A few details

I talked to our social worker today and got a bit more info about the delay in paperwork. I guess our agency in Korea (Eastern Social Welfare Services) hit their "quota" of kids adopted internationally for the year. Therefore the Korean government will not process anymore paperwork for international adoption from Eastern this year. This has happened in previous years but not quite so soon in the year and not to families that have already been waiting 3+ months since their referral. Eastern is planning to submit paperwork on all waiting children in January, however, the Korean government may not accept all of it at once. In that case it will be submitted based on acceptance date. So still a lot of uncerainties but it is good to get answers. Oh we finally got that paper from LA immigration today! Praise God for his work in this.

And the waiting continues until 2010

Hi everyone, we received some disappointing news today. The Korean government will not be accepting any more paperwork until 2010. So we will not be getting Ezra this year and we are unsure how and when they will process paperwork when they start back up in 2010. Mike and I are bummed, but trusting that God has a plan in all of this. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Please Pray

Hi everyone, so we expected to be done with LA immigration this past week but are still awaiting the all important I171. Please pray for it to be done and here soon. I am calling immigration tomorrow so hopefully that will go well. Thank you for all of your support I know God is using your prayers.

Good News!

I spoke with immigration today yeah! They informed me that our paperwork had been approved and was being sent to the visa processing center. The all important form we are waiting for should be mailed tomorrow or Friday! Thank you for all your prayers, continue to pray for the paper to make it to us/be mailed as they say and for our Korean paperwork to be processed quickly.

Plugging along

I was able to talk with immigration today, praise God! Our paperwork is being processed, I was told it has to be reviewed by a clerical person. The immigration officer said to giver her another week so I'll be calling again next week. I was really hoping to get the paperwork before we move but I know God will get it to us regardless. Thanks for all your continued prayers!

Immigration

I struck out this week with immigration. After multiple phone calls I still wasn't able to talk to anyone and get an update regarding Ezra's paperwork. Please continue to pray for swift processing both here and in Korea. According to our social worker Korea is slow to accept adoption paperwork at this time. Thanks everyone!

New Pictures

We got a nice surprise from our social worker this week. She went on a last minute trip to Korea and was able to take pictures of Ezra for us! I thought I'd share my favorite one.

Checking In

So I talked to the immigration officer today just to check in and see how things were going. She informed me that our paperwork would be done in 2 weeks!!!!! Thank you for all of your prayers, God is answering them and working out our paperwork. Continue to pray for God's hand in getting the papers finished before we move (10/16/09) and Ezra's swift coming to us. Thanks again and I will update you again next week when I check in with immigration.

Quick Update

Yeah our paperwork was found! Thank you everyone for your prayers, continue to pray for swift processing of the paperwork. The immigration officer said average time is 6 weeks, but that seems a bit long. Anyways, we'll keep you posted!

LA Immigration

Unfortunately I found out this week that the immigration officer has not received our paperwork yet. While I am not completely surprised considering the stories I have heard, I am disappointed. Please pray for our paperwork to be found, at this point it is considered lost. Pray for them to process the paperwork quickly as well. I feel like two weeks have been lost and I don't think immigration is working very hard to find our papers. Thanks for all your prayers and support, hopefully the next update will be more positive.

Update

Today we found out that Korea has completed paperwork necessary to move forward. We will now submit our paperwork to LA CIS for approval and then obtain a visa for Ezra. Meanwhile Korea is continuing to work on more paperwork for a visa for Ezra. Things are moving on schedule and all of your prayers are sooooo much appreciated. Pray for paperwork to go smoothly through LA (not get lost, not need any random extra pieces etc) and for Mike and I as we attempt to buy a house and move before Ezra comes. Thanks for all your support!

Next steps

I couldn't resist I love this picture of Ezra! The next step is submitting more paperwork to the US immigration office and Korean immigration. The normal time is 3-4 months until we can get our boy. We are praying for paperwork to go smoothly and swiftly as we have heard not good stories about lost paperwork, delayed paperwork etc. But God is so faithful and blessed us abundantly. He will bring our baby home to us.

Referral!!!!!

We got a referral!!!!!! Meet Ezra (middle name to be determined) Markovich. His Korean name is Seouk Ho Lee. He was born Februray 23, 2009 and is a healthy baby boy. Currently he is babbling, crawling and bears weight on his feet. We are so excited for more information we will recieve tomorrow. God is so faithful!

waiting waiting waiting

We are continuing to wait for a referral and the anticipation just keeps growing and growing. I (Jenny) e-mailed with our social worker at Dillon Southwest today and found out they have more families than usual waiting for a referral. So the good news is I now have a reason for why it is taking longer than I expected for a referral. The not so fun news is there could be lots more waiting ahead of us. God is giving me strength daily to wait for a referral (I don't think I've ever wanted anything so much!) and I know when the time is right we will get one. Suzanne, our pastor's wife gave me the best perspective when she said that our child, the child God has for us, isn't ready yet. He may not be old enough or whatever, but when he is ready for us we'll know it. Thanks for all your prayers and we'll keep you updated!

No Update Update

For those of you who have been wondering if there is any update with the arrival of our kid....so have we :) We are at a point where all we do is wait. Not easy but a good opportunity to rely on the Lord and trust Him for our child. So a quick review of the time line:
- We can get a referral at any point now. We could get one on Monday or we may be waiting a few months.
- After we get the referral it is a 3 to 4 month wait until they are ready for us to travel to Korea to pick up our kid.
We appreciate your prayers through this process. God bless you abundantly!

