It's the little things...

I was relieved to find our I-797C Notice of Action in the mailbox today. It's good to know that our I600 has made it to its first stop in .... Missouri?

In the past applications were mailed directly to the office that would be working on them, but apparently that was just too convenient. So now they've added an extra step that adds about three weeks to the whole I600 nightmare. The application goes to Texas, which then seems to send it to Missouri, which in turn sends it to whereever it needs to go. So that's what my tax money is spent on!

I am asking for all kinds of good wishes and prayers that our I600 makes it to our local office and that the approval is a speedy one (in relative terms, of course).

I'm trying to be positive...

I complain so much on this blog that I wanted to make the next posting a cheery one. I really did.

I have tons of good stuff going on.

We received Ben's Class B waiver last week, which is great because some of my online friends had major hold ups because they didn't receive their waivers until the very end of the process.

We finally had another waiting parents meeting. We didn't have one the entire time we were waiting on our referral! It's almost all new faces. It was a great meeting. We had a panel of adoptive parents with children from Colombia, India, Korea, and Ethiopia who shared their experiences of meeting their children and getting through the first couple of months.

So this is where my posting turns whiney again. We were told to expect a wait of at least 6 months for our babies to come home. Just a month ago we were quoted 3 months.
I know this happened to a lot of Eastern families last year, but never did I think this would happen to us. I am heartbroken. No spring time in Korea, no first birthday with Ben. This sucks.

Workout Wednesday

Today is supposed to be Workout Wednesday on this blog. However, due to an impending visit by my in-laws, I have to clean instead of exercise. Bummer.

But, as of this morning (after my cup of tea - which is half tea and half sugar) I have given up sugar for lent. Or at least reduced it. My co-worker talked me in to it. It sounded good this morning. Now, not so much. But we are determined to succeed. We're still looking for ways to reward ourselves, but since candy is out, it's difficult.  Suggestions are welcome!

4 weeks since referral - legals!

Yet again my co-workers got to see me in tears. I just got an email saying that we have legals!

Our wonderful agency received and sent them on Monday, which was supposed to be a holiday for them. They are working so hard for us.

I am sooo happy.

Now we get to wait for I600 approval, an estimated 2-3 months.

4 weeks since referral - no legals

It's time for my weekly countdown. 4 weeks and no news.

But, one of my friends finally received her referral yesterday after waiting forever, so that is wonderful news. I think we will be going to Korea together!

Happy Seollal Sweet Ben HoYoung

Happy Lunar New Year to my sweet boy. This is your first Seollal. I wonder how your foster family is celebrating. Hopefully they are taking lots of pictures for you to look at as you grow up.
I know it will not be an easy year for you, but I hope it will also bring lots of happiness.

We finally ordered a crib!

We were able to leave the house yesterday and finally placed an order for a crib. I did not realize that delivery times would be that long - we were quoted 10 to 14 weeks. Hopefully Ben will be home before the crib.

We had a little battle of the cultures, with me wanting modern lines and light colors, and hubby wanting something sturdy and dark.

I really wanted a white crib, I just think they are so beautiful and would have went with Ben's room nicely, but according to the husband, white is not a manly color.

So we compromised on a dark crib that's a little more contemporary. It converts to a toddler bed and then a "real" bed, so Ben will be sleeping in this until he goes to college.

Olympic Games

I have always loved the Olympics and as a child I always dreamed of participating one day. That was until I discovered that you have to be really good at sports to take part in the Olympic games. And if you read my posts about exercising (or rather not  exercising), you know that I don't quite qualify and never did.

Anyway, I still love watching them and it seems that every time I get to add a nation to cheer for.

There's Norway, the country I was born in.

There's Australia, where I spent part of my childhood.

There's Germany, one of the countries I call home.

There are the US, the other country I call home.

If I'm desperate I'll claim Italy, yet another country I lived in. Italy I'm not really attached to, but it will do when none of my other teams are doing well.

And now I get to add South Korea to my list of countries that are in some way "my" country.

This way I get to be a winner most of the time. It's great being international.

News of the day

The news of the day are that there are no news.

Our adoption agency is open again - thank goodness. Our coordinator (whom I love) sent an email just checking in and saying they don't have our legals yet, but that she has everything ready to be mailed as soon as they come in. I am really hoping for good news next week.

Our plans for the weekend include going shopping for Ben. I really need to get out of the house.

I also feel like I need to eat a big steak.

I am not alone

After I had a little meltdown on the BB that I frequent way too often about the wait and people not getting how hard it is, something finally clicked and I realized that there are plenty of people that do "get it" and that have went through or are going through the exact same thing. That's something I probably should have realized a while ago, since I've been on that board too much over the past year. I guess I am the one who never truly understood the pain of those who were waiting for their travel call.

I am so grateful that I've met some amazing women throughout this journey, albeit many of them I may never meet in person. I am also thankful that I have found a place for support when most of those I know in real life think I'm a total looney.

