1 Month Today

Well, today is February 9. That means it's been 1 month since we first saw Cindy's sweet face. It seems like an eternity ago! I've had a rough day wanting her to be home so badly.

All I want for my birthday tomorrow is news that she's been submitted for an Emmigration Permit. Nothing can happen and the process cannot continue until she has that permit. It's looking now like mid-March would be the absolute earliest she could possibly be home. It's more likely to be in April. I'm hoping she'll at least be home by Easter.

So, I'd appreciate your prayers. Some days of the wait are harder than others, and this one has been particularly hard. I know I need to "let go and let God", but that is so difficult to do when you're a natural born control freak. His timing is perfect, but surrendering to it is another matter entirely!

Updated Information!

When I faxed Holt our I-600 approval yesterday, I asked if there was any way we could get an updated photo of Cindy. Ask and you shall receive! Today I got an e-mail with two new pictures! Isn't she adorable? I can't wait to hold her! I love her long skinny fingers. Future pianist? It's also great to see that she's already used to wearing clippies in her hair. I'm looking forward to that!

She had a well baby check done on January 20. She is currently 26 1/2 inches tall and weighs 14 pounds. She is taking 5 oz. of formula every 4 hours. It didn't say if she is doing cereal or baby foods yet. Cindy is still not rolling over or scooting at all, so she is in physical therapy and we will need to get her in therapy as soon as she is home. But she is right on track with everything else deveopmentally, so just her gross motor skills are affected by the PVL at this point.

Please continue to pray for the process!

One step closer!

I never made it to the post office yesterday to get the mail. So after lunch today, I asked Mom & Dad if they minded running by there really quickly on our way home. My heart skipped a beat when I opened the mailbox and saw an envelope from USCIS. In just one short week, we already have our Visa Petition approval!!!

Several people asked me in church today if we'd heard anything and I told them, "No. We're just waiting on the U.S. and Korean governments to do their parts." Well, guess what? The U.S. government did their part! So, now we are just waiting on the Korean side. Cindy will need to receive an immigration permit before they can apply with the U.S. Embassy to get her visa to travel home.

Obviously everyone's prayers have been heard, so please keep them up! God is working in mighty ways and much faster than I could have even dreamed. You know what's neat? Cindy's I-600 approval was dated January 28, 2009. That was Mom's birthday and the day that Cindy turned 7 months old. My birthday is February 10, so I'm hoping that my birthday gift will be hearing that she has her immigration permit. Dad's birthday is February 21, so I'm pretty sure he wants a travel call for his birthday!

Home Safely!

Well, it was a long, grueling trip, but we made it! We've been in Indiana since Friday and were worried about the weather on our journey home. We hit some slush/freezing rain around St. Louis and again around Kansas City. We took it slow, going an average of only 50 mph most of the trip, but we made it home safely at 10:30 last night. We did see a total of 6 accidents along the way. Praise God we weren't one of them!

We had a good visit with Ryan's family. Trista has been officially diagnosed with neuroblastoma, but we don't know much more at this point. They are still doing testing to find out how advanced the cancer is and how far spread it has become. Then the oncologist will be able to develop a treatment plan. Trista is doing very well recovering from her surgery and we have great hope that she has the "spunk" needed to kick this thing!

On the adoption front, there is nothing new to report. We have fully done our part, and all we can do now is wait on the U.S. and Korean governments to do their part! Hopefully the paperwork will move through the necessary channels quickly and without delay. In the meantime, we look forward to receiving Cindy's lastest medical reports and hopefully an updated picture. We also are busy working on her room and preparing the house for a small child again.

The Force Is Strong With This One!

If you know us well at all, you know that we are HUGE Star Wars Fans (in fact we met because of Star Wars). So, I just couldn't resist. I had to turn Cindy into our youngest padawan! She will grow to be a great Jedi warrior, just like her brother before her. He has mastered the Jedi mind trick and is a skilled negotiator.


Cindy's acceptance papers have been signed, sealed, and delivered! Let's just pray now that we did everything correctly, and they make it to Korea in record time. I will be sending off the I-600 application today, and we are doing our fingerprinting tomorrow morning. So, all the pieces are in place. All we can do now is sit back and wait and ask God to work her files through the goverment system!

