Home Study Update Update

Laura, our social worker, visited yesterday for our home study update. It went well, despite a morning freak-out by me when I thought none of our smoke detectors worked. Tanna came home from work earlier than planned with new ones. He got one of them installed upstairs and then realized that the other(s) were in working order after all. Oooops. :o) Of course, I can laugh about it now, but it sure wasn't funny Wednesday morning.

After asking several questions about our new residence--including an inquiry about working smoke detectors on all floors ;o)--Laura took the tour and was soon on her way. She said our home study update should be ready next week. I hope our legals are in by then so we can move forward with the I-600, as we need both the home study update and the legals to proceed. It's been five weeks today since our referral acceptance--so come on, legals! What are you waiting for?

Lining Things Up

Kate still loves to line things up! We frequently find lines of various toys and other small items around the house. This used to be a cause for concern--and sometimes I do worry about it a bit--but all seems to be well with Kate and her development. As the developmental pediatrician said last year, it seems she just has some quirky personality traits. Don't we all, though? :o)

She also likes to shut all the doors in the house. I have been working on a list of various things about Kate the last couple of months. Need to get some of those things posted. Until then ... here are some photos of Kate's handiwork ...









P.S. A lot of times, after she forms a line of things, she will say, "Look at all these toys!" (Or cars or whatever she is lining up ... suckers, pacis, eggs, etc.) She also will say, "Great job, Kate!" The other day, when she lined up all the crayons (top photo), she kept calling it beautiful. :o)

P.P.S. Notice the Gabbas are in the order they appear in the Gabba intro song, and the extra Foofa we have is on the end. Just wanted to make a note of it.

Nursery Theme

The theme for Isaac's nursery is coming together. I found this alphabet/country wall-hanging at HomeGoods earlier this month. The "K" isn't for Korea, but I was thinking I could get something else for the walls to represent Korea--perhaps a Korean flag to frame or Isaac's name in Korean, etc. Anyway, my sister Robin was with me when I bought the canvas, and our next stop was the Orvis store. I actually stayed in the car with Kate while she and Steven (my BIL) ran in. She called me a few minutes later to tell me about the globe pillow. I went in to check it out, and ended up getting it. AND, when I was checking out, I found out it was on sale! Score!

I love the international theme! I think it fits perfectly with our family and situation. Reminds me of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" ... or as Kate might suggest ... "God's Great Big World," which is a Miss PattyCake video.

The quilt is from PBK, and I have had it for a while, actually. Also have the bumper. I am a sucker for madras, and I think it works well with the global theme, as this world is a patchwork of people and cultures. The little extra there is from blabla--not sure how I will use it just yet, but it is cute. Got it at the sample sale last year.

We still have a lot of work to do. We are planning to switch the kids' rooms--meaning, Kate's current room will be Isaac's room, and Kate will move into what is now the guest room. We have to paint, too. (Kate's current room is pink. Not sure exactly what color we'll go with--perhaps a light blue? The crib and dresser we have in there are black.)

Can't wait to see how it all comes together. We'll probably get started on it next month or the next.

A Pollen-Filled Day at the Zoo

I have never seen the zoo so busy--and we go to the zoo pretty frequently. It was earlier this month, a spring-break week in the metro area. My brother's family was in town, as it was their spring break, too. It was Wednesday, and it was going to be hot. We had plans to get to the zoo as the gates opened at 9:30 a.m. We didn't quite make it at 9:30, but we arrived not too long afterward. The parking lot was filling fast, but we had no trouble getting a spot.

I brought with me some extra tickets we'd received with our membership package and gave them away. The people--I looked for a group who seemed to be from out of town--were very appreciative. It made me happy to make them happy. Johnny, Anne and the girls all got in free with us and our membership anyway. I love our zoo membership; it expires on Friday, but we will be renewing (again).

Anyway, we had a lovely time at the zoo that morning, despite the crowds. We saw plenty of animals and rode the zoo train. Kate and I got a head start at the playground (one of her favorite things at the zoo lately) while the others rode the carousel.

Oh yeah--I meant to tell you--the pollen count that day was more than 5,000.

That is not a typo.

Kate's face was yellow when we left the place. Just about everything was covered in yellow, as a matter of fact. You could literally see clouds of pollen in the air, and if a tree's branches got a hint of wind in them, watch out!

When we exited, I could not believe the line of people waiting to get in. It was all the way down the long sidewalk area and wrapped around one of the other buildings. (If you've been there, then you know what I am talking about. It was a looooooooong line. Just to get in.) It looked like the very full parking lot had been closed for a while--but there were some cars circling around, waiting for folks who were leaving and following them to their cars. The people who got our spot said they'd been at it for at least half an hour, maybe longer.

Anyway, that sums up our zoo experience that day. A fun time was had by our party, and we were thankful we got there early. Saw some friends there, too.

Here are some snaps ...


To quote a line from a favorite song of Kate's ... E is for elephant!


What cute meerkats!


Giraffes


Lion exhibit--see what Kate likes to do at the zoo?


