A Few Pictures from Yesterday and Today

Recap of Doctors Visits

Beau had 2 appointments last week. We visited the pediatrician on Tuesday and the nephrologist on Thursday. Here is a little recap of those visits. This is mostly so that I will remember all of these details, so don't feel like you have to read this. :) It is kind of long and probably pretty boring.

Pediatrician

We arrived a few minutes early in order to fill out any necessary paperwork. Beau did not like waiting in the waiting room, so I took him outside and carried him up and down a sidewalk. I knew Raleigh would come and get us when it was our turn. Beau really likes to be carried since he is accustomed to riding in a carrier worn by his foster mom.

Once we were taken back to an exam room, the screaming began. Ha Ha! We received pretty extensive medical records from Korea, and it is obvious that Beau went to the doctor a lot. I think he knew where we were just by the atmosphere. First we were asked to undress Beau so that they could weigh him. This took several minutes. As I was picking Beau up off of the scale, he peed all over me. Ha! Ha! Then the nurse said that she was going to put a urine bag on him in hopes of collecting a sample. In my mind I was thinking, wouldn't it have been smarter to put the urine bag on him immediately after removing his diaper?!?! Oh well! It's a memory and he of course didn't pee into the bag since he had already peed on me! :)

We talked to the doctor and she did a general check-up. Everything seemed to be fine, but we are going back in a month for a follow-up visit since he had only been home a few days at the time of our visit.

The doctor was not too concerned that he is still on a mostly formula diet. She of course wants us to introduce more table foods, but she said it was fine to take it slowly since he has experienced so much change in a short amount of time.

Beau did receive 3 shots so that he would be all caught up on vaccinations. He received Prevnar, Hib, and Hepatitis B.

Beau screamed throughout the appointment, but once we left the building and were outside, he totally calmed down and even enjoyed his car ride home.

Here were his stats from his appointment:

Beau at 13 months old-

Height: 29.2 inches /18th percentile

Weight: 19.8 pounds/ 6th percentile

Head Circumference: 18.1 inches/ 29th percentile

Nephrologist

Thursday afternoon we headed to Emory for our visit to the nephrologist. When I called to book our appointment, I was informed that the doctor we had been working with (via email) was on vacation until the end of August. I was given the option to schedule an appointment with a fellow or wait until the doctor returned to schedule the visit. Not knowing the severity of Beau's kidney issues, we decided to take an early appointment with the fellow. My thoughts were that the initial visit would be mostly talking and then when we come back for our next visit, the doctor would be back from vacation. The doctor has been sooooo kind to review some of Beau's files for us and I was really looking forward to meeting him and working with him.

In retrospect, I would have waited for a later appointment with the doctor. I'm sure that the fellow is a very bright man with a lot of expertise in the field of nephrology. However, there was somewhat of a language barrier which made communication very difficult. He could barely understand us and we could barely understand him.

Also, I had mailed copies of all of Beau's medical records and had them VERY organized. I had divided them into sections and labeled each section so that it would be very easy for the doctors to review. It was obvious that the fellow had not even opened the file before he entered our room. Now, I totally understand that doctors see patients back to back and see many patients each day, but it seems like they would want to take a look at a new patient's file before consulting with the parents. He kept asking us questions about Beau's biological parents and I very patiently explained multiple times that the only information we have is what I included in the file. I even took the liberty to ask him to open the file and then I showed him the paperwork. He definitely did not understand the unique situation of international adoption. While we have lots and lots of medical history on Beau, there are still some missing pieces and he did not seem to understand that. He also asked multiple times why Beau was crying. You would think that a fellow in the field of pediatric medicine would understand that some children do not like being at the doctor and some children are going to cry.

They had to take some blood, and since Beau was screaming they wrapped him up like a burrito. I know that is common practice, but it was still sad to watch.

In the end, we didn't leave with any additional information about Beau's kidneys. They told us to make an appointment with a urologist. The urologist will be able to give us an idea of whether or not Beau will need surgery to repair the obstruction in his ureter.

I have to give credit where credit is due and say that the lead nurse we worked with was SO friendly and helpful. The doctor (who was on vacation) had told her about us back in March when we consulted with him about Beau's medical files. She remembered us and was just lovely. I think our visit would have been totally different if we had waited and made our appointment with the doctor. Oh well! Raleigh and I may schedule another appointment with the doctor once he is back, since we were not really able to verbally communicate with the fellow. All we would be out is another copay and an afternoon of our time, so it might be worth it just so we will have a little more understanding of Beau's condition.