Once our I-600 application is approved, it will be sent to the National Visa Center. They then send it on to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Sometime during all this, the adoption agency will submit Cindy's file to receive an immigration permit. She needs the permit to then get a visa. The embassy will set a date for Cindy's visa "interview". The adoption agency completes the necessary paperwork and then her visa is issued. Once she has the visa, she can come home! It's a lot of beuracracy for a baby, but it is what it is. So let's just pray it all through!

Please also continue to pray for Ryan's neice Trista. She made it through surgery fine, but is in a lot of pain. Her tumor was the size of a canteloupe. They are not sure what type of cancer she has at this point. We are heading out to visit her this weekend.

God is good!

We got our FedEx package today with the mountain of paperwork to fill out and send back to the agency. Most of it has to be notarized and all of it has to be filled out accurately with no errors. I am so worried! I had plenty of time to go over each and every detail when completing these forms for Kaden's adoption. Now that I am a mom and have a toddler running around, I'm concerned that my "mommy brain" is going to mess something up. Pray for me!

But, we were very excited and shocked by something in our acceptance paperwork package. Our invoice was much less than we expected. We received a grant directly from the agency! God is so good! We will also be applying for grants from God's Grace Adoption Ministry and Shaohanah's Hope. If we can receive both of those as well, we will only have to pay about $10,000 out of pocket. That's amazing!

I would also like to ask for prayers for our neice Trista. She is having surgery on Monday. We want to be there with her, but it's a long trip and short notice. We have all this paperwork to complete and will be fingerprinted on Wednesday. So, I think we are going to try and plan a trip for after the surgery so we can help her as she recouperates and/or take her to any follow-up treatments. We'd appreciate your prayers for her health and for our travel decisions.

I'll leave you with a cute video of Kaden. Doesn't he make a great big brother?


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It's a girl!!!!!

You can totally disregard the last line of my previous post. If you think God doesn't have a sense of humor, think again! 24 hours after being told to expect a 6-8 month wait for referral, I was staring into the beautiful eyes of my daughter.

So, without further ado, I give you Cynthia Sue!



This past weekend was the longest weekend of my life! We got the phone call asking us to review her file at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, January 9. So, we had to endure the weekend before being able to call and accept her referral on Monday morning! After that, we had to wait for an "official match" from the waiting child committee and our local social worker. About 30 minutes ago I got the official call!

Cindy was born on June 28 in Busan, South Korea. Her Korean name means benevolent and clear. We have no idea how long the process will take from here on out. I am really, really, really kicking myself about the whole homestudy debacle now. I hope that doesn't slow our process down too much. Anyway, it generally takes 3-6 months for the babies to get all the necessary visa clearances to come home. Let's pray that's closer to the 3 month side!

God is good!

Prayer Answered!

Well that was fast! I posted about our I-600A application a few hours ago, and now have an answer. No, unfortunately we did not receive our fingerprinting letter. But, I at least know why now. (Insert embarrassed face here.) I forgot to send the HOMESTUDY with our application. (Insert embarrassed face slapping self on forehead.) Can you believe it? I'm chalking it up to pre-Christmas stress.

Anyway, I had e-mailed USCIS back on Friday asking what the hold-up was. They e-mailed back today saying, "We are waiting on your homestudy." When I was doing some filing the other day, I ran across an extra copy of the homestudy but had figured it was just that - extra. Guess not! So, I sent the homestudy today and hopefully we will be fingerprinted and good to go by the end of January.

Thanks for your prayers!

PS: I talked with our waiting child adoption coordinator and she said to expect about a 6-8 wait for referral. So, we have plenty of time to get the I-600A approval. Time to settle in a not stress until summer!

Adoption Update (more like a prayer request!)

I have never been a very patient person. This fact is even more evident during the adoption process! We sent our I-600A to USCIS on December 15, so 3 weeks ago. I really thought we would have received our fingerprinting letter by now. We have to have that letter in order to go to the USCIS office in Wichita and be fingerprinted with the FBI. Once they have our prints, they can process our I-600A application and give us approval.

