I-600 APPROVAL!!!!!!

SO finally after 9 weeks of waiting, two senators and two social workers..... we finally have our I600 approval.  Our GA senator (Isakson) office called this morning to tell us the great news!  Even before we've received our letter from CIS! 

Our social worker says we have about 3-4 weeks before we travel to Korea.  Thursday I can start calling the National Visa Center to see if our packet has been sent to the Embassy in Korea.  If so then she can let our agency (SWS) know and they can be on the lookout for the final steps before travel!

We are beside ourselves with H-A-P-P-Y but still have baby G's room to finish and some odd and end work around the house that we wanted done before she came home!  It looks like she should be home before the holidays begin!!!!!

Trophies & Hanboks

C has had quite a busy two weekends.... and obviously I've been to busy to update the blog.  We went to a Korean churn in Atlanta that was hosting a "Seoul Train" subway stops around Seoul tour for adoptive families.  It was a great way for them to show us life in Korea.  They had different stations set up around the gym.  Each station on the "track" was a subway stop.  They had food at one, a market, acupuncture/massage, olympics, Korean taffy, scroll painting and others.  They gave us a gift bag at the door with some dried seeweed snacks (which C loves) and an explanation of each stop AND mini-wons for C to "buy" things with at the different station.  They did all this for our families for free.  You could tell they truly enjoyed putting on the event and were eager to help us and explain cultural items.  We also had a feast fit for KINGS!  The food was great and I should have gotten a good shot of the food table!  YUM!

C had a great time as you can see in the pics and loved his hanbok, didn't even want to take it off to eat... but Mommy one that arguement!  It was handpainted - it didn't need jap chae or mandu all over it!

We also ended our first team sport of T-ball.  C made GREAT progress.  Initially he used only the T stand and that was work in progress.  Now he was hitting pitched balls on the first pitch!  He caught his first ball and came running to where the parents were sitting to show me.  It was so funny because he went opposite of the hitter, but finally he got the ball back to the pitcher.  The best part for him was either the trophy or the cupcake... I think the trophy.  He's soooo proud of it!  Cousin C and my C had a great time together and I suppose soccer starts up next!

USCIS spells STRESS

SERIOUSLY now!  Can it really take USCIS 90 days to process an I-600 form????  Apparently our atlanta office does (and I'm sure there are a few select others that do as well.)  Some offices are approving their I600 forms in 2-4 weeks - that's sooooo great for those families!  The I-600 is required on the US end before we can even think of traveling to pick up our daughter.  For our first adoption it took them 3 days - no complaints back then.... so how is it that it now takes 90 days?  I'm willing to bet that there aren't that many more (if any) adoptions going through as 2005.  So that's our baby being 90 days OLDER!  plus you have to add an additional month on the tail end of that for the approved I-600 to make it's way through to NVC (national visa center) and then on to korea for the final steps of receiving a visa interview (for baby G) and THEN a travel call!

People we have requesting info on our I600

2 social workers

1 set of parents (us)

2 senators

And here we are:

7-18-08  -7 wks since legals received & I-600 submitted (G was 6 mo old)

6-2-08    -3 months since our referral (G was 5 mo old)

12-12-07  -9 months since our homestudy to korea (HSTK)

7-07         -14 months since we started the paperwork

4 months old - the age of baby G at the time photos were taken for referral

8 months old - baby G's age now

I bet Baby C thinks baby G is "pretend" and momma and dadda are C R A Z Y.  He knows all about her and what's going to happen when we get that call so he's ready.

He's so ready in fact, that when I told him he had to get medicine in his arm in order to get on a plane to korea - he was soooo there!  No tears for his shot, just requested his sticker AND asked if we could get on the plane now!  I wish baby boy, I wish!

Poor boy probably thinks we live in a pretend world!

I know the call will come, the paperwork will come, and all those good feelings will come but now would be better than later!