Friday, June 27, 2008

August?

Let's just say I've a had a little bit of wind taken out of my sails this week. No new news on the status of her visa- it's still at the agency, which is a downer itself, but then to make matters worse, I emailed our case worker with questions about our expected timeframe. Now mind you, our agency is pretty tight-lipped about estimated timeframes. On the night of our referral, they said expect to wait 4 months until she comes home. Period. But as you know, things have been progressing unusually quickly. So my big question was about how long it will be once she gets her visa (which should take another couple of weeks, at least, to schedule). I'm expecting for her to say about 1 week. Her reply: 4-6 weeks. Ouch. That means she probably won't be home until August.

Luckily, I have the best weekend in the world planned to keep my mind off this bummer news. First of all, today is the last day of school and beginning promptly at 12:30pm is the annual "End-of-the-Year Party". This is not your typical summer barbecue, this is a serious party. On the waterfront, beautiful weather, unlimited beer, and hundreds of teachers celebrating the fact that we have the next few months off. Good times are sure to be had.

Normally, I would spend this weekend recovering from the above mentioned festivities, but this year I am going to take-it-easy because I have a Poppy shower bright and early at 11:00 tomorrow morning. Another shower, you say? Yes, this is Poppy's 4th shower and one that I am definitely looking forward to. I will do my best to post pictures tomorrow night.

Sunday morning is Carter's baptism and Marc and I have the honor of being his God-parents. Followed by a fun-filled party at Jeff and Courtney's. And then, to top off this grand weekend of mine, I am going to see Wicked with a bunch of my girlfriends on Sunday night. I have a great story about going to see Wicked last year in Toronto, maybe I'll share it along with some pictures on Monday.

No time for a pity party, gotta go get ready for a weekend-o-fun!!!!

***UPDATE!!****
As soon as I published this post, I decided to give the Visa Center a call to see if they received her paperwork back from the agency yet. This is how the conversation went:
Me: I'd like to check on the status of my case.
NVC: Ok, here it is, OH, MY, GOD.
Me: WHAT??!?! What's wrong?!?!?!
NVC: This is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen!
Me: You just gave me a heart-attack! But, I know, she really is.
NVC: Oh, it looks like we have her paperwork back and she's scheduled for a visa interview on Monday June 30th at 1:00.
Me: WHAT?!?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? (I wasn't expecting for this to be scheduled for another couple of weeks!!)
NVC: Yes, seriously, that means she will have get her visa on Monday.
ME: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! (mixture of screaming and crying at the same time).
NVC: Congratulations, and I hope you have a great weekend!
ME: I LOVE YOU!!!!!
So, needless to say, the wind has come back to my sails and I am just sailing along right up to cloud nine. As far as "taking it easy this afternoon", well we'll just have to see about that, because I'm pretty sure this calls for some serious celebration. 4-6 weeks!!! And then she's home!!! Home forever!!!! I can do this!!!!

August?

Let's just say I've a had a little bit of wind taken out of my sails this week. No new news on the status of her visa- it's still at the agency, which is a downer itself, but then to make matters worse, I emailed our case worker with questions about our expected timeframe. Now mind you, our agency is pretty tight-lipped about estimated timeframes. On the night of our referral, they said expect to wait 4 months until she comes home. Period. But as you know, things have been progressing unusually quickly. So my big question was about how long it will be once she gets her visa (which should take another couple of weeks, at least, to schedule). I'm expecting for her to say about 1 week. Her reply: 4-6 weeks. Ouch. That means she probably won't be home until August.

Luckily, I have the best weekend in the world planned to keep my mind off this bummer news. First of all, today is the last day of school and beginning promptly at 12:30pm is the annual "End-of-the-Year Party". This is not your typical summer barbecue, this is a serious party. On the waterfront, beautiful weather, unlimited beer, and hundreds of teachers celebrating the fact that we have the next few months off. Good times are sure to be had.

Normally, I would spend this weekend recovering from the above mentioned festivities, but this year I am going to take-it-easy because I have a Poppy shower bright and early at 11:00 tomorrow morning. Another shower, you say? Yes, this is Poppy's 4th shower and one that I am definitely looking forward to. I will do my best to post pictures tomorrow night.

Sunday morning is Carter's baptism and Marc and I have the honor of being his God-parents. Followed by a fun-filled party at Jeff and Courtney's. And then, to top off this grand weekend of mine, I am going to see Wicked with a bunch of my girlfriends on Sunday night. I have a great story about going to see Wicked last year in Toronto, maybe I'll share it along with some pictures on Monday.

No time for a pity party, gotta go get ready for a weekend-o-fun!!!!