So, I've been stalking the mailbox, hoping that our fingerprinting letter will come! I'd appreciate your prayers that it will come soon before I go crazy. I'm also still waiting for the monthly update letter from Holt International. This e-mail lets us know how quickly referrals are coming, if any major changes have been made in the adoption program, etc. It usually arrives the first week of the month. So, like the mailbox, I've also been stalking my e-mail inbox!

Other than that, we don't have much to report. We're still just waiting on the referral of our little girl. Please pray that we receive our I-600A clearance BEFORE we are matched with our baby. If we are not, it will just take that much longer to get her home. It's hard enough to wait for a referral, but it's even harder to wait for them to come home once you've been matched. We want that part of the process to go very, very quickly. No paperwork hold-ups! Thanks for your prayers and support.

BTW: I added a fundraiser in the sidebar of the blog. If you would like to help us with the adoption costs, we would greatly appreciate it. At the time of referral, we will owe approximately $20,500. That's definitely an overwhelming amount, but we trust that God will provide. Thanks!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's officially 2009. Can you believe it? I can't. I'm excited for this year, since we will go from being a family of 3 to a family of 4, but other than that, it's just another year. As I get older, calendar dates mean less and less to me.

Ryan and I spent New Year's visiting a friend and also my brother. We had good visits. After that, we went shopping and found some good deals. Kaden stayed home with Mom & Dad. I think he had a fun day. So, all in all, our first day of 2009 was a sucessful one.

I have not been feeling very well the past couple of days. I've been very dizzy, nauseous, achy, and having back pains and abdominal cramping. So, I don't know if it's just a flu-type thing or what. It feels, in a way, like a kidney stone. I've been drinking a lot more soda than water lately, so I won't be surprised if it is. I guess if I don't get to feeling better over the weekend, I'll need to make an appointment first thing Monday. We have to start our insurance deductibles all over again, so I'm hesitant to go.

One of these days I'll get around to updating my blog to a January theme instead of Christmas. I still need to do that to my house too, LOL! I used to have a spotless home, but lately, it's all I can do to keep dishes and clothing clean. We have piles of things growing all over, and I'm not sure where any of it permanently belongs!

Anyway, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I'd also like prayers for my neice, Trista. She is facing a very tough 2009. :( There are lots of things in store for this year, both good and bad. Let's hope the good outweighs the bad!

Post Christmas Blues

I've had a "blah" day today. At first I thought it was just typical post Christmas blues, but after a lot of introspect, I realize it more specifically relates to our adoption. In all likelyhood, our daughter is already out of the womb. We were very lucky that Kaden was in already home and in our arms for his first Christmas. It makes me sad to know that we missed Cindy's.

Not knowing how long it will be until we receive our referral is driving me crazy. The long wait for Kaden's referral was hard, but at least I had a timeline. This time around, I have no idea when to expect it. Every time the phone rings, I jump. Then I look at the caller I.D. and feel a little letdown when it doesn't display "Holt International" in the I.D. line.

I think this song by Third Day puts it best. Just replace the word "China" with "Korea" and you'll see what I mean.

Twas the Night Before Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a video of Kaden reciting "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Sorry it's so dark. You can view lots more pictures and videos at DropShots. Have a great day!


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It's in the mail!

Ryan took our I-600A to the post office today. It should be on it's way to USCIS this afternoon. That's one step down in the process to our daughter!

We have a "countdown to Christmas" in our dining room. I couldn't believe it when I looked at it today and it said there's just 9 days left. I'm never going to make it. It came way too quickly this year. When it comes to busyness, when it rains, it pours. We've been constantly on the go lately. The Christmas cards and gifts that need to be sent probably won't make it until the new year. I don't even know if I'll have Kaden's gifts ready in time. Maybe I'll just pull a few all-nighters!

Anyway, Kaden is excited for Christmas and made up his own little song a little while ago. He was going around the house singing, "9 days 'til Christmas, 9 days 'til Christmas!" So, he is ready even if I'm not! He also has been amazing me lately with his memorization skills. He literally has almost the entire poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" memorized. He can go quite a ways before getting stuck. After that, if you just say the first few words of the next phrase, he can pick it right back up. It's amazing! I wish he would let me record him. He's all of a sudden "camera shy" again after his singing debut.

