JACK IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just got word this morning, confirming that Jack will be flying into Detroit on Monday, May 31 - Memorial Day!!!!!

Rick and I will drive to Detroit on that Monday for his arrival (5:05 pm), then start heading home that night. Stopping in Cincinnati to spend Monday night with relatives, and will get back home in the afternoon of June 1.

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rushing to get his room done, diapers bought, bottles, formula, etc., etc. Thanks for everyone's prayers! He's REALLY coming home before his 1st birthday!!!!

Thank you, God!

Hooray!!!

We received the final approval from the US government yesterday - 2 weeks sooner than I expected! The next step is for the paperwork to make its way to the consulate's office in Seoul, which takes about 2-3 weeks. At that point, the Embassy will issue his Visa and Korea will issue his passport (which we hope has already been done), and his flight home can be scheduled!

So, maybe 4-6 weeks from now???? YIKES! I have to get busy!

WHITEHEART'S "YOU DON'T KNOW JACK" REUNION CONCERT/FUNDRAISER

The date has finally been set. Tell your friends, family and neighbors to mark their calendars for Saturday, August 7, 2010 for the reunion concert of the decade!!! :)

More details to come.

MORE delays!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!

Got a letter from US Immigration yesterday requesting that we submit additional documents before they will approve our immigration application for Jack. The problem is that we've ALREADY submitted these EXACT documents to them. It's as if they purposely create delays. So frustrating! Why is it made so difficult to give a family to an orphan??? I'll never understand it!

So, our current timeline looks something like this:

--About 4 more weeks until our fingerprints are approved (unless this recent delay makes it longer!)
--Then 2-3 weeks to get our immigration approval over to the embassy in Korea
--Then they apply for Jack's visa and passport - we are HOPING that they've already done that since they have all the info, and that once they get the US approval, they'll already be ready to go!

So, it looks like he'll be home sometime around his birthday or a couple of weeks after. Appreciate your continued prayers that he's home before his birthday. In any case, God's timing is perfect, even if the government's is not!

Whiteheart Benefit Concert

Well, it's looking promising that the Whiteheart concert will be in August - probably August 7. Waiting to get confirmation from one band member . . . please pray that this date will work out and that it will be a HUGE success. We would so much love to raise lots of funds to help with more than our adoption!!!!

Jack should be home by then, so maybe we can get him on stage to do a number. ;)

The FBI Doesn't Want Us

Well, we weren't detained by the FBI today after getting our biometrics (their fancy word for fingerprints). So, I guess that's good. Now the specific prayers start that the info goes thru FAST and we get our visa approval SOON! Only 7 more weeks until the end of May - my hopeful goal! I'm hoping it's God's goal, too! :)

Video 2

Big Brother . . .

We have an appointment to be fingerprinted by the FBI on April 8! Hooray!! That means things are being processed and moving along. So far, no requests for additional information from USCIS (which would create a delay). Keeping my fingerprinted fingers crossed! :) Hopefully, this means we are just a few weeks (maybe 6?) away from Immigration approval. Then it's time for Korea to do their thing and issue Emmigration approval. Still hoping for a miraculous end of May arrival!!!

Beautiful, Beautiful Boy

We got a wonderful surprise in the mail this weekend. An update on our boy, and some video of him and his foster mom. What an incredible gift, both for us and for him. We never got a video of Lily, and always wished that we had. We have watched it over and over again. It's so hard and so wonderful to watch at the same time. It definitely makes our longing more intense.

We found out that he has 4 teeth already (much sooner than Lily) and loves to eat everything (very much like Lily!) :) His first word is Ohma (Mom in Korean), which of course thrills Lisa! :) Foster mom says that he's very easy going and gentle, giggles a lot, likes to take baths, and apparently is a daddy's boy (prefers the foster dad). :) He sleeps all night (with one night feeding), and is in perfect health. We are so blessed! Get home soon, Jack!!!

This is the shortest of the 4 videos. Will try to upload the others soon!

It's a God Thing

Here's our little man, courtesy of a beautiful portrait created by our talented friend, Rinda. It's so hard to look at this face every day and not be able to smooch those cheeks! :)

We don't have any updated ETA - we're still hoping for May. Immigration is about the only thing we're waiting on, and that can take 6-8 weeks normally. We still don't have the "official" age waiver from Korea, but since they are continuing to move forward with us, we have to believe there won't be a problem.

