

the littlest prince on his throne

Here is JD's 5 month photo in the infamous red throne chair at Eastern Social Welfare Society. ESWS is the adoption agency on the Korea side - they have a baby hospital, children's shelter, home for unwed mothers and more. They are currently JD's legal guardian and have placed him with a foster mother to care for him until the Korean Govt approves a Visa allowing him to emigrate to the US.

The foster mothers in Korea love to make sure the children don't go hungry. JD is proof positive of this ... look at those cute chubby cheeks!

- S

good things come to those who wait!!!

1 month old and looking good!

WE HAVE A BABY BOY! Woohoo!! He was born Feb 18, 2009. He's 1 month old in the above picture. He was a little over 5.5 months on the magical day that we received his referral, which was August 7, 2009.

We’ve decided to name him JD.

It was a Friday and we were both at work. We received an email and 3 voicemails from a social worker at our agency (my work phone, my cell phone and David's cell phone)! I was in meetings and when I stopped at my desk David happened to call and said "The agency has been trying to get a hold of us, they say they have a referral"!! So we phone conferenced with the agency to learn about our little guy. They then emailed his background/medical info and beautiful photos. Those photos ... we couldn’t stop looking at and talking about his cute pictures!!

We were excited and nervous. Other adoptive parents recommended that we wait to share the news until we officially accepted, so we both had to wear a poker face the rest of the day at work. Thank goodness I was able to sneak out of work a bit early, as I couldn’t wait to get home so I could stare at his photos some more! I immediately sent his info to the International Adoption Clinic at the U for their review of his file. They got back to us before the end of the day saying he was a big, beautiful healthy boy!!

We verbally accepted the referral that Monday, Aug 10, 2008 and then the myriad of “acceptance” paperwork needed to be completed. Luckily we were on vacation this week so could focus on getting everything done in 2 days - we had it to the agency by Wednesday so they could send it to Korea for processing.

FINALLY!!! We are beyond happy! :)

He IS the littlest prince.

- S

patience is a virtue. really?

We're patiently waiting. One thing I've learned about myself since we started the adoption process almost 3 years ago is that I'm patient. I'm tired of being patient :)

- S

the beginning ...

In the Fall of 2006 we made the decision to start our family through adoption. We researched our options and initially set our sights on Korea. We liked many things about their program: it had been around for a long time and there is a large network of Korean adoptees and their families in MN for support and lifelong connections. But toward the end of 2006 we began to hear of changes in Korea’s program which threatened to lengthen the time it took to receive a referral and bring your child home. We got nervous … so we jumped ship and went to another “tried and true” program which we also liked: China.

Like Korea, China’s program had also been around a long time and MN also has a large population of Chinese adoptees and their families to act as a network of support. 'This is it' we thought – this "stable" China program will lead us to our 1st child.

Stable, schmable. About 18 months into our official wait, it became very clear that the China program was changing before our eyes. It went from an expected 2 year wait for the referral of a child to what could very well be a 7 year wait for us (yes, I said 7 YEARS), along with everyone else who signed on in 2007 or later. I knew I had no desire to be 60 yrs old when I had my 1st child (ok, slight exaggeration).

As fate would have it, on a sunny Fall day in 2008, I went for a walk w/my dear friend Kate. We were having a pity party for ourselves since both our adoptions weren’t going as planned (she got caught in the 2008 Vietnam closing). During that walk we both decided to explore other options. She mentioned she had recently heard good things about the Korea program, that their slow down was over. That intrigued me … I went home, made some calls and next thing you know we were signed up with the Korea program!

We officially went on the wait list with Korea on Nov 10, 2008. We are open to either a boy or girl. We were originally told to expect a 6 month wait and shortly after, learned the wait could be up to 9 months. Hey, 9 months is nothing compared to the 7 years we faced with China!
Game on!

- S