Before I sign off, I do have a prayer request. I can't say much about the situation that needs prayer at this point, but we would really appreciate all the prayer support we can get. Please pray for God's guidance, discernment, and peace in the outcome. Thanks!

Adoption Update!

It finally came! We got our copies of the homestudy in the mail yesterday. This means the main agency should receive it and put us on the "official" waiting for referral list by the end of this week or early next week. Hurray! That's the best Christmas gift I could ask for.

Now I just need to fill out the I-600A form, gather together the necessary accompanying documents, write a ridiculously large check, and mail it all to USCIS in Kansas City. In a few weeks we'll be fingerprinted in Wichita for FBI background checks. Once we have our I-600A approval, there's nothing left to do but wait to be matched with our baby girl! How long will that be? There's no telling. The current wait for a healthy baby is 1 year, but since we are doing the Waiting Child program, it could be anywhere from a couple of weeks up to the full year of waiting.

On the homefront, Kaden has been entertaining everyone lately with his singing. I knew he'd love Christmas music, and I was right! He's been a huge hit on the Holt Web Forum and I have added him to YouTube, so he may become quite the little star. But, our little "star" has had a major attitude lately. I don't know whether he's hitting the Terrible Twos late or the Terrible Threes early, but our normally sweet son has been replaced with a monster.

Anyway, you can watch videos of him singing on YouTube or DropShots. He's also slowly learning the words to Frosty the Snowman. I haven't been able to get him too interested in any other songs. Those 3 seem to be it. But, he does love to have us read him "The Night Before Christmas" and actually has quite a bit of it memorized already!

Since money is a bit tight this year, I probably won't be sending out as many Christmas cards as I usually do. So, if you don't get a card from us, don't take it personally. It's not that we didn't think of you, we're just in the process of adopting! So, here are two digital cards I have created using "Fresh Snow" by Randi Oh Designs and Sweet Digiscraps. It's available at Gotta Pixel and A Cherry On Top.

The Highs & Lows of our Mini-Vacation!

My good friend and college roomie, LaDonna, got married this past weekend. She lives in Springfield, MO so we decided to make a weekend out of attending her wedding and then spending a few days at Silver Dollar City.

It was quite the eventful trip! Rather than trying to tell all the stories in detail, I think I'll just list the highs and lows in chronological order as a bulleted list.

• Low - Kaden's poop explosion on the trip out, resulting in messes all over the van and his car seat, going through an entire pack of wipes, and the loss of his snow pants which had to just be thrown away.
• High - Visiting with Ryan & Sam Cannon and their kids and the fact that they were gracious enough to let Kaden take a bath at their house to get rid of the poop smell!
• High - LaDonna & David's beautiful wedding and getting to visit with Elkie, Sam, Anne, and LaKeisha. It was great to reconnect.
• Low - Kaden vomitting on the trip from Springfield to Branson.
• Low - Having to wait in a line for over 30 minutes just to get into Silver Dollar City.
• High - Kaden entertaining the waiting crowd by singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of his lungs and being told he is the best show in Branson!
• High - The amazing 5-story Christmas tree light show, light parade, Geyser Gulch ball pit, and Frosty the Snowman show at Silver Dollar City.
• High - Being very impressed that at the Frosty the Snowman show, they present the GOSPEL story to everyone present. Way to go SDC!
• Low - Branson traffic on the way to our hotel and again the next morning. It really stinks to only go 1.5 miles in 1.5 hours!
• Low - Kaden being 1/4 inch too short to ride the swings and elephant ride and him calling out to the ride operator, "But what about me?"
• High - Kaden enjoying the 3 rides he was tall enough to ride, the Living Nativity pageant, the train ride (which once again presented the Gospel!), meeting Santa, riding the Flooded Mine ride two times because Kaden loved it, and much less crowded SDC on day two!
• Low - Kaden's shoe falling in the water in the Flooded Mine. It was recovered, but unwearable the rest of the night.
• High - Stopping to see Tisha & Noah on our way home Monday.