***UPDATE!!****
As soon as I published this post, I decided to give the Visa Center a call to see if they received her paperwork back from the agency yet. This is how the conversation went:
Me: I'd like to check on the status of my case.
NVC: Ok, here it is, OH, MY, GOD.
Me: WHAT??!?! What's wrong?!?!?!
NVC: This is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen!
Me: You just gave me a heart-attack! But, I know, she really is.
NVC: Oh, it looks like we have her paperwork back and she's scheduled for a visa interview on Monday June 30th at 1:00.
Me: WHAT?!?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? (I wasn't expecting for this to be scheduled for another couple of weeks!!)
NVC: Yes, seriously, that means she will have get her visa on Monday.
ME: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! (mixture of screaming and crying at the same time).
NVC: Congratulations, and I hope you have a great weekend!
ME: I LOVE YOU!!!!!
So, needless to say, the wind has come back to my sails and I am just sailing along right up to cloud nine. As far as "taking it easy this afternoon", well we'll just have to see about that, because I'm pretty sure this calls for some serious celebration. 4-6 weeks!!! And then she's home!!! Home forever!!!! I can do this!!!!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Movin' right along!!!

I just got off the phone with the Visa Center and the Embassy in Korea has recieved her paperwork and already sent it to our agency in Korea!!! Man, these Visa people move fast!!! So, now our Korean agency has to fill out some paperwork and send it back to the Embassy. Then schedule her Visa interview. Once her interview is completed she'll recieve her Visa and be on her way to my arms!!!

Movin' right along!!!

I just got off the phone with the Visa Center and the Embassy in Korea has recieved her paperwork and already sent it to our agency in Korea!!! Man, these Visa people move fast!!! So, now our Korean agency has to fill out some paperwork and send it back to the Embassy. Then schedule her Visa interview. Once her interview is completed she'll recieve her Visa and be on her way to my arms!!!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

More shower fun!

This past weekend, the librarians from my school district threw me a baby shower. Unfortunately, the weather was crummy so we had to be cooped up inside, but we still were able to have a good time. It was nice to be able to chat with everyone about our personal lives, instead of just school-related stuff. One of the librarians adopted her son through our agency 7 years ago, and another librarian's sister was adopted from Korea 20 years ago through our agency. It was fun to hear all about their experiences.

Each librarian gave Poppy an awesome book for her rapidly-growing library. And then we also got some essentials, like baby gates and a potty! Once again, it's so nice to feel all of the love and support everyone has for our daughter.

And we had a little more action in the nursery today - we finally set up her crib! We were able to borrow a cute white crib from my friend and it looks perfect! Now we still need to get a dresser and Marc has to do a few finishing touches with the woodwork and then we are done! It's so peaceful every time I walk in, I just want to stay in there!

This quilt square is from my friend Amy...

And this is from my friend Carolyn's parents...


More shower fun!

This past weekend, the librarians from my school district threw me a baby shower. Unfortunately, the weather was crummy so we had to be cooped up inside, but we still were able to have a good time. It was nice to be able to chat with everyone about our personal lives, instead of just school-related stuff. One of the librarians adopted her son through our agency 7 years ago, and another librarian's sister was adopted from Korea 20 years ago through our agency. It was fun to hear all about their experiences.

Each librarian gave Poppy an awesome book for her rapidly-growing library. And then we also got some essentials, like baby gates and a potty! Once again, it's so nice to feel all of the love and support everyone has for our daughter.

And we had a little more action in the nursery today - we finally set up her crib! We were able to borrow a cute white crib from my friend and it looks perfect! Now we still need to get a dresser and Marc has to do a few finishing touches with the woodwork and then we are done! It's so peaceful every time I walk in, I just want to stay in there!

This quilt square is from my friend Amy...

And this is from my friend Carolyn's parents...


Thursday, June 12, 2008

Visa update!

My agency gave me a form written by a previous adoptive parent with all of the directions for tracking a visa. Once we received the I600 approval, the directions said to start calling the NVC to see if they have received it. I called a couple of times last week and they had nothing. I called on Monday and they finally received it. The guy I talked to said our paperwork is logged in and could take 4-6 weeks for processing before it is sent out. Ugh. The directions from the adoptive parent said it typically takes 2-3 weeks for processing. Hmm. I called the NVC today just to see how things were going and guess what?! They've already processed it and sent it to the Consulate in Korea!!!!! WHAT?!?!?! It only took 2 days!!!!! Ok, let's stay calm here. Now one might assume that this would mean my sweet Poppy would be coming home about 3 weeks sooner than anticipated, but anything goes at this point. I'm trying really hard to not get my hopes up.

The next step is for her visa info to arrive at the Consulate in Korea and they forward it to our agency in Korea. The agency needs to fill out some paperwork and send it back to the consulate. Then comes the Visa interview, which typically takes a few weeks to schedule. Once the interview is complete, she should receive a Visa to come home within a few days. Then it's just up to the agency to arrange the travel plans with the escort. Then Poppy comes home and we are a family of three!!! Yipee!! We are in the home stretch!!!! I feel like I've been pregnant for 13 months and I'm starting to go into labor. I've been on the verge of tears (happy tears) all day long. The only thing that is going on in my head is "This is happening, she is coming home, she is coming home, she is coming home. Poppy is coming home."

And if Poppy is going to be home before we know it, I better start posting more quilt squares! These quilt squares are from Courtney, Jeff and Tucker. (Sorry Carter, they were from before you were born!)



Visa update!

