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!
*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!
1 comment:
What an awesome report!!!!
I just knew you wouldn't be waiting 3 months for USCIS!!! Now, go buy some girl stuff for your KatieJoy!!!!
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