So, that's our trip in a nutshell! There are tons of pictures and video clips to see on DropShots. I recorded the big Christmas tree and Kaden wandering around the stage at the Frosty show. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

David & LaDonna Fraley

Tricia, Elkie, LaDonna, Sam, Keisha, & Anne

Kaden pointing with fascination at the 5-story tree

Kaden enjoying the ball launcher at Geyser Gulch

Kaden standing front & center at the Frosty the Snowman show

Kaden riding the ladybugs

Kaden and Santa

Family self-portrait on the train ride

Kaden & Noah - Look back at this post to see how they've grown in 14 months!

Adoption Update - Well, sorta!

Sigh. I know God's timing is perfect, but I sure am getting anxious about our adoption. The social worker assures me she will have our homestudy ready to send to Holt by the end of the week. I sure hope so. Until we are officially on their "list" we are not eligible to be matched with any of the waiting children that become available. They get a new batch of referrals at the beginning of each month. So, I always wonder if we have "missed out" on a perfect match because we aren't on the list yet.

I also worry because I've been hearing more and more reports of decreased referrals from South Korea. Wait times are increasing to about 2 years for the regular program. So, I have a feeling that the waiting child program will receive more applications as people attempt to shorten their wait, therby actually lengthening it for all of us already in the program! Also, South Korea has announced they will be closing all international adoptions in 2012. So, this is our last chance to get a sibling for Kaden from his same birth country. It could, in all likelyhood, take the entire 3 years for us to get our referral.

But, if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. I used to say that I wanted my children to be 4 years apart in age anyway. So, I shouldn't be worrying about it! But, I would appreciate prayers that everything will go smoothly from here on out and that I won't be obsessed with the long wait each and every day. I need to be enjoying my time with Kaden and enjoying the here and now as opposed to wishing for the future to be here.

Thanks for letting me rant!

Long Day!

We went to the "big city" today. As usual, we tried to make the best of it by fitting as much into one day as possible. We started off with getting Christmas photos taken at Portrait Innovations. I took the very first appointment of the day so we could get in and out and get more accomplished. But, that meant that we had to leave home at 6:30 a.m. and since I didn't sleep well last night, it made for a long day. It also means that I don't think I did a very good job choosing our portrait packages from the 53 photos available. You can see all the photos at our DropShots site (if you don't know the password, contact me!). But, here are the ones we ultimately ended up printing:

After photos, we went to Target to buy a new camera. Unfortunately, our faithful little Kodak Easyshare 3.1 has bit the dust. Awhile back, Kaden got ahold of it and dropped it. The zoom button fell off. We kept trying to put it back on, but it ultimately got lost and is gone for good. So, no zooming. Then, the rechargable battery has not been working. The camera works for maybe 5 mintues at a time. Worst of all, it somtimes won't even turn on at all. We have to click back and forth between the on and off buttons and pray it will work. So, it was time for a new camera.

After camera shopping (see the results of our purchase later) we met with a friend at a great Asian restaurant called Pei Wei. It was so, so yummy! I hope we eat there again sometime soon. Then Kaden was ready for a nap, so we parked outside the mall and Ryan and I took turns going inside to just look around. After Kaden's nap, we headed to my doctor's appointment. The good news is, the doctor and I think we can put off my hysterectomy for awhile. The bad news is, it is still inevitable and will definitely need to happen. So, I am just praying for God's timing and that my pain levels will continue to remain low thanks to my new diet. It has to stay a permanent lifestyle change and not just temporary in order to keep working!

After the appointment, we hit the zoo. I love having a memebership. It paid for itself after just two visits. We have been there at least 10 times this year, so it's well worth the money. We had a great time and it was a beautiful day for walking around the zoo. We also got some great shots with the new camera. Going from a 3.1 megapixel camera to a 10.1 is quite a change!

All's well now!

I had a bit of a scare this weekend. I started to go "numb" in my arms, hands, feet, and legs. They kept falling asleep and even after they would "wake up", I'd still feel like a cold liquid was running through my veins. I was extra tired, dizzy, and had to be careful when I'd stand up. One time I got up too fast and Ryan had to catch me before I landed on the floor.

