So Thankful!

Today my team hosted a shower for me at school. It was lovely! Loved the cupcakes that a teammate baked, yummy punch, and the special wishes that people shared...and of course, don't forget the games!

I have to say that I feel extremely lucky to work with my team as well as the rest of the staff at my school. Their generosity and love that they showered on us, really touched my heart.
Although this spirit was especially shown to me today, it is a great staff to be a part of, which is especially endearing.

Beautiful artwork-from our beautiful and talented art teacher! The photos don't do it justice!

So, thankful for such a great day! So, thankful for the following tidbit from our agency...

There should be movement in Korea in regards to the Exit Permits next week!!!

Yipee!!!

Waiting

We.Are.Still.Waiting.

This part of the wait has been the hardest part.

We are trying to wait as patiently as possible.

The latest? Rumor has it that EPs should start being processed at the beginning of March.

We are hopeful that this information is true.

Progress Report!!!

Today we received a progress report on Gavin from our agency. What's nice about the progress report is that it gives more detailed information about the baby's personality compared to

Well Baby Check Up.

Gavin sounds like he's doing great! Here are some tidbits from the report.

• he likes a lot of different foods, except if it is too spicy or salty
• he likes organic cookies
• he sleeps through the night and likes having his own pillow-Uncle Bob and Auntie Kerri gave him a pillow pet for Christmas so I'm sure he'll love using it.
• he loves doing activities with the members of his foster family

My absolute favorite comment says that he "dances to exciting music".

I hope that when we travel to Korea, we will get to meet his whole foster family. My brother in law met with my nephews foster parents, some people meet just the foster mother, and some people meet the whole family...so we'll have to wait and see.

Any news? Not yet...but hopefully something soon!

January Well Baby Check!

Love seeing these emails in the inbox!

Gavin is 1/2 inch taller and a 1/2 pound heavier than last month. So, he's 33 1/2 inches tall and

26 1/2 pounds.

He has six teeth on top and bottom and he is trying to eat with a spoon and fork.

This month it says that he's drinking from a cup with help, so it's a good thing we have shelf full of sippy cups!

We are still waiting on news about Exit Permits. According to MPAK we should see some movement around mid February. So...we continue to wait as patiently as we can.

Don't worry, we aren't just twiddling our thumbs. We are slowly putting his room together.

...and how about some math formula wall art? We have Pi, the Pythagorean Theorem, the Golden Mean, and of course the Theory of Relativity.

Hopefully there will be more to show after this weekend! There's probably 100+ other things that we need to do, we just don't realize what needs to be done.

So...hopefully in the next blog post we'll be able to show a completed room, and include some good news about movement in the adoption process!

Happy Lunar New Year!

FM

Question-Who is the beautiful and serene lady in our post today?

Answer-My foster mother

Since entering January I have definitely had thoughts of Korea swirling in my head. 2012 is what we have all been waiting for since we believe that we will soon be united with our baby boy.

Lately, I've been thinking about Gavin and his foster family and how 2012 signifies the END of loving and caring for this boy who has been a part of their family for almost a year.

I really admire the strength the foster families have. They care and love our babies through sickness and health, help them reach their important milestones, and then they are able to say goodbye and send them to a new country.

Gavin happens to be our foster family's first foster child so I hope that the transition will be as smooth as possible for them. Our goal is to be consistent about sending updates to Korea, so they know that he is doing well in his new home.

............................................

When we started the adoption process, I hoped to find information about my foster mother, so I could meet her when we traveled to Korea.

I was able to find some information. My foster mother was only a foster mother from November 1976 until May 1977, Essentially it's the dates from my birth until the day I arrived in America. I also have her name. However, my agency said without an address or ID number they would not be able to find her.

Was I disappointed? Yes.

I would have loved to have met her and have the chance of saying thank you for caring for me for the first 6 months of my life.
In my dreams I imagine that my foster mother would be pleased with my journey along life's path and she would be tickled pink that I was returning to Korea to adopt a son...

...and yes, I treasure the fact that I have her name, and have found one more link to my time that I lived in the ROK.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

One Year Ago...

Today marks the one year mark for our adoption journey to adopt our son, Gavin Min-Seo! It was this day last year where we mailed in our application to begin the adoption process.

In anticipation for the day when we finally get to travel (hopefully sometime this spring) we have decided that every weekend we are going to do something to prep...a biggie is getting his room ready.

If you saw our last post, you know that his crib is finally built. We would have shown more of the room. Unfortunately, there's not too much more to show at this point.

This weekend we bought his mattress, which we tested in his crib for sturdiness, along with Ace. Don't worry the plastic cover is still on the mattress! We also found that we will definitely need to lower the mattress since Gavin is taller than Ace and could probably just walk over his crib rail.

I believe we have enough to keep us busy until our sweet boy comes home.

If you are wondering what is happening in the actual process, everyone is waiting for Exit Permits. MPAK has a great article in regards to what adoptive families are waiting on and what is happening in Korea. Please click here to find out more information.

Thanks for your love and support! Hopefully we'll have some great news to share with you fairly soon!