A productive couple of days...

Well, I spent most of Saturday morning and afternoon putting my life in order, and Saturday night and Sunday starting to put "the loot" in order. I just have to say...We have great friends who are helping us fill his drawers, make our home more fun with toys, and who are helping us think about and do all the things I just won't get to. I guess all that "cleaning out the closets" stuff is going to have to wait a few more years as well. :) I also lined up a DATE NIGHT for Steve and I tomorrow night. We have a little Korean/Japanese restaurant in Natick we have been meaning to try out.

So - with no further ado, pictures of our kids enjoying the toys (we are already a little sick of that mechanical baby music we'd almost forgotten!), our NEW stroller, all the baby clothes (washed and ready!) and all the stuff. Who knew such a little person could need so much stuff!!??

A welcome Comfort

It's 10:20. Saturday night. In three days, I'll be arriving home with my son from JFK. I really, really can't believe it. It may be that I'm already a bit sleep deprived, but I feel like I'm at the end of a really long race. I'm tired, starting to wear out and I've become emotional. I was in Old Navy, doing some SOCK-SHOPPING and I was wearing thin. I've been racking my brain for the last 36 hours, trying to tie up all the loose end I thought I had another month to do. I really have lived a month in about 36 hours. However, standing there in Old Navy, I hit a panic moment. What were we thinking? How we could EVER do this? Maybe we'd misread our calling. Maybe we were just hoping to be more than we were supposed to be. Pretty heavy thoughts for Old Navy, I know. I needed comfort, and I begged God to help me find joy and peace. Just before the tears started to flow, I found the socks, and I picked up a pair to start considering sizing. I noticed something on the socks. Do you see it too? I saw it right away - "Made in Korea". This was the only pair of socks on the rack that said this, and, of course, I bought them. Levi will have to grow into them...but I need them to remain unopened for a while anyway. I'm sure this is one of many, many moments I'm going to need the reminder that God is with us...he is never far from us. We are sure to face more troubles in this journey that we do not yet know.

Isaiah 40:30-31 (New International Version) says: "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I'm headed to bed for some much needed rest. The next couple of days are certain to be full. May God renew YOUR strength this evening in whatever challenges you face.

Is this some kind of joke!!??

Today was like any ordinary day, as I was mopping the floor...well, actually, that isn't really ordinary for me. But, anyway...I was certainly NOT expecting the phone to ring and I was NOT expecting it to be Cecelia. But the phone DID ring and when I looked at the caller ID, it read "Love the Children." My mind immediately considered that something must be wrong. I didn't believe that it could possibly be a travel call so soon. When I picked it up and it was Beverly, an assistant from the office, I thought it must be a minor paperwork issue. I was HOPING it was minor. Then she said "Cecelia would like to speak with you." Uh-oh. What could this be? "Is something really wrong, I wondered?" Cecelia got on the phone and I asked her how she was doing. "Good," she replied. "I have very good news for you." I had to sit down. "Yes?" I asked. "Your son is coming!" To which I gave the very awesome reply, "Soon?"

The rest of the conversation is pretty much a blur. She told me to get paper and a pencil to write down some info. I grabbed a piece of paper the size of a post it note...? Again, my thinking was not all that clear at the time. I'm writing on my post it note, wishing for more paper, and realizing that I'm not really listening. All I could think of was I do not have socks for him yet. Not an un-solvable problem, and certainly not the only item I'm missing...but it was ALL I could think of!

Cecelia told me that Levi is arriving (keeping in mind of course, that it is never "Levi" that she says, it is "your boy.") on Tues, January 2oth. He is arriving at 4:54 p.m. at JFK airport in New York City. She gave me some further instructions (which I'm still trying to translate from the post it sized note) and told me to call 2 - 3 days after he arrived. I assured her that I would likely be calling sooner with questions. I pointed out to Cecelia that this process went really fast. She agreed, saying that our paperwork went amazingly fast..."You are very lucky." Yes...we are.

I called Steve at work to tell him the big news. He must have said "What?" and "Oh my gosh!" about a million times. I understood. I wouldn't have believed it myself, had I not gotten the phone call. In fact, the rest of the day, every time the phone ring, I was convinced that it was Cecelia calling back to inform me that she made a mistake.