(Please do not be offended if you are a medical student or fellow. I am sure that many, many fellows have a wonderful bedside manner and are excellent physicians. This was just not our experience in this particular case.)

First Trip to Publix

One Week Home

In honor of Beau being home one week, I thought it would be fun to list 7 things that I have learned over the last 7 days! Here it goes!!

1. Beau is eating mostly formula, but has three favorite table foods....seaweed, Korean rice cakes, and potato sticks! I mean he really L.O.V.E.S seaweed. He would probably eat a whole package in one day if I let him! It is so cute to watch him stuff the seaweed in his mouth!

This is Beau relaxing with his rice cake!

2. He likes to sleep on his back with his arms and legs spread out. He is also in the habit of falling asleep on the couch. The last several nights he has fallen asleep there. Once he is asleep, Raleigh carries him to his crib (well, only the last 2 nights). I'm not very good at getting him back to sleep in his crib when he wakes up in the middle of the night, so he has ended up in our bed the last couple of days. I still think we have made progress since he is sleeping part of the night in his crib.

This is Beau sleeping on the couch. Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby? Notice how he is holding a potato stick?? It is a comfort item for him. He loves to have a potato stick in his hand at all times and he will occasionally put it in his mouth and lick the salt off! Ha Ha! Yes, I know he is wearing long pajamas in the middle of the summer, but he HATES having covers on him and I don't want him to be too cold at night.

3. He scratches his head and face when he is mad or upset. He gets mad and upset a lot. Just keeping it real! :) :) He has made a lot of progress, but he is still grieving. There are lots of tears mixed in with some giggles and smiles. We have started putting socks on his hands when he gets really mad because he was scratching his face until it bled. It was so sad. While I think the grieving has made it worse, I think he may have also done this in Korea. His foster mom sent us pictures with socks on his hands. Also, while we were waiting for Beau to come home, he often had scratches on his nose in the updated pictures we received. Oh...and in case you are wondering, I have clipped his fingernails and they are as short as possible.

4. Beau loves his car seat and stroller!! Yippee! He likes to play clapping games in the car and play peekaboo. He thinks he is so sneaky when he is playing peekaboo! He also likes to play a game where you pretend like you're sleeping and then start snoring loudly. He loves to watch Raleigh do this.

5. His favorite toy right now is the Leapfrog Learn and Groove Musical Table. A parent of one of my students gave us this table and Beau loves it. It does slide easily on carpet and hardwood floors, so I have to make sure to hold it steady as he pulls up and plays. Once his standing balance is a little better, I don't think it will be a problem. He loves to manipulate all of the pieces on the table and listen to the music.

6. He likes to dance to children's music....and by dance I mean bounce a little and smile and giggle! I love how his whole face lights up when he smiles!

Notice how Beau's left hand is tightly balled up in the picture above? What do you think he is holding? A potato stick, of course! :) He has bitten off and eaten the top part so the rest is inside his hand.

7. Over the last 7 days, I have learned so much about how the Father loves us! Just think, as much as I love Beau (and as much as any parent loves their child) God loves us more!!! I know that I will fall short when it comes to parenting. I will not be perfect. But the good news is that God will fill in the gaps. The love of the Father for his children is a love that never fails. Each day, I give Beau to the Lord. I pray that little Beau will come to know and love the Lord at an early age.

Most importantly, over the last 7 days my home has been filled with the sweet sounds of a baby. And not just any baby. My son. I love you Beau! You have filled my heart with so much joy! I love your cries, your toots, your smiles, and the way you are learning to trust us.

Beau's Homecoming Video

Thank you so much Brandon and Stacey for taking such beautiful pictures of our special day! We will treasure this video forever!! Thank you!

Beau Comes Home from Brandon Gresham on Vimeo.

He Laughed

Beau laughed!!

First Days Home

We are so in love with Beau! He is the perfect addition to our family!! Here is a little update about the first few days home!

General Update:

-He likes to sleep on his back with his arms and legs stretched out far.

-He does not like any type of blanket or cover on him. He will kick it off if you try to cover him up.

-He does not like the bath yet. He screams and holds his body really stiff.

-His cries kind of sound like a mix between a cough and a sneeze. We have heard him cough and sneeze, but his cries sound similar.

-He can scream loudly. When he is upset he arches his back and hold his body straight. He is very strong.

-Most of the clothes we have are a little too big. We have a lot of 12-18 month stuff. His 12 month clothes fit, but are a little big. I know he will grow into everything soon! He is so cute and petite.

