Another delay

8:00 a.m.
I received an e-mail yesterday that our agency would like 3 more pictures of our whole family unit before we can send HSTK.  I was all about to rush and print them and overnight them because I was really expecting our - CONGRATULATIONS HSTK e-mail this week but in the e-mail our director referenced her vacation next week and that she will look for them upon her return and then we can get it out the following week.  I will be on vacation the following week so I really hope there is nothing else missing.

I just don't understand why when I sent all this back in March they didn't decide then then needed more pictures so there was not a delay now.

I know it is only a week but I just feel so disappointed.  Now we will not be HSTK until July.  I know I'm new to adoption but I just never expected this beginning process to take 6 months.

I know, I know,  all about my title....don't remind me.  I need to feel a little disappointed for a bit then will perk up :)

1:30 p.m.
Maybe good news.  I was hesitant to e-mail and ask if the assistant director could mail our dossier while the director was out but decided to go for it anyway.  One must be their own advocate :)  I received an e-mail saying if I got the new pictures there by Wednesday there is a chance our dossier could go to Korea with another package they were sending out.  If not she promised that it would go out immediately when she returned from vacation.  So I have the new pictures out the door and hoping for the best.  We will be on vacation upon her return with very little access to e-mail.  I am praying they do not need anything else while we are away.

Fun at Hershey Park

Home Study here and sent of to USCIS

To my surprise my home study arrived the day after Barker sent it....YEAH!  I of course rushed off to get it in the mail on Friday a.m.

It is interesting to open an envelope and know that 16 page document that is a summary of your life.   It makes you realize you want that document to be filled with more of what you do for others and your church than what you have acquired.   It is nice to hear the social works say that you house is spacious and warmly decorated, and happy atmosphere with plenty room for a new addition but it is so much more important to have it reflect a life God wants us to live to hear her mention the service we do at church and for our community.  It certainly made me think that if this document had to be written in another 10 years from now I would want it to show growth in our spiritual life not just our material possessions.....good food for thought.

I decided to go with FedEx this round :) not that I don't trust USPS :)   I wanted to overnight it so it would be there on Monday but that would have been a whopping $65 so I decided to go 2 day at $25 (better use of money LOL)

Please pray that this document arrives in Missouri and is matched up with my I600A application (which was sent prior) and also that the boys fingerprints that were taken at the US Embassy in Seoul last week arrive and are match with no problems.....YEAH almost there!!!!

I tried to write this post yesterday and due to internet failure it did not save and I had to rewrite this a.m.  I certainly had my wording better yesterday but the benefit of today is it is Saturday morning and I am sitting on my front porch drinking coffee with my husband and looking at my beautiful flowers.....just wanted to share a picture.

Home study APPROVED!!!

Yeah!!!! Received an e-mail today saying congratulations your homestudy was approved and we will receive it in a few days.

I will be anxiously awaiting for our mail lady for the next few days.....oh hoping it comes by Friday.

One blog or two?

I am always so back and forth on if I should have one blog or two.  I want to journal the adoption and the memories of our life and it would be way easier if I just had one blog but then I do really want to have a blog dedicated to the adoption journey to print for my little boy to read one day so here is what I decided to do.  

I have my family blog where I have posted more pictures and descriptions but I think I will occasionally add a picture or two here as well to sort of show us living our lives during the wait.  I am extremely blessed to have this great family and a wonderful life as I am waiting for my new addition.

Home Study here and reviewed

We received our home study over the weekend - YEAH.  There were several things that needed to edited so I had to send back changes and now we are waiting for those to be accepted and then sent back to us.    Most errors were with name spellings and some simple facts but the most important change was the medical conditions we were willing to be open to for referral were not accurate.

I really struggled with filling out that form originally and it was almost as hard to edit the home study and delete some of the conditions that we decided not to be open to that she had listed.  I do believe that God will send us the right child with only the medical conditions that we will be able to handle but I did know up front that some would require more time from our family than we had.

Hopefully we will get the final back soon.......

In God's time not my own......

I often wonder how many times I will come back to the title of this blog during this journey.   I am sure that God lead me to name this blog as a reminder and a lesson in patience.

Today I was again wondering WHEN WILL THAT HOME STUDY GET DONE.  It has been well over one month since our final home visit.  At the beginning of last week the director the Korea program called me and said she would have it to us to review by the end of last week.

Friday came and went and Monday I thought about e-mailing but no sooner did I really begin to serious craft an e-mail I got an e-mail from the director telling me that on Thursday when she started to review the home study two travel approvals for babies came in and that needed her immediate attention and she has not forgotten us and thanked me for my patience.

I understand, really I do.  If my baby's travel approval arrived I would want them to jump right on that, but here it is Wednesday and I was getting impatient.  So I opened my blog and was ready to type/complain away about how I really just want it to be my turn.  How I want to get that homestudy to Korea so we can begin our official wait and......I saw my blog title.

It is going to be a constant reminder during this journey....a good reminder.  I know there are times that getting things out help but REALLY.  Look how blessed I am.  I am going through this process that for years I assumed was only a dream.  I have two beautiful healthy children that keep me busy, and we are at a place in our lives where we are able to start doing fun things like vacations - other than just camping ;)

I know God has HIS plan and the timing of HSTK is part of it.  I know that potentially if we submit HSTK this month and our referral comes at the approximate time the agency estimates that we could potentially travel in the summer months.  What  a blessing that would be for my daycare.  I will need to close the daycare for a month and a half and to be closed in the summer when summer camps and college students are available would be wonderful for my families and also maybe keep me from loosing some of my kids.

So once again I am thankful I was able to open the blog in a grumpy mood and see the title and take a few minutes to remember this is all -  IN GOD'S TIME NOT  MY OWN!!!!!