Been a little busy but here are some pics :)

OMG!!! Big announcement!

OK, so i've been holding out on sharing this news for a while now because of past experience. But i can now safely say that i am 11 weeks pregnant!!! OMG. This was not planned (although i am excited) and would explain why i threw up on the plane. We had our first ultrasound today, and everything looks great. I have been pregnant 4 times before and lost all of them between 6 and 8 weeks. So the fact that i am 11 weeks and the baby is doing well, is a huge step for me :) I don't think i'll ever feel out of the woods until i have the baby. But we are excited to see the little baby with cute little arms and legs and a heartbeat flickering away. Please keep us in your prayers that the baby will remain healthy all the way through. Here is a picture of our ultrasound.

Finally found a moment

Well, I am sorry that i haven't updated in a while. It's been hard to find time now that we have Niko home. I can't tell you how blessed we feel to have Niko. He is such a happy, easy-going baby and has adjusted so quickly. I feel bad because i know that most adopted children take a bit of time to adjust (sometimes up to 9 months depending on age). Let me start from the beginning of our "gotcha day" to put it all in perspective. We arrived at SWS at 11am and were guided by our social worker to a little room we sat nervously waiting for Niko. Within minutes, Niko and his Foster Mother arrived and were whisked away to the doctor downstairs for a final check up. It was a surreal feeling to know that in a matter of minutes we would be handed a baby who didn't know us at all but that we had waited for for a year. The Foster Mother brought her two older children with her because they also lived with her. They really loved Niko and you could see that. We were showered with gifts and things for Niko which was awesome. Included was a thumb drive that had 1500 photos of Niko over all the months he lived with them. It was overwhelming to see and made us cry. After we did the official stuff, we were led to the elevator and told that the Foster Mother and her children would not be coming down with us and that we had to say our goodbyes there in the hallway. The Foster Mother, who had been so poised and focused on her job, suddenly burst into tears and then i lost it. She held onto me really tight as if to say "Please take care of my boy". I held her just as hard and cupped my hand around her face as if to say "It's OK, we will love him with all our heart. And we appreciate all you have done." It was really hard to say goodbye to them with closing elevator doors and seeing them crying. Niko didn't know what was happening at first and didn't make a sound. It wasn't till we got back to our room that he screamed for two hours as i held him and tried to comfort him. He wore himself out and fell asleep. I laid on the couch and put him on my chest and let him sleep their until he woke up. When he woke, it was like he had always been ours. He was a little cautious but still smiled at us and played. Of course we had no idea what we were doing being that we are first-time parents. We started by making sure he was feed, bathed and sent to bed as required. The rest we are learning as we go. We stayed in our room for the rest of the time we were there as not to upset or confuse him. It was also really cold outside and didn't want to venture out with him. Our next big chore was the plane flight home and we were dreading the screamfest that would ensue. To our surprise he slept for 10 hours of the 12 hour flight and also did really well on the domestic flight too. We were greeted by my parents and a friend at the airport at 11:30pm. We were so exhausted and didn't end up getting to bed until 3am and Niko thought it was just a nap and woke up at 4 and 6am too. Over the past few days we've been home, we have been trying to get Niko on an American sleep schedule. It's been tough and we are running on empty, but he is so great and has had lots of visitors. He knows already that we are his parents and looks to us for safety and comfort and reaches for us if he is shy or scared. I will let pictures tell the rest of the story.

Day 3 in Seoul - We meet Niko

So we met Niko today!!! He was even cuter in person. He was very shy and didn't want to come to us. But he let us play with him and i even got to feed him some yoghurt. He loves his foster mother a lot and reaches for her all the time. She is so sweet and loves him a lot also. It is going to be a rough handover on Friday. We are bracing for the worst and hoping for the best. I will write more soon but hubby wants to go get breakfast!!! Ciao for now :)

Day 2 in Seoul

Well we spent the day today just doing the tourist stuff like visiting the National Museum of Korea, Itaewon, Naedaemun Markets and Insadong. We almost went to the DMZ today but our friends Jennell and Steve went early this morning and said it was great but don't know if it was worth braving the cold. By cold i mean FREEZING!!!! You can't feel your face anymore. The craziest thing happened too. Tim and i got off at the Itaewon train exit to look around the shops and eat lunch and we were going to try and text Jennell and Steve to meet up after they were done with their DMZ tour. We were just walking along the street when we heard "Tim!!!" in an American accent, and low and behold, of all the places we could have been, Jennell and Steve's tour bus had just dropped them off and they spotted us and yelled out. We were in shock. What are the odds!!!! So we hung out together the rest of the day. We just got back from eating dinner in Insadong and took the train 35 mins home. The train systems are really easy to navigate here which is awesome because that's pretty much all we've done as far as transportation. Now we are back in the room and thawing out. We meet Niko tomorrow at about 9:30 or 10am. I'll post after we get back. Unfortunately i can't post pics on my blog until i get home :(

Ciao for now!!