The biggest delay and stress has been putting the necessary funds together. We're working on fundraisers (check out our page at AdoptionBug.com), re-re-mortgages, grants, other loans, etc. BUT, we received an incredible blessing just this past weekend from an incredible group of friends and organization that has eased that burden considerably. Our dear and wonderful friends, Charley and Delyn Redmond, lost Charley's dad, Larry, unexpectedly on February 19. As we grieve with our friends during this time, a memorial evening was planned for this past Saturday. We gathered with the Redmonds and other close friends to remember and honor Charley's dad. Charley spoke so lovingly about his dad and the things that he admired and respected about him. It was truly a special time of memorial. At the end of our time together, Charley announced that a fund had been set up in his dad's name with Show Hope that exemplified Larry's heart for the cultures and ethnicities of the world, and that that fund would be given to us to help bring Jack home. Many of the friends in the room with us that evening had contributed to the fund for us, along with a large individual contributor and the basic grant that Show Hope had designated for us. We were completely taken by surprise and so honored.

Words cannot express the magnitude and meaning of this gift to our family. That, through Charley's loss and grief, he and Delyn reached out to us in our need. We did not know Charley's dad well, but the connection that has been made between our family and his family is indescribable. No price tag can be put on making it possible to bring our son home, and no amount of words can convey what we feel. And, just to see the utter joy that it brought to Charley to see his dad's death be honored in bringing about new life, was a moment we will never forget.

We are also so grateful for each one who donated to the fund, all very special friends, which we also have indescribable connection with - both in joy and in pain.

This narrative is a poor attempt to convey what we feel - love, joy, disbelief, intimacy, grief, honor . . . it's just beyond words. We are so blessed with the friendships that God has granted us. All glory and praise to Him!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Ooooooooooooooh, the waiting, and waiting, and waiting . . .

It's really starting to hit me now. Jack turned 8 months old 10 days ago, and my mother's heart is really beginning to ache for him. I've tried to put that feeling off as long as I could, because I remember how hard it is to think about your child being on the other side of the world in someone else's care. I am SO thankful for his foster mother and the love she is giving him, but at the same time, he's my son and I want him to be here so I can feed him, rock him, play with him. It's so hard to think of all the moments I'm missing out on.

I feel nesting coming on again . . . I'm ready to get his room ready, even though that's going to make it worse. :( I just want this process to be over! We are sending him a "talking picture frame" with a picture of our family and our voices saying hello to him. We did the same thing with Lily. We hope it will help him recognize our voices when he comes home. Until then, we'll be here waiting, and waiting, and waiting . . .

We're Legal!

We got Jack's "legal documents" yesterday. It's mostly in Korean, but we still cried. :) This isn't the ultimate final age waiver from Korea, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. We have to believe at this point that Korea will issue the age waiver so we can adopt him.

So, the next step is the potentially most frustrating one . . . waiting for immigration approval. PLEASE PRAY that our paperwork will go through the bureaucratic system quickly and smoothly, and that it won't sit in a forgotten pile in someone's In Box. PLEASE PRAY that we can secure the funds for the final (and largest) payment soon. PLEASE PRAY that we can get him home before he turns 1. Do I dare hope to pray that he'll be here for Mother's Day???

Waiting . . .

Don't have anything new to post. I'm just sitting here at my desk, looking at the pictures of my son, and missing him! I can't think of any better Mother's Day gift than for Jack to be home, in my arms, for Mother's Day! I love you, Jack!

Your Mommy

We have the bug!

We officially started our first fundraising effort today - selling t-shirts at www.AdoptionBug.com/Florian. We will receive a portion of the proceeds from each t-shirt sale from our page to go towards our adoption costs.

The t-shirts are really FUN, and some apply to adoptive families and some apply to any family! Feel free to browse the site, but we only receive proceeds from the t-shirts on our particular fundraising page. We appreciate any and all forms of support!

Official Referral!

We finally have Jack's official referral, and an update on how he's doing. So good, and so hard at the same time, to get this information and updated pictures! He looks so big now, and I'm gonna have to send a note to his foster mom to stop encouraging him to walk! Keep that boy down until he gets home! :-)

I think he looks a lot like Lily. I can't wait to kiss all over those cheeks!

Good thing we have a money tree in our back yard!

Found out today that we owe another $4,000 in fees that we thought we didn't owe. Yikes! That will definitely take a bite out, and slow the process down some. :-(

In my nirvana, adoption will be free and require less hoop-jumping and firewalking . . .

The first big step . . .

Sent our first packet to our adoption agency, FAC, along with our first round of fees. We are supposed to get our official referral soon . . . can't wait to get the information on our son.

Right now, we really don't know anything - we're not even sure of his birthdate. It's so difficult to not know if he's still in the orphanage, or if he has been moved to foster care. I hope someone is holding him and loving him well. Is he crying? Is he hungry? Does he have a dirty diaper? Does he need to be held? Is he sleeping? These are the questions that constantly run through my mind. My arms suddenly feel so empty.

The shock has now worn off, but it still seems very surreal that we're going to have a baby in the house soon. I've done a little nesting, but I can't seem to tackle working on his room. I think maybe that, if I do, it will make it even harder that he's not here, in his room. I'm sure the need to make a special place for him will come in time, I'm just not there yet. It still seems like a distant dream . . .