Update on Workout Wednesday

The chocolate chip cookies were delicious. Eating exercises your stomach, too.

Workout Wednesday

Please don't laugh.

Winston Churchill is one of my favorite people simply based on his famous quote "no sports", something I have been following for most of my life with sporadic attempts to become fitter and healthier. Unfortunately being thin does not equal being healthy. I've been told that exercise makes you feel better, but I think that is a big lie that people tell themselves and others. Of course I probably could have avoided some of my back issues if I had what is called core muscles.

Now that I've been blessed with a HUGE baby (20 lbs at 5 months), I really need to do something about my fitness level. I tried to lug a bag of books upstairs yesterday and today my arms hurt! Also, I almost dropped them. Unless HoYoung wants to sit on the couch with me all day (which I doubt), it is time to take action!

So today will be the start of my fitness regimen. I found some exercises on the internet that look halfway doable and today I will attempt to do a couple of sets (or at least one). But first, let me eat my chocolate chip cookie.

3 weeks waiting. 7 months old. And more snow.

My baby is 7 months old today. I know he is loved and well taken care of, but my heart hurts. It's been three weeks since we received his referral. I would love to see some movement. I know that people are working in Korea to bring him home. In the US not so much. Everything here is closed for a third day in a row. Well, really for a fourth day since people went home early last Friday. We've got blizzard conditions. My work graciously allowed us to work from home - again. Which looks something like this:

Hubby's work deemed it safe to go to work. Whatever. He stayed home and is supposed to be cat sitting while I work, but clearly that is not happening (see picture of two cats chasing eachother above).

I've got my thermos' filled with warm water, am overheating the house, have dinner prepped (beef stew with lots of red wine) and will be making Mac and Cheese while I work. Hopefully the power will stay up this time around and we don't have to bring out the fondue to heat up our food. Okay, who am I kidding, it's still sitting on the dining room table from when we used it on Saturday.

I feel bad because I can't enjoy this as much as I should. I would normally do mental cartwheels around the house for a chance to stay home with my kitties - for pretty much an entire week no less. Now all I can think of is how our papers are floating somewhere without being touched. My husband is killing me with his optimism, he keeps on saying I should be happy we even have a referral. Why must he always focus on the positive? LOL

He is worried though that Ben will come home and will have nothing other than a carseat and carrier, since it's been snowing here pretty much ever since we got the referral and we only got to go to the baby store once, didn't buy anything, and haven't even decided on a crib. He is also worried about the theme of Ben's room. Shouldn't I be the one obsessing about that?

For now, please keep your fingers crossed we don't lose power! Everything is more bearable when you are warm.

Ben's Package Arrived in Korea

On a more positive note, Ben's care package arrived in Korea today.
I'm not really sure how they get the items to the babies, but hopefully he will have his package soon.

I hate snow

Our area was just pounded with 30 inches of snow during the worst winterstorm in 90 years, and of course there will be more to come this week. Needless to say, this region is not well equipped to handle this amount of snow. They are doing remarkably well with the resources they have, but from what I understand it is mayhem out there. I wouldn't know first hand, because luckily my work is letting me work from home today and I am not leaving the house. Pretty much everything around here is closed, and might remain closed for the rest of the week for all I know.

Why am I saying this with a slightly p-o'd tone of voice instead of being ecstatic that I can stay home and work in my pj's (which I would be thrilled about under normal circumstances)?

The thing is that most people can't get to work. Including anyone who would have to touch our adoption paperwork. Our agency, the people who will have to process Ben's paperwork for the interstate compact (whoever that is), and USCIS. Even if we don't receive his legals until next week or even the week after, all of these people will have a backlog and God only knows how long it will take to get rid of that.

Therefore I am close to tears (yes, again) and may have even cried a little earlier in the day.

I have to apologize to anyone who knows me in person, but I have a feeling that I will not be a pleasure to be around until our son comes home. I am already losing my patience with people who haven't adopted or aren't in the process right now, because they cannot possibly know what it feels like to wait for your child to come home.

Two weeks since referral .......

......... and I am losing it already.

I was almost fine until about Monday. Now I just want my baby home.

My friend got updated pictures of her son, and I broke down in tears (at work) because he had changed so much.

I know that to other people the photos that are plastered all over my cube, my phone, and my facebook page are just pictures of a random baby I haven't even met, but to me this is my son - who is growing and developing without me. This is already the hardest thing I have ever done, and we're just at the very beginning. It's all I think about all day. My co-workers are heavensent and indulge me by stopping by and ooh-ing and ah-ing about his pictures and giving advice on what I need to add to the registry. I honestly don't know what I would do without their attempts to distract me.

I am really hoping that his legals arrive soon and that darned snowstorm they're predicting doesn't get in the way of things.

Package for Ben

We sent out Ben's care package yesterday. It included two outfits, two balls, a soft blanket, a camera, and a cute German teddy my parents sent for him.

It looks like someone else wanted to go, too!