A very overdue update

Hi Gang!

So I am admitting to some serious slacking over here, especially since I am on vacation. So sorry! Here we go....

We received an exciting first birthday update on SeungHwan on his birthday...June 7th.  How cool is that? All looks great and sadly we did not get a picture but there was a note saying they would send it the following week.  Highlights? He now weighs 21.6 pounds and is 30.7" tall.  He has eight teeth and is eating some solid food (rice, meat, veggies, cheese and fruit) and takes bottles throughout the day and once at night.  He can walk 10-20 steps without support (yay little man!) and follows simple errands.  He turns pages of a book and says "umma" (mom) with meaning.  =0)  He points with an index finger and can bring a spoon to his mouth.  He can build a simple tower and finds hidden objects.  There are many more amazing things listed...wow.

We waited until this past week for his birthday pictures and we were super stoked to see him dressed in a hanbok.  Look at all his hair! Loving this age of technology as were emailed these and we just received the hard copies in the mail.

Too stinking adorable.

We celebrated SeungHwan's birthday with some dear family and friends.  To my family I did not invite, please don't be upset.  We wanted something simple that is all.  We made dinner and cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday.

The Fam

"insert a happy birthday tune here"

Keith and I were able to travel to Korea and Japan this summer after a busy end to the school year and June (packing up and moving a classroom, family reunion and packing for our adventure).  What an amazing, amazing trip. I can't wait to go back for obvious reasons but truly look forward to returning to Korea. Feelings of happiness and excitement throughout the entire trip.  We met my foster mother in Korea who cared for Krista and I. Wow, what a great day. I'll post more about the trip soon. The food and the sights and smells (some not so good) were all new and exhilarating. I found myself saying, "Next year....this will be us with our son" over and over.  I could imagine walking through those airport doors and being home. Home with my family of three (humans anyways!).

love

A Skype call with Krista, Matt & Claire

Annyoung haseyo?!

 Oh and the good news behind the delay in first birthday pictures.....  many children are being placed with their families right now.  Which is great news and I am happy these families are finally together as they have had a long wait.  Since the social workers are very busy with translating and meeting with families, they are not able to send pictures and most likely paperwork such as updates are not priority.  I think it's a fair trade and now I know the why behind it.  This month, we are "due" for another update.  We have been told to be hopeful we receive one but not to expect it.  The great news is there are more children who are placed now than there were all of last year (at least with our agency).  The last few groups of EPs submitted have been very large.  So large, families are meeting their babies in not so typical rooms, such as the kitchen at Eastern!

I have been asked A LOT lately about when our "ETA" will be or if we know when we will get to bring our guy home.  The answer is still "no" but we are hopeful he will be home for his 2nd birthday. There are many maybes that no one has the answer to. EPs are hopefully going to be issued for families who accepted their referrals through November to maybe mid-December in 2011.  We accepted our referral in January of 2012.  Once the quota of 850 children is reached, all paperwork will stop for 2012.  Maybe they will get all November families in this year, maybe not.  Maybe the government will start issuing EPs again in January 2013, maybe not. Again, in the past the Korean government typically starts in January, this year they started in March.  It seems to take about a month or so for the paperwork to come out and everything is ready Freddy for families to travel.  So yes, we will have a bit of a heads up and then will be anxiously waiting for our travel call.

So that is what's been happening on the adoption front as of late. Cheers to you and love you all!