Finally here!

Ok so we made it through the arduous 14 hour flight and 1 1/2 hour bus ride. I didn't realize how much snow there would be and i had to drag my suitcase through quite a ways. Needless to say, we are exhausted are now hanging out in our room chiding down on some food from down the street. I don't know how I'm going to do all of that in reverse order with a child attached and possibly traumatized and screaming. Lord help us!!! We can do this!We are probably going to hang out with 2 other couples that are also here to pick up their babies. It's handy because Tim and I are staying in the same building as where the other ladies are meeting their children for the first time. So that's cool :) Anywho, I can't post pictures from this blog app on my phone so I'll have to add them later. Toodles for now :)

Waiting at O'Hare

Well it's been pretty smooth so far. Mum and Dad dropped us off at the airport in Nashville (thanks Mum and Dad). We are now at O'Hare waiting for our Asiana flight that leaves at 1am. I've decided that we picked the best possible itinerary because there's hardly anyone here which means we may be able to lay down on the flight there. We also gave ourselves plenty of time between flights so we're not rushing around and stressed. I am also loving my new 4-wheeled carry-on suitcase and attachable bungi cord that keeps all my bags secured. So much easier.
While we stood in line to get our boarding passes with Asiana, there was a suspicious man with a young girl who he had a bike helmet and leash on. The little girl looked about 3 and was miserable. I thought that maybe he had a helmet on her because she had a head injury and he was protecting her head, but he took it off at one point and she had nothing but a overly sweaty head. I overheard him say to someone that she runs into walls. He didn't look like his elevator went to the top floor anyway. So we thought that maybe she was a special needs child. But she seemed almost drugged because of her behavior. Anyway, a security police officer came around asking everyone to show their passports which we thought was a little odd but thought maybe it was routine for this airline. Then the officer went to the man with the child and took his passport and started copying stuff from it on a piece of paper and another female officer came and distracted the child so the other officer could finish copying the man's passport. Tim knew immediately what was happening. They were suspecting some kind of abduction or kidnapping. They stalled the odd man at the counter while checking out his details. They refused his flight because he only had a one way ticket. While all this is happening, the poor girl is crying "Daddy my helmet is hurting my neck" over and over and over and he just ignored her while he begged to be able to fly. His excuse for the one way ticket was because he could get a discounted ticket on the way back. They weren't buying it. It was at that time that we were done getting our boarding passes and had to leave, so we don't know how it ended. But we are pretty sure it wasn't what he wanted. So good on the fine skills of the Chicago security offices who picked up on the odd situation. May be a kidnapping averted.

Well that's it for now. I'll post again once we are in Korea :)

Ready to go!!!

So we are all packed now....phew! It's a chore and a half to pack lite but not too lite, AND for an extra little person you haven't met yet :)

We will be meeting Niko on Wednesday the 26th in the morning (which is Tuesday in American time). We are nervous, scared and excited to meet him. I hope he likes us, cause we're keeping him!!! :) Please pray for him that he will feel a sense of peace with us "strangers" and that he learns to trust us quickly. And please pray for us too, that we will exude patience and calm and love so that he feels comforted during this very rough time. Many of my fellow adoptive mothers have expressed it in the best way...we have been waiting for him for a year and he has not been waiting for us at all. He doesn't even know who we are, so it will come as a huge shock to be taken by strangers and shipped off to a foreign land. Bless his little heart!!!

That said. We are coming buddy and we love you to pieces already.

Hugs and kisses....Mum and Dad

Getting ready for Korea!

Tim and I are running around getting last minute things and packing for when we leave on Saturday. It's so hard to know what to take in this kind of situation because we've never done this before...adoption or parenting in general :) I have done my best to collect all the wonderful advice from the adoption forums (lots of advice in there) and take from it what will work best for the season we are going in and the place we'll be staying at and the length of time we'll be going. Let's just say it's still anyone's guess as to what we will actually need and not need. The opinions are so different on packing light and then not packing enough. We only wanted to take carry ons but i think we are going to have to take a checked bag too. Oh well, hubby wants to get packing now so gotta go!!! Ciao :)

UPDATE:
Two other couples are coming to Korea at the same time as us and getting their little cuties. So we are excited about that because we will get to hang out together and shop and eat and share in the joy of this awesome moment :) Yippee!!!

OMG!!!! We got THE CALL!!!!! :)

I got the call at 12:52pm today on my way to get lunch!!!! I am freaking out. We leave for Korea on Saturday and will come back on the following Saturday with little Niko in hand!!! I will try to keep up with the blogging as much as i can. YAY!!!!!!

UPDATE: We just booked our flights. Unfortunately, for all of those who wanted to come and welcome us in at the airport, our flight won't get in until 11:30pm on the 29th :( I will just have to arrange a welcome home party so that everyone can meet him.

