New Year's Eve Updates

I can't believe (i realize I've been saying that a LOT lately- but it's so true!)... anyway, I can't believe I get to give you another update on our little Miss today, but I DO! Holt is truly such an amazing adoption agency... Since we got pictures a few weeks ago, I figured that I would probably be getting a WBC (well baby check) soon too... well I got it today and the WBC happened on Dec. 17 :-) I have some awesome news... not just awesome, but AMAZING! Here are some of the small things we learned about little Miss this morning.

*weight= she is a whopping 18.2 pounds at 7 months old
*height=27 inches!!!
*her head is continuing to get bigger (GOOD thing when it comes to preemies!)
*She eats like a champ!
*She lifts her head, bears some weight on her arms and rolls over...
*She is STARTING TO CREEP!
*She is imitating speech sounds (she was not doing this in november)

AND- here is the MOST amazing thing about little Miss KatieJoy...
SHE is CAUGHT up developmentally! As a 7 month old she was assessed as being a 7 MONTH OLD! Remember that she was 2 months premature? They give preemies 2 years to catch up and KatieJoy has done it in 7 months! Thank you GOD! (this doesn't mean that everything is perfect- it just means it's a good SIGN!)

I am continually amazed at what God is doing in our lives and how even across the world HE is doing things for our daughter. We aren't the ones able to advocate for her but God has placed her in a loving foster home where a family is working with her and watching out for her and most importantly loving on her... I am AGAIN amazed at the wonderful process of Adoption!

So- I bet you think that's my only awesome update don't you... well you're wrong! Last week, right before Christmas I started to think more about our KatieJoy- and I started to fret (who me?!?) about how long our fingerprints/immigration process might take. I took a long shot and emailed our Immigration Office to find out a timeframe so that I could prepare myself for the world's longest wait- I call this email a long shot because last time when waiting for Calen this office NEVER emailed me back about anything. But I trusted my instincts and emailed and just YESTERDAY I got an email back from the Orphan's Officer- the officer has CHANGED! I had heard rumor of this, but wasn't sure it was true. She was so nice! She told me that she had literally just recieved our application that morning and that she would be processing it within the next 2 weeks!!! She also was honest and said that we were doing our applications differently than she was used to (this is true as we got KatieJoy's referral so quickly) and that she needed to look up how to proceed with our applications before she got us a fingerprint appointment... So, all that to say that ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS ARE WORKING! Just this little bit of information helps me to see that God is moving mountains to get our daughter home to us in HIS timing- not a government agency's or my timing. Please continue to pray for this step... that the orphan's officer stays true to her word in getting our applications figured out and approved in the next few weeks AND that a fingerprint appointment is open in the VERY near future!

One last thing... some pictures/calen story :-) At the very beginning of December we went shopping for a few small items to send to KatieJoy in a care package. I didn't know how Calen would do with this as he is very into his own needs at 2 years old...but again, my son showed me up! He loved "shopping" for her and I let him choose between a few toys to send. When I was putting the package together I asked him to sit with the stuff to be sent for a picture and he literally jumped onto the couch grabbed her toy and smiled to take the picture! He talks often about our sweet girl by name and tells people to "look at KatieJoy" on my phone- that's "baby sister" :-) He knows that the room we call the "green room" (as that's it's paint color) is his "baby sister room" even though we have NOT called it that! And the day before Christmas Eve he was pretending to paint with my art supplies that were strewn about the kitchen and he told Allen that he was "painting a picture for KatieJoy. Send it to Korea." I just about died- he has never painted a picture and he has never once said the word Korea until then! Our son, he really gets it... what a sweet and smart little man we have!

In the care package we sent some polka dot pj's, a fleece outfit with a hood as it's COLD in Korea right now (these were my first girly clothes I've bought- not too much pink! just the way I like it :-p ), a ladybug blanket, a lion rattle/teether and a photobook with us in it so hopefully we're somewhat familar to her when we pick her up...

Calen proudly taking pictures with KatieJoy's stuff :-)

Please keep those prayers coming for our sanity during this wait (okay- MY sanity) as we (I) know it is now harder to wait since the busyness of the Christmas Season is over. But, Praise be To God, the past 2 months (yes, we've been waiting almost 2 months now for little Miss) have FLOWN by! Also, keep our immigration process in your prayers too as I know that the prayers are HELPING tremendously!

Love,
Mandy

PS- watch for some new posts in the next week or so as I have a ton of pictures to post about our Christmas, New Year's Eve and Finally DISNEYLAND!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours...

Can you believe that Christmas Eve of 2009 is tomorrow?!? I can't quite wrap my head around it yet... we've been so busy this week... watching a ton of Christmas movies like The Santa Clause, Home Alone, Elf, The Muppets Christmas Carol, Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas (haha!) old TV specials that I grew up on from the Old Disney Channel that we have on video, and of course The Grinch (cartoon style); we have been seeing family and friends in the evenings; making cookies with good friends; etc, etc... and even though we've been busy we are anticipating this Christmas with great joy as Calen is "dying" to get to his gifts under the tree and is anticipating Santa to bring him some Cars!