-He is not eating much. His reports that we received the day before he came home said that he was drinking 5 ounces of formula every 3 hours. He is also accustomed to 1 or 2 night feedings. At this point, he has not eaten hardly any table food. Luckily, he is now drinking his Korean formula.

-He really likes his pacifier. We didn't realize he would have one, because we never received pictures of him with it, but it is obvious that he really likes it.

-His hair is super soft and pretty.

-He scratches his face when he is tired. He came home with several scratches on his face. We received a lot of pictures from his foster mom and she has his hands covered with socks in some of the pictures, so I guess he has always scratched his face when he is sleepy.

Thursday:
Beau arrived home Thursday afternoon shortly after 4:00. He cried when his escort handed him to me and she told us that he had a fever. Raleigh and I took several laps around the atrium of the airport and that really helped him calm down. He did not fuss in the car seat on the way home. He ate one goldfish in the car and drank a little water from a bottle. In his blue bag from Holt, there was a bag of Korean potato sticks. This has become his comfort item for now. He likes to have a potato stick in his hand at all times. Beau liked to be right next to my chest the first night home. He didn't really eat much of anything. We offered him lots of things, but he was not interested. He went to sleep about 10:30 and slept until about 9:00 the next morning. He did wake up once around 2:30am and drank a bottle of water. I slept with him on a mattress on the nursery floor.

Friday:
Beau slept most of the day Friday. He slept on the couch on top of a quilt. He likes to sleep on his back with his arms and legs spread out. He woke up a few times throughout the day and would just stay on my chest. He would never lift his head or sit up. He ate a few bites of rice cereal with applesauce for breakfast. He ate about 6 potato sticks for lunch and a few bites of rice with soy sauce and sesame oil and a few pieces of seaweed. He liked the seaweed the most of all and stuffed several pieces in his mouth. Friday night we decided to sleep in our room. Beau slept between us. He slept really well from about 11:00 to 9:00 the next morning. He woke up once and had a bottle.

Saturday:
Beau had a bite or two of applesauce for breakfast and a bite or two of banana baby food. Saturday Beau finally started drinking formula. We are using the formula that came home with him in his blue bag. So far, this is the only formula he will drink. We also tried similac and whole milk, but he would not take either of those. Beau stayed stayed in my lap with his head pressed against my chest most of the day. We did get out of the house Saturday morning to drop of some food at a wedding shower. I was a hostess at the shower, but just took the food I prepared and left. Beau hated getting into the car seat, but once the car was moving, he seemed to really enjoy it. He was very content.

Saturday night, Beau really opened up. He held his head up for the first time. Yay!!! He also smiled when we played with the Busy Ball Popper by Playskool. He still sat right next to be with his body pressed against mine, but we were soo happy to see him hold his head up.

Sunday:
Beau ate about 7 dry cheerios and about 10 pieces of kix cereal for breakfast. We were told that he likes all types of fruit and cheese, but so far he will not eat any of these things for us. An hour or two after waking up, he had a bottle of formula. Then...Beau really came out of his shell! For the first time, he engaged in play and interacted with me and Raleigh. He also sat unassisted, crawled, and climbed up 2 steps!!!! He fell asleep at 2:00 for a nap. More to come.....

Friday morning: Waking up for the first time at home

Friday morning: First bath

Friday afternoon: Taking a nap on the couch (you can see his rib cage if you look carefully- his belly is really tiny)

Saturday morning: Hanging out with his potato stick

Saturday night: Our first smile

Saturday night: Starting to engage with his surroundings

Saturday morning: Watching dad blow bubbles

Sunday: Starting to crawl

Sunday: Exploring the stairs

Sunday: Sitting unassisted

He Is Home!!!

I will post all about his homecoming day later, but for now...here are a few pictures! These were taken by my brother-in-law Brandon and my sister-in-law Stacey of Simple Color. Beau is just perfect and we are so thankful that the Lord has given him to us.

Today is the Day!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary,

praise him in his mighty heavens.

Praise him for his acts of power,

praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Psalm 150:1-2

Happy 13 Month Birthday to Beau!

Today Beau is 13 months old. I cannot believe that we will meet him for the first time on Thursday!!! Only 2 more days until we see our sweet boy!

I hope Beau is enjoying his last days in Korea with his foster mom. I hope she is not too sad and I hope she knows that we will love him forever. Raleigh and I pray every day that the Lord will prepare Beau's heart for all of the changes that are about to occur.