Stay tuned!!!!

9 Months today!!!

Happy 9 month birthday Niko :) (Actually he turned 9 months yesterday in Korea but today in the U.S. with the time differences...but who's counting)

Update

So i called the visa hotline and they said that they are still waiting on the P3 packet from the adoption agency that has his passport and that there may still be a visa interview. So who knows when that will happen. Hopefully soon. This has definitely been the hardest and most frustrating part of the process because we have no control over it. It's like a form of torture to not see the end of the rainbow. It would be so much easier if they gave you a rough date, then you wouldn't stress so much. I was given an estimation of end of December or mid January by my social worker, so she has been the closest in estimation. Pray for my sanity!!!!

Our son's photo is in the U.S. Embassy system in Korea!!!

Well i called the Visa hotline today, they said that Niko's picture is now in their system, which i am told means he has made his Embassy appearance. This is great news according to others who have already adopted from Korea. They are all telling me that the photo is for his passport which means we could really be getting the call at any time now. I hate to get excited because they have been telling us the call could come at any time since November. But i know there isn't anything else to wait for at this point. So fingers crossed :)

Happy New Year Niko!!!

Mum and Dad are coming to get you this year. Hopefully very soon. We love you and hope we get the call to come and get you in the next couple of weeks :)

Trying to stay encouraged

Well, we still haven't heard anything yet and it is becoming harder and harder to stay encouraged. I know we will eventually get him, but we were told it might be any day, so our hopes got too high. I guess it will be next year before we hear anything. This is definitely the most excruciating time in the whole process, because you know he is only a bit of paperwork and a phone call away. And yet it takes forever!!! My case worker has been so great and the agency we are going through has also been awesome, it's just hard to not know what we are still waiting for. Other agencies are saying that their parents may have to wait until February before they can bring their babies home. I SO hope we don't have to wait that long. I worry that the longer Niko stays there, the more attached he becomes to his Foster Mother and the harder it will be for him to transition with us. I guess there is nothing we can do about it so we shouldn't stress, but it's hard!!!

I wonder if he had a good Christmas day and whether they had a tree. I feel awful because we haven't been able to really send them anything except photos. I hope she doesn't feel that we don't care about her as i haven't even sent photos. My thinking was that we were going to be seeing them soon anyway and i have a bunch of gifts for her. I hate unknowns!!!!! (Please excuse the griping) Every adoptive parent goes through this stage because you are so close and yet you don't know HOW close you are. So if you are planning on ever being an adoptive parent, please be prepared for a LOT of waiting. The reward is worth it, but your patience is definitely tested :)

Keeping my fingers crossed for the call very soon.

Still Waiting!!!

Well it is two days away from Christmas and we still have not heard from Korea. So i am thinking we will definitely not get Niko until January. I'm a little sad, but there's nothing we can do about it so we are going to try and go about business as usual. We will be thinking of him Christmas Day and wondering what he is doing and whether his foster mother has a Christmas tree and what he might have gotten for Christmas. I wish we could have sent him something, but we can't send care packages through this agency. He'll be home soon enough and we will be able to celebrate then :)

*** Sleep tight my little boy. Mummy loves you!!

Christmas Spirit

It's been hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. Not because we are agonizing, waiting for Niko, but because we are so busy getting everything else ready and working a full time job that i have no energy to put a Christmas tree up and figure out where to put it in our tiny condo. So it is going to be all things as usual at our house I'm afraid. Maybe next year we will finally be able to get a tree and decorations up :)

Happy 8th Month Birthday Niko!!!

Our son turned 8 months old today. Hope he is having a wonderful day with his foster mother.
We love you sweet boy :)

My new Converse shoes to celebrate Niko!!!

OK, so if you know me well, you know i am a bit of a Converse freak!!!! I couldn't resist designing my own Converse through Converse.com to celebrate Niko. They turned out awesome and i just HAD to show you :)

One thing i know for sure...

Is that you always think you are just waiting on THE CALL, and they neglect to tell you that your I600 Approval is only one of about 4 more things that have to happen before you do. So since we got the I600 approval, we have had to be logged into the National Visa Center and then logged out. Then they have to send notification to the U.S. Embassy in Korea so that they can schedule a Visa Physical and a separate Visa Interview. Once those are done, which can take a month, then the findings are sent to another unit and the Travel Certificate is issued... THEN you get the call!!! There's still a ways to go. I'm hoping this will all happen in record breaking speed and Niko will be home with us soon. It's exhausting not knowing when and how things are supposed to happen.

Tim and I went shopping today to buy our gifts for the foster mother and others who will and have worked with us. It is traditional in Korea to give gifts and we have thought long and hard about what to buy. You must buy American products as so many are made in China or Korea. So here is what we bought to represent our home. I have also drawn a picture of a Koi Fish & Lotus flower for the Foster Mother.