New Henry pictures...same orange hoodie...

Today, we got new pictures of Henry from our adoption agency. We were hoping that he would be wearing some of the new clothes we sent him, but apparently his foster mom loves that orange hoodie...and some pink socks. :) We think he's super cute anyway.

We also requested an updated picture of his cute little ear. So many of our friends and family have been asking about it that we thought it was the right time for it to make its blog debut. Henry has auricular (ear) atresia, which means that his ear canal is partially closed. His outer ear is also misshapen...a bit. We are going to consult with specialists, and later on he will have surgery to open up his ear canal and reshape his ear. From what we know, there will be two surgeries starting when he is about 5 years old.

He seems to have slimmed down a bit also, which makes us hopeful that he will at least be able to wear some of the clothes we have for him. We'll have to wait for his next checkup to see how he is progressing. We also just want to thank everyone for their kindness and concern for us as we go through this process. Everyone has been very supportive of our adoption, and it is comforting for us to know that Henry has been welcomed and loved by so many even before he has arrived.

The Waiting Game

It's a question I get asked on a near daily basis:
"How long until Henry comes home?"

I always put on a brave face and say, "Sometime this summer. Hopefully before his 1st birthday in August." I really, really hope that this is the case. If things go as planned, then he should be, but keep in mind that the GOVERNMENT (US and Korea) is controlling everything at this point. Very terrifying when you think of it that way, huh? Some of my prayers for the USCIS office were answered last when when we received approval on his I-600a form. That's a biggie that we've been waiting a couple of months on. Now they just need to approve his I-600 (not to be confused with the other one...sigh) and then the US government will have done it's job, and we'll be waiting on the Korean government to finish the process.
It has been an interesting few months since we decided we wanted to pursue adopting Henry. He's been ours officially since Feb. 23, but we've been in love with him since early January. There have been rough patches in our wait, such as the development of anxiety induced insomnia, which has mostly gotten better, but I still struggle with sometimes. Here are some of the little distractions I've had to find to help me deal with the day to day longing for my son to be in my arms:

• The Twilight book series. Don't laugh. I know it's for teenagers, but those books have been tremendously helpful in giving me something to do during all of those looong sleepless nights that I've been having. I added up the pages from all four books and figured out that I've read 2,444 pages in the last 2 months.
• Gathering things for Henry. This is hands down the most fun thing I've been doing during the wait. Those of you who know me know that I love nothing more than to shop, and that I also am very talented at finding bargains. Yes, the photo below looks like a lot of stuff (and it is) but keep in mind that it was all on SALE!

• Searching for a new place to live. James and I have decided that we need to sell our lovely historic house and move to a more family-friendly one. I am extremely sad to leave, but I think it's so much fun to look at houses on the market. Each time I see one with a lot of storage I get really excited. Can you tell that we have no closet space here?? One thing that is going to be a big job is getting our house ready to put on the market. I'm not looking forward to it.
• PUPPIES! Our miniature poodles, Fifi and Rocky, have had their 3rd litter of puppies. The puppies, two dashing boys named Bruce Lee and Rambo, are 5 weeks old and have been greatly entertaining to us. They both have talents (much like their father) in barking, giving kisses, playing with toys, and peeing on the floor. Snuggling with them has made our wait for Henry infinitely easier. They are so cute that they make me cry. I don't even want to think about how soon they will have to go live with their new families.