Alison Larkin is coming to town!

We saw Alison Larkin during an adoption conference earlier this year and thought she was brilliant. I am so excited that she will be back in the area this year and we will definitely see her!

To find out if she is coming to your neck of the woods, check her website: http://www.alisonlarkin.com/appearances.htm

She is absolutely fabulous and a must see!

Her book, The English American, is a great read. (No, I am not getting a cut of the profits, I am just a fan).

Congrats to Katherine Heigl!

Congrats to Katherine Heigl and her husband on adopting a baby girl from South Korea!

Here she is making her announcement on the Ellen show:



I am so happy she decided to share this on TV; I think it's wonderful that the public is getting a glance at adoption and what it takes to become an adoptive parent.

Officially Waiting!

Today our homestudy, along with some other paperwork, was sent to Korea and we are now officially waiting for our referral!

The average wait time until referral is currently 6 - 8 months, but I do know of several people who received theirs in 3 -4 months.

I'm excited!

Furry Baby Freddy

 

 

Since I've posted a picture of our newest furry family member, I need to post one of our sweet Freddy. Here he is!

As I mentioned below, Freddy found The Husband at the mailboxes at our old apartment complex in Georgia and decided to move in with us when he was about 7 weeks old.

He's been through a lot with us - many many moves, car rides, plane trips, hotels, apartments, and homes.

He is the most loving little guy and especially loves the ladies!

We feel so lucky to have him in our lives.

(Yes, you may call me the Crazy Cat Lady)

Our special needs adoption ;-)

Four years ago, when we were living in an apartment complex in Georgia, the sweetest, cutest, and feistiest little baby kitten found The Husband in the parking lot and decided to move in with us. Since then, our little Freddy has grown to be the sweetest, cutest, and feistiest cat on the planet. He's lived in 5 apartments and 3 houses with us and has travelled across the US in a car and on a plane. Ever since he started living with us and we became his servants, we've been promising him that he could have a playmate one day. Today is that day!

We've been looking on the internet at all the cats available for adoption through our local rescue organization and decided to go to an adoption event at Petsmart today. There were so many cuties, and we could not decide which one would be the best fit for our sweetie. The same organization was having an event at another Petsmart 40 minutes away, and we decided to look there as well. When we got there, we described what we were looking for (good with cats, loving, playful, good with toddlers) and they showed us a cat that would be perfect. And then they started telling us about another cat they'd had for a long time, who would also be a good match, but who was deaf. We looked in the cage, and a handsome, albeit dirty, white cat looked back. We took him out of the cage to go to the backroom to play with him and I fell in love with the little guy. He was at a kill shelter and his time was running out. Apparently people were hesitant to bring home a deaf cat.

I'm happy to announce that he is now a member of our family. The Husband and I have been taking turns staying with him in the guest room, and he is just the sweetest thing. He's played extensively with his new mouse toy, snuggled and cuddled, and had lots and lots of water.

We are keeping him in the guest room for two weeks and will then introduce him to our Freddy. I hope with all of my heart that he is the companion Freddy needs and that they will become best friends.

Welcome to your forever family, Casper!

Adoption T-Shirts On Cafe Press

These are all available from different vendors on www.cafepress.com. I think they are hilarious and/or adorable.

"So far no morning sickness.. But the papercuts are terrible"

I-171H issued AND received!

After taking up our adoption officer's entire day with a long email conversation about our missing I-171H (that's the approval for the I-600A, for those that are keeping track of form numbers) and almost having a heart attack when USCIS asked for our home study update to be faxed (should that not have been there all along?), all is good. USCIS reissued the document and the lady was nice enough to even fax a copy of the I-171H to me. Unfortuntately our contact at the agency had already left for the long weekend  (just a couple of minutes earlier), but now our file is FINALLY ready to go to Korea and will hopefully do so on Tuesday. Hallelujah.

Great News!

I emailed the USCIS office yesterday and very promptly received a very polite response that our I-600A was approved last week!! Yay! My guess is that either it got lost in the mail or they mailed it to the old address. I am to contact them again if I don't receive it by the end of the week and they will mail another one. So by the end of next week our home study should be able to go to Korea. Woohoo!