Waiting for Spring...

So here it is the middle of summer, a time of year that I absolutely love in Minnesota, and we find ourselves already looking ahead to Spring in our house. About that time, I'm sure I'll be going crazy with anticipation because that's when we're expecting to learn about our little girl! Because the babies in Korea must be 5 months old before they're eligible for international adoption, this would mean that our little princess will likely be born sometime between November-January. Knowing this, I have a rough idea about her size at various seasons which means I can SHOP for pink!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!

We had our home study yesterday and things went exceptionally well. It's so much easier to talk about parenting styles this time around when we've actually had the opportunity to parent! Our social worker stayed for just over two hours and actually spent nearly 30 minutes just playing with Graham! Things definitely feel much more casual this time around. I honestly get choked up thinking about having another little one in our house. It's been a true honor and blessing to have Graham in our lives and we are so full of anticipation to watch our family grow again. We are so lucky!

So, now we wait and most things are completely out of our control. I feel like I've written those words so many times before-"things are completely out of our control" and that's one of the things that makes the adoption process so difficult to weather. We've still got a few "fun" things to take care of in the meantime though-we get to wait for our FBI fingerprint appointment and clearance, which we'll celebrate, then we wait for I600A approval (government approval for us to bring an immigrant into the country) which we'll also celebrate. Yes, we've got a long wait in front of us, but we'll do our best to celebrate each and every step along the way!

In less than 48 hours, it will all be over....

To be exact, in 38.5 hours our home study begins and I won't have the time to be nervous anymore. Instead, I'll be focused on what ever it is our social worker wishes to speak with us about for close to 3 hours. 3 hours is a long time to talk with anyone, and since she already knows us and our entire story, I'm just not sure what sorts of questions she'll have for us this time around. Have I mentioned that I'm very nervous? I'm completely preoccupied, can think of nothing else, and I don't think I'm very much fun to be around right now. I've tried to rationalize with myself-we've been through this before, we know our social worker, everything will be ok... But, the reality of the situation is that it's still a home study, and it really is a big deal. Perhaps I feel like I know too much about the process this time around. I know exactly what is at stake, which is a LOT. Perhaps I'm anxious because Monday will start our roller coaster ride and the length and craziness of the ride is uncertain to us. Perhaps I'm anxious from the ice cream sugar high I've been on all evening. "Ben and Jerry" have become two of my best friends this weekend. I don't think we've been so close since I was riding the roller coaster of Graham's adoption and it's good to have them back in my life. I'm confident that come Monday evening, I will laugh at myself for being so worried about this step in the process. Heck, I'll probably invite "Ben and Jerry" out of the freezer again to help me celebrate! But until then, I'm nervous. After all, we're having a woman licensed by the state come into our home, watch our parenting styles, check out our house, talk about the relationships in our lives, discuss our finances, and generally make sure we're fit to add another child to our family. Wouldn't that make you nervous???

Efficiency at it's finest!

According to the voicemail we received when we got back in town last night, we should be hearing from our social worker at some point this week. I was hoping to hear from her in the first half of the week, but I certainly wasn't expecting to hear from her in the first part of the day today. She is one efficient lady and we sure are glad to have her working for us! Mary, our social worker, needs to come over and talk with us and check out the house and will be doing so on Monday the 23rd. That means that more than likely in less than a week, we'll actually be on the waiting list-WOW!!! Having already been through this, I really didn't expect to be nervous, but I am! I really don't know where these feelings are coming from-we know our social worker, she's already been to our house, we've already had many meetings with her for Graham's adoption, so I really wish I could kick these feelings of nervousness. I think the reality of the situation has finally hit me. We really are, in every sense of the word, expecting a baby!

Tonight, We Celebrate!

We learned the first time around, that during an adoption process, it's important for us to celebrate the small victories. Celebrating adoption milestones might seem a bit strange to some- we don't have the opportunity to celebrate ultrasound pictures, heartbeats, and the eventual departure of morning sickness. But, we do have the opportunity to celebrate the government confirming that we are not criminals (fun!), the completion of a second home study (more fun!), and having our fingerprints taken multiple times (most fun!).

On the drive home from the lake today I was telling Jeff that I wanted to call Children's Home this week and find out what was going on with our background checks. We were told it would take at least 30 days from when they were submitted (May 22) to get them back and today is only June 15, but what can I say...I'm impatient. So, imagine our surprise when we walked into the house tonight and heard the message on our machine from CHS telling us that our background checks were in and our file was complete! Judging by the cheers and "high fives" between Jeff and I you'd think we had just won the lottery or something! I guess in a way we are on our way to winning our own personal lottery as tonight's message brought us one step closer to our little girl. This week we should be touching base with our Mary, our social worker, and then the real waiting begins...the long, long wait...

But, tonight we're celebrating!

Pink, Pink, Pink!!!

I think we've finally resolved Jeff's improper left turn issue. The resolution involved Jeff making a trip to the police station today and paying for a notarized letter that stated (surprise, surprise!) he doesn't have a criminal past. Now that we've got documentation on a local level, the trick is to get all branches of government involved in our adoption on the same page. Hopefully, with one more letter documenting my lovely conversation with the county court last, everything should be taken care of. So, in honor of this mini-milestone, I thought I'd share the very first gift that Princess Olson received! Grandma and Grandpa Greer picked out a sweet pink outfit and matching blanket and I'm already anxious to have out little bundle all snuggled up in it. I honestly get a high thinking about dressing her up in pink. Not that I don't enjoy shopping for Graham, because I do, but there is something so fantastic about being able to buy pink! Pink polka dots, pink with ruffles, pink plaid, pink gingham...the possibilities are absolutely endless! It's too early for me to enter pleas of "Come home soon!" to our princess because she hasn't been born yet, so I'll just say "Grow big and strong because your family is waiting to see your sweet face!".