10 Months Old

Isabella is getting so big. We can't wait to go get her. She is now 10 months old. We hope to have her right around the 11 month mark.

Not A Perfect Baby-(Thats Okay, We're Not A Perfect Family)

"FOR ME THOUGH, IT'S LIKE... I'VE GIVEN BIRTH TO MY OWN BABY GIRL,
YOU KNOW?
ONLY SHE'S, LIKE, A BIG GIANT GIRL... WHO SMOKES AND SAYS "SHIT"
A LOT. YOU KNOW?"
Quote from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.

AAC sent us a packet of articles about adopting. It discusses the fantasy of adopting and expecting to adopt the perfect child. It talks about how to adjust and what to expect from your adopted child. It was interesting reading.

I am sure there are people out there that do inadvertently think they will end up adopting or giving birth to the perfect child. We however are not in that group, thankfully.

We have seen a video of Isabella showing stranger anxiety for persons of Korean descent, she cries and protests quite loudly when our agency person reaches towards her, it is going to be rough when we show up and take her away from everything she is used to. We are going to have to take the time to build a trusting, loving relationship with her. Just because we already have loving feelings for her does not mean she will feel the same way towards us. It will be hard on us emotionally as we build a relationship with her as she will most likely reject us at first. We will surely struggle as we try to take care of her, learning what she likes or does not like. Hopefully it will not take long for her to understand that we want to take care of her and help her have a happy life. We will stand by her all her life.

We have two children at home now that are as different as night and day. Both have wonderful qualities but there is that naughty streak in each of them that also manifests differently for each. It has been an interesting 10 years of parenthood. One girl. One Boy. Makes for a new adventure daily. Just when you think you know what to expect from them, they shake it up. Things that I expected to happen as a parent have not. Things that I never would have thought about have happened. Being a parent is the most rewarding job but also the hardest.
Your heart is walking around outside of your body and you have limited control as to what will happen to it.
I have a little squid, a frog prince and a baby bird, I would love to have the ability to put them gently in my pocket and protect them from the world. That would be selfish though, I realize that I need to help them reach their potential for this world we live in. I hope they all grow up happy, but also capable to deal with the harshness that they will face as they go out on their own.

We have talked about the changes that are coming upon us. We are hoping for a small storm but are prepared for a hurricane.
We know that Isabella Eun Jin is going to go through a lot of changes and adjusting as she becomes a member of our family.
Some of the things we have discussed are:
a lot of crying/screaming
rejection
excessive sleeping
sleep deprivation
tantrums
bonding to one individual sooner than others
feelings of favoritism
feeling neglected
despondence
withdrawn
hyper activity
lashing out physically

We have talked about how we are going to deal with feeding this child in the middle of the night, what we will do if her body clock does not adjust to our time zone.
How we will deal with her possibly choosing one favorite family member for a time being. (My husband hopes he will finally be someones favorite)
Jackson had to decide last night where his car seat would be and where Isabella's car seat would be. He currently sits in the middle. I told him we were going to move him to one side so that Isabella could sit in the middle. He said he wanted to sit in the middle still and put Isabella to the side seat. We told him that would be fine but if she needed to be taken care of he would have to do it, which includes passing toys, holding a bottle, giving a pacifier or singing to her to calm her down. We told him with him in the middle, our older child would not be able to reach Isabella to help. He decided that he did not want to take the full back seat responsibility and his final choice was to put Isabella in the middle. He is such a cute little man. He doesn't mind helping her but understands that Joelee could definitely be a good alliance to have back there.
When we first told our kids that we were adopting a baby girl, Joelee did not want to share her room. She was very protective of her space. We told her that was fine, we would put the baby in with Jackson. Jackson did not mind sharing his room at all. When we got our referral it was a different matter. Our newest daughter became a reality to Joelee and she was able to "see" her sister. She decided she wanted her to share her room and that she would take care of her in the night if she woke up to be fed. We will do the best we can to make each of our children feel secure in our family. We will have to make adjustments as we go along, but so far all the adjustments we have made for our kids have been worth. I am sure it will continue to be the same. We don't mind making sacrifices for the ones we love.

