For about a week now I have been getting more and more depressed waiting for our precious girl. I thought that there would be no way it could happen because I am so busy and Ryan keeps me on my toes, so how could I get down? Well, it’s easy. It happens when you least expect it. It’s the little things that get to you. Then it’s the bigger things. And then you find that you just prefer to sleep. Today was a sleep day and I realized that yes, this wait is finally getting to me.
Tonight I read a blog by our forum friends Sarah and Tim. They are in Korea right now getting their baby and will soon be on their way home with him. Sarah’s been the one mainly blogging but for some reason Tim decided to blog and I am so grateful he did. He was talking about prayer and how God always answers. This is what he quoted from the bible :
1. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
2. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
3. “Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
BOY Did I need to hear those words!!!!! I feel terrible, as I’ve only been waiting (almost) 2 months and our friends the Conners waited 9 MONTHS for baby Drew to come home!!! I know the only way Nadra made it through was with Prayer. So THANK YOU Tim for reminding me to take my feelings to God and find strength in Him. Traveling mercies to you as you bring your adorable little boy HOME!
A response from CIS. We got our receipt in the mail this weekend!!! The receipt itself is dated September 25 and the letter is dated October 14. They said it takes about 60 days for approval. Hopefully that means we have less than 35 days. It takes awhile for the approval to be sent to the NVC (national visa center) to be logged in and out and then sent (snail mail) to the US Embassy in Korea. Once there, they’ll be able to issue Caroline’s visa so she can COME HOME!!!
I am praying that we only have 7-10 weeks left in this journey! I am SO ready for my baby girl to be in MY arms!!! Ryan is ready to be a big brother. He is already such a help getting her room ready and her clothes sorted, etc. My handsome little man is going to be an AWESOME big brother!
Isn’t she just beautiful?? We are SO in LOVE!! Ryan was yelling CAROLINE CAROLINE and racing around the room when we saw the new pics. Can you guess which picture is my favorite? hehe
Mike’s parents are supposed to call tonight so we can “talk” to Caroline on the phone when they meet her for the first time. It will be 11 pm our time when they meet her at 2 pm their time (15 hours ahead). I am SO STINKIN EXCITED!!! Hopefully they’ll get video and more pics. I know most of our family will be there too, so we should get TONS of pictures!! *****EDITED TO ADD*** Mike’s parents didn’t get a chance to call 
They did send an email and are just as smitten as we are! I’ll post the new pics as soon as they send them! lol
Woo hoo! We have EP. This means the Korean government gives us permission to adopt Caroline. The quoted time for Passport is 1-2 weeks. HOLY COW maybe we could travel earlier than December/January??? COME ON CIS APPROVE OUR I-600!!!
Just like everyone else this weekend, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. Ryan had a blast feeding the animals and climbing the pumpkins. He really liked riding the pony, however, a little girl started crying and it got him upset. Daddy ended up walking beside him.
Picture 5 The M family. We rode rides with them at the Bartlesville Kiddie park way back when.
Picture 6 Ryan helped Daddy push the ‘loot’ back to weigh and pay.
Picture 8 Our ‘family’ of pumpkins as Ryan calls them.
Picture 9 The neighbor loaned me her bat pattern so I could make some bats for our windows.
Picture 10 The beautiful fall colors on our tree.
Hoping for some pictures of Caroline soon either from Jan or the parents visiting her on Wednesday. Still no response from CIS, they cashed our check, but we haven’t received anything in the mail saying they got it. I’m going a little crazy over it!
Today we drove up to Foyil, Oklahoma where we visited Totem Pole Park. Our friend Mary loves visiting Route 66 landmarks and we’ve been tagging along. This place was pretty cool because it took this man 9 years to make the largest concrete totem pole in the world. Pretty impressive. Ryan loved all the pictures of birds on the poles. That’s my boy! 
Here we are with the Great Horned Owl (his current favorite)
Jan, our social worker, is going to Korea on the 5th and we were very lucky to send a 1 gallon ziploc bag with her. You get to send clothing, toys and a gift for the foster mom.
I can’t believe I stuffed all of this into the bag! 2 winter outfits, a necklace for the foster mom, a tag blanket that we slept with, a Tigger rattle kissed twice by big brother Ryan, and a picture book of us and both sets of grandparents.
Mike’s parents will travel to Korea on the 7th and will get to see our baby girl on October 15!!! I can’t wait to hear how she is doing! I am sure half of our family will go as well. I wish I was going, WAHHH! We just found out that something special will happen once we get TC. I can’t reveal it yet, but trust me, it is just INCREDIBLE!
Other AWESOME news, our forum friend SunnyK and family FINALLY got their referral of a beautiful baby boy yesterday!! Congrats guys!!
