Visa Interview

The unknowns of when we will travel is driving me crazy so I called today to find out if Aiden's visa interview was scheduled. I think it's hilarious that it is called a visa interview. It sounds as if Aiden is coming in to the embassy to be interviewed for his visa. Anyway, typically once the visa interview has taken place, travel clearance usually comes in 1-2 days. Today when I called the lady on the phone told me that Aiden's interview already took place at 8:00 a.m. this morning! Our case worker told me not to call about this because the information is not always accurate and families end up being disappointed. But the lady I talked to seemed pretty certain that his interview had taken place and was able to see his picture because she told me he was handsome. So that means that if all goes well we should receive travel clearance next week. Look for more good news to be posted soon!

Staying Busy

While we wait for the all important "travel call" Luke and I are staying as busy as possible to keep our minds off the wait. About a month ago, we decided to finally begin finishing off the basement. This had been in the plans a long time but we were slow to get things moving. Then once the new year hit, we were certain that travel to Korea was close so we didn't want to start any projects. After several weeks with no movement in Korea we decided to no longer plan our lives around the adoption and decided to hire a contractor and get it done. And wouldn't you know it? Right when we began finishing off the basement things finally starting moving in Korea! It's like I needed to stop obsessing about the adoption before things could start progressing with the adoption. The same thing happened when we adopted Jordan too. I refused to make any plans that whole summer because I was certain we would travel to Korea no later than June. That didn't go as expected either. Finally, I gave up trying to control things and Luke and I decided to go out of town for a few days. Within a few days of coming back from our trip Jordan received E.P.

Here's what the basement looked like right after the insulation was put in. For some reason Jordan hated the look of that insulation and refused to walk past the basement door if the door was open!

Here's what the basement looks like right now. Yesterday the dry wall guy finished the ceiling and then he will finish sanding tomorrow. After that, Luke and I will paint the walls and the trim. That should keep us busy for awhile! It is so refreshing to have a project to think about other than the adoption!

Of course, Jordan has had no difficulty staying busy. Busy could be his middle name! The other night our neighbor's dog, Jetta, jumped the fence while our neighbors were gone because she heard Luke's voice. For some reason every dog that meet Luke falls in love with him immediately! We couldn't let her wander around, so we put her in our backyard until the neighbors came home. Jordan had a blast running around with her in the backyard. I tried to snap a picture of the two of them running around but wasn't successful. Jetta is even faster than Jordan!

Jetta was whining to come in our house once we went inside. We couldn't let her in because of the heart attack Sushi would most likely have when she saw her. So Jordan tried to keep her entertained.

Finally I couldn't stand the whining anymore so I let Jordan sit outside with her to keep her company until the neighbors came home. He didn't complain.

We've also stayed busy getting ready for Aiden. The crib sheets are all washed and the crib is ready to go. Aiden has never slept in a crib before, so that should be interesting! He currently sleeps on a mat on the floor next to his foster mother. We'll probably have to experiment a little bit once he comes home to help him feel comfortable at nighttime.

I finally know what season it will be when Aiden arrives home! All his clothes are washed and ready to go. We heard that babies are potty trained at 12 months in Korea, but we will believe it when we see it! We stocked up on diapers and are sure Aiden will need them!

I began shopping for gifts to give people in Korea and printed off my travel packet.

Jordan helped clean off the high chair. He's the boy for the job if anything needs to be cleaned with the hose!

This picture is a bit embarassing but I'm including it anyway. Waiting for Aiden is exhausting as I am often awake in the night worrying about how things will go and wondering when we will finally travel. So once evening comes I can hardly keep my eyes open. Here's Jordan watching his evening t.v. show while I am totally zonked out.

EP Approval!

Aiden received EP approval today! The only thing left is his passport and visa. We should receive travel clearance in 2-4 weeks. Our long wait is almost over!

Mild Winter

This winter has been incredibly mild. It is only the 10th of March and my tulips are already coming up! I even saw some green poking through back in February. The winter has felt long because until recently there was no movement in Korea despite my expectation that we would see progress in early January. But at least the beautiful weather made the time move more quickly. Jordan was able to ride his trike all winter long!

Jordan was busy "gardening" this afternoon. He was pretending that he was a tractor pulling a plow as he busily dug through the dirt. A couple minutes after this picture was taken he started dancing around and repeating, "I have to go potty!" I didn't realize the urgency as he has been sucessfully potty trained for over 6 months now and accidents are very rare and far between. But once we got to the bathroom he stopped saying " I have to go potty" and started to say, "Hurry, hurry". Well, apparently we didn't hurry enough because he only got as far as pulling his pants down to his ankles when he couldn't hold it in anymore. Poor Jordan. He was pretty grossed out but once he was all cleaned up he cheered up again and went back outside to do some more gardening.

Jordan isn't a huge cuddler as he is always just too busy to cuddle. But when we read to him he always snuggles in close. These pictures are from an evening when he was watching t.v. That is also a good time to get some cuddles as he is always very still when he is watching t.v. We take all the cuddles we can get!

EP Submitted!!!

We found out today that Aiden's EP was submitted in the first batch! We are over the moon excited as we have been waiting for this step for what feels like an eternity. Our case manager estimates that we should receive travel clearance in 6-10 weeks although predicting timelines in Korean adoption right now seems virtually impossible. Even so, we are hoping that we travel sometime in the next couple months!

Going Private

Due to various reasons, I am going to attempt to make this blog private. I don't know if I will be successful or not, so we will see how it goes. Other than immediate family, I don't really know who reads our blog. So if you are interested in following our journey, send me an e-mail or write your e-mail address in the comments section of this post, and I will attempt to add you to the list.