The Email I Sent To My Co-Workers

Hello Friends,
Well this week our Visa was logged in and out of Washington DC. What does that mean to us? That the United States Government has signed off and we no longer have to deal with them! Hooray! So now all we have to do is wait for our "P3" packet, this is the packet of all our adoption paperwork to go to the adoption agency in Korea, they will review it then they will send it to the Embassy in Seoul who will set up our daughter's exit visa interview. After the Visa is issued we will have a few days wait and then they will FINALLY call us and tell us she is ready to travel!
We have had sooooo many bumps in this process so this time line may not go smoothly as it should but from here we should have about two weeks for our P3 to go back and forth then about a week later the visa interview will take place then 3-4 days later travel call! Think good thoughts for us! I really, really hope to travel the last week of September...I hope I didn't jinx myself by typing that.

Logged In And Out!!!-UPDATED

I just barely called The National Visa Center in NH and we were logged in and out on August 19! They gave me a number for the Embassy in Korea to call for updates. Is this correct?
Next Step P3!
I sure hope we have EP..

(Called NVC tonight-August 28, 2009-I spoke with a guy who sounded quite with it. He was very professional and helpful. He confirmed that our file was received in the office on August 19. He said we were actually logged in on August 25 and logged out on August 27.)

(I also spoke with Christie today, she said everything is done in Korea. Sounds like we have EP! We are just waiting for P3 and then Visa Interview. I am not ready yet to think about what happens after Visa Interview!!!)

Friday Update

At this point our I600 has not been logged and we do not have EP either. EP is rumored to be on its way and hopefully I600 will be logged in and out soon. I think I will call back on Wednesday August 26. That will be the two week mark from I600 approval.

Getting Back To Business

I need to get back into the swing of things and get ready for Korea!
My son and Isabella are all packed. I need to pack my 10 year old daughter's suitcase.
Today I ordered some more Gerber Onesies to take to donate to Eastern. We have decided to donate packages of Onesies because they are made in India and we HOPE that Eastern will use them. I have heard rumors that they will not use things made in China. We also are going to make a small cash donation to the Director of Eastern. It sounds like this is somewhat customary and we would rather be prepared than not. I am going to the bank here in about two weeks to exchange our U.S. dollars for Korean Won. I also need to decide if we are going to try to stay in the guest house at Eastern or get a hotel. I want to stay at the guest house but don't want to have to find a hotel in a rush if the guest house is already full. I also ordered the electric converter/adapter, hoping this really is what we need to use our small electronics in Korea.

We Were Out Of The Loop For A Few Days

We took a five day sabbatical. Much needed. We left on Wednesday, August 12. I did not hear from AAC on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, Nicole left a message on my cell phone to call her. I called her back and she asked if I had gotten her email. I told her I had not, that we were in the middle of the Redwoods. She then told me that our I600 approval had gone through on Wednesday and that she emailed me a copy of it. She said in about a week I could start calling the National Visa Center for updates...Hooray! She also said that most of Isabella's paperwork on the Korean side is already done. I am going to call and verify that with Nicole this week though because last time I asked about it, it had not been started. Just want to make sure there was not some confusion there. She said it was possible to travel soon. That most likely means Korea will be our NEXT trip! We have a trip planned for Mesquite in October but hope to have Isabella by then... She could try out a few of her swimsuits in the "warm tub." (My inlaws have a hot tub but because our kids are small we only warm it up so we don't cook their brains or bodies!)
I had the best pancakes on Wednesday! They were sweet cream pancakes. The recipe is from some restaurant in Texas that gave the recipe to the place we ate at on Wednesday night. I have to find a good recipe for these pancakes. The were delicious. I put a little butter on them, no syrup and the taste was to die for! So, good pancakes on the good I600 day. I like to associate things, it helps with keeping the memory.


Two of my fortunes from our Panda Express dinner on Monday night-August 10. (I had to go through about 6 cookies to get two that satisfied me.)

"Success and Happiness are in your destiny" (I have decided that this applied to our I600 being approved and what we had to go through to get it done.)

