He's getting so big!

Sniff, sniff! Our baby is growing up so fast and getting so big. We are very fortunate though to have received a couple of new, updated pictures today. He's getting quite a bit of hair and still has his chubby fingers. He's still stinkin cute and we can't wait to meet him!

Hand-me-down

Being the little brother means lots of hand-me-downs coming your way. You already have so many cute clothes, shoes, bedding, toys, blankets, and lots of things you will need and use, but it all has previous experience! I promise it's still all in really good shape though. So, last weekend, you received another hand-me-down and your big brother got something new. He got a new peapod and you get the old one. Sorry, but his is bigger (and cooler!).

The Kidco Peapod is the coolest travel bed on the market (in my opinion)! When G was 5 months old we were looking for a compact travel bed that would be easy to fly with and ran across this. We have been using it ever since and love it. It folds up really small, fits nicely into a suitcase, is much more comfortable than a pack n' play (because it has an air mattress in it) and is very portable. We take it everywhere we go. So, we thought Neylan needed one too. Especially since Grayson will be traveling with us to Korea. In Korea the families typically sleep together in one room on a thin mat on the floor (that does not sound like a good night's rest to me). We know that sleep is often a difficult transition for many kiddos coming from other countries. So, we are hoping that by having him try to sleep in his peapod with big brother in his own peapod next to him and having Mom and Dad in the same room while in Korea, that this will help. We'll keep our fingers crossed and see!! Hope he likes it. It's likely both boys will be using it every time we travel.

I found this Peapod Plus on craigs list last week and emailed about it immediately when I saw that is was $20 less than the original price. The family said they tried to put their daughter in it and she screamed the whole time so they decided not to try it again and sell it. The OT in me says that's craziness, but the bargain hunter mom in me says awesome!!

A new fundraiser begins!!

First, I just have to say that it is a true blessing to have such great friends who know when help is needed. Carla, you are awesome!!

For the next 9 days, I will be hosting an Uppercase Living book show as an adoption fundraiser. My great friend, Carla, has agreed to do this for us and is donating 25% of the sales to our fund to bring Neylan home. If you are not familiar with Uppercase Living, you should definitely check out a catalog. They have amazing vinyl expressions for every room of the house and every occasion. You can also design custom expressions in the My Design suite on Carla's website. The possibilities are endless with Uppercase Living. I have one in my living room and love it. They are also very easy to apply to the wall. Happy shopping. Thanks so much for supporting us in our quest to bring Neylan home.

You may place an order by letting Carla or I know. I can give catalogs out if anyone wants them as well.

Deadline to place an order is March 27th!

Carla's website is http://carlasmith.uppercaseliving.net (no www in the web address)
Carla's email is lilhut@yahoo.com 
Phone #s are 913.254.9702 (h) & 913.269.1299 

We're moving (for the moment)

We are another step closer Neylan!! We will be there get you as soon as possible and are so excited to meet you and introduce you to your big brother, the monkey. I've been telling him that there's no reason that he needs to teach you all that he knows, but I just don't think he will listen. You are going to learn so many new tricks and likely give Mommy some gray hair and panic attacks! But we're ready for you and all that you will bring to our family.

I called the NVC (National Visa Center) today and found out that we have been logged in and out! Our approval of the I600 form last week means that our government will allow Neylan to come into our country. When they approved that form it was sent to the NVC and "logged in". Today it was "logged out" and is on it's way to the US Embassy in Seoul.

The next step? The Embassy in Seoul will issue the P3. This is an acceptance packet that contains certain paperwork, forms, and a physical form. This should be issued within the next few days. I'll update when we find out about it. It's a very confusing process. I'm still learning and confused. Just taking it step by step.

APPROVAL!!

We're finally moving again and if feels great! We applied for our I600 approval (petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative) on Feb. 8th. This is the last piece needed by our government. We patiently waited a couple of weeks before calling about it and were told it could take 75 days from the time we applied to approval. Well that's discouraging news when you see other families get approved much faster. So, we waited another two weeks and called again last Friday. The lady told Adam that we were in the system, but it would take another two to three weeks to be assigned an officer, who would approve our paperwork. Bummer! Really discouraged now. Why is it taking soooo long??? Adam did some sweet talking and this week. . .  .

GOOD NEWS!!

We're approved! Our approval notice came in the mail on Friday. We were approved on March 9, which was just Wednesday. Just 3 days after we called last week. Hmm!! We'll take it.

So, things might start moving along a little faster for us now. Since this was the last piece of paperwork needed by the US govt, the rest of the process is up to Korea. So, we just sit and wait on them to do their thing. Hoping they do it quickly! We now anticipate we might travel late May or early June. That's just our guess though. Really, no one knows. But, we do need to get ready to get our little guy. We have a room to get ready for him!

Winter Jam 2011

Several months ago we learned about Winter Jam, a VERY large Christian concert with many fabulous artists, was coming to KC and they needed volunteers. Our agency, Holt, International, is partnered with this event to promote sponsorships for orphans across the world.

We decided to volunteer, which allowed us to get into the concert free. When we showed up to the training, we were assigned to work the aisles of our section during the 15 minute intermission. That's it! We also met a lady as we were walking in who had adopted two little boys from Korea. We all sat together and I was able to pick her brain on issues that could be coming our way. She was great to talk to and had some great info. Small blessings like this are not coincidental.

Since we were volunteering, we were able to go into the arena an hour before the doors opened and pick any seat we wanted. Never been able to do this before. So, we went close to the front with a great view of the stage (hence the better than usual pictures). It was really loud, but the view was fabulous!

Three and a half hours into the bands performances, intermission came. We wore lovely yellow vests filled with five cards with precious faces on them, all needing love, food, and most importantly, a forever family. Adam took one aisle and I took the other aisle in our section. Unfortunatly, Adam couldn't convince anyone to sponsor a child, but I was able to get four of my kids monthly sponsors. Fabulous!

I wondered the whole time if Neylan's picture was out there. Had someone taken him to sponsor or was he left on the table? I did see a Holt kiddo who has been matched with a family and is waiting to join them. I never saw my Neylan. We would have grabbed his card so fast to start sponsoring him monthly, but it won't be long before we begin sponsoring him for life! Our journey to adoption started with a child sponsorship. Had we never done that, I don't know we would be where we are now. I would encourage everyone to sponsor an orphan for a small amount of money each month. It can be life changing for them and for you!