January 2010 - A New Year

Kyle, the Cute Handyman

Cameron, Missing Another Tooth

Yes, we are slow again in posting our updates. Anyone sensing a pattern here? Here are a few highlights and a few lowlights from the start of 2010.

Cameron lost his third tooth (top middle) on January 4th. Mommy says he now talks a bit funny but that its very cute.

Kyle began swimming lessons at the community center. He loves the water and is willing to do whatever the teacher asks. No fear.

Daddy began taking a class offered through our school district called "Love and Logic". He is learning how to give the kids the skills they need to be successful in life.

We attended a few parties this month like...Zachary's third birthday party (animal costumes and lunch) and Brandon's six birthday party (bowling and pizza). Mommy and daddy went to the Gregory's housewarming party.

Mommy had a girls day out with Kristi. They went out for breakfast, saw the movie "The Lovely Bones", and did a little shopping for their daughters.

We had a fun play date at Jody's house. It was fun until the last couple of minutes when Cameron and Kyle smashed into each other with their heads. Kyle ended up with a very bad black and blue eye. There was lots of screaming by both. Well at least it was the two brothers that injured each other and no other children were involved.

We will try to give you our February update sooner rather than later. Take care everyone and we hope that 2010 is a wonderful year for all.

Two Months Since We've Seen Her Face

Wow, can't believe its been two months since we've seen Lauren's sweet face. We all love her and miss her so much even though we really don't know her yet. Kyle has been asking so many questions about his baby sister. Almost daily he asks, when will Lauren come home to us? And today he told me how much he loves and misses her. Cameron is better able to understand that it will be awhile before she is home with us. Cameron can tell when mommy is having a rough day and missing Lauren and gives me the biggest hugs then tells me how much he loves Lauren and thinks about her all the time. We have two wonderfully sweet boys in this house.

We are allowed to send Lauren one care package during our wait to travel. Everything must fit inside a one gallon ziploc bag. You would be surprised at how much one determined mommy can fit into that bag. The pictures above are of the care package. So inside were were able to fit in the following:

• Translated letter to the foster family
• Baby photo album with our pictures
• Disposable camera (hoping foster family knows we would cherish pictures of her time with them)
• Three bath toys (Winnie the Pooh, Lumpy, and Eeyore) - Kyle picked these out since Lauren loves her baths
• Small blanket with bumblebees on it
• "Woods" the Bear
• Two pair of socks
• Two hair clips and a head band
• Dress with bloomers - size 12 months
• Pants - size 12 months
• Long sleeve shirt - size 12 month

Care packages are carried over by families that are traveling. We are not sure when Lauren will recieve our care package so that is why we bought such large sizes. We were also told that the foster mothers tend to layer clothing on the children so that bigger is better. Normally after a child receives their care package the adoptive families are sent at least one picture. We really hope that new photos come soon. It will be something to cherish as our last picture of her was at 5 months old.

So nearly all of the US paperwork is done for Lauren's adoption. We got our I600 approval on January 15th. We moved quickly through the National Visa Center - being logged out on January 21st (aka all of our approvals and paperwork was sent to the US Embassy in Korea). The Embassy then quickly forwarded all our paperwork to the adoption agency in Korea on January 26th (this is know as P3). Now we are just waiting for the adoption agency and Korean government to process Lauren's paperwork. There is such a backlog of families waiting that it looks like we are in for a long wait. The reason for the backlog is that the Korean government (aka the ministry) only issues a certain number of EPs (emmigration permits - permission to leave the country) each year. Last year they ran out of EPs quickly. There are still families that accepted their referrals in May 2009 that have not traveled yet. We are really hoping we will have her home with us by her first birthday but more than likely this will not happen. Things were moving quickly in Korea at the start of January but now have almost stopped yet again. It is just heartbreaking for everyone involved - the children, the foster families, and the adoptive families. I know Lauren is being well cared for by her loving foster family and that brings us some comfort but still doesn't make the wait any easier.