Wesley's Room Is Complete

We started working on Wesley's room in late November (shortly after receiving his referral) and this past Friday, Brian surprised me by finishing early! I was just finishing up work (Fridays are my work-from-home days) and Brian had the day off, so he was using the time to wrap up the last of the details for the room. For those of you that don't know, he designs and builds furniture in his "spare time" and he was working on a custom dresser/changing table for Wesley. Brian was in the final stages of the piece and just needed to add the removable top to the dresser/changing table. After that, our rocker arrived which ended up being a few days early, so we were all set. While Brian got everything set up or "staged" (as the design community calls it) I had strict instructions to not enter the room. Then, the time came when he came and got me and said, "It's time." So, he took me to the room and "officially" presented it to me.

Although I had worked on it with him and had seen the progress along the way, the final product took my breath away. Especially the dresser/changing table - it was literally a labor of love. Brian also added custom drawers to the white cubbies that we purchased from IKEA. As you will see in the photos above, our "theme" was bubbles or circles which we took from our bedding which had bubbles, fish and some other cool stuff. We applied vinyl stickers on the wall as well as the circular mirrors.

So, with the exception of a few odd and ends that we'll get at a later date, it's done! Now all we need is Little Peanut to fill the room with his sweet face, smiles and laughter.

One More Update. . .

It's been a crazy (and exciting) day in terms of movement of paperwork. This morning I found out that our paperwork was sent to the Embassy in Seoul yesterday so I decided that I would just check the status of what is called a "P3" (or Packet 3). Once our paperwork from the NVC arrives at the Embassy, they send out the P3 to the adoption agency in Seoul that works with our adoption agency. When I called this afternoon at lunchtime, our P3 had been sent out today and had arrived at the adoption agency. So at this point, it is literally out of our hands. Under normal circumstances (no backlog from 2009) we could be traveling in a few weeks, but with both agencies still working through referrals from the Summer, we're not sure when we will be going to see our sweet boy. Fingers crossed, lots of prayers and anything else that gets us there faster!!!

Logged Out & 8 Months Old Today

I called the NVC this morning and this time things were different. I was a little more calm and I had a much nicer woman on the other line. I was sure to remember to ask for the SEO# this time. I found out that Wesley's I-600 approval was actually logged out and sent off to the Embassy in Seoul, South Korea yesterday! So, I'm thinking that it was probably logged in on Tuesday or even Monday. Regardless, the file is on the move! They send it both electronically and via snail mail, so at least one version is already there by now.

On another note, Wesley turns 8 months today. I can't help but wonder how much he's changed since our photos & video from November. How much bigger is he? Does he have much more hair? Sigh. . . Happy 8 Months Little Peanut!

Getting Closer

Today I contacted the National Visa Center in New Hampshire to see if our I-600 approved paperwork from USCIS (Immigration) had been received and "logged in." After a few busy signals and going through the automated phone system I finally got a live human being. I quickly went to my instruction sheet (thank you Yahoo! Group for that) and started asking my questions. After providing the necessary info to the not-so-pleasant woman on the other end of the phone, I found out that Wesley's Visa petition indeed had been "logged in" and that it should be "logged out" by the end of the week if not by the end of the day. This was great news! In fact, I was so excited that after I hung up I realized that I forgot to ask for this SEO# which I will need for future phone calls apparently when checking on the status of Wesley's Visa being issued. DUH! So, I think I'll call back tomorrow (hoping for a nicer phone person) and check on the log out and then ask for this SEO#.

Time to Blog

I've been talking for awhile that I was going to start a blog about our adoption journey - so here goes! For those of you that don't know, Brian and I started our adoption journey 3 years ago with the intention of adopting a baby girl from China. The wait time for bringing home a child since we began has increased from 12-18 months to the tunes of years. Yes, I said YEARS. We continue to renew our paperwork which sits in China (I imagine one man sitting with a huge pile that goes up to the ceiling), but in the meantime we decided this past Spring to look at other adoption options.

In May, we decided to move forward with adopting a baby boy from South Korea. The months that lead up to to our referral (assignment of child) of Wesley in November seemed to go faster than we thought. Maybe it was easier after all the waiting we had already done with China. Maybe it was because there was actually a light at the end of the tunnel with this program. Maybe it was because I was able to follow/celebrate with families that were bringing home babies. Regardless, when "the call" came on that Friday afternoon all I can say is that we haven't been that happy in a very long time. :)

Fast forward to today - we are basically done with all the paperwork on our end (YAY!) and we're just waiting for Wesley's request for Visa to be logged in/out at the National Visa Center in New Hampshire (which hopefully should be this week) and then forwarded to the Embassy in Seoul, Korea. Then, we wait. Our agency doesn't know much at this point in terms of when we might be traveling. At this point, they are "guessing" that we won't travel in March - but if we have learned anything along the way, it's that things can change at the drop of a hat. So, for now we're keeping busy working on Wesley's room, working on our "Things To Do Before Wesley Comes" list and spending time with friends and family. Oh and, I look at his picture, smile and try to imagine what it will be like when he's actually home. . .