Gorillas


Anne is a teacher, and the panda is her classroom mascot.


Getting the beloved panda stamp


Posing for a purpley picture


Kangaroos!


Abba jumps for joy!


All aboard the zoo train!


Sometimes it's hard to sit still.


Having fun on the playground


The photo isn't that great, but you can kind of see the pollen all over Kate's face. Crazy!


Thanks, Zoo Atlanta! See you next time!

Good Friends and Chocolates

Mike E. has been in town, and we enjoyed hanging out with him over the weekend. He stayed here last night before his early-morning flight. He had to leave before 6 a.m., but it's hard to feel too sorry for someone who's flying to Hawaii! It's actually a business trip--Mike has a pretty sweet job that takes him to some beautiful places.


On Saturday, Tanna made gumbo--I heard it was really good!


Last night, we went out for Chinese food.


Mike brought us some very cool and delicious chocolates from The Chocolaterie, this awesome-sounding chocolate shop up Georgia 400 (Exit 13). If you are in the neighborhood, you should definitely check it out. I don't think you can tell in the photo, but the chocolates are very detailed in shape and color. He hand-picked these just for us. He also brought us some chocolate-covered strawberries from the same shop, but those didn't survive long enough to be photographed. Mike is a very good friend! ;o) (He was Tanna's best man.)


Mike lives in Colorado, so we don't get to see him as often as we would like. We did get to see him last November for a quick lunch when he was in town. What a treat!

My friend Kristi has been in town as well--we've had a full weekend packed with lots of adventure and fun times. More to come ...

Adoption Update: April 25, 2010

April 25, 2010, marks the one-month anniversary of our official referral acceptance. So ... to commemorate this special occasion ... I will give you an update on our adoption process. While we received our referral on March 12, our acceptance wasn't official until the 25th, which is the earliest date we could submit the proper paperwork. In our program, the estimated time from acceptance to travel is three to six months. From what I have gathered, three months is pretty rare these days--and there is no guarantee that Isaac could be home even in six months. It all depends on how smoothly and quickly the paper chase goes. We are really hoping that he will be home before his first birthday in September. But we have to remember that God is in control--and in the end, the timing is really out of our hands.

Right now, we are waiting on "legals," the next round of paperwork which we have to receive before we can submit the I-600. Our home study update also needs to be complete before we can proceed with the I-600. The home visit for our update is set for this Wednesday (April 28)--and it can take up to a week after that before the update is complete and the report is written, etc. I was really, really hoping that this could have been done sooner, but it is what it is.

In other news, I continue to read some of the adoption books I have bought over the last several months, and I am a part of a few adoption message boards. I have learned a lot from these resources, and I look forward to learning even more. One thing I just learned from one of the message boards is that apparently the children receive checkups about once a month up until they are around 1 year old. (They continue to receive checkups after that, of course, perhaps just not as often.) That means that we could receive a well-baby checkup (WBC) report and new photos soon. Apparently, this same time (checkup appointments and such) is when the foster families pick up their care packages, seeing as they are there at the Holt offices. (Holt is the agency which partners with Bethany for the Korea program.) Anyway, I hope that Isaac and his foster family like what we sent--and I hope we receive some sort of update soon. These little things are so encouraging and really do help with the waiting.

Kate is so cute. We have been talking to her about Isaac being her baby brother and how he will be living with us soon, etc. I am not sure how much she truly understands, but she knows who he is. She will point to his photos and say, very enthusiastically, "Brother Isaac!" It is so sweet. She also prays for him during her bedtime prayers.

I have been working on our adoption timeline and want to post it. I need to look up a few more dates and then hopefully can share it soon.

Korean Housewarming Gift

A traditional Korean housewarming gift is laundry detergent--just FYI in case a Korean loved one gives you "washing powders" when you move into a new home. (Don't take it as a hint that your clothes stink or that you need to do more laundry or something.) The concept is that the soap makes bubbles, which symbolize prosperity and good things and so on and so forth. I would also think that clean clothes are always nice, and that's one less thing you have to buy at the store, right? (Also, on the flip side, as a gift-giver, laundry detergent is a pretty easy and inexpensive gift. I need to remember this! Not too difficult to mess up something like laundry detergent while wishing someone congratulations on a new abode, huh? ... Well, unless someone has allergies or a favorite brand, etc., but you can ask ahead.) Seriously, though, this was new to me, and I LOVE this tradition. We just received our second laundry-detergent housewarming gift last night when our friends Burt and Jennifer came over for dinner. (Mike and Darlene also bought us some detergent upon their first visit to our house last month. I meant to get a photo of them with the Tide, but ... alas ... I did not. Sorry to have failed you, my blog reader(s).)

Anyway, Burt and Tanna staged this "grip-and-grin" photo above after the below staged photo didn't work out due to lack of flash. In the below photo, notice that Tanna is receiving the gift with both hands. In Korean culture, it is customary to present and to receive gifts with both hands as a sign of respect. Also, while I am thinking of various Korean things, it also is customary to show respect when you are shaking hands by putting your other hand up to the elbow of the arm that is attached to the hand with which you are doing the shaking. I know that is written in very confusing manner, but try real hard and you should be able to figure it out. Or just google it. You'll see.