We have FOUR whole days to get ready. Believe it or not, we are very thankful for that. Most people have just a couple. While we have a lot to accomplish in 4 days, we also want to take time to enjoy the last four days before our lives change forever. We have a lot to absorb before he arrives. Today, I stopped for coffee at Starbucks. It was my last day as a "mom of 2 kids in school full time"...at least for a while. I thought I should live it well. It was a good day. No regrets.

I'm including the picture of the cake that our small group brought for us tonight. We've had so much support throughout this process, we are amazed. Thank you all for loving us and celebrating with us!

So, to all our friends and family: We're bringing our son home! To Levi: Hang on baby...we're coming to get ya! Just as soon as we get some socks...

Happy 9 months, Levi!

Too tired and too cold here in the freezing Northeast to post much except to say "Happy 9 months, Little Man!" We hope you are home to celebrate 10!

Gerrard Family Predictions on Levi's homecoming

Several nights ago, we pulled out the calendar and we each "guessed" at a date that Levi would come home. Prize for the closest is still TBD.

February 9: Mommy's guess
February 17: Ella's guess
February 20: Daddy's guess
February 25th: Ben's guess

Anyone else want to add their guesses? (Clearly, we are ALL being optimistic here since NONE of guessed in march! :D)

Coming clean...

So much to share with you! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. We've had a LOT going on. First, we have battled the stomach bug. Only 2 of us so far - so we're sort of in that "jumpy" phase when anyone so much as burps. We made Ella sleep on a lower bed (she's in the top bunk) last night...you know, just in case.

Speaking of being "jumpy" - This morning, Ben was scratching his head intensely, and just after thinking - "boy, he REALLY needs a haircut", I began wondering what was making him itch so much. I began to pick through his hair. I was certain I spotted a bug, but I couldn't find it again or anything else of concern. Though, I couldn't help but feel paranoid. So, before sending him to school, I took him to the nurse. Thanks to Nurse Gilbert, Ben is at school this morning, with nothing more than an itchy scalp. At least for now.

On the adoption front. We've been told that no news is good news. But no news is NOT easy news! :) We were giving an initial timeframe of 4 - 5 months from paperwork (10/21) to plane. That puts us in the 2/21 - 3/21 range. After jumping on blogs and adoption message boards and seeing others timeframes, I started to have a hunch that we might be at the upper end of that curve. Just a hunch, nothing definitive...but I figured that we are approaching the 1 month out mark and so we are collecting. Thanks to all the many people lending us clothes, beds, carseats, and all kinds of small baby-safe items! We will now graciously accept those things that you have offered. We feel ready to handle the "stuff" and are starting to believe we will actually need it soon. :) We have the crib set up - but it doesn't yet have a mattress, and we don't have ANY diapers or wipes, so we've still got quite a bit to do. :)

I have to admit that I think I did something illegal. Ok, not illegal like "against the law" illegal, but for a rules-follower like me, it was definitely not "official". After reading some adoption boards, and asking a few questions, I stumbled on a phone number that could answer the question if Levi's visa was issued. I debated all weekend on if I should call. Today, just before 9 a.m. I called. I'm feeling VERY guilty about it...but I'm getting over it because in the 45 seconds I was on the phone, I got word that Levi's visa cleared TODAY! Yeah! I feel great about the news, and know that all that is left is the travel plans...but don't really have a clear idea how long those will take. Some people get their travel calls within days, others in a month. But, it looks like the arrival of our son is coming upon us quickly - definitely within the timeframe we've been promised, if not before. I have to go - I have SO much to do!

Christmas 2008 in Photos

A sad loss

I will post later about our holidays - which have been fun and busy - but today, we just wanted to share the news that we lost a dear friend, Eugene on Christmas Day. He was only 41 years old. It was very unexpected and we are so sad we didn't get to say goodbye. Ben was just with him 2 days before at the Museum of Science with his brother (our pastor and dad of Ben's very good friend). We shared a special connection with him on many fronts, but we were so excited to introduce Levi to him, since he was part Korean. Just yesterday, I said to Steve - "I think Eugene would have love to have met Levi." When Levi comes home, we will remember Eugene with great fondness as we think about the bond he shares with our son. Meanwhile, we are praying for his family and friends who feel this big void, especially around the holidays.

