Nesting!!!

We are happily nesting...I've been doing it for a while now, but Randy has joined me in full force. Boy, do I love that man!!! Yesterday he hung shelves in our laundry room for extra storage! Afterwards he said, "This is great. We need more shelves in here and we should put some up in the garage too!" I almost did a happy dance :) Actually, as I write this, he is in the laundry room putting up the "great big shelf."

So, he senses that Eli is coming home soon too...
We both feel it. We are both excited! We are both anxious. We are both nervous. We are both overly emotional. We are both working ourselves silly. It makes the wait easier somehow, or just keeps us busy...Eli is coming home soon...I just know it!

Hallelujah!!!

Not only did our school throw an awesome shower for us (see picture), but they brought us good luck too! After waiting 3 weeks for the National Visa Center to issue a Visa and get us in the system...we found out when we got home from the shower that Eli's (Yes, his name is Eli Nathaniel Morgan :) Visa was sent to Korea on December 28th!!!!

I called the DC Embassy first thing this morning and found out that his Packet 3 (final legal documents) were sent to the Korean agency on Monday!!! (1/7)

Next up:

1. The Korean agency sends Packet 3 back to the Korean Embassy

2. Eli's Visa Interview is scheduled & done

3. Travel Call happens!!!!

Hallelujah!!!! Can I get an Amen?!?!?!

Dad's Perspective on the New Year!

I can hear you all the way on this end of the internet line. "He hasn't written since the blog was started! I didn't even know he was still around?" Mara has been doing such a wonderful job expressing our emotions as we wait for Eli and explaining the process that I thought I would focus on other things. Important things like buying "Boy Toys" for Eli. :) We each have our own kind of therapy while we wait... Mara writes and I purchase things. Nothing wrong with a little "retail therapy" for my boy. (Although to be completely honest...I never pay retail.)
I am thrilled that Eli's arrival is coming so soon. The stereotype is that most men want to postpone the responsibilities of being a father until they are at least in their 60's. Or in Tony Randall's case, his 70's. But I feel my whole life has been preparation for fatherhood and husbandry. I love Mara so much and can't wait to expand our family with this precious little boy.
Mara and I had a rare opportunity to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year at "The Greenbrier" thanks to my very generous in-laws. (I have always hated the term "in-laws". Bob and Mikkey are more like my second parents and good friends.) Mara and I had four wonderful days of pampering with much time to relax and reflect about our seven years of marriage together and what the future holds for us. If we were at home, we would have instead filled our time with endless preparations. (i.e. cleaning, organizing, etc.) Although those things are both necessary and valued, it was great to just spend four days enjoying each other's company.
I came away from the holiday, feeling very, very blessed. (That word is so overused today, but I mean it in the sincerest of uses.) I have met my soulmate, we both have wonderful families and friends, we live in one of the most beautiful states in the nation, we both have job security, make an honest living, and affect the lives of others in a positive way through teaching. Now as if this life was not sweet enough, we get to add the biggest of all cherries to the top of our cake, Eli.
2008 holds many new adventures for "The Morgan Family". Some will be difficult as with all new things, some will be frustrating, and some will be tiring. Luckily, Mara and I waited until we were old enough to realize the daily challenges of parenthood. However, every new adventure will build our character, will develop our skills as parents, and will mature our relationship as man and wife. Each new day will build our love for each other and for our son. One of my own favorite lessons about life is from the movie, "Parenthood". This scene redefined my outlook on life. Below is the script of that scene.

[Gil (dad) has been complaining about his complicated life; Grandma wanders into the room] Grandma: You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!
Gil: (sarcastically) What a great story.
Grandma: I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.

Need I say more?? Have a wonderful year to come and enjoy the ride!

Bring on 2008!!!

Wow- it's 2008 and Baby E should be coming home this month, or early next month if all goes according to plans :) CAN YOU FLIPPIN' BELIEVE THAT?!?!?! I am really trying not to get too excited, because I know this next wait time is going to be the hardest. I don't know if it's because of Baby E's arrival or New Year's, but I am in that "get things done" mode...ready to clean, organize and nest!!!

Last night for New Year's we celebrated with Dwayne, Shasta, Pete, Becky & Paulie...he was everyone's New Year's Baby as you can see from his photo! What a awesome kid! We had a really fun time and it was nice to settle into the New Year with close friends.