So, I went to the doctor this morning. Well, I got the riot act! It was the "Never start an extreme diet without first consulting your doctor" speech. It turns out that by cutting out all sugar, including natural ones, and cutting out yeast products, I wasn't getting any carbs at all. So, I have made myself hypoglycemic and my body is retaliating. We don't have the results of the blood tests yet, but at this point she is figuring that by allowing good carbs and natural sugars back into my diet in moderation, I will not have to be medicated and should be able to maintain my weight (I've lost over 20 pounds now since mid-July). Anyway, I am glad that Ryan forced me to go to the doctor. She said it could have gotten much worse had I continued on this way. So, lesson learned. If you start a diet, consult your doctor!

In other news, it's been 1 month today since our homestudy. Our social worker has had several delays because her mother has been in and out of the hospital. She e-mailed me today that she will be making the final changes to the report this week and will have it to Holt by the weekend. Let's just pray that Holt accepts it quickly and without any changes so that we can get the official copies and move on to the immigration paperwork!

Big boy bed!

We've been wondering how/when to get Kaden out of his crib and into a toddler bed. He never once has ever, ever tried to climb out of his crib. He's always been perfectly content in it and didn't seem too interested when we'd suggest a "big boy bed".

Well, yesterday after lunch I let him watch cartoons for awhile and he made himself a cozy little bed out of our ottomon. When the show was over I told him it was time to go upstairs for his nap. He asked if he could take his nap there on the ottomon. I figured, "This won't work." I told him he could but that if he got up and didn't go to sleep, I'd put him in his crib.

Much to my amazement, he never moved off the ottomon! He was in the family room, surrounded by toys, and just laid there until he fell asleep. I was so surprised that I told Ryan about it when he got home, and we agreed to go ahead and convert his crib to a toddler bed to see what would happen.

The first night, he slept clear through the night with no problems. He never got out of the bed before falling asleep, and he didn't even get out after he woke up in the morning. He waited for Ryan to come get him! The second night, he also did well, but did fall out of the bed. We need to buy a bumper guard. So, all in all, our fears about Kaden waking up and climbing out of bed several times a night seem to be unwarranted. He's done great!

Here's a picture of him all excited to be in his "big boy bed". He is very proud of it. He was pretending to be asleep, but was still smiling for the picture!



I taught a class on Digital Scrapbooking last night. I didn't have a lot of students, but those that came said they learned a lot. It was so fun to have my laptop hooked up to the big screen T.V. I think I could get use to that! I plugged the big screen monitor into the laptop, then used a wireless mouse & keyboard. I think it would be a great set-up to have at home. We'd have a big screen T.V. and I could use it to scrap with while sitting on the couch. Being able to see all my photos and elements that large was so fun! But, there is definitely no big screen T.V. in our future. :(


Have you heard the saying, "No news is good news"? I don't think that applies to adoption. I have not heard back from the social worker since she sent us the homestudy to proofread. I am hoping she fixed the few minor errors and got it sent to the main office for approval. But, I don't know. It's hard sometimes to just let God be in control of the adoption process. I often want to grab the reins!

I can't do math!

In my last post, I said that our adoption fundrasier was now up to $2,200. It's actually $1,700. I counted $500 of the donation twice. I think I need to go back to college! Anyway, that's still an excellent amount and we are so appreciative of our wonderful church body.

Speaking of church, we had a really fun event yesterday. We gathered as a community in the park for a wonderful pork roast picnic. Kaden's favorite part of the festivities was the giant inflatable slide. He went down with a few of the local college guys first and then with Ryan. Eventually, he wanted to go by himself. He's such a little daredevil!




We got a rough draft of our homestudy today. Our social worker's mom is not doing well and has been in and out of the hosptial. So, she's not sure when she'll be able to get it edited and sent to the main Holt office, but hopefully it won't be too much longer. Once they approve it, we will receive an official, notarized copy to send on to immigration. We'll have to be fingerprinted through the FBI to receive federal clearance. Then all that is left to do is to wait for a referral and try to save up as much money as possible for the invoice that accompanies it!