"Good news will come to you from far away" (This one hopefully applies to Isabella's Korean paperwork)

Next Steps-Taken From Kevin And Andrea's Blog

Once your I600 approval is done, they send it on to the National Visa Center (in New Hampshire), where you'll be logged in and then logged out. This usually takes about 1-2 weeks from I600 approval to get logged in/out. I'd start calling NVC to see if you're logged in after about 6 days from I600 approval. The number you call to find out if you're in/out is: (603)334-0700; press 1, then 5. They will ask you for your case number. Tell them you don't have one and you want to find out if you're I600 approval has been logged in yet. They'll ask for DH's name, birthday, and maybe his SS#. If they tell you you're logged in (or out!), ask for the SEO#. That is your case #. You'll want that handy for all the remaining phone calls you make!!! .

Then...after you are logged OUT of the NVC, they will send your file on to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul by air-mail. This usually takes about a week or a little more to get there. Once your file arrives at the embassy, the embassy will send out the Packet 3 to your Korean agency. To find out when the embassy has sent out your P3, you call this number: (202)663-1225; press 1 then 0. Tell them you want to find out if your Packet 3 has been sent out yet. They will ask for that magical SEO# and hopefully tell you that your P3 has been sent to the agency on such and such a day.
Meanwhile, your child will be getting EP sometime after referral acceptance is sent.  Anyways...IF your child has EP AND your Packet 3 has been sent to your Korean agency from the embassy, your Korean agency will return your entire file to the embassy. Once the embassy gets that P3 back from Eastern, they can schedule the visa interview. You will call that (202) number to find out if VI is scheduled. It generally seems to take about 2 weeks to get a VI scheduled after the Packet 3 is out (If your child has EP....if not, then it will obviously take longer).

If you call that (202) number and they say your visa interview has been scheduled, you know 100% for sure that your child has EP.  Your travel call should be very quick after VI is scheduled. 

Yang stuns Tiger at PGA Championship

CHASKA, Minn. - South Korea's Y.E. Yang toppled Tiger Woods and became the first Asian-born man to win a major with a stunning performance Sunday in the PGA Championship, memorable as much for his clutch shots as the player he beat.

In a year of spoilers at the majors, Yang's was the most surprising of all.

Woods was 14-0 when he went into the final round of a major atop the leaderboard. He had not lost any tournament around the world in nine years when leading by two shots.

None of that mattered to Yang, a 37-year-old Korean who hit the shots everyone expected from Woods. Leading by one on the final hole, Yang slayed golf's giant with a hybrid 3-iron that cleared the bunker and settled 12 feet from the cup.

Yang made the birdie putt and shouted with joy as he pumped his fist. That gave him a 2-under 70, and a three-shot victory when Woods missed yet another short par putt and shot 75.

"I tried to master the art of controlling my emotions throughout the small wins I had in my career," Yang said through his agent, Michael Yim. "I think it turned out quite well today."

Yang finished at 8-under 280 and won $1.35 million, along with a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and the majors. That was important for a guy who had to go back to PGA Tour qualifying last December. The last player to go from Q-school to PGA champion was John Daly in 1991.

One more bonus: His victory put him on the International team for the Presidents Cup in October in San Francisco.

His victory is massive for Asia, the fastest-growing market in golf. Perhaps even more significant is the way he stood up to Woods, the world's No. 1 player whose heritage is half-Asian through his Thai-born mother.

Yang and K.J. Choi are the only PGA Tour players who learned golf in South Korea before coming to America. South Koreans have had far more success on the LPGA Tour, with seven players combining to win 11 majors.

His victory came four days after golf was recommended to become part of the Olympics in 2016.

For Woods, it was the second time he has finished runner-up in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, both times to a surprise winner. Seven years ago, he birdied the last four holes and came up one short of Rich Beem.

This time, Woods made one mistake after another over the last four holes, mostly with his putter.

"I did everything I needed to do, except for getting the ball in the hole," Woods said. "Just didn't make the putts when I needed to make them."

Yang was No. 110 in the world, his only victory on the PGA Tour coming in March at the Honda Classic, on a course across the street from headquarters of the PGA of America. He was best known for holding off Woods at the HSBC Champions in China three years ago.

This stage was far bigger. Yang was even better.

He took the lead for the first time all week by chipping in for eagle from about 20 yards short of the 14th green. And when it looked as though nerves were getting the best of him on a three-putt bogey at the 17th, he delivered his two most important shots.

