Close the Books on February

It's closing time for the night and that concludes the month of February. This past month on the most part has not been a good one to us on the adoption front or to any of the waiting families to that matter. I am so disappointed and saddened to share that ZERO referrals came through during February and ZERO Exit Permits have been reviewed to date this year.  What's even more frustrating is the fact that only 1 referral has been received thus far in 2012 and an even bigger blow is that last year there were 5 referrals by this time.   

I thought for sure there would be at least one referral during the month, and our friends at #1 would be blessed with a new addition to their family. That is not the case, and we continue to wait through the unknown.  I am not necessarily sad that we did not get a referral as I figured our time will come in March (14 months as the expected timeline says), but I am more sad to the fact that there were no referrals, no movement, and no explanation.  We can only guess that the reason for no movement is in part due to the anticipated reduction in referrals this year, and that the Korean Ministry of Health & Welfare along with the Korean agencies are still trying to hash out the new laws that come into play July 2012.  At least the latter has been their reasoning for no Exit Permits to date.

So we patiently wait and continue to work on the house and think about a little sun, sand, and surf.  I had sad we would not flip-flop the rooms until we had a referral, but boredom overcame us a few weekends ago and what was once my office is now a bedroom and vice versa. The bedroom will now wait for a few months and then be flanked with bookshelves, wall hangings, new bedding, and a toy chest.  Something again to keep us busy during wait #2.  We’ve also ripped apart our front porch and are slowing piecing it back together to a more functional space with coat hooks, bench, and storage. 

Now you know when I say “we” that really means Fred with me supervising...hee hee.  I do get in the action once in a while with some painting, hole filling, level holding, and nail gun shooting.  I totally love how it’s coming along and can’t wait to show off the final product.  Finally, I think a little jaunt off to Cozumel with some diving is hopefully in our near future.  Hard to believe the last time we were in the water was a year ago in Thailand!!!  My how time flies when you’re having fun.


To end this post on the bright side, the extra day in February has brought good news to many waiting families on the brink of travel.  It has been stated that Exit Permits will start being reviewed on Monday, March 5.  Families can then expect their official travel call 2-4 weeks later...yippee!  I can only hope that this will also bring with it movement on the referral front. 

Goodbye February….Hello March!!!

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. - A Einstein

The Invasion of Troy

We had the pleasure of hosting friends for dinner last night with the added bonus they brought their little guy with to share in the fun.  Troy is a very active 14 month old that gave us an eyes wide open look at the energy and bodily fluids that come in this small package (and all just in a 2.5 hours).  I had to assure Fred that ours would be about 6 months older, whether that ups the ante is yet to be determined.  


The wonderful mom she is, Amy came prepared with a bag full off goodies including a PB&J which was inhaled by Troy in seconds.  She also brought a number of books that kept Troy occupied for a few minutes as well as a few toys he tried to share with Ollie.  Troy quickly found the kitchen and our bakeware cabinet, though we tried to lure him away to the tupperware or stainers.  He was not having that one bit as he was a one man band sprawled on the kitchen floor. 


Seems we have much work to do in toddler proofing our home.  I did not realize how many cabinets and drawers we have, even just in our kitchen and dining room. Lots of items on tables & shelves, chairs to climb on, stairs to block off, dog bowls to quarantine, etc, etc. 


We are very proud of Ollie for his first time with a little one in the house.  He was very inquisitive, followed Troy around, but typically gentle.  A few "off" commands, but he immediately knew to stop what he was doing.  He also got his first taste (literally) of having a toddler for meal time.  Amy and Mike did a great job of blocking food from the floor, but Ollie was happy to catch any strays.  A big thank you goes out to Amy for bringing the most wonderful peanut butter and chocolate bars...tasted just like a Reese's. 


Troy, you'll have to come visit us often...and bring your mommy and daddy. Note to all of our friends with little ones, we'd love to have you over for dinner too...or just send your kids : ) 

Boy, n.:  a noise with dirt on it. - Not Your Average Dictionary

So Close We Can Taste It

We learned this week that 1 referral came into Lifelink on January 31.  We are so excited to share this makes us #2 and that much closer to our little one!  Our agency is still at zero referrals for February which gives us (and our #1 family) high hopes that maybe we’ll see a couple this month yet.  

This January referral came by personal delivery by Dr. Kim of Eastern Social Welfare Society...wished she could have stuffed a few more into her carry on bag : )  She was in the States to visit with our Program Director of which we anxiously await an update from this meeting.  Half of our families are waiting to learn more about Exit Permits (EPs) and when they might start getting processed this year - usually starts in Jan and we're already into Feb.  Once they start, families will receive notice about 4 weeks later that it's time to travel and pick up their little ones.  EPs typically go through in batches throughout the year so we have families traveling most months.  

Because all of the EPs for 2011 were exhausted by September, none of our families have travelled since October : (  Our families that are very anxious for EPs to start flowing received their referrals back in November 2010...so yes they are ready!!!  We are all very interested to learn what the quota for EPs will be this year and how many of our 20 waiting families will get to travel during 2012.     

The other half of our families, us included, are interested to learn more about expected reductions in referrals for  2012.  We've been told that referrals will be decreased by 10% this year so a few less will be coming through as compared to the 23 received in 2011.  This is occurring due to the S Korea government wishing to exit the international adoption arena as well as trying to catch up on this back log of kiddos waiting to travel.  All comes back to the all mighty quota of EPs.  

So lots of slow downs occurring right now due to S Korea government.  Overall, families are waiting 14 months to referral and 14-16 months to travel.  I was just saying how funny it is that we get so excited to end our first wait (receive a referral) to just start a second one (travel call).  My good friend Amy had a great comment to that "Each wait is one step closer to no more waiting."  Thanks Amy, so true!  My other good friend Julie is also in the adoption process and recently posted a wonderful comment on her blog about a reading she offered during a holiday service, it happen to be about waiting. "Instead of waiting, what if we began a journey of hope."  Julie commented, "I liked that thought. Waiting is inactive and passive. A journey is taking part and moving forward with hope in what lies ahead."  So very true!  I know I use the word 'wait' a lot, but it truly is a journey for us and we're loving every minute of it!

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. - G Anderson