Finally, the girls have passports!

After a full month, they have their passports.  I've made copies and packed them in our bags.  Now, I can say we're READY!  No, the boys haven't moved into their new room, but should this weekend.  We did manage to get both rooms painted and Brian's busting his %$$ to get the trim and closets complete before carpet Friday.  It will be so awesome to go get the baby bed, move the boys into their new room and get Jaemin's really set up.  I can't wait!  Funny thing from the weekend too.  Brian and I were in the boys' new room painting when I hear voices and turn to see Chase and neighbor boy Hayden's faces plastered to the screen of the open window.  I keep painting and then I hear Chase tell Hayden that for a whole week the girls are allowed downstairs.  You should have heard the happiness in his voice.  :)  Pure evil.  :)  Truth is, we moved the boys AND all their furniture into the living room down.  It's so crowded now that we just don't want to worry about things getting worse, so for a few days they're staying upstairs to play, etc.  Not as bad as it sounds, but it sure makes the boys happy.

And, Korea?  Well, they can go ahead and send the Visa packet to SWS so we can get that travel call this month.
Hey a girl can hope!
Lisa

Bad mommy

Chase was supposed to play baseball this weekend, but due to the rain it's been cancelled.  I was silently, and sometimes not so silently, happy.  Bad mommy.  :)

Next Friday we get carpet for the new room we've been adding to our basement for the big boys and at the same time they're going to recarpet the boys' old room (Jaemin's new room).  So, before then we have to repaint.  We could ONLY paint this weekend.  Brian just finished spraying the texture on the drywall this week.  He already started priming it tonight and tomorrow we will move the boys out of the their room and go hot and heavy on the painting all weekend until it's done.  Then after Friday they'll have carpet and we should be able to move them into their new room.  I know some things will have to be pieced together, but surely by the time Jaemin comes home we'll be done.  We should have at least 2 more weeks to get the trim up, the sills on, the built in shelves up, etc.  I think he already has it stained, so it will look so nice in a couple of weeks.

So I'm not completely bad, just needed to get Jaemin's room done so we can go get the crib out of mom's attic and borrow the mattress, etc.  It will be nice to actually set up his room finally.

Lisa

Passports and Visas and Emigration Permits

Okay, so the passports are ours and the Visa is just an approval so Jaemin can receive his Visa in Korea.

We all received our passports two Mondays ago, except the girls'.  So I called for a couple of days to check on the status and then finally asked to have someone call back.  The lady who processed our other 4 passports called back Friday.  But, by then I had already received the denial I was expecting asking for the girls' adoption decrees to prove they were US citizens.  The lady admitting our paperwork at USPS at the beginning of April refused to take the documents.  So I ran to get the documents mailed that night and sent a check to expedite their passports so we didn't run into any other snags.  But, I did write a note to cancel the checks if they could since it was not our fault.

When the lady called me Friday I told her I had already mailed them to her attention and told her what happened.  She said she would call when everything arrived so I could rest easy.  She just called yesterday to let us know that she had everything and was sending them out to be printed and we would have them in about a week.  AND she voided our checks!  Federal government being nice?  That was awesome!  Saved us $120.

Now for Visas.  As you know we were approved by USCIS for our I600 on 4/20, which is really quick!  NVC (National Visa Center) received the approval on 4/27 and by 4/29 we were logged out of NVC and it was sent to the embassy in Korea.  All this is is an approval saying we're okay from the US' side and telling the embassy that as soon as the Korean agency applies his Visa can be issued to come home.  This doesn't mean we're done.  First a packet is sent from the embassy to the Korean agency to make them aware we're done on this side.  Then, if our son has his passport or approval (emigration permit) the agency can schedule a Visa interview and submit the packet back, get his passport and send him home.  Sounds easy, but it still takes sometime.

I watch other family's posted timelines and for this SWS (our Korean agency) we shouldn't have longer than 2 1/2 weeks left, BUT our home study just left for Korea this week, so I don't know if this will hold us up or not.  The placing agency in NY didn't know either.  She didn't think more than a week, but really didn't know.  Those darn EPs (emigration permits) are a huge mystery to all adoptive families.  So, regardless of the fact that our agency told us travel calls are usually about 4-6 weeks from I600 approval, but have been running 4 weeks, we will just have to wait and see.  I'm still holding out for the 4!  :)

So pray for us.  Hope we can leave that last week of May so Kaelin doesn't have to miss school or summer school to go.  That would be perfect timing in my perfect little world.  :)

Lisa

Still working on passports

We finally got the girls' denials for passports.  It's been so frustrating.  We applied on 4/4 and I brought their adoption decrees and Korean passports because I knew I was supposed to.  I insisted they go with the applications, but the lady working passports at USPS that day refused to at least humor me because she knew better.  Well, now I had to pay $14 to send that stuff plus I'm paying $60 each to expedite.  They do not know what they're doing.  The info line decided to let our USPS know that they were wrong so they'll know how to process these from now on.  I'm glad someone else won't have to deal with this headache!

So, if you have an adopted child, out of country, and want to get their passports, insist the proper documentation go no matter what!

Lisa

I600 Approval

So we know have another step down.  USCIS approved our I600 application.  This means the state side is just about done.  Our agency is applying for the interstate compact this week too.  That the last state side deal.  That shouldn't take very long, maybe a couple of weeks.  The Korean side still has a lot to do.  They have to issue his passport and visa.  They cannot even begin his visa until our approval arrives in Korea through the National Visa Center.  That should be next weeks sometime.  It's hard to estimate the amount of time Korea will take for their portion yet, but we're fairly sure he'll be home before my birthday at the end of June.  We're hoping for a call in May, but it's iffy.   We'll see if we can be one of those super speedy process people like a few people get lucky enough to be.  :)

Lisa

I'm sooooo tired

Kaelin and I have been shopping all day.  We were looking for chairs to go in the kitchen that we could match up to add to our table for Jaemin and a dresser for his room.  I finally found a dresser for a reasonable price and the chairs weren't bad either.  Once we get the boys moved we'll get a mattress for the big bed that will go in his room.

I finally let my guard down enough to really buy him some stuff.  I've been buying right around 9 month.  Thinking he should fit in there pretty well.  We got him a Cardinal's romper to start him off right.  Lois, you'll love it.  I got him a sleeper to wear on the plane and a few other things in case he has some accidents on the plane.  We don't have near enough clothes yet, but we have another month or so.  Only other thing, besides clothes, is diapers, wipes and formula to buy.

I've been starting to pack today a little bit.  It's such a big trip and so much to think about when you're bringing little ones.  So, after Kaelin and I bought the gifts for the foster family and workers at the agency we came home and bagged them up and organized gift bags, etc. so we can easily get them ready once we're in Korea.  I now know I AM going to overpack.  That's me by nature.

Oh well.  Done for now and probably until we get the call or at least a room to spread this stuff into.
Lisa

Introducing...

Jaemin William.

Our papers have all gone to Korea now, so we can show him off.  We've done our thing with immigration and now we just wait for both countries to issue a visa and passport.  Sounds easy, but it does take some time.  The agency is saying, on the long side, June/July, so we're hoping May/June.  Of course, late May.  We're not done with the bedrooms yet.  :)  Anyone want to come over and help us paint two bedrooms soon?

These are my favorites of Jae.