A little bit of impatience

Henry's visa was issued yesterday and I am really, really hoping to get that travel call very soon! It is SO hard to be patient. I want to hold him so badly, and I know that I will soon, but it's the uncertainty that is nearly killing me. Everytime the phone rings, I run for it! I know that our good news is right around the corner, but I'm ready RIGHT NOW!!!

Look! New Henry Picture!

We just received a new picture of Henry with his foster mother and all of the stuff that we sent in his care package. We cropped out his foster mother's face for our blog to protect her privacy. We are so happy to have a picture of him with his foster mother so that later when we talk about his adoption, he can see how loved and cared for he was.

Also...no orange hoodie! Doesn't he look so cute?

We are so excited. Several other families who are in last stage of their adoptions like we are just received their travel calls. That means that he could be coming home any time now.

Oh my gosh...are we ready? (YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Check out our timeline on the right--we're nearly to the end!!

We had 2 fantastic pieces of news this week. #1-Henry's Emigration Permit was approved (this is a big step in the coming-home process #2-the NVC (National Visa Center) has electronically sent his documents to Korea so that he can have a visa. Now that both of those are done, we only have a couple of things left before he will be travelling. I asked the wonderful adoptive parents on the Holt discussion board, who by the way, have been EXTREMELY helpful with this process, approximately how much longer do they think it will be until he comes home? Almost all responses indicated that sometime in May is the most likely time. I can hardly believe it! I've been telling myself July (and hoping for June) this whole time. I might need a substitute to finish out the school year...oh, how I hope!! He might be here for my baby shower May 27!!! Everyone please help us pray that our sweet boy's remaining steps will continue to be speedy. I can't wait to kiss those sweet little cheeks.

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.