Yang still had enough strength left to hoist his golf bag over his head, and later the 44-pound Wanamaker Trophy. After a long and tearful embrace with his wife, Young Ju Park, he walked across a bridge saluting thousands of fans who couldn't believe what they saw.

What a finale to this year in the majors.

Kenny Perry was poised to become the oldest Masters champion at 48 until Angel Cabrera beat him in a playoff. Phil Mickelson, reeling from his wife being diagnosed with breast cancer, was on the verge of finally winning the U.S. Open until Lucas Glover outplayed him over the final few holes. And just last month, 59-year-old Tom Watson was an 8-foot par putt away from winning the British Open, then lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink.

Was it inevitable?
# ALTTEXT Lusetich: Was Tiger's 14-0 run with the 54-hole lead in majors bound to come to an end? Robert Lusetich looks at the unlikely David who slew golf's Goliath. Final scores

Woods losing a two-shot lead in the final round of a major? That was unthinkable - until a breezy afternoon at Hazeltine.

"I played well enough the entire week to win the championship," Woods said. "You have to make putts. I didn't do that. Today was a day that didn't happen."

Before Yang, Asian-born players had come close in the majors - Lu Liang-huan of Taiwan finishing one shot behind Lee Trevino at the 1971 British Open, and T.C. Chen's famous two-chip gaffe that cost him a chance at the 1985 U.S. Open, where he was runner-up to Andy North.

This could be a big breakthrough for Asian players, especially with a World Golf Championship starting this year in China.

As for the PGA Championship, what remains is whether it will be remembered more for Yang's victory or Woods losing a 54-hole lead for the first time in a major.

I600 ACCEPTED/ 받아들이는 Korean

接受 Traditional Chinese
toegelaten Dutch
admis French
angenommen German
αποδεκτός Greek
accettato Italian
受け入れられる Japanese
받아들이는 Korean
aceitado Portuguese
принято Russian
aceptado Spanish

You get the idea, we got our I600 approval today!!!

Hopefully

Well, I called AAC today. Papers still not sent to USCIS. Apparently we are still waiting for contact from the supervisor that is supposed to be taking over our file. I guess we should not expect approval this week even though we were told that it would be last week or this week. The girl that originally requested the additional documents at USCIS is going to be out of the office for 3 to 4 weeks. I was told that "hopefully" we are not waiting for her to come back before anything is worked on...Yep, hopefully.

Still frustrated...

So I called AAC. Nicole is not in today. Christie is not in today. Regina could not tell me if my paperwork was sent to USCIS on friday..."Nicole keeps personal notes, they are not always written in your file." Hmmm. Thats nice.

I guess what really frustrates me is that I feel AAC staff should be advocates for the children they are placing and when something is not going right they should do something about it.

I feel like when you call somewhere to order lets say a sweater.
Sales Person: What color sweater would you like to order?
Me: Pink
Sales Person: We don't stock pink.
Me: Ok, purple
Sales Person: We can get you purple.
Me: Ok, place the order.
Email From Sweater Place: We regret to inform you that your item is backordered.
Me:(calling sales person) I see my order is not being sent due to backorder, can you tell me when it will be available?
Sales Person: No, I'm not sure.
Me: Can you tell me when it was placed on backorder?
Sales Person: Um, actually before you placed your original order.
Me: Ok
Me-going to store at mall that I ordered sweater from, pink sweater sitting on shelf as well as purple. Me to Sales person: Gee I tried to order these by phone and pink not available, purple on backorder. Sales Person: Hmmm, they should be available because catalog orders will pull from store stock.
Me calling to cancel original order: I would like to cancel an order.
Sales Person: Ok, can I ask why?
Me: Yes, I purchased both colors at store, because I was told pink not available, and purple on backorder.
Sales Person: Oh thats to bad the associate should have pulled from store stock for you.
Me: AGHHH

5 PM No Call Back From AAC

and to top it off, it's Friday.

I Can't Believe It

So I got the email for my work for FMLA request. AAC put that we could be traveling some time from September 2009 through December 2009...This just gets better and better everyday.
I called AAC but Nicole was not available. I left her a message to call me so that I know if she talked with the supervisor at USCIS.

