Olivia!

It's Friday morning and we saw Olivia yesterday afternoon - it went way better than we expected. Here's what went on:

Breakfast at Paris Baguette - yummy!

11:30a meeting with Dr Kim - head of Eastern - very nice. She talked about the history of Korea and adoption in Korea.

12:00p lunch with Dr Kim and the other families that were here - a couple from Tennessee and her parents, and a woman from Pittsburgh (her husband was at home with their son). A yummy lunch of bibimbap and soup and fresh fruit.

1:00p watched the Eastern videos with everyone

Then we visited and walked around outside til we were just tired, then came back to sit in the waiting room around 2:30p.

Then as soon as Dave went for his restroom break, Foster Mom and Dad walked in with Olivia! How amazing and beautiful she is!!!

We didn't take many pictures today, but we have video that may or may not make sense - we just set the camera down and let it record, so we'll see later. Mostly we wanted to capture anything we learned so that we can find the info later and not have to worry about writing it all down. Of course, most of it is in Korean...so we'll have to be asking our translator friend for some help :)

We got to hold our girl and play with her and she even fed us crackers :) it was so cute.

We are going back to Eastern today at 3:30p to pick her up and then we will fly home Saturday evening - cannot wait!

More later :)

What a Surprise!

We went to our pre-travel meeting on Friday and really didn't expect anything until later this week...then as I was dialing up my first conference call of Monday, my cell phone and said "Unknown" - which is usually our agency. I hung up on the conference call as I answered and heard "You can go"....What!!!! Happy Valentine's day to us!

I call the travel agency right away (after I called Dave and Mom and bounced up and down a bit)...waited for the travel agent to call me back, found flights for Tuesday and got a hotel.

So Tuesday morning at a little after 7a (flight delayed slightly cause a crew member forgot her ID) we left COS for SFO, then SFO for ICN (Incheon-Seoul). We are in Korea right now and we will be seeing our daughter at 3p local time (+16 for those in COS).

We are heading to the Korean agency at 10:50a to meet with Dr. Kim (head of agency) and have lunch with her and staff. Then we'll have a couple hours of standing around - maybe we can visit the babies in the nursery.

Our handover is planned for Friday - don't know what time yet - but we'll have Olivia Friday night and fly home Saturday afternoon...

Lying in bed this morning, I started thinking too much and I'm suddenly terrified - seriously terrified. I know we'll be ok, but this is scary...we're gonna have a baby - not just a baby but a 16.5 month old...um wow...

So all of this and it's now (COS time) 1 month until my 20th wedding anniversary and 1 month, 1 day until I turn 40 - this is the best present ever, for all of us :)

New Pics and 12-month Update

Olivia is now 14 months old - we have some new pictures! She is, of course, absolutely beautiful!

Size update at 12 months:

Height 29.5 inches (75 cm)

Weight 23.7 lbs (10.75 kg)

Teeth 4 top, 4 bottom

Olivia's Birthday!

Our Olivia turns 1 tomorrow, but since it's tomorrow in Seoul - our Olivia is now 1!!! We're hoping to get new pictures in a few weeks.

We are going out with family and friends on Friday to celebrate - will definitely take pictures.

I have several hundred pictures from the baby showers that my wonderful friends had for me - I'll hopefully posting some of those this weekend - along with information about all the fun!

I600 Fixed, Measurements, and Armoire Update

First - I600 is fixed! My new friend at USCIS has corrected our form and is sending me an updated copy - yay!!!

Then I called AAC to let them know and casually (not really) asked about updated measurements for our chunky little girl. At her 9 month check up, she was as follows:

Weight - 9.4 kg (20.7 lbs)
Height - 72.6 cm (28.6 inches)
Teeth - 3 top / 2 bottom

So I need to send those 12 month old clothes quick - I'm sure she's grown in the last month too...

And, I've just about gotten the armoire done! It's painted and coated with 2 coats of poly - I've painted my own drawer/door knobs - the ones I found online were $7-10 each, so I bought wooden ones for $0.94 each and dipped in the wall paint and poly - will put them on tonight. Now hinges for the doors and curtains for the door openings and I'm set. Well, Olivia is set. I'll work on picture tonight.

10 Months Old and New Pictures!

Today Olivia is 10 months old - and boy has she grown!!! Yesterday we received a surprise email with a handful of new pictures - we weren't expecting anything until next week - and we'll still get more - but what a great preview! Hopefully we'll get updated weight/height info too.

**Please note - Olivia is wearing the dress we sent a few weeks ago - and it's a 12 month old size...I better send the rest of the 12 month stuff quick...
Look at all the hair - I'm going to have to hit briar.claire for more barrettes!

Dave's favorite -she's just too cute!

And she's cruising - or walking - I hope cruising - not sure I'm ready for walking yet...

I-600 Approval - sort of?

Today we received our I-600 approval in the mail - yay!

Then I noticed my name is spelled wrong - boooooo! Tomorrow I will call to see how to get that corrected...no other news.

I have almost finished the baby armoire I found on Craigs List - pics to be posted soon!