However, even though Calen is so excited for his gifts and for Santa to visit- he already knows the TRUE reason for this season of excitement and friends and family... Yes, we have been teaching Calen that Jesus is the reason for Christmas and when we ask him about Christmas and what it's about HE ALWAYS tells us that it's about Jesus... not Santa and not gifts, but Jesus :-) We have this awesome book called "Shoey and Dot: The Christmas Miracle" by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman (we adore the Chapman's and that's one of the places that KatieJoy's name came from- they have an adopted daughter named StevieJoy :-P ) Anyhow, we have read this book at least twice a week since Thanksgiving. This book isn't only awesome because of it's authors, but also because it's about an adoptive family, Christmas and it incorporates Santa knowing that Jesus is the reason for Christmas... Anyhow, the little bug character Dot (who is the adopted daughter's friend) goes thru the book trying to make Christmas PERFECT by getting sprinkle cookies or just the right gift, but then Santa sets her straight when she accidentally meets him... "'You must be the miracle that Miss Isabelle and the baker were talking about.'" Then he laughed, "'Ho! Ho! Ho! I'm afraid you're mistaken; I'm not the miracle, but there is one, no doubt. The real miracle is the gift of God's love that HE came down from heaven to give us: A baby named Jesus was born like God promised to let the world know HE is with us. THIS is the miracle that makes Christmas special, and it's why every year in December we give gifts and do speical things for each other. It's all just to help us remember!'" I love this quote as it's just perfect in explaining God's love and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the authors had Santa telling what the real reason of the season is. Calen gets it- even at the young age of 2- he gets that Christ is CHRISTmas and I couldn't be more excited to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus this year before we go to sleep on Christmas eve :-)

We hope that ALL of you have a wonderful Christmas and that you are able to spend some quality time with family and friends, but we pray most of all that you find some time to be quiet in the Lord and to be able to reflect on the true miracle of this time of year- that God sent his ONE and only son to earth, as a BABY to save the entire World... what an amazing Gift God gave to us and how grateful we are for all the gifts God continually gives to us!

Have a Blessed Christmas friends...

~Mandy~

Our 2009 Christmas week so far:

Hanging out and having fun with Good Friends

Calen's silly smile for the day after decorating and eating a Christmas cookie...

The Wonder of our Tree

Being a goofball and posing while giving his "shifty eyes" (My kid- so funny sometimes!)

Merry Christmas Friends!

Love,

Allen, Mandy & Calen

New pictures of KatieJoy!

Hi friends,

We recieved 2 new pictures of little Miss KatieJoy today! I was just about to leave work and decided to check my email quickly before I turned my computer off and thought- "oh how nice it would be to have some news of our girl today" and then I saw "NEW PHOTOS" in my inbox and knew right away that God answered my prayers to have some new pictures of KatieJoy... so humbling to think that God knows exactly what I need when I need it. I am overjoyed to have full face pictures of her and to have very VERY recent pictures of her! These pictures were taken only 3 days ago on 12/15/09- (she turned 7 months old on 12/5)! YAY to our amazing adoption agency which really does try to give as many small updates on our children as possible... What a way to start off my 2 week Christmas break from teaching!

So, I can't stop staring at KatieJoy- my first thought when I saw her picture was that her "cheekies" went "on for days" :-) and that she needed some girly bows in her hair- which I can promise you all, I will do as soon as I get my hands on her! But, after staring at the pictures some more, I was drawn to her eyes again... I say again, because the very first time I opened a picture of KatieJoy her eyes were what made me instantly know she was meant to be our daughter...her eyes are just so beautiful! (and her cheeks are so KISSABLE!) These pictures are really making her real to me :-) Keep those prayers comin' for our fingerprint appt to come soon- and for me to remember that God's timing always is perfect and that HE has everything timed out just right for our journey to KatieJoy... I've been doing very well with this wait and I want to continue that way!

Here are the new pictures (or new to those of you who don't have facebook or aren't on the Holt BB :-}- as I clearly posted the pictures those two places already today ) Oh! And I'm adding a picture of Calen in here from his time in Korea to show that I have pictures of both of my children in front of the infamous Holt Bunny Rabbit- so fun to have similar pictures of the two of them :-)

See those beautiful eyes? (see the rabbit?)

This is my favorite of the two... I just love the "Scrunchy" face she's making!
(See it?!? the rabbit i mean)

Here is Calen around the same age as little Miss.. See that silly rabbit? This rabbit is in MANY, MANY Holt baby pictures- I love it! :-)

Love you all and thank you for rejoicing in this wonderful process with us...

~M~

KatieJoy Updates

Hi all...

