Our Home Study Is Done... all required paperwork (both our personal statements complete with multi-page questionnaires...) done; all supplemental paperwork (job letters, financial statements, proof of insurance, medicals, fingerprints, photos, etc.) done; all supporting documents (certified copies of birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc) attached; and all references....done! All sent to our agency via UPS... and confirmed today that it was received.
Hooorrrraaayyyyyyy!!!!!
Now we wait. We wait for them to review it all and let us know if anything is missing or needs to be updated. If all is well the home study package is approved and we are visited at home by 3 ghosts (Christmas past, present, and future....). Uhhh....No...wait…that's wrong. That's Charles Dickens....lol. Okay, WE will be visited approx. 3 times by 1 social worker....who is actually very nice (and not at all a ghost). And, if our visits go well we may only need to do two.
Once we are cleared by the social worker we will officially be H.S.T.K. (aka Home Study To Korea). This is a milestone marker. Most families celebrate when they are HSTK because then (and only then) they are OFFICIALLY placed on the waiting list for a referral. While waiting we MUST file two sets of paperwork with the US government for approval of our adoption. This paperwork is needed in order for us to travel to bring back our baby, and for our baby to enter into the United States.
One more small step on the road to forever...
November 24, 2010
November 23, 2010
My soul aches for Seoul
Let us keep South Korea in our prayers. Many of us adoptive parents are concerned at the backlash that may come from these new developments in the news, especially with regards to traveling for our children. But while the world may look chaotic, we know He who holds the world in His hands, and trust that His will be done. Amen.
The NY Daily News
The NY Daily News
The U.S. played good cop-bad cop in the Korean crisis today as President Obama struggled to defuse tensions that boiled over into deadly artillery duels.
The nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington and its battle group of guided missile destroyers and frigates sailed from Japan to back up the South Korean navy in a show of force near the disputed maritime border between North and South Korea.
On the ground, Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea and head of the United Nations Command, pressed for meetings with his North Korean military counterparts "to de-escalate the situation."
Sharp suggested an "exchange of information" in a sitdown at Panmunjom on the DMZ, the site of talks that led to an uneasy truce in the Korean War in 1953.
The U.S. has refused to renew diplomacy with North Korea and rejoin talks on an overall regional peace agreement until the North takes action on disarming its nuclear weapons.
South Korean officials said that death toll from the North’s artillery barrage aimed at Yeonpyeong Island rose to four today. The bodies of two men, believed to be in their 60s, were found at a destroyed construction site on the tiny island.
Two South Korean marines were killed and about 17 other people were wounded when about 50 North Korean artillery rounds hit the island on Tuesday, triggering a counter-battery South Korean artillery barrage of about 90 rounds. [...more]
November 20, 2010
National Adoption Day
Conceived on Paper, Grown in my Heart
Congratulations and Happy Gotcha Day to all those new Forever Families!
Congratulations and Happy Gotcha Day to all those new Forever Families!
November 20th is National Adoption Day: http://www.nationaladoptionday.org/
National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the 114,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. This one day has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with policymakers, practitioners and advocates to finalize adoptions and find permanent, loving homes for children in foster care. In total, more than 30,000 children have been adopted from foster care on National Adoption Day.
To learn more about some of the families who have adopted through National Adoption Day in previous years, please click here.
November 18, 2010
Blinging Out Baby!
Ahhh..... The Paperwork is DONE. It took long enough, but now we can finally exhale.... At least for a quick moment.
Next step would be our homestudy interviews, but for now, for a little while, we can just relax.
....And I can do a little internet "window" shopping!!!
So since I will have plenty of time to look for more practical items after we receive our actual referral, I decided to
So, go grab a cup of hot cocoa, or a glass of chardonnay, and let's Luxury Window Shop for a half hour!!!
[The headers are all links you can click on for more info]
Whether you're busy looking cool for the paparazzi, or trying to run away from them, these strollers are the ones for you!
$2,900
$3,500
$600
Healthy Child - $350
The Addison - $485
.....Like I said. Very CUTE! :o)
Forget Babies R Us... it's all about Rodeo Drive!!!!
From $1000 gift baskets, to $3100 ottomans and $14,000 wall units for the baby's room; not to mention those "Call For Pricing" luxury items. WOW! (I wonder if babies who use designer sippy-cups prefer non-fat lattes instead of formula...Hmmm....)