Home Study Document Complete

We found out this week that our home study document is complete! We are now eligible for a child referral. I (Jenny) will have my phone on me at all times waiting for a phone call from Dillon Southwest. Referral times can be anywhere from weeks to months so we may be waiting for a bit. Thanks everyone for your support and prayers we appreciate them more than you know!

Trip to Arizona

Last weekend Mike and I drove out to Scottsdale, Arizona for adoption preparation classes at Dillon Southwest (our international adoption agency). We learned a bit more about the time line for adoption as well as what to expect when bringing a baby home. We met other couples adopting and bonded over some great Korean food. It was great to meet our social worker with Dillon Southwest and learn about how the agency matches families with children. Right now we are continuing to wait for our homestudy document to be complete. At that point we will be eligible for a referral. We will continue to keep you posted, thank you for all your prayers!

Trip to Oxnard

Well believe it or not I (Mike) am making a post! or writing a post! or posting a post! (however you say it). Things are moving forward with the adoption process. Two weekends ago we got up early on a Saturday and drove down to Oxnard (2.5 hrs South of San Luis Obispo) to get fingerprinted at an immigration office. We were expecting it to be a long wait in an office but Praise the Lord we were down before 9am and on our way back to SLO.

The highlight of the trip, other than getting to spend time with my wife, was our pit stop to a small Dutch town called Solvang. On our way there we saw an ostrich running around in a field. I tried to convince Jenny to let me chase it but my request was quickly denied :(

All this to say that the process is continuing and we find ourselves having to be patience and trust in the Lord's timing. This weekend we head to Arizona to meet with our referral agency. We are looking forward to the time together and a chance to learn some more about Korean adoption. We appreciate your prayers. God bless you mucho!

Home Visit Complete

We have made some progress in the last few weeks yeah!!!! Today we had our home visit with our local adoption agency and last week we had our individual interviews. We also found out today that Dillon Southwest approved our application and we signed our official contract with them. Now, we wait for the social worker to write our home study document; this takes about six weeks. Once the homestudy document is written it will be submitted to Dillon Southwest and Immigration services. We will also be eligible for a referral with a child!!!! We are very excited and would appreciate prayers for patience as we will just be waiting for the next few weeks. We are also waiting for Immigration to process some paperwork now, so prayers for the paperwork to be processed and to hear from them would be much appreciated! Thanks to everyone that filled out reference forms we really appreciate it!

Where We Are and Where We Are Going

Yesterday we completed the first packet of paperwork for our local adoption agency, yeah!!! Last week we also found out we were approved by Korea to continue working with our second adoption agency in Arizona, praise God! Here's a review of where we are and what's up next. The next step with our local adoption agency is to complete individual interviews and a home visit with a social worker. Once those are complete, our homestudy will be written and submitted to our agency in Arizona and the US Immigration department. Currently I am completing our application packet for the adoption agency in AZ. Once that is submitted and our homestudy is complete we will be eligible for a referral for a child (probably in June). Once we accept a referal more paperwork (yes more!) is submitted to immigration and we wait for permission to travel to Korea to pick up our child. We can't wait! Any questions?

Moving right along!

So on Saturday we attended a parenting class in lovely Fresno, CA. The class focused on international adoption and parenting issues. We talked about bonding with the baby, expectations of the baby and parenting in general. The class was interesting and kept our attention for most of the time. It made me (Jenny) all the more antsy to get on with the process! Good news this week, our pre-application at Dillon Southwest was approved and we received permission from Korea to adopt. The next step is another stack of paperwork for Dillon and turning in our completed paperwork to Family Connections Christian Adoption in San Luis Obispo. We're moving along and trusting in the Lord's timing.

Just an update

So Mike and I are slowly but surely moving along in the adoption process. About 2 weeks ago we took "family" photos (see below) to give to our adoption agencies. That was okay even though I hate having my picture taken!!!! Last week we had our intake interview with the local adoption agency and got a stack of paperwork to start on. The paperwork, actually isn't that bad. I have set a date for Mike to complete his portion to keep us on task. Next weekend we are looking forward to attending an all day class on international adoption in Fresno. I know we'll learn a lot of valuable information and that going to this class will increase our anticipation even more. So that's our update for now, we'll keep them coming! Thanks for all your prayers.

Fears are beginning

The adoption process is long, praise the Lord because the anxiety of adopting a child, a young child is setting in. Questions like, "what am I going to be feeding this baby, formula, solid food" how do I transition to solid food, how do I change a diaper, what am I doing!!!!" have started to come into my mind. Don't get me wrong I am still totally excited about this and can't wait to have a child, and I know that God is going to teach Mike and I along the way but those fears are still there. So I thought I'd ask if anyone had some advice, resources that they could think of. If you do let me know, and of course pray because this is going to be one adventure.

Telling the Grandparents to be

Though we know that God has called us to adopt and we have His leading, we very much were hoping that are parents would receive this news with joy, excitement and with their support. We expect that adopting will provide us multiple opportunities to rely on the Lord and then report back praise reports of how He provided. What a joy to us it is that not only are our parents excited for us but so are our siblings!!

The beginning

Step one complete: pick adoption agencies. We are blessed to have a local Christian adoption agency to complete our homestudy and guide us in this process. We have picked a second agency that is responsible for coordinating the process in South Korea. Next steps mounds of paperwork, education classes and the homestudy. Advice, anyone?