We love you Beau! See you on Thursday!!!! :)

TRAVEL CALL

Raleigh and I decided to go to the beach for a couple of days earlier this week to get our minds off of the wait for our travel call. We were hoping to hear something Monday. No news. We were hoping to hear something Tuesday. No news. Wednesday I texted my friend Karen and told her that if we didn't hear anything, I was going to email our social worker since it had been one week since his Visa Interview. After getting down to the beach Wednesday morning, I took a little walk by myself and pleaded with the Lord to please bring our travel call that day. I really didn't think I could take another day of not knowing when Beau would be home.

When I got back to our beach chairs, I noticed that I had 2 missed calls. One from Bethany (our adoption agency) and one from Raleigh. I called Raleigh first and asked him if he had talked to Bethany. He said that he hadn't and told me I should call them. (Even though Raleigh came to the beach, he had to stay inside the condo and work.) I listened to the voicemail that our social worker had left and it just said to call her. So, I called our agency and asked to speak with our social worker. She picked up and also the director of the agency was on the phone too. They asked if I knew why they were calling, and I said, "I hope so."

They said that Beau was coming home!!!!!!! Beau is arriving home Thursday, July 28th at 3:44 in the afternoon. He is being escorted to the Atlanta airport. We are overwhelmed with joy. There really are no words to describe how we are feeling right now. I cannot wait to see my baby boy for the first time! I have studied the pictures we have of him. I wonder if he will look the same as he does in his last picture that we received in May? We know he weighs about 18 pounds. How will that feel in my arms? Has he had a haircut since his last picture or will it look the same? What will he be wearing? Will he be scared? Will he be awake or asleep?

Oh, the joy of seeing Beau for the first time!

~We applied to work with our agency's Korea program on October 4, 2008.
~We were placed on a waiting list.
~In February of 2009, we made our agency's annual "quota" and were allowed to begin working on our home study.
~We were HSTK July 30, 2009.
~After 18+ months of waiting for a referral, we saw our son's sweet face on February 4th, 2011 on a waiting child email from our agency.
~We officially became his parents on February 18, 2011.
~And now Beau will be coming home on Thursday, July 28th!!!!!!

The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:23

Beau's Visa Interview was today!

Our social worker called and Beau had his Visa Interview (VI) today! This is the very last step that has to take place in Korea!

Beau will be home really soon! I will keep you posted once we have more details!

Beau's Nursery

We have finished Beau's nursery for the most part, so I thought you might like to take a tour of his room! Enjoy!

As you walk into the room, you see the upholstered glider. The color is oatmeal.

Above the chair, we have a framed name scroll from Korea. Some friends of ours visited Korea in March and graciously offered to pick this up for us. We are so thankful to have Si-won's name written in hangul on a traditional name scroll. I had it framed at JoAnne's Fabric store.

On the right of the window, we have two frames from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. I love them and think they look great in the room.

The lighting isn't great on this picture. The curtains are a thick linen in the color of burlap. They are from the Restoration Hardware outlet store.
This is Beau's book nook! I have put mostly board books in the shelf for now, but he has a lot more! My plan is to change the books out every so often. I also love seasonal children's books, so it will be fun to put out the Fall books in a couple of months.
Beau's crib is a dark expresso color. It will convert into a toddler bed and eventually a full bed.
The bedding we chose is from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. The fitted sheet is so soft. The background is white and it has light tan and dark tan polka dots. The bumper is a soft jersey cotton.
This is a toy bin I found at the Pottery Barn Outlet. I think the color of the basket works well in the room and it is very useful. It will make clean-up super easy!
The lighting is not great in the picture because the sun was coming through the windows. On top of the dresser I have 3 burlap bags. One bag is holding diapers, one bag has wipes, and one has baby lotion and diaper cream. The other side of the dresser has a little clock that plays lullabies. I am still looking for a lamp for the dresser. When I find one, I may put it where the clock is, and find a different spot for the clock.
Again, the glare makes it hard to see, but these are framed letters that spell Beau. My cousin Erica made them and they are such a special part of the nursery. The shelf they are on is directly above the dresser.
This is a view of the room as you enter from the hallway. There is an additional box of books in this picture that I may leave out or I may keep in the closet until we need more books.

Hurry home Beau!!

God is in the Details of our Lives

For the last month or two, I have been looking for a great monogramming/embroidery store near my house. We live in a suburb of Atlanta, so you would think there would be tons of choices. Surprisingly, I found very few options. The best option I found was an embroidery kiosk in the mall which was not exactly what I had in mind.

