Closing this Blog!

I have realized after a few months of hardly keeping up on this blog that it isn't really useful anymore.  Anyone who is interested in our adoption journey is already a friend on Facebook, and that's really where I'm putting all our family pics.  Feel free to keep up with what's going on with our family by reading our family blog:  http://www.closetohomeam.blogspot.com or my work blog:  http://www.knitsandknots.net

If you want to contact me directly with any questions about adoption and our experience you can always email me at amoberly (at) gmail (dot) com.  Blessings to you all :)

Lots of Catching Up!

Ok, so I recognize that I have been terrible at keeping this blog up to date!   I could offer excuses, but suffice it to say the holiday season kept me busy, along with have 3 kids.   The transition from 2-3 kids has been harder than I expected.  Not bad, but just not leaving me with a ton of free time after all of the house work, homework, and cooking are done.  When I do have a few free moments I've been spending them working on my business that I hope to continue to grow in 2011.  This is going to be a catch-up post of sorts - a few snapshots into the last few months :)

Also enjoy this little video of Alex playing in his Thomas tent. He played in this for a good 30 min this weekend and pretty much never ran out of laughs :)

The most important thing that happened in the last few months is that we made Alex officially a part of the family!  On Dec 16th we finalized Alex's adoption at the Marion County Courthouse.  It was a huge celebration there as the judge and courts were all dressed up for Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed making families whole all that day!

Baby Bear

A super short video of Alex being super cute!

 We've had a lot of fun in the last month: trips to the park, fall festival at church, Halloween, playing at home, celebrating birthdays, and learning to walk!  Here's a video of the cuteness that is a toddling baby :)

Alex is 1!

Last weekend Alex celebrated his first birthday :) In Korea, the first birthday is a big deal so we wanted to do the same here! We followed as many of the traditions as we could and had the party at our church so that we could invite whomever wanted to attend. We had a pretty good turnout and had a great time celebrating the newest addition to our family!

Enjoy some photos of the party and a short video with some of the highlights!

The party table

items for the fortune telling game (he picked the stethescope)

all dressed up

the sweet birthday boy :)

yummy cake!

opening gifts

Settling In

Alex is continuing to settle in to a routine and getting to know his new family.  Not every day has been simple, but we are loving being 5 instead of 4 :)  I know I haven't updated much, but we've been so busy its hard to find the time!  Enjoy this quick video of Alex being cute.  He loves his big sis and bro a ton and they can always make him laugh!

Adjusting

We are doing our best to adjust to the time difference between here and Korea!  Last night Alex finally slept through the night (or at least we didn't let him get up and play).  Matt and I both feel significantly more rested today, but I think we still have some adjusting to do! 

Today I will take Alex to the doctor to have a quick check up and be sure he's 100% healthy like we think he is :)  The kids also had their first day back at school since we've returned.  Its nice to have life seem a little more routine!

I've got a ton to do around the house, so I'll post more later, but in the mean time, enjoy some pictures of our homecoming taken by my sweet friend Jill from Raindancer Studios.

Coming Home Photos

He's with us!

Alex is finally with us!  we left the agency with him today around 2:30 pm Seoul, Korea time.  There are a few more pics on the facebook album, and this sweet video of our cab ride back to the hotel... stay tuned to around the 3 min mark to see Alex fall asleep on me!  Too tired to post much else!

Video Link 

Photos

We've been so busy so far that I haven't had any time to post on here!  We are settled into our hotel, we made it safely on Monday afternoon.  Today we are going to get Alex!!!  You can see some of the photos we've taken and some explanations of what we've been doing on an album on facebook, just click the Photo below :)

WE GOT THE CALL!

Ji-wan is ready for us.  He's got all his paperwork and its time to get him!  We're still working out details, but we could be traveling as soon as Sunday to meet our precious son!  Please join us in prayer during this time! 

Continued Preparation

We still have no news on when we'll be traveling.  Most days that's fine.  Some days we're impatient.  In the mean time we've been enjoying the opportunity to continue preparing to bring Ji-wan home as a part of our family.  We decided to go for cloth diapers with him instead of disposables like we did for Eli and  Anna, and I felt very domestic hanging them out to dry today :)  Little things like this allow me to continue to connect with him even though he is miles and miles away!

Crunch Time

Well, the anxiety and stress has finally hit!  All this time I have been amazed at the peace and calmness with which I've been able to face this adoption (minus a few days of stress here and there), but I feel as though I'm now in a constant state of anxiety.  Never knowing when we'll get the call and having to prepare for not just an international trip for myself, my spouse, and a baby I've never met, I have to prepare childcare for the two we're leaving home during the trip.  Sometimes it all just seems like too much, but then I take a look at Alex's sweet face, take a deep breath, pray for strength and find the will to go on.  Your prayers during this time would be much appreciated! 

Photo Update!

We were lucky enough to get some new photos of Alex today!  They are below.  We also got his well-baby checkup for July showing that he is right around the 25th percentile in height and weight, but continues to be healthy and developing well :)

Kajok = Family

Kajok is the Korean word for family.  This weekend we attended Camp Kajok (aka Korean family camp).  It was hosted by The Korean Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis and put on by Korean Focus - Indiana.  Korean Focus is sort of a support group for Korean adoptees and their families.  It has several social and educational events throughout the year.  We attended a picnic with the group this spring, and loved it right away.  Everyone is welcoming and the fact that the group partners with the Korean Presbyterian church is such a wonderful thing.  The church was so welcoming to all of us and made us feel a part of the larger Korean-American family right away!  We learned so much and the kids had lots of fun.  We are thrilled to be adopting not only our son, but also the Korean culture and all that comes with that!  Enjoy some pictures below and a video of the Korean dance troupe we got to see!

making Gim Bap - yummy!

me in a Hanbok - traditional Korean clothing

watching the jump rope

spontaneous tug-of-war competition

learning about the Dol - traditional 1st birthday celebration

The Korean women's dance troupe

Korean Fan Dance video:

Getting Ready!

