We got our Christmas wish!

I should have posted sooner but it's been a whirlwind week. On Friday 12/19 we were matched with our baby girl!!! I was out to lunch with my friend Chrissy at Monti's, we were celebrating our birthdays. After lunch I called home to check my messages and my agency had left two messages. I could not get home fast enough. The 5 minute drive seemed to take forever. I called back and Morgan told me about our little girl. I asked him to email me her information. I quickly checked my email, saw her precious face and read just a little bit about her. She was born July 11th weighing 7.7 pounds. I called Lance and he told me he was almost home. At this point it was about 10 minutes until 1pm and I was due to be in Calvin's class at 1 for his holiday party. Lance walked in and I showed him the photo and then he was off to his office for a 1pm conference call. I rushed to school and to Calvin's class. I told him the wonderful news that he had a baby sister! He was so happy and started telling all his friends. Soon it was time for recess so I went out, found Nathan on the playground and told him the great news as well. So exciting! The next hour I spent in Calvin's class and it was all a daze. I could not wait to get home, read more about our girl, stare at her photo and celebrate with Lance and the boys. When school was finally out I hurried over to a group of my friends (Kelly, Katie & Carmi) and told them the big news. More excitement and hugging. I found Crystal & Nicole (2 of my friends who have adopted from Korea and Taiwan) and told them. Then we went home.

That afternoon I brought the baby's medical information to our Doctor's office for him to look over. All weekend we spent sharing the news with our family and friends as well as getting ready for Christmas. I saved lots of my shopping for the last minute. On Monday morning we heard from our doctor that in his opinion our daughter is healthy, growing well and is being well cared for. We called our agency, accepted her referral and they overnighted her documents to us. We got the documents on Christmas Eve. We had to go get 30 signatures notorized!

On Christmas Eve we went over to my mom's house to celebrate with family. Then we headed over to my dad's for a big family dinner. Christmas morning was very special here. My mom came over for brunch and the we headed down to San Jose Christmas afternoon. There was so much more celebrating, both for the holiday and the newest addition to the family. Lance's sister Lisa went a little crazy shopping at my favorite store (Oilily) for our baby girl. I will have to post some of the photos of those later.

We spent the night in San Jose and then went over to Lisa's house this morning to play Rock Band on the Wii. My favorite was playing the drums. We finally arrived back home this evening and this is pretty much the first time I have sat on the couch and relaxed for a week.

We have a ton of work to do in the next few months. I'm overnighting the adoption documents back to our agency in the morning and then they will start the immigration process. They said our daughter will be ready to travel in 4-5 months but I'm really hoping and praying it's closer to 3.5-4. My sister-in-law Lisa will be traveling to Korea with me to pick her up in the Spring. In the meantime we will be getting the home and the nursery ready here.

More about our baby! We'll be naming her Annie after my grandmother. We're still deciding on a middle name. She has the cutest chubby cheeks and lots of hair. Her paperwork mentions her dimples. I can't wait to see them. I hope that while we're waiting we'll get more photos of her and possibly even video!

Enough rambling, here is our Sweet Baby Annie!

All I want for Christmas

What do you think that is? ;) Just to bring a little color to my blog, here are some of my baby girl's clothes. This is just a tiny sample. I think I've bought and sewn her enough clothes to last a few years.







The next post I make to this blog should be my referral announcement!

Still #1

So far being #1 has been the hardest part of the wait. Knowing we are so close but having no idea when the call will actually come. I was hoping to have a picture of our daughter to send with our family Christmas card but that will have to wait until next Christmas. Still desperately hoping for a referral this year...

This is getting hard.

I really thought that we'd get our referral in October. I'm no longer going to make guesses about when things might happen...though I'm still hoping for a referral this year.

The waiting is getting hard. Every time the phone rings I get excited thinking we have a daughter. I know the wait after we are matched and I see her photo is going to be even harder. Last time I whined on my blog we had a huge jump on the waiting list so hoping I have that luck again! ;)

I did just get my first passport in the mail on Friday. That was exciting! I'm going to be traveling to South Korea alone to bring home her home. I can't wait for that day...hoping that will be in the Spring.

Preparing for baby!

We are so close to being matched with our daughter! I think this is our month. I've been buying and trading for cloth diapers for her. I received more since this photo and have more on the way. You will have to click to enlarge these photos.



& look at all these wonderful hand me down wool longies and covers that my super generous friend Rebecca sent me!



I can't wait to have a baby to diaper! Thank you everyone for all of your support so far during our adoption journey.

Getting Closer!

We were #1 on the waiting list for a bit but then a couple people in front of us came off hold so I think we're back to #3. It could be just a few weeks until we're matched or maybe a couple months. I'll post an announcement as soon as I hear anything. Getting so excited! Here are some little dresses I sewed last night for my daughter.

It's official!

We are #6 on the waiting list. Wow, this is going fast! From #22 to #6 in just 6.5 months! You never know how quick 6 referrals will come in but it could be a couple months. We're just now beginning our homestudy. Hopefully we'll complete it quickly.

So excited! -Kori

A quick note

Just wanted to say that we're moving up the list quick! We are ready to start our home study now. I just called the agency and she said we're #14 with 5 people on hold in front of us AND 3 baby girl referrals just came in last week and haven't been assigned yet! So really, if the people on hold don't come off any time soon we are #6!

Yesterday, I was complaining about the wait, wishing that I could do something to help move things along. Now today, there's just so much to do! So exciting...

We're moving up the list!

Just a quick post to share my excitement about now being #17 on the waiting list! There are 5 people on hold in front us so we could possibly be even closer. Not much more to report. I'm hoping we start our homestudy in the fall. Here's a beautiful little doll that my friend Krista made for our future daughter.

Did I say 2009?

Maybe I should change that to 2010? I thought when we were placed on the waiting list a couple months ago I was given an estimate of about 12 months until referral. Maybe I misunderstood. I just hung up with the agency now and she estimated 10-12 months before we begin our homestudy. :( We're #21 on the waiting list and we're to start the homestudy when we're #10 so if it might take 10-12 months to get to #10, than it might also take that long to get to #1 and our referral. Add another 2-4 months to that, waiting to travel and it looks to me like 22-28 months from right now. We started the process a little over 3 months ago and I'm already feeling impatient. Keep your fingers crossed that they're estimating a little high because things have slowed down lately and that they will speed up again soon!



There's a spot on my lap waiting for our baby girl -

Waiting

Well, we've chosen an agency and have been on the baby girl waiting list for 1 month, 3 weeks and 1 day! Our daughter will be born in South Korea and when she's ready to come home Lance and I will travel there to get her.

Guess what I'm doing to pass the time while I wait?

Yes, you guessed it - sewing for my baby girl! Want to see a little more?

Last one -

I'll update soon but don't expect any change in our progress for quite some time!

:-) Kori