And if you have a little more time check out Glamajama: the fabulous baby boutique to the Stars!!! Just ask Demi Moore, Kate Hudson, Holly Robinson Peete, Tia Carrere, Lisa Rinna, and Brooke Burke.
I love crazy internet window shopping .... great fun for the holidays. Ahhh... good times. :-)
Research......Done!
Adoption Workshops.....Done!
H. Pre-Application.....Done!
Official Application.....Done!
PIP Classes 1 and 2.......Done!
Homestudy Paperwork......Done!
Only 9,999 more steps to go. **LOL**
November 14, 2010
Transracial Adoptions..Interesting Read
Transracial Adoption Can Provide a Loving Family
…and an Identity Struggle
By RON CLAIBORNE and HANNA SIEGEL
March 3, 2010
They are images of joy, images of happy endings among so much tragedy. A few days ago, Duke and Lisa Scoppa adopted two Haitian orphans, 4-year-old Erickson and 4-month old Therline. "I just always felt like it would be a really enriching experience for us and for everybody involved, really," Lisa Scoppa said.
Among the things that lie ahead for the Haitian children adopted by white American parents are a better life materially and a chance to grow up in a loving family.
But some black children who were adopted by white parents say there's another side of the story. "I didn't feel like I was seen or understood," said Phil Bertelsen, who was 4 when he was adopted by a white family and then raised in a mostly white New Jersey suburb.
Bertelsen and other black adoptees tell a similar tale: They felt estranged from the people around them who they instinctively knew from an early age were different from them, and yet cut off from their own racial identity and culture.
"In my teens, I became hungry to be a part of some kind of black community, black identity," Bertelsen said. "What was missed primarily was, you know, strong familiar representations of black life other than the ones I was getting through popular culture and otherwise."
He grew up to be a documentary filmmaker and made his first movie, "Outside Looking In," about transracial adoption. In it, he confronts his own parents for the first time.
"Ultimately, I am a part of your family," he told them in the film. "I use my name with pride. But I am also an African-American in your family and, you know, you have to see me as that."
In response, his mother said softly, "Maybe we were naive. Maybe we were. I don't know."
Bertelsen said in an interview that adoptees "don't tend to want to shake the tree too much. I call it the gratitude complex. We finally get this family, whomever they are, that we can call our own and so we adjust, we adapt, we learn to go along and get along and that's what I did."
Hard Truth for Adoptive Parents
"So in a way, home became a safe haven ... but it was a total disconnect from the world outside and so you end up, I ended up, internalizing the questions," he said.
Through his movie, Bertelsen said, he was able to say what he had always wanted to say: "See me. This is who I am.
"It was a hard truth for my parents," he said.
"People don't like discomfort but when you're adopting a child from another race, another country, it's very important that families understand that they [need] to put themselves outside of their comfort zone to really understand what the experience is going to be for the child...".
[…you can read the rest of the article here.]
What are your thoughts?
…and an Identity Struggle
By RON CLAIBORNE and HANNA SIEGEL
March 3, 2010
They are images of joy, images of happy endings among so much tragedy. A few days ago, Duke and Lisa Scoppa adopted two Haitian orphans, 4-year-old Erickson and 4-month old Therline. "I just always felt like it would be a really enriching experience for us and for everybody involved, really," Lisa Scoppa said.
Among the things that lie ahead for the Haitian children adopted by white American parents are a better life materially and a chance to grow up in a loving family.
But some black children who were adopted by white parents say there's another side of the story. "I didn't feel like I was seen or understood," said Phil Bertelsen, who was 4 when he was adopted by a white family and then raised in a mostly white New Jersey suburb.
Bertelsen and other black adoptees tell a similar tale: They felt estranged from the people around them who they instinctively knew from an early age were different from them, and yet cut off from their own racial identity and culture.
"In my teens, I became hungry to be a part of some kind of black community, black identity," Bertelsen said. "What was missed primarily was, you know, strong familiar representations of black life other than the ones I was getting through popular culture and otherwise."
He grew up to be a documentary filmmaker and made his first movie, "Outside Looking In," about transracial adoption. In it, he confronts his own parents for the first time.
"Ultimately, I am a part of your family," he told them in the film. "I use my name with pride. But I am also an African-American in your family and, you know, you have to see me as that."
In response, his mother said softly, "Maybe we were naive. Maybe we were. I don't know."