Just wanted to give you a quick update (yeah, you know no update is "quick" for me! hehe) on KatieJoy and our current adoption process status :-)

We have gotten a few updates on our little miss since Thanksgiving and one of them is a HUGE praise! The day before Thanksgiving we learned that KatieJoy had her MRI done and that it came back totally normal! Yay! This is good news but doesn't rule out all of her "possibilities"... since she was a preemie she will have some medical "possiblitlies" for a while that only time will reveal or NOT reveal. Again, we are praying like crazy that she will lead a totally normal life and all indicators seem to be pointing that way... In early December we got a WBC (Well Baby Check) on her and she is still growing and gaining her milestones- see?!? Good signs! :-) As of mid November she is 17 pounds and 27 inches tall- our little preemie is definitly gaining her weight! She was also rolling over and pushing herself up... she is still 1 month behind (she is 7 months old but is a 6 month old in her abilities)- but for being 2 months preemie this is just fine!

Right after we got all these updates, Holt called me to say that they had her "Legals". Legals are the babies release paperwork from Korea. This is a big thing because we couldn't apply for her immigration paperwork from the US until we had these papers in hand. We got these sent off as quickly as we could as they added a step to send them to Texas before we could send them to Fresno. I thought this would add some time to the step but it really hasn't! Texas quickly processed everything and Fresno has it all as of a week later... However, now we've hit the longest part of our wait for KatieJoy- or at least what I think will be the longest part of the wait based on how this part of the wait went for Calen's process- it took fresno 2.5 months to get us our Immigration paperwork (what I will now call the I600). Not to mention that there is a prestep to the I600 called the I600a that we never had the chance to do (because our wait for KatieJoy's referral was so short) and we have to file the I600a with the I600- the I600a is what gets us fingerprinted (this took 5 months last time we were in process)!!! I have some friends that went thru the adoption process after Calen came home and Fresno had gotten it's act together- but I'm not holding my breath that things will go smoothly here for us. So, if you could storm the Heavens with prayers for this part of our process (specifically that we can get fingerprinted within the next month or so), we would be very grateful!

I have one more praise to tell you... last friday I had a quick meeting with my HR department and was told AmAzInG news! Since I am finally tenured (after last school year that finally happened) I get to take a FULL 6 weeks off after KatieJoy is home and I only have to pay for my sub- when Calen came home I had to take complete unpaid leave... :-/ I also will get to use all my personal days for our travel to Korea- so I'll get a full 7 weeks off- that is IF she gets home during the school year... Also, this means we now only have to find the funds for Travel to Korea- everything else we have $ for! YAY- and HUGE PRAISE to GOD for this! He truly is SO GOOD! :-) We still might do a fundraiser or so- and don't forget all photography $ is going to our adoption fund-I just haven't made up my mind on the fundraiser yet...

Thank you for your continued prayers and love! We are so amazed daily by our God!

~Mandy~

Santa Clause is comin' to town!

Hi everyone,

I am going to try to give several updates here over the next few days- you know me though and it may not happen... I have some KatieJoy news/updates and I have all of our pictures from Disneyland at thanksgiving that I still need to put up here. Christmas Cards are getting picked up today at Costco and I should have them out to everyone by the end of this week- Just in time for Christmas! :-)

But for now, I wanted to give you all pictures of Calen sitting on Santa's lap! He did better this year with Santa, no crying but no smiling- still better than last year's back-arching screaming fit! This santa was at Disneyland in Santa's Village- he was AWESOME! Oh and the pictures were FREE because at Disneyland you can use your own camera for pictures- can't get better than that, can it? Oh yes, it can... Disneyland Santa was so sweet and had such a gentle manner- I was truly impressed with him and am so grateful that Disneyland has such good hiring skills :-) Calen wouldn't tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas, so Santa asked mommy and I told him that he wanted "cars" (he loves his "Cars" cars)- Santa talked directly back to Calen and told him that he thought he could "surely bring" him some cars! Again, awesome Santa!- way better than the guy in the mall last year! Of course, our smart Calen remembers exactly what Santa talked to him about and tells everyone that HE ASKED for "Cars" and that Santa said he'd bring them to him. :-) So stinkin' cute! Guess it's a good thing that Daddy and Mommy knew to make it a Pixar Christmas in this house even before we saw santa, huh?

No Smiling at all...

Almost smiling... next year there should be a definite smile!


See? WAYYY better than last year's Santa picture! Just thought I'd post that for all of you again for a laugh- it makes us giggle everytime we see it! ;-)

Just looking at these pictures next to one another makes me realize how quickly my baby boy has grown up... he's so much BIGGER than last year! Being a parent makes a person realize how quickly time goes by...

I have more Christmas updates for you after I get you updated on KatieJoy's adoption journey and on our disneyland trip! (Just know that we are teaching Calen that baby Jesus is the reason for the season... and that our smart kid knows it) Stay tuned... :-)

~Mandy~