Still no news

Still no news on Andrew's arrival. I suspect it won't be long now. His room is all ready but I have held off buying clothes & diapers until I see what size he is.

Last week I was feeling so guilty thinking, "what have I done", Sydney will have to share her space and our attention, etc, etc. That feeling ended quickly after her friends Ben & Nicole came over to play. Sydney spent the entire morning shouting, "mine mine". Maybe she does need a little dose of reality.

We are taking Sydney to Kalahari Waterpark later this week. It's sort of our last mini vacation with just the three of us. Plus I need a distraction from all this waiting.
COME ON PHONE RING!!!!


~Heather

Fun Day

STILL WAITING.......... this wait is beginning to test my patience. Andrew is growing up and hitting milestones without us. I wish Korea would just hurry up and get that passport issued so we can bring Andrew home.

Thankfully, today I had a distraction. I attended my friend Angel's baby shower. She is also adopting a little boy from Korea. His name is Alex and he was born April 3rd just four days before Andrew. They lived in the same orphanedge and there is a good chance they will fly home together too. Isn't that crazy!! These 2 little boys lived together in Korea; then fly around the world and end up only a 5 minute drive from each other. Small world!

To top it off! While I was enjoying the baby shower in walked my neighbor. I was thinking "what is she doing here"? Once she sat down I find out she is also adopting. They will be bringing a beautiful baby girl home from Guatemala.

What a day!

~Heather

"Wishing Andrew, Alex & Brooke a quick journey home"

Getting Ready

Today Mom, Angie and I worked on Andrew's room. After many pin pricks and actually running the sewing machine threw my finger we successfully created curtains & a bedskirt. We are using a vintage baseball theme in the room. I hope for Matt's sake Andrew likes sports! :)

I also got an exciting email today. It was from a Tina Fulkerson in Indianapolis. Apparently our son's have the same foster mother, Mrs. Lee Hae Kyung. Her son James is 15 months old and should be coming home soon. Maybe they will be on the same plane? I would love to have a picture of the boys together, since they will have a unique connection as foster brothers.


~Heather

Hospital

This week we received a letter in the mail from our adoption agency. It said: after suffering from a fever for several days, our little Andrew was admitted to the hospital. He was treated for an ear infection and possible pneumonia. They treated him with antibiotics & nebulization and when his symptoms normalized he was discharged.


~Heather

Holiday Season

Happy New Year Everyone!! We just returned from Mt. Dora, Florida where we spent the holidays with family. Sydney was overwhelmed with all the new toys, clothes, and dolls. She also got a new bike. Grandpa Bud took her for a lesson and by the end of the week she was fearless.

Andrew got a few gifts too! But, still no word on his arrival date. We hope the new year will jump start the passports. As you may know, Korea issues a set number of passports each year. In 2005 they hit that number very quickly so there is a now a back up of babies waiting to travel home. Once Korea begins issuing 2006 passports the flood gates should open and the babies should start coming home quickly.

~Heather

Update Report Picture

Andrew at 8 months old.

I love the mailman

I about broke a hip on the ice running from my mailbox to the house. Our mailman left two gifts in our mailbox today. First, we received our visa approval!!! This is a huge step towards bringing Andrew home. This visa allows him to enter the US as our immediate family member. Now the only item preventing Andrew's arrival is his Korean passport. Unfortunately, Korea implemented a passport quota which means they will only issue a set number of orphan passports per year. So we know Andrew will not be arriving in 2005 but hopefully this quota will not cause too much of a back up in 2006. Nevertheless, it is very exciting to be in the final stage!!!

Icing on the cake was the second item in the mailbox. An update report from Korea! It included new pictures and report of Andrew's progress. Our little one is now 8 months old, 18 pounds, 25 inches long. He is crawling, sitting up unsupported and sleeping from 11 pm - 6 am. He is also noted as easy going & loves fruit.

Andrew was moved from the KSS orphanedge to foster care on Aug 25th. His foster mom is Lee, Hae Kyung who has been a foster mom for 11 years.


~Heather

Happy Birthday

Today our little Andrew turned 8 months old in Korea. He should be in foster care by now so I hope his foster mom made it a special day for him.