This had been a great winter break, but I am sorry to see it come to an end. We go back to school tomorrow! When we come home from work, we will have some company....Lauren & Roy and their exchange student, Min Son from South Korea and her friend Shino from Japan are coming for a visit. They will explore D.C and Baltimore while they are here. We are excited to be able to show them the town!

For our anniversary (7 years!!!), my parents sent us off to the Greenbrier in WV- It was an AMAZING trip. It is very easy to see why it is the country's #1 resort! It was so relaxing and over the top. It is easy to get used to being majorly pampered! We ate an insane amount of superb cuisine so, yes, eating healthy & exercising is among my new year's resolutions! Instead of just one, I have come up with a list of the 8 things to do in '08. (My brother said, "What are you Letterman?!" And they are....

#1. Eat healthy

#2. Exercise

#3. Be a mommie :)

#4. Take time for me

#5. Take time for Randy & me

#6. Pay off debt-spend less

#7. Watch less t.v

#8. Tick things off the home to-do list

I know what you are thinking....My world is about to change with #3, so bye, bye to the rest of the list- and when that time comes, there will be nothing wrong with just focusing on my son!! Bring it on 2008!!!!

Stepping over the latest hurdle!

Today Baby E is 8 months old. It's one of those sad days....I just wish he were here. His I600 was finally approved- it took the US government 7 weeks and 2 days to process and approve it! Now, the document goes on to the NVC (National Visa Center). Once it is processed, it is wired to Korea for processing over there. The paperwork really never stops moving. It is always somewhere being processed and approved. Of course, there are NO time frames for any of this, so we really have no idea...The Holt web forum mentions 4 weeks wait for baby from I600 approval, but I don't know what that is based on, or if it is wishful thinking :) At least going into Christmas, we know that we have crossed a very big hurdle having the I600 approved.

As for the picture, thought some of you might enjoy my Mom's latest work...Fernando has no idea how his world is about to change!!!

Time keeps ticking away....

Time keeps ticking, ticking, ticking away....We are now waiting for I600 approval from the US government. This is the US Approval form that Baby E can be adopted! It was submitted on 10/31 and should be processed in 6-8 weeks....but, we all know how the government works!

We are also waiting on more paperwork from Korea- which include: Class B Waiver (formal acknowledgement that we are aware of medical conditions), NVC (National Visa Center permission for E to come to the USA with a one-way visa), Packet 3 (Packet 3 is sent out to your agency once your I600 approval arrives in Korea. It is returned by your agency to the Embassy and then the Visa appointment can be scheduled.). VI (Visa appointment in Korea), TC (Travel Certificate, official Korean passport). We have already received notification that his EP (Emmigration Permit, which is the Korean governments permission for him to leave the country) was applied for on 11/23. The "word on the street" is that it roughly takes 8 weeks from the application time to baby......We should get some type of notification when each piece of the puzzle is finished, but sometimes the notification part falls through the cracks.

In the meantime, I had a AMAZING shower...you can see the picture above of me passed out after opening all of the gifts! It was truly everything I had imagined and a confirmation that our son is SO loved.

We have decorated our tree in "baby theme", since this truly is his first Christmas! We have decided to leave the tree up until he comes home :)

Baby E is now weighing in at....drumroll please.....15.4 pounds! Not bad, since he started off at 3.8. He will be 8 months on December 22nd, and believe me, we are celebrating every month!!!

7 months old today!

Today is a good day. Today is Baby E's 7 month Birthday as well as Thanksgiving! He was my first thought when I woke up this morning! Yesterday we went to Baltimore to have another round of Federal fingerprints taken. It was a better experience than last time, when it took Randy an hour & a half to have his completed. This time, it took about 20 minutes and his images looked as good as mine. We said a little prayer at breakfast that they would be acceptable! Today was a very low-key day with my parents and a turkey :)
We hung my mom's cross stitch in the nursery. It was made for my first birthday. Evidently the hippo with his mouth open was the very first stitch she did, while she was in the hospital in labour with me! It is perfect in his room and adds such a personal touch. We absolutely love it!
Baby E's latest health update (on 10/22) says that all is well and that he is being "well cared for"- isn't that the best news?! He is now weighing in at 13.9 pounds and is rolling over! We just found out some information about being able to send a care package to his Foster Family, so that will be a task early next week. Very exciting! So, the wait continues with good news along the way....