New photos! Well...new to US at least!

The good news keeps on coming! We got more photos in the mail today - much to our surprise and delight. We were told that these were the Studio Photos of his 100 day birthday also known as the Baek-il. It once was considered to be a marked occasion that a baby made it to 100 days and is still traditionally celebrated in Korea.

So - this means that while they are not current photos of him - they are "new" to us, so we are delighted! Can't wait to hold this little cutie. (Ella thinks he looks like a "pirate" in the one with the blue and white hat!) :)

Wow.

That is about all I can say. Today we got a packet in the mail marked "special handling" from USCIS. I expected that we'd get our approval before Christmas, but 3 business days after our prints? All I have to say is "Merry Christmas to us!"

We received:
Notice of Favorable Disposition Concerning Application for Advance Processing of orphan Petition
Notice of Approval of Relative Immigrant Visa Petition for Kim, Jeong Wook
Standard certificate that we hear was wired to Seoul, S. Korea

That means we are DONE with paperwork and all that is left now the final medical exam and for the Korean government to issue a passport and travel visa. It could be anywhere from as soon as 7 or as many as 12 weeks from now that we receive our travel call...only time will tell. I really have NO idea why it takes so long to do those things. But, I do know that Mrs. Kim is counting down the days of her last snuggles with him - and we are counting down the days we get to hold him in our arms forever. As much as we'd like him today, we wish for this time for Mrs. Kim to be very, very sweet.

The hardest part about the process now, is that we won't receive much info until we get that travel call, which comes about 48 hours before Levi will arrive (I know - not much time to prepare!). We'll pick him up at JFK airport in NYC. Many people have asked about our travel plans. We have a temporary arrangement that includes driving with our 2 kids, but I know LOTS of people that change that when they find out the dates & times.

After the holidays, we have LOTS of work to do. We have to assemble the crib, fill in his wardrobe, install the carseat. We'll stay very busy...for a while.

I'm finally headed to bed, but I haven't been sleeping so well lately...I wonder why? :)

A lot to report

We've had SO much going on in the last few days:

December 11: Fingerprinted in Boston! Yea! Are we EVER glad that it is done electronically! Steve's prints took about 4 tries each finger to get it right! He has such dry skin, the computer rejected the first of many, many tries! On a positive note - I was done in about 5 minutes! :) We are hoping to receive our I-797C soon. In short, this just means that we will be done on this side of the ocean and everything will hopefully be in Seoul before Christmas.

December 12 - 13: Traveled to Glens Falls, NY to go to the opening of a museum that Steve has been working on for that last 2 1/2 years. It was beautiful! I'd post pictures, but Steve downloaded them and deleted them off our camera before I could get them. I'll post soon! We stayed at a hotel with an indoor water park! (Didn't even know these existed before now - how cool!) We loved our time there. We have great memories!

December 14: Ben's 8th birthday! We had such a fun time celebrating. We took cupcakes to church, he opened his presents (K'nex and Lego Indiana Jones) and we had FONDUE (his request) for dinner. His "party" this year is a sleepover with 2 friends on 12/26, so we kept this day for our family. We had so much fun! Thanks for a great idea, Ben. :)

December 15th: Happy 8 months Levi! We hope you are home very, very soon. We'll keep you posted on any news....

Our Christmas Card Photo:

If you didn't get one and would like one, just email or post a comment! Enjoy!

Fingerprinting and other news

We received news last week of our fingerprints being rescheduled. This time, for a date we can make - this Thursday, 12/11 at 9:00 a.m. in Boston. I breathed a sigh of relief when we got the date because our family is attending a library opening in Glens Falls, NY on 12/12. It's a big project that Steve's been working on and we are all excited about going - and I was nervous that it would conflict, setting us even farther behind. But no...we got a date we can make! Whew. One step closer!