Well....over the last 48 hours, a new embroidery shop opened up less than 2 miles from my house. Yay! I popped in yesterday and it looks like it may be my new favorite place for hostess gifts, baby gifts, graduation gifts, etc. They have a little bit of everything. If you don't see exactly what you are looking for, they also allow you to bring in your own items. I have always wanted to have our Christmas stockings monogrammed, so I think this might be the year!

God is so good to show up in the details of our lives. What a happy surprise to have this new embroidery shop so close to home! I ordered Beau a monogrammed bib while I was there and it should be ready Monday or Tuesday.

Got plans for 2018?

South Korea won the bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics! Korea beat out France and Germany for this honor. According to Wikipedia, the Olympic games of 2018 are scheduled to take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea between February 9 and 24th.

When I heard this news today, I was thinking how great it would be to attend the games with Beau. He will be 8 years old in the winter of 2018, so I think it would be a great age for him to attend the Olympics.

Do you have plans for 2018?

Last Day of June

Waiting. Well, today is the last day of June and we are still waiting on Beau to come home. If you had asked me a month ago when he would be home, I would have said June! In fact I remember telling lots of people that I was "sure" he would be home for the 4th of July. There was no question in my mind. The days leading up to Beau's birthday were really not that hard. I focused on what type of cake to bake, the type of toy to buy him, etc. The day of his birthday was great too. We sang happy birthday and celebrated. But...the days after his birthday have been harder. Everyday is one day that he is getting older and learning new things. I want to watch him learn new things. I wake up each day thankful for a new day, because it is a new day that I might get an email about Beau coming home. But by about 4:30 each afternoon, I feel a little sting of disappointment because it is another day with no news.

I know that Beau will come home. I know that tears of joy will soon replace the tears caused by the waiting. I will continue to pray for God's peace during the remainder of the wait. Sometimes I feel guilty for even being sad about the wait, because so many others adopting from South Korea will have even longer waits due to the EP situation that I blogged about a few days ago.

Raleigh is so great and always reminds me of the blessing of this time that we have...just the 2 of us. And I am thankful for it, I really am. But mostly I am ready for our sweet Beau to come home. Hoping and praying that July is our month!

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself,

“The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Lamentations 3:22-27

My Nephew Alex

A few weeks ago, my nephew Alex came to visit! We enjoyed making brownies, going to Scott's Antique Market, and lunch at Chik-fil-A! Thanks for visiting Alex!

Silly Rabbits!!!

As I was walking in from getting the mail today, I noticed that the flower pots on my front porch looked different. Upon further investigation, I noticed that the sweet potato vines are GONE from both pots!!! The vines were so pretty and really made the pots looked finished. Now all that's left are little bitty stems where the vines once were!

I guess there are some very satisfied rabbits somewhere!! Ugh! I'm not going to replant new vines, because the rabbits will probably just come back for more!

Before (above) See the pretty sweet potato vine flowing from the side?

After (above) Look, the sweet potato vine has been eaten all the way down to the little stems!!!

Happy Birthday Beau!!

We hope that Beau got to experience his tol in Korea for his birthday! I know that some families have received pictures from the foster family of this special day.

While Beau was celebrating in Korea, Raleigh and I celebrated here! I baked a sour cream pound cake this morning. Unfortunately it stuck in the pan just a little, but it still tastes good!!

We also took a trip to Toys R Us to buy Beau his birthday present. We went with the intent of buying a wagon, but I just couldn't decide which one was right. We decided to wait on the wagon until Beau is home and we have a better idea of his size and mobility. Then we can choose the one that is just right for him!

We decided on a set of blocks and one can of Play-Doh. We also chose a funny card...well actually Raleigh chose the card. It has a whooppee cushion inside! Boy humor is so different than girl humor! Ha Ha!

The plates and napkins we chose are pirates! Every little boy needs at least one pirate party!

Happy First Birthday Beau! We love you to Korea and back!

June Well Baby Check

Just when we least expected it...we got a June well baby check today! I mean I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting it, but I wasn't!

This is his 12 month appointment because he will turn one on Sunday. Technically his birthday will start Saturday night in the US since Korea is 13 hours ahead of Atlanta.

