I Highly Doubt . . .

. . .that we will be traveling within the next week. And I'm OK with that.

We said that if our TC came yesterday or today, we would try to leave by next Wednesday. No calls either days. If we had TC, we would have been notified already. And I'm OK with that.

We lose a day with Memori@l Day being on Monday, because I doubt anything will be open to make travel possible, nevertheless get the call. And I'm OK with that.

There are A LOT of loose ends we have to tie up at the last minute and having more notice will make that A LOT easier. So, hoping for TC on Tuesday. Then we can book a little more in advance and have everything set to leave Wednesday, June 9th. Wednesday's are better for Chad's job and he will have Th, F, Sat and Sun. to recoup before heading back to work the following Monday. We are self-employed and really don't get 'paid' when he's gone. And I am totally OK with that.

She's just not ready yet. We have been praying since we saw her sweet, precious face that Our Awesome Creator would orchestrate the best time to go over and the best time to bring her home, safely. It's just not time - yet. I know it will be soon and until then, I trust in HIM. I have faith that whenever it's time, it will be perfect. And I am completely and utterly OK with that.

She's been Interviewed!

To recap - I called the State Dept. Monday morning and they said she had been to the Embassy, had her picture taken and that our P3 had been returned. Which means that we had EP and that they are now working on her Visa. Then, at about 11:00a.m. on Monday our agency called and "asked for a favor." OK. They needed a Schedule C from our tax return. I guess because we are self-employed that's what they needed. OK. Looked through our tax stuff, NO Schedule C. Called our accountant, she gave me the skinny on what they needed. So, I send our personal and Business tax returns, our 1099 and w2. Not a problem. It all was sent to Korea Monday and it got to them Tuesday morning.

Didn't hear anything yesterday, and I really didn't intend to.

Called the State Dept. this morning and she had her Visa Interview YESTERDAY!!!!!

The lovely lady at the State Dept. said that the file is completed and ready for approval!!!! YAY!

So . . . . what does that mean, you ask? We could get TC tomorrow or Friday!!!!!!
COULD, nothing's for sure, of course.

I'm hoping that we get TC before Monday, because it's Memorial Day and everything will be closed. We'll see and I will keep you posted!!!

I can't believe it! I am going to see my baby girl, REALLY soon! *Goosebumps*

Update

WOW. I can't believe that it has been TWO WEEKS since my last post! Yikes! There hasn't been anything to really post about lately. I plum ran out of things to list for Waiting Wednesdays. We've just been waiting and waiting around here. Well, we have had baseball EVERY NIGHT to keep us occupied. Both boys are in baseball, on different teams, with different practice times, on different nights. Yeah, I LOVE summer. :) It's been fun and it does tend to keep our minds off the whole adoption thing. Kinda.

We've also been watching the video that our agency brought back for us. I lost count how many times we have watched it. She's crawling. Really good. I'm sorry . . . . but my daughter is THE CUTEST little girl on the planet! No, REALLY! THE cutest! She's also pulling herself up on stuff. And can stand for a little while. She's still only 16lbs. Tiny. She'll fit in my Beco perfectly. TONS of hair. Seriously, I don't know what I am going to do with all that hair! It's pretty long, too! Love it!

I called the State Dept. twice last week and nothing. Nothing from our agency as well. Friday was Budd@'s Birthday and so I am assuming that Eastern and the Korean Government were closed, thus the reason for nothing on Friday. However, I decided to chance the State Dept. this morning and Joye's P3 has been returned!!! YAY!!! AAAAAAAAAAND she has had her Embassy Appearance already! Wooooooohooooooo! The lady said she has LOTS of hair with barrett's and that she is really cute! That's my girl!!!! Totally what I needed to hear. I am expecting to hear "EP Approved" from my agency now, although I kind of beat them to the punch!

We *could* be in Korea by next week! Possibly. I am still shocked, excited, stunned and most of all completely and utterly thankful. HIS promises are fulfilled and to HIM be the glory.

SUB . . .

. . . MITTED! I ended up calling my agency yesterday because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I was seriously checking my email and phone 1,000 times a day waiting for some news. So I called and asked what-the-heck is going on. (Not really) I politely asked if they have heard anything from Korea concerning the EP's. NOPE.

Then this morning a friend was over and we were talking about adoption and stuff and she was asking me about our status and I said "No one knows." She brought her little cutie-patootie home in July and we did our training together and went through the same agency. So she knows the specifics of the process. Well, once she left and I raced to my email to see if there were any surprises. Um, YEAH! A cute little email saying the we were in fact SUBMITTED for our EP. THE BEST words I have heard in a LONG TIME. And new pics of our sweet, adorable little Joye. I know, THE best.





She has changed SO much. But still cuter than EVER.

We were quoted 3-6 weeks from Travel Call! It's actually on the calendar now. We can put "weeks" in the sentences instead of "months." Totally surreal.

I had a feeling we were submitted because she has had her Visa Physical, but knowing that we are on the next step feels much better! YAY for progress.

I am hoping like crazy that my other agency friends have heard the same good news!

Happy Birthday Joye!

Today, my baby girl turns One Year Old! I can't believe it! I thought of her all day long yesterday, because that was when she probably celebrated her Birthday with her Foster Family. At about 9:00 last night I thought "I wonder what she is doing right now?" Because it was noon in Korea on the day she would be celebrating. I have no idea when the party was, but I can't WAIT to get some pictures!

The First Birthday is a BIG deal in Korea. They do it up BIG. It's called a Dol. They dress them up in their Hanboks and make up a HUGE table full of food and then lay some things out like a piece of thread, a pen or pencil, money, and I forget the other stuff. Anyway the babies are encouraged to pick something off the table. If they pick the piece of thread, they are said to have a long life. The pen or pencil means they will be a scholar. And the money usually means they will be wealthy in life. I wonder what Joye picked? I'm sure we will soon find out.

We celebrated our day in a different fashion. First, we went under the house an drug out all the pieces to Joye's crib. I just couldn't bare the thought of an empty crib for six months. So we decided to put it up today. So here it is.
We also retrieved the changing table top (from underneath the house as well) and I put it in the Laundry Room. We're going to take a stab at the whole Cloth-Diaper thing and so changing her in the Laundry Room makes sense. Wait to you see my collection of cloth diapers, oh so cute!
Then we hung her cute-little towel on her own little hook - right next to Wall-e and Spiderman (the boys' towels.)
Then we watched the first disk to "Stairway to Heaven" again. Our favorite KDrama. We wanted to watch the series again, to see what Lotte World looks like. Can't wait to visit there someday.

I then got started on supper, which looked like this - Bibimbop. LOVED IT. Not because I cooked it, but because it was really good. It's a keeper. I am going to have to make this more often.
We made confetti Cupcakes with PINK Cherry Frosting and blew out little Joye's candle for her.


The boys were able to blow out their own candle as well.

It was a good day. I was sad at first, when I got out of bed. But then I realized that it's a real special thing that she was able to spend her first birthday in Korea with her Foster Family. The pictures will be priceless. She had an authentic Dol, something that I can't give her here. I will have many, many more birthday's to celebrate in a lifetime. One away from her isn't going to kill me.

I missed her like crazy, though. And I can't WAIT to get her home.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! We love you more than you'll EVER know and we can't wait to have you here! (Happy Birthday to little Bee too, Joye's unofficial twin!)