Update On Us

I thought I would give everyone an update on where we are at in bringing Amanda home. We are currently waiting for our "legals." This is three pieces of information: record of Amanda's birth, a statement that the agency in Korea is the her guardian, and the transfer of that guardianship to our agency, Holt International, here in the US. Once this is all complete then we are required to send in a form called an I-600 to the USCIS. This form is to get approval from our government that we are allowed to adopt Amanda. Then we also need to wait for Amanda's Emigration Permit, which is permission from the Korean government that she is allowed to leave Korea. We can receive the EP at anytime during this process. Our prayer is that Amanda will be home by the end of March.

A little over a week ago we did receive a WBR (well baby report) from our agency. This was a report of Amanda's 2 month check up. Our little girl has already grown so much. The report says she was 10 pounds even, and 21 1/2 inches long on 1/11/07. She is eating 100 cc (about 4 oz.) of formula every 2 1/2 hours. Yikes!!! I feel like she's going to weigh a lot more for her next check up if she continues to eat at that pace. The report also states that her general appearance is 'cute and alert', she smiles spontaneously and is cooing. Her assessment says she is right on target developmentally for a two month old as well. The only thing we did not receive is updated pictures. We are hoping that we will get some new pictures in the mail, or by email soon.

Currently we are busy trying to get the nursery put together. I finally have Amanda's room all cleaned out! This room use to be our guest/catch-all room, and now ready to become a nursery. Amanda's crib and dresser came in last week, but we had to return the dresser because they sent the wrong one. That was a bit frustrating, because it will take another 6-8 weeks for the right dresser to come in. It took Soowan 2 1/2 hours to put the crib together! =) The directions that came with crib were very poorly written, and were rather confusing. The paint finish on the crib came out even better than we expected!!! We have finally agreed on a paint color for the walls (one would think picking out a neutral beige tone would be easy, but it's not). So now we just need to pull out the old base boards, paint the walls, install the new baseboards, crown molding and chair rail, and paint all the trim and closet doors. You would think that we would of had this all done a long time ago, but considering how much the two of us are procrastinators, I'm sure we'll get it all finished the day before Amanda comes home. =)

Here is a new picture of Micah that I just completely adore. It was taken while we were in Houston, on the day our agency called our house and left a message that we have a little GIRL!!! Micah is growing up so fast and is becoming such a wonderful young man. He is very excited to get his little sister home and I'm praying his excitement and zeal will remain once she does come home!!! :0)