ETA: I just googled it, and a better way of putting it is something like this: Support your right forearm with your left hand while shaking hands. Also, this is accompanied with a bow. Additionally, as a disclaimer, your gender and age and the gender and age of the person you are interacting with should be considered--which could very well change everything. :o)



We are sincerely thankful for our new laundry detergent. Anyone want to come over and wash some clothes?

Visitors from The Volunteer State

Don't be jealous, but my sister and BIL saw Bon Jovi here in the ATL last week. They had an awesome time at the concert and hung out with us for a day or two afterward. Before the show, we ate a quick dinner at Five Guys and then they headed downtown for the big event. Did I mention how totally awesome the concert was? I mean ... totally. (I didn't go, but based on everything I heard about it from various sources across the metro area--and the Internet--well, I believe it. I have good sources, people.)


Here they are getting ready to go to the concert. Some tickets these days just aren't as exciting as the little rectangle things of yesteryear.


The next morning, we dropped Kate off at the church nursery and did a little shopping. Kate is wearing a dress that used to be Riley's. (Same thing for the cute Elmo outfit she is sporting in the top photo.)


We hit Lenox, but didn't do too much damage.


Steven liked this store.


Soon it was time for lunch--guess where we went ...


It was OK!


After that, we were off to the blabla store!


Another stop or two before we went home to rest up for dinner ...


That night, Kate spent the night @ Tanna's parents' house, and we enjoyed dinner out--a rare thing without any kids with us. (R & R stayed with grandparents in Tennessee because they had school, etc.)


We went to Fogo de Chao. Yummmmmm ...


Ready for more!


Group shot


We had to get up early the next morning for the Shoe Box Derby 5K. After that, we went to the Mall of Georgia for some breakfast ... or brunch, rather. Aunt Robin treated Kate to a cookie--needless to say, Kate was THRILLED! :o)

After a little more shopping at Georgia's largest mall, they headed back to Tennessee, and we headed back to Atlanta. We had a wonderful time--it just went by too fast! Come back soon and often!

Adoption Friends for Dinner

I was thinking of various titles, and the above one was cracking me up. So I decided to keep it. For the record, we didn't eat our adoption friends for dinner. We just had them over for dinner. Just wanted to clarify.



So a few months back, I met a gal on one of the adoption message boards I like to visit. I found out that she also is in the process of adopting from Korea through Bethany--and she and her DH don't live very far from us. And--get this--her DH is Korean, and she is from ... Tennessee! How cool is that!?

After e-mailing a few times, we met in person at a Starbucks inside Target and hit it off. We talked and talked and talked while I fed Kate M&Ms (why didn't I bring the DVD player?). We really do have so much in common, so the conversation came quite easily. We've stayed in touch since and finally got our husbands to meet over the weekend when they came over for dinner.



Amy (oh yeah--her name is Amy, and her husband is Sam) is a very talented baker. (You totally need to check out her site.) She brought this rockin' and very delicious pound cake the other night. The photos do not do it justice. It's completely from scratch, all her own recipes. If I make brownies from a box, I call that one of my overachieving moments. hahaha


Yummmmmmmmm



Tanna prepared some kalbi. I tried to get some good photos so he could share his recipe. Oh yeah--I could not find my camera at the beginning of the evening, so I was freaking out on the inside. I seriously have anxiety when I cannot find the camera. This happened back in January when we were in California, and I tried not to make it obvious ... but I was freaking out then, too. Fortunately, I found it the next morning in a bag of toys. But I digress ... I found my camera the other night, too, just in the nick of time. Yay! (By the way, don't you love how you can see the toilet in the background of the photo of us? It kind of looks like it's just sitting there by the stairs. I need to remember to close that bathroom door so people don't have to look at the toilet while they are sitting at the table. Sorry about that!)



Oh yeah--the menu also included sperm sprouts (kongnamul, but I think they look like sperm, so I call them sperm sprouts), lettuce, rice, kimchi, the usual. It was good, and we ate a lot. Kate was pretty well-behaved (for the most part), especially after not sleeping during her naptime that day. She actually ate at the other table and watched DVDs without too much interruption. She did share a shrimp chip or two with Mr. Sam and Mrs. Amy--you can see one in Sam's hand in the above photo. :o)



We are so thankful for the new friends God has placed in our lives. It is so nice to share this adoption journey with folks who understand the process so well. It's also really neat to find folks so close to us with whom we share so much in common. Oh yeah, I should mention that in photos Sam takes a traditional Korean-man pose (no smile)--a practice also popular with Tanna's dad. But I caught a smile or two. (See the above photo with Kate.) I have a feeling when they welcome their child home, Sam will be grinning ear-to-ear in all the pictures. :o)

Thanks again for coming over! Hope to see you again soon!