I went to an adoption "meet and greet" time this past week. It was fun to meet other couples in the process and to talk with other waiting families. It's great to hear their stories about coming home, adjusting and enjoying their children. It helps us SO much. We hope to be a support to other adoptive families as we process through Levi's adoption.

In other news: We decorated our tree. The kids enjoyed it TWICE as much because we didn't put up a tree last year since we were in Bolivia for 3 weeks over the holidays. I love how kids ooo and ahh over every ornament before the put them on the tree. Funny thing is that I remember loving that when I was a kid!!! And Ella tried SO hard to reach the very, very highest she could...There were a few time I thought she might topple the tree over. The kids and I also decorated a gingerbread house to celebrate the start of the advent season. It turned out SO cute! Lest you think I'm crafty - it was a kit from Trader Joe's! :)

We had a really nice time in Philadelphia, PA for Thanksgiving with Steve's brothers. I'm WAY too tired to write more, so I'm just going to post photos. I'll let you know when we have more news!

Longing for Levi

First, the good news: We were told by our agency that we could send 2 items for Levi. A soft photo album and a lovey. Pictures are attached of the lovey & the front and back of the album. Another praise - our fingerprints have been scheduled! Unfortunately, it was for Nov. 28th - the day after thanksgiving, when we will be away, so we will mail a petition to change the date tomorrow. As you can imagine, a small part of me wanted to cancel our thanksgiving plans to make the appointment, so we can bring our little Levi home sooner - but we know that a the time with our family is precious. You can pray for a speedy rescheduling.

Honestly, if you've never been there, you can't understand. Those of you who are APs or waiting parents with us - I know that you know how hard it is. We've taken turns sleeping with the lovey each night, having sweet dreams of our little Levi. I also mentioned to the kids that when we send it to Korea, it would have a little "scent" of each of us in the lovey, and that might help Levi bond with us. Ella started the sleeping process 2 nights ago. She woke up the next morning, crying, absolutely beside herself. When I asked her why, she said, sobbing... "Because...the blanet...fell...out....of my...bed...and it won't smell....like me..." (picture her SOBBING through this WHOLE thing). We figured out a solution (she is with the lovey now, but I get it before heading to bed :)!!!). But because of this, I realized that there is pain in the waiting for Ben & Ella as well. I don't feel anxious...I just miss having him here with me. I thought the holidays would distract us, but as they get closer, we wish we could be celebrating with him. Each day is precious to us. We are not wasting a minute. But - please pray that God would comfort our hearts. We long for our little Levi.

Grateful...

I love everyday miracles. We've seen so many of them in our lives, and yet we don't often recognize them as such. Here is one for the record books...

On Monday, I tracked our package to the USINS to make sure it arrived. (You remember...the paperwork that has ALREADY been returned once!!?) When I saw the status, my heart sank. "Out for re-delivery." WHAT?? I remembered Jean mentioning something about checking the little box that says "no signature required", but somehow it never really made it into my brain. People...it's being delivered to a POST OFFICE box. There is NO ONE standing at the post office boxes ready to sign for packages?? I pretty much figured we'd be getting that darn package back in the mail. The status indicated that it would redeliver the package up to 4 times until it got a signature...and then return it to us if it failed. Let's see..mailed on Sat, delivered on Monday...then the holiday... We should be receiving the package on about Fri or Sat only to turn around and redeliver WITH box checked to arrive on Mon. or Tues. next week We lost a whole week..grr...or so I thought...

I logged on Tues to check and see how many additional delivery attempts were made, I saw this message... "Your item was delivered at 11:28 AM on November 10, 2008 in BOSTON, MA 02114. The item was signed for by E S."

Again...WHAT? I'm am not complaining, but HOW did that happen? I'm still scratching my head. When I spoke to Jean about it last night...she just kept remarking "Angie, it was meant to be..." She told me, in her 20 years of doing this, that has n-e-v-e-r happened. "They always come back," she told me. I'm feeling very, very grateful tonight. Hitting road blocks doesn't mean something isn't meant to be." I can't consent that life is going to be handed to us on a platter...but sometimes, we just get a break. Thank you God for this everyday miracle. And thank you E.S. for your signature.