Here are Beau's current stats:

Height: 28.5 inches (He was 28.3 inches in May)

Weight: 18.5 pounds (He was 18.1 pounds in May)

It still says he is under 3 % in height and weight, but I think he will catch right up once he is home. :)

As far as the developmental milestones, he can pull up and he walks holding onto furniture. It also says that he waves bye-bye. He has never had this checked before, so this is a new skill that he has acquired. :)

He also says single syllables and imitates speech sounds. Finally, it is noted that he says umma, which is mom in Korean. Obviously he is referring to his foster mom when he says this.

It is hard to explain if you haven't been through an adoption, but there are lots of emotions that are associated with it. I want Beau home so much, but it also breaks my heart to think of him leaving the foster family that he has known for the past year. I want to kiss his chubby cheeks and squeeze his cute little toes. Raleigh and I have been preparing for him for years. The Lord put adoption on our hearts in the Spring of 2008. So it has been 3 years of preparation for us. (We attended our first meeting at our adoption agency on June 26th 2008...Beau's birthday! Beau was born June 26, 2010.) But for Beau, all he knows is his foster family. I know they love him very much and I'm sure he loves them very much too. He has no idea that his little world is about to change. I will be forever grateful to Beau's foster mom for taking such good care of him and loving him so well for the first year of his life.

Raleigh and I pray every single night for the Lord to be preparing Beau's heart. I am so happy to know that Beau's first word is umma, mom. It is a special part of his story and I am thankful that he has a strong attachment to his foster family. In time, this will help him attach to us, his forever family.

I am so thankful that we received a June WBC. Our social worker also confirmed that our Class B Waiver will arrive in Korea on Monday.

Prayers Please for all of My Friends Adopting from Korea

I'm calling all prayer warriors to intercede on behalf of the adoptive families waiting to bring their little treasures home from Korea. It is kind of a complicated situation, but I will do my best to explain it.

First I will say that Raleigh and I are SO blessed to not be impacted by this problem, because Beau already has his emigration permit from Korea.

Ok...so basically the Korean government wants to reduce the number of international adoptions each year and increase the number of babies that are adopted domestically. Although I can see the benefits of children remaining in their birth country, at this time, the rate of domestic adoptions within Korea is not increasing that much. This means that there are lots of little treasures still needing families and lots of treasures that have been matched with families and are waiting to come home.

There are MANY steps that have to happen in order for the babies to come home. Some of the steps happen on the US side and some happen on the Korea side. One of the most important steps in Korea, is for the baby to be submitted to the Ministry for an emigration permit and then 4-10 weeks later approved for the emigration permit. The emigration permit (EP) allows the child to leave the country and come home to his or her forever family. Without the EP, the baby must remain in Korea.

Within the last 48 hours, lots of families found out that the Ministry in Korea will not be submitting or approving any EPs in the month of June. They will resume submitting and approving approvals in late July. In addition to this, there are only a handful of EPs left for the year. Several agencies have announced that they anticipate running out of EPs in September...could be later or could be earlier. That means that there will only be a few more batches of EPs for the year. The result is that some babies that have already been matched with families will not receive an EP this year will not come home until 2012.

I'm sure you can relate to the shock and sadness that this brings to adoptive families that were planning to have their babies home this year. No one knows for sure (at this point) which families will receive the remaining EPs and which families will have to wait until 2012. It is a blessing that the babies are living in loving foster homes while they wait, but it is still hard on the forever families.

I can hardly stand the wait for Beau to come home and I know that he should be home in a matter of weeks or at the very most a month or so. It would be devastating to learn that he will not come home until 2012.

So...this is where you come in. Please pray for God to be glorified through this situation. Pray for a miracle for all of the babies that are already matched with their families. Just like Jesus multiplied the fish and the bread, pray that God multiplies the the number of remaining EPs for the year so that all the babies that have already been matched come home this year. Pray for the families that are impacted by this situation. Pray that God will give them peace during the uncertainty.

Thank you for interceding for for my friends in the adoption community.

Class B Waiver and New Picture

We are one small step closer to Beau. Yesterday we received his Class B Waiver. This is basically a piece of paper that says Beau has hydronephrosis of the kidney. Raleigh and I signed the form, had it notarized, and mailed it back to our agency's corporate office.

Once the corporate office receives our signed documents they will send them back to Korea.

The next step is for Beau's Visa Interview (VI) to be scheduled. The "travel call" can come the same day as VI or a few days later.

Also, we got a new picture!!! We can't wait to put a smile on this cute little face!!! We love you Beau!!

I am not allowed to show Beau's foster mom on a public blog, so I had to remove her face. The items in front of Beau are things that we sent in our last care package.