My agency gave me a form written by a previous adoptive parent with all of the directions for tracking a visa. Once we received the I600 approval, the directions said to start calling the NVC to see if they have received it. I called a couple of times last week and they had nothing. I called on Monday and they finally received it. The guy I talked to said our paperwork is logged in and could take 4-6 weeks for processing before it is sent out. Ugh. The directions from the adoptive parent said it typically takes 2-3 weeks for processing. Hmm. I called the NVC today just to see how things were going and guess what?! They've already processed it and sent it to the Consulate in Korea!!!!! WHAT?!?!?! It only took 2 days!!!!! Ok, let's stay calm here. Now one might assume that this would mean my sweet Poppy would be coming home about 3 weeks sooner than anticipated, but anything goes at this point. I'm trying really hard to not get my hopes up.

The next step is for her visa info to arrive at the Consulate in Korea and they forward it to our agency in Korea. The agency needs to fill out some paperwork and send it back to the consulate. Then comes the Visa interview, which typically takes a few weeks to schedule. Once the interview is complete, she should receive a Visa to come home within a few days. Then it's just up to the agency to arrange the travel plans with the escort. Then Poppy comes home and we are a family of three!!! Yipee!! We are in the home stretch!!!! I feel like I've been pregnant for 13 months and I'm starting to go into labor. I've been on the verge of tears (happy tears) all day long. The only thing that is going on in my head is "This is happening, she is coming home, she is coming home, she is coming home. Poppy is coming home."

And if Poppy is going to be home before we know it, I better start posting more quilt squares! These quilt squares are from Courtney, Jeff and Tucker. (Sorry Carter, they were from before you were born!)



Monday, June 9, 2008

Poppy's traditional 1st birthday (Tol)



Can you even believe how adorable she looks in these pictures?! They came in the mail earlier last week and I have not stopped staring at them since. She is at her traditional Korean 1st birthday dressed in her hanbok. Part of the tradition is to place different objects in front of the baby and whichever one she chooses first indicates what she will be when she grows up. As you can tell from the pictures, Poppy chose the pencil, which means she will be a scholar! I am so incredibly grateful to her foster mother for giving her a beautiful birthday party and for sending us the pictures. Unexpected surprises like this make the wait for her to come home a little more bearable.

Poppy's traditional 1st birthday (Tol)



Can you even believe how adorable she looks in these pictures?! They came in the mail earlier last week and I have not stopped staring at them since. She is at her traditional Korean 1st birthday dressed in her hanbok. Part of the tradition is to place different objects in front of the baby and whichever one she chooses first indicates what she will be when she grows up. As you can tell from the pictures, Poppy chose the pencil, which means she will be a scholar! I am so incredibly grateful to her foster mother for giving her a beautiful birthday party and for sending us the pictures. Unexpected surprises like this make the wait for her to come home a little more bearable.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Still working on the nursery...

I get a lot of requests for new nursery pics, but believe it or not, it's still not done. We have been working on the nursery since about September. We like to work at a nice, slow pace. What has really been taking a long time is the amount of wordwork. Marc has spent countless hours replacing the molding around the windows and baseboards and doors. And the doors were in pretty rough shape, so Marc searched around and found old replacement doors that were in much better condition. So here are a few pics of what has been going on with the nursery lately.


And this is just an example of what happens when you try to make improvements on old houses- what was supposed to be as simple as changing out the door, has turned into replacing lots of woodwork and part of the wall.

As you can see, these little projects take a lot of time, but it will be worth it when Poppy has the coolest room on the block.

Moving onto more fun and exciting things, check out these absolutley adorable red shoes I picked up for Poppy at the children's consignment shop down the street. I have a feeling I am going to become very good friends with the lady who owns the shop - they are always filled with the cutest clothes!!! Seriously, do little girl shoes get any cuter than this?!

And now I am off to meet Courtney and some friends at the Melting Pot for dinner and then we're going to see Sex and the City. I am so excited I can barely stand it!!!

Still working on the nursery...

I get a lot of requests for new nursery pics, but believe it or not, it's still not done. We have been working on the nursery since about September. We like to work at a nice, slow pace. What has really been taking a long time is the amount of wordwork. Marc has spent countless hours replacing the molding around the windows and baseboards and doors. And the doors were in pretty rough shape, so Marc searched around and found old replacement doors that were in much better condition. So here are a few pics of what has been going on with the nursery lately.


And this is just an example of what happens when you try to make improvements on old houses- what was supposed to be as simple as changing out the door, has turned into replacing lots of woodwork and part of the wall.

As you can see, these little projects take a lot of time, but it will be worth it when Poppy has the coolest room on the block.

Moving onto more fun and exciting things, check out these absolutley adorable red shoes I picked up for Poppy at the children's consignment shop down the street. I have a feeling I am going to become very good friends with the lady who owns the shop - they are always filled with the cutest clothes!!! Seriously, do little girl shoes get any cuter than this?!

And now I am off to meet Courtney and some friends at the Melting Pot for dinner and then we're going to see Sex and the City. I am so excited I can barely stand it!!!

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