Now that the end is in site I finally got the urge to decorate Alex's room.

We did a little honoring of his Korean heritage with a cute poster we bought at Camp Kajok (Korean family heritage camp - more on that later).   The poster shows each of the Korean consonants the Korean names of different items starting with that consonant.  Matt and I are both fascinated with Hangul, Korean writing, and want Alex to be exposed to it at an early age.

We also put up photos of our family so that he can see them every morning when he wakes up :)

Exciting News :)

Just got the following email from our adoption worker:

"Hi Andrea,

Good News!!  Not only was the paperwork submitted to the Ministry, but Holt just notified us today that the EP (Emigration Permit) was issued on July 29th.  Congratulations!

Sometimes, this happens..we only receive EP, not submission to the Ministry date.

Now, your son's passport and visa need to be completed by the authorities in Korea.  When that has been completed, Holt will notify us that you can come to Korea.  I've asked the coordinator if she knows the most current timeline from EP to travel...I'll let you know her response.

This is a nice way to start the weekend!"


We're SUPER excited about this unexpected news :)

Nesting!

It seems now that we are somewhat closer to our travel time, I am starting into a bit of a nesting phase!  This weekend I finally got around to sorting and washing most of the hand-me-down clothes from my sister's son.  We've gotten out the bedding that Alex will use and I've got plans for a little crafting to make the room complete.  A few weeks ago we cleaned out all of the choking hazards that had accumulated in the playroom and moved them to Eli and Anna's bedroom.  We're working on installing gates and safety locks since we didn't have to do that when we moved into our house with a 2 and a 4 yr old a few years ago.  We still need a few things for the house and we need to plan for our trip, but its nice to know that if we got the call to go tomorrow we'd be pretty much ready :)

Teeny Tiny Update

There's not much to report on the adoption front.  We are waiting and waiting right now.  Our forms for immigration have all been submitted and we're just waiting on some paperwork from Korea.  At this point, we probably won't hear much until we get a lot closer to traveling.  Please pray with us that all the paperwork will get processed in a timely manner and that we can get to Korea before Ji-wan turns 1.  We'd really love to celebrate his first birthday with all our friends and family here in the US!

One quick and exciting update is that we finally picked a first name for Ji-wan:  Alexander (or Alex), so his full name will be Alexander Ji-wan Moberly.  Eli was the first to suggest the name Alex, and was very proud to be a part of the naming process :)

Q&A

Now that we know more specifics about the adoption people have asked questions, and since many questions are the same I thought I'd put up a little Q&A

Q:  Where is Ji-wan now?
A:  He is with a foster family.  Korea has a wonderful foster system, very similar to the US and is well taken care of and treated as a member of the family he is staying with!

Q:  Will you go to Korea to bring Ji-wan home?
A:  Yes, Matt and I will be traveling to Korea for a minimum of 3 days, maximum of 7 days.

Q:  When will you go to Korea?  Where will you be?
A:  We have been told its approximately 3-5 months from the time we submit our acceptance paperwork (late April for us) till we will have all of the appropriate visas and papers we need to bring Ji-wan home.  That puts us traveling between late July and late September.  We will be flying into Incheon and staying in Seoul for the entire visit.  We will be updated some as the paperwork is processed, but eventually we will receive a phone call letting us know that everything is ready and then we are given 7 days to get to Seoul!

Q:  Are you taking Eli and Anna along?
A:  We decided it would be best for all of us to leave the kids at home.  Its most likely that they will be in school when we travel, and we could not imagine dealing with all 5 of us having jet lag when we return!  It will also give us a chance to bond with Ji-wan without the chaos of two school-agers around as well :)

Q:  Will you get to do sightseeing/traveling while you are there?
A:  We will have a few days where we will be able to do some sightseeing around Seoul.  We also hope to do some shopping and bring home some souvenirs for Eli and Anna and potentially some things to give to Ji-wan as he grows up.  The crafter in me is hoping to be able to buy some fabrics and yarns there as well!

Q:  Are you going to keep Ji-wan's name?
A:  We will probably give Ji-wan an American first name, but keep his Korean name as his middle name.  It is really important for us that Ji-wan be able to maintain as much of his Korean heritage as possible!

Q:  How old will Ji-wan be when you bring him home?
A:  He will be between 9-11 months old.  We hope all will go as planned and we will be able to celebrate his first birthday in the traditional Korean style at home with his new family!

Q:  Have you guys met any other families with Korean children?
A:  We recently became a part of a group called Korean Focus Indiana (KFI) that is mainly made up of families with children of Korean heritage, but that is highly supported by the wonderful community of the Korean Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.  We will have lots of opportunities for our whole family to learn about Korea, its history, art, culture, and language.  We already attended a picnic with this group as a family last week and met 3 families in our area who are in the process of or already have adopted children from Korea (plus we got to eat some amazing Korean foods there)!  We will be taking Eli and Anna to a Korean Culture Camp at the Presbyterian church this summer where they will have the chance to learn about modern-day Korea :)

Feel free to ask us more questions if you have them.  We are so excited to be sharing this journey with all of you and learning together more about our newest child and his culture!

Big News!

We've got some big news for you, folks, tonight Matt and I accepted the referral for a little boy... our soon-to-be little boy, Ji-Wan!  He is 5 months old, cute as can be, and we hope to travel to Korea to bring him home sometime between July and September!

Enjoy the photos - as you can imagine, we are!!!