~Heather


"Happy Birthday Andrew" Love, Mommy

A New Name

After much deliberation I think we have finally agreed on a name. Andrew David Min Lavelle. We both like Andrew, that was going to be Sydney's name had she been a boy. David is Matthew's grandpa's name. Min is his given name and what they have been calling him in Korea.

We are still waiting for the visa!


~Heather

Birth Certificate

Today we got a Lee, Min Shik's birth certificate in the mail. EXCITING!!! Of course, we couldn't read it but they sent along a translated version also.

Out of curiosity I checked the time & temperature for Seoul, Korea. Today it was sunny and 44 degrees in Seoul while it was 34 degrees in Canton, Ohio. Not much different! But they are 14 hours ahead of us.

Busy Holiday Season

Thankfully the holiday season keeps us busy. Otherwise, we would be dwelling on the fact that the government takes forever to process adoption paperwork!!! So, still no word on our visa, but I doubt we will hear anything before the new year.

In the mean time we have been working on the nursery. We decided to go with a vintage baseball theme and Matt & I hung border for the first time. Its looks straight and hasn't fallen down so I would call it a success. We also registered at Babies R Us and deliberated on baby names.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What next?

Yesterday, we submitted the paperwork to officially accept the referral of MinShik. Yeah!!! So what's next you ask???? Well, we are now waiting for the USCIS (U.S Citizenship and Immigration Service) to grant our petition to allow an orphan child to enter the US. This step can take 2 months or longer. Uhhh! I guess those government workers don't move quickly. :)


Heather


"I chose you.... because the love of family is meant to be shared."

Minnie Mouse

I just had to post this cute picture of Sydney.

Still Smiling

Well, I am still smiling from yesterday's big news. I love looking at his picture. He looks so cute with that post it note saying who he is stuck to his chest. I also started on the next round of required paperwork. Thank goodness I love doing busywork. Hey! The faster we get it submitted the faster we can bring our little guy home.

Our agency is planning one more trip to Korea this year so we are putting together a care package for them to deliver. I'm going to include a little photo album with pictures of us, our house, and dogs. This way he will be familiar with us before he makes his journey home. A special thanks to my great neighbors Susan Rank & Dr. Chae who helped me label all the photos in Korean.

Picture

"We didn't give you life, life gave us the gift of you"

It's A Boy!

WE JUST GOT THE REFERRAL!!!!! Our social worker called at 7:00 pm tonight with the news and she was standing in our kitchen by 7:20 pm. His name is Lee, Min Shik. Born: April 7, 2005 Weighing: 5.5 pounds He was born at home to a 16-year-old girl. He was turned into the orphanedge the next morning. He does not have any known medical problems and is said to be a happy baby & a good eater. We got a bunch of pictures too but, I don't have a scanner so I will have to work on that tomorrow. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

We hope to have him home by March, just shy of his first birthday.

~Heather


"Min, Mommy loves you. Hurry home! "

Air Mail ????

Today our agency flew 3 babies home from Korea. There is a chance our referral paperwork is on that plane. I have my fingers crossed!

~Heather


"Welcome Home Babies"

Still Waiting...

Well, another week has past and we are still waiting for "The Call" with news of our little boy. I am starting to hate Fridays because its very unlikely we will get baby news over the weekend. Matt keeps telling me to be patient but I want to see his face so badly. Thank goodness we have sweet little Sydney to keep us busy. I really feel for those adoptive parents who do not have other children as a distraction.

This feeling reminds me of the days leading up to my first ultrasound of Sydney. I desperately wanted to see if it was a boy or girl and to make sure she was healthy. Waiting for this referral is very similar. Although we already know its a boy, we still want to see his face and find out his birthdate.

In a strange way I think once I see his face he will become "real". Even though he has been real in my heart for months my brain needs a visual.

~Heather

"I chose you..... to add new joy to my life"

Just Waiting

We are waiting...... we should have a referral of a child any day now. We are keeping busy with Sydney trying not to focus on the telephone. Once our social worker gets a match for us she will be calling to set up an appointment to look at his photo and review his file & medical information. I can't wait to see what our son looks like!!!

~Heather

I chose you...

because I wanted more than what nature had in store for me.