One additional picture. By: Ella

Ella can't wait for her baby brother.

NEW PHOTOS

We got a 5 x 7 envelope today from Love the Children! I called everyone into the kitchen and all three additional family members came running! Here are the new photos! We got a total of 12 photos + the report that you see! He sounds to us like a DREAM baby! To do the conversions, he is 16.5 lbs and 25.3 inches. Well done, Levi & Ms. Kim! We are praying for Ms. Kim, Levi's foster mom. We are praying that God would bless her many times over for caring for our sweet little Levi and that He would heal her brokenness when Levi leaves Korea to fulfill our heart's desire - bringing Levi home.

Moving forward...oops, I mean back!

I was SO excited yesterday morning to find in our mail a package from the USINS (United States Immigration and Naturalization Service)! I couldn't believe how fast they were...or so I thought. I opened the package only to find that it was the entire contents that had been mailed to them with a note saying that we owe them an additional fee. Argh! It was disheartening to say the least. I was burdened with the feelings that we may have just cost ourselves some time in bringing Levi home. So I called our social worker, Jean, who once again, reassured us that we are still on track. She encouraged us to get a cashier's check with the additional funds, and express mail the application back to Boston today. She noted that our documents really only took a little over a week to be reviewed (to see that this error was made) and that - she said was "very" good news. She was also excited to tell me that Levi's documents are IN the states, and are ready to be filed as soon as that paperwork processes. So - it appears that we are still on track...in the words of Jean, we are onto step #2. So, I went to bed feeling more relaxed and dreaming of holding our son. We should have more pictures to share next week. Stay tuned...

What's the latest?? Any News??

Any word on the baby? What are the next steps? Will you hear more about him soon? When will you hear something?

We get questions like this all the time...and we never get tired of knowing that there are many, many people waiting with us. Problem is...there hasn't been much new, a lot of "nope...nothing new" or "we'll let you know." Mostly, it's hurry up and wait for us. We have all the paperwork in that we should. We should be receiving a letter in the mail soon about having our fingerprints made for the USINS paperwork. But it hasn't arrived yet.

Waiting is hard, but we are confident in this: Levi will be with us the rest of his life. So though 4 months is hard, life is very full. We will be in Philly (home of the World Series champs - congrats!) for Thanksgiving and here (hopefully with my parents) for Christmas and New Years. We have Ben's birthday (12/14) to plan and are already thinking about the Marathon, Levi's and Ella's birthdays in April! And there is all the collecting! I'm REALLY wishing I hadn't given away ALL our baby things! :) I just bought several shirts, 2 pair of pants, and a jacket for Levi today. A couple of them were 2T, so not for right away...but soon enough! Later this evening, Ben called me over to the stairs and tossed a shirt down. "What's this for?" I asked. Ben said "It's for the baby". When I questioned, he said the sleeves were too short, so he thought it was ready to pass on. I thought it was so cute that he's so excited about passing his clothes down to Levi.

Whenever people ask about how many kids I have, I can't pass up the opportunity to say "Three. An almost 8 year old, a 5 year old and we're expecting our 3rd in late Feb or Early March." If I'm feeling particularly ornery, I leave it at that! I ignore the stares at my seemingly un-pregnant belly and act as though I don't notice. :)

We are also anxiously awaiting our director, Cecelia to come back from Korea. We've been told that she'll have updated photos of Levi and a full report. She'll have visited him a couple of time while she's there. About 80% of me can't wait! I can't wait to see and hear about how big he is NOW. But the other 20% of me is sad. Sad that she is seeing him and holding him - and we are still so far away from holding him ourselves. There is already a little part of us that lives in him. We think about him every day. An ancient Chinese proverb talks of “an invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet. The thread may tangle or stretch but it will never break.” I believe that we were meant to be Levi's forever family. It's complicated to believe this, because I would have never chosen for these to be his roots or for him to have such a difficult history. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but because it rings true....my other two children grew in my womb - Levi is growing in my heart.

We'll post photos as soon as we get them. We promise.