Gearing Up For The Phone Call Today

So when I first got with AAC my social worker told me to only talk to Joni. She said Joni knew everything. So that is what I did, but when it was known that Joni was leaving somehow I got handed to Nicole. Not sure I am thrilled right now about that. I had talked with Joni sooooooo many times throughout the wait, I truly felt she was involved and wanted us to have a referral as bad as we did. She would commiserate with me each week when no referrals came in.
I can't decide if I am being overly sensitive about paperwork and emails not being sent or phone calls not being made. I am trying to have patience with Nicole because I am sure she is working with many families and with different state requirements and so forth. I truly hope that she does get our paperwork to Fed Ex so that USCIS has no other excuses. I really would like to hear that she has talked to USCIS today and gotten an update of when we will be approved. I would like it alot if she gets me an email stating we are waiting for travel so that I can submit my FMLA paperwork for my job.
I know, that's a bunch of stuff to want to have happen.
I really have been nice up to this point but today I may have to SCREAM. I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt this last time and hope that I have just been freaking out.

Gifts For Foster Family-Almost Done!

I just ordered this necklace for our foster mom. I hope she loves it.
I am a Tiffany's girl and think every girl should have a piece of Tiffany's to call her own.
I already found a cute crown charm on their website for our baby princess!
Hopefully within the next few weeks I will get all of the foster family gifts together and post a photo of them.

Get Gephardt KUTV Channel 2 News

Whoo Hooo!
I got a call today from a gentleman that works in the Get Gephardt office. He asked me a bunch of questions about what was going on and he is going to contact USCIS and ask them some questions. He said he will call me back to let me know if they will have enough to do a story...

Info For The Big Guns

Chief, Investigations Division
Office of Security and Integrity USCIS
111 Massachusetts Ave NW
Suite 7000
Washington DC 20529
1-800-323-8603 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            1-800-323-8603      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Here is the contact information for the office that takes complaints and investigates local USCIS offices.
We have contacted them. They are so far very nice to work with and very interested in the information they are given.
You can contact and remain anonymous or you can give your contact information to them.
They give you a case # and a passcode so that you can call back and give additional information or get updates on what is being done with your case.
I contacted them on Monday and opened a case. The gentleman I talked to told me my case file would be on the Chief Investigators desk Tuesday morning.
I like how they have "Integrity" in the name of the office, I think we need a little of that.

Speechless

Talked with AAC today. They have not sent the documents that USCIS is waiting for to approve our I600. I really don't understand it. They said they were "waiting" for the immigration lady to contact them so then they would send it after they find out if she wants anything more. What? I thought you talked with them on Monday and they said all they need is...
I was absolutely speechless.
So after getting off the phone and recovering, I called back. I asked them to go ahead and Fed Ex what they have in hopes that is all they need to approve us. I offered to pay the Fed Ex charges and then pay them again if they end up needing anything else.

Nothing In The Mail Today

Boy, that sounds like an old record, huh?

I Am Getting Antsy!

집호리가슴개미 Leptothorax congruus (Korean Ant)

It sure would be nice if I could go out to my mailbox today and get my I600 approval. I bet it's still to soon, but maybe... I can always hope.

Yeah, I'm A Bully, You Got Something To Say About That?

So I took control of an out of control situation and think I am at a winning point. After several emails and calls we might have our I600 approval at the end of this week or next week!
I cannot tell you how exciting that is for me.
It has been an up hill battle. One that hopefully will prevent families behind us having to go through it.


Tombstone-1993-Movie Quote-Perfect-For The Situation
Wyatt Earp: All right, Clanton... you called down the thunder, well now you've got it! You see that?
[pulls open his coat, revealing a badge]
Wyatt Earp: It says United States Marshal!
Ike Clanton: [terrified, pleading] Wyatt, please, I...
Wyatt Earp: [referring to Stilwell, laying dead] Take a good look at him, Ike... 'cause that's how you're gonna end up!
[shoves Ike down roughly with his boot]
Wyatt Earp: The Cowboys are finished, you understand? I see a red sash, I kill the man wearin' it!
[lets Ike up to run for his life]
Wyatt Earp: So run, you cur... RUN! Tell all the other curs the law's comin'!
[shouts]
Wyatt Earp: You tell 'em I'M coming... and hell's coming with me, you hear?...
[louder]
Wyatt Earp: Hell's coming with me!