Fingerprints Fingerprints Fingerprints

Today when we got home from therapy there was an envelope from USCIS in the mail. HOORAY I thought our I600 is making progress through the system. So Michael and I excitedly opened the envelope and there inside was..... another fingerprint appointment letter for me. In case anyone is keeping track that makes

3 Fingerprint appointment letters for me

2 Fingerprint appointment letters for Michael 

0 I600 Approvals......

I called the number listed on the form and told them what had happened they told me the standard, "You must keep this appointment if you don't your application will be considered abandoned."

I called the number for the adoption unit at USCIS (yes they now have their own number :-) ) and they told me that I would be having a decision shortly and not to worry. She said that it was a contractor mistake and that when the "officer" gets my paperwork he will be able to clear it all up. I hope so. 

Bloggy Slacker

SOOOOO I've been slacking on this blog. REALLY slacking. And I confess I am also having a hard time buying clothes for little miss. I was at a baby shower last week and my Aunt Jane asked me if I was struggling with this because I am having a hard time believing it is real. HUMMMMM I think she is on to something there. But then I was thinking it might be because it is real and I am finally getting my girl. I almost feel like our journey is over and that now we are just waiting to tie up some loose ends. You know like actually getting her home. ;-) Who knows???? Anyway I guess what this post is about is saying I am here I am still over the moon in love with my baby girl. I can't wait to have her home and I am going to start allowing myself to believe that I have been blessed with the most precious gift of all-a child. Oh and I'm going to share pics of the boys again and progress on little misses nursery and her dress and bow stash!

LEGALS HAVE ARRIVED!!

Upon arriving home this evening and checking the mailbox, we found Abeni's legals have arrived. HOORAY!!!!!! We are so excited that things are moving forward. Along with receiving legals, our I600 was mailed out on Friday and should have arrived in Texas this afternoon. The I600 will then be on its way to the new streamlined facility in Missouri. This can only mean that if things continue to move at this pace, we could have our sweet angel in our arms before her first birthday. Please everyone keep your fingers crossed and the prayers in your hearts that the news keeps getting better and the wait gets shorter.

Although the disheartening thing to realize is that in her Legals is a English Version of her Birth Certificate and there are no father or mother listed and that it states that she was abandoned. I was really hoping to have it in Korean and to have something other than abandoned. However, we are now the Mommy and Daddy and we will never abandoned her. We love you Miss Abeni.

Fed-Ex Delivered Again

So in my life right now I love the Fed-Ex man. First he brought me the original pictures of our daughter and today he brought me a gift from a friend. I have met so many adoption friends on this journey. My friend Chrisa is waiting for her referral. She is a jewelry designer and sent me the most gorgeous bracelet. I LOVE IT! It really represents how I feel about my little one and all of the good things about this journey. She has a website, check it out here http://www.chrisawest.com/

What's in a Name?

When Michael and I were expecting our first child we spent LOTS of time discussing names. We both suggested names that we thought "sounded good." We both suggested family names. We thought and thought and talked and talked. Then we decided we really wanted to name our children names that had meaning and significance.

A few days before Miles was born we were still thinking about names. Michael was searching the internet and looked up nick-names for Michael. He found Miles, an old nickname for Michael which means soldier. We loved that name and when Miles was born it fit him perfectly. We added the middle name Kent in honor of my grandfather. He was a loving and caring man and we wanted Miles to have those traits.

When I found out I was expecting our second child Miles was only 14 months old. He was very verbal. I asked him when I was 2 or three months along I told him, "Mommy is going to have a baby brother or sister. What do you think we should name the baby?" He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Happy." He stuck with "Happy" through the remainder of my pregnancy so when it came close to time to have Isaac we looked for names that meant happy. We found Isaac which means "he will laugh." We thought it was a lovely name and when Isaac was born the name fit him perfectly. We chose the middle name Lynn to honor a man who had a great influence in Michael's life.

I have looked at lots of name books and websites in my life. I don't remember when but a long time ago I came across the name Abeni. It is an African name that means, we prayed for this little girl and God gave her to us. Sometimes the meaning is shortened to girl prayed for. I loved that meaning and thought if I ever had a daughter I would name her Abeni. (Ab like Abby, a like a ball, and nee like knee.) We will be leaving her Korean name as her middle name. We are considering giving her an american middle name also. We haven't decided on that yet.

Seriously!

How many times can I look at the same two pictures! She is so stinkin' cute!!!

Now What and When?

So since we have made the announcement of our referral we have been getting lots of questions. The two most common are.....

First What happens now? and Second When will you get her?

Here is the answer to question one.

1. We are still so happy with our referral that I don't think our feet have touched the ground. We have lots of steps to go through in order to bring sweet little Abeni home. Basically we get to play paperwork ping-pong between the US government, our US agency, the Korean Government, our Korean agency, and us. The poor paperwork ball gets bounced around a lot; it is quite confusing I will do my best to explain here.

1. First we signed official acceptance paperwork. This paperwork all had to be notarized and we sent it back to the agency of Thursday March 11th.

2. Our US Agency will compile all of the paperwork and send it off in a package to Korea. This happened Monday March 22nd. (There have been some paperwork mix-ups already)

3. Our Korean Agency will ok the match and then send "legal" paperwork to our US Agency.

4. Our US Agency will take that paperwork, send us a copy, file for an interstate compact, and file an I600 form with the US customs and imigartion (hereafter referred to as USCIS.) We will then wait for approval from USCIS. The Interstate Compact is an agreement between Utah and Colorado that gives permission for us to have Abeni in our care even though she is in the legal custody of AAC. The purpose of the paperwork with USCIS is to designate our little girl as an immediate relative and say that we will sponsor her to enter the US.

5. The USCIS will send the approval to the National Visa Center (NVC.) This step is referred to as NVC in.

6. The NVC will send all of the paperwork to The US Embassy in Seoul. This step is referred to as NVC out.

7. The US Embassy will complete a "P3" and send it to the Korean Agency.

8. The Korean Agency will submit an Exit Permit (EP) request to the Korean Government.

9. The Korean Government will approve the EP. (Steps 8&9 are taking a long time right now.)

10. Abeni will make a personal appearance at the US Embassy in Seoul.

11. Abeni will have her "Visa Interview" with the US Embassy in Seoul.

12. The Korean Agency will call our US Agency and tell them we can travel at any time. We will receive the magic "Travel Call."

13. We get to go to Korea and bring our little girl home!!!!!!

We have been in contact with our agency about how long we are expected to wait for travel call and we are being told around eight months. This timeline could change one way or the other.

To answer the "when will you get her" question.

We really don't know for sure there are some slow downs in the adoption process right now. We are hoping to have her home around her first birthday