Bertelsen said in an interview that adoptees "don't tend to want to shake the tree too much. I call it the gratitude complex. We finally get this family, whomever they are, that we can call our own and so we adjust, we adapt, we learn to go along and get along and that's what I did."
Hard Truth for Adoptive Parents
"So in a way, home became a safe haven ... but it was a total disconnect from the world outside and so you end up, I ended up, internalizing the questions," he said.
Through his movie, Bertelsen said, he was able to say what he had always wanted to say: "See me. This is who I am.
"It was a hard truth for my parents," he said.
"People don't like discomfort but when you're adopting a child from another race, another country, it's very important that families understand that they [need] to put themselves outside of their comfort zone to really understand what the experience is going to be for the child...".
[…you can read the rest of the article here.]
What are your thoughts?
November 11, 2010
While We Wait...
Let's Learn A Few Simply Korean Words
from " Love the Children "
Father ..........Ap-ba
Mother ..........Uhm-ma
Grandfather .....Ha-ra-bu-jee
Grandmother .....Hal-mu-nee
Brother(older) ..Hyoung-neem
(younger) .......Dong-saeng
Sister(older)....Uhn-nee
(younger) .......Dong-saeng
Korea ...........Han-kook
America .........Mee-kook
Bowel movement ..Dong
Hungry ..........Bae-kop-pa
Pain ............A-pu
Stomach ache ....Bae-a-pa
Headache ........Khol-a-pa
Happy ...........Jo-wa
Scared ..........Mu-so-wa
Sleep ...........Jam-ja
Pretty ..........Ee-poo-ta
Hot .............Deu-ku-wu
Cold ............Choo-wu
Love you ........Sa-rang / hom-ni-da
Come here .......Ee-to-wa
Airplane ........Bee-haeng-kee
Bed .............Chim-dae
Cat .............Ko-yang-ee
Dog .............Kae
New clothes ......Sae-ot
Our house .......Woo-ree-jip
Toilet ..........Pyun-so
Food ............Um-sik
Cookie ..........Kwa-ja
Rice ............Pop
Water ...........Mool
Pronunciation Hints:
A-sound as in father
U-sound as in bus
OO-sound as in cook
AE-sound as in apple
WU-sound W as in water and U as in bus
I-sound as in knee
EU-sound as in new.
The accent is usually on the first syllable.
November 03, 2010
I Am Addicted!
My poor husband... I am becoming such a big bundle of mush; I cannot seem to stop myself from watching every single episode of Adoption Stories on Discovery Health Network. I think I'm addicted to the show -- I really do. I've watched almost every one for the past few months - even the reruns, but I think I've seen just about all of the Korean adoption episodes at least 4 or 5 times! Yikes! (Gotta love my DVR) . I think I'm becoming obsessed! I even make Tony watch them with me (when I can...when he hasn't run away or gone into hiding). Don't laugh at me please... I'm a weak lady. :o)
...And of course by the time I get to the end of every episode, when the parents are being united with their new baby, I've gone through no less than a small fistful of tissues -- I'm becoming such a mush. A mushy mush! ...lol
I wonder if there's some kind of anonymous group therapy available....
November 01, 2010
Comsi Comsa
Telling members of our extended family and close friends of our decision to adopt has been a mixed bag of responses. From super excited, huge hugs, tears of joy, a few gifts, and the beginnings of planning a baby shower; to lukewarm hugs, complete confusion, and even a bit of denial .... the responses have run the gamut. And, as you can imagine, some of those less than enthusiastic reactions were a bit disappointing to us, but since they were in the minority, Tony and I decided to meet such opinions with prayer, and hope that with time (and education), those still uncertain will come around and be as excited as we are about our decision to adopt. I mean, as my sister-in-law says... who wouldn't be happy, and totally fall in love with a babyyyy! :-)
Anyway, this weekend was mostly sweet. The best part? Well, I think the prize goes to both my mother-in-law (who is probably as excited about this whole adoption as my husband and I combined), and my Aunt Margo, who is my mom's little sister (and was only 12 years old when I was born). They both couldn't stop talking about their "grandson" and all the fun they plan to have with him. Yes, makes sense for my mother-in-law to call our soon to be son her grandson, but my aunt? How does she qualify? Well as far as she is concerned she's like my 2nd mother, and that makes her a grandmother to any children of mine...lol. Funny!
Anyway, it was wonderful to hear them both refer to our soon to be son as their grandson. (We are hoping for our referral sometime around Father's Day 2011)
Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :o)
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