My Birthday Boy!

a little late...

Fate?

As my previous post mentions, November is National Adoption Awareness Month. I realized today that Parker was born in November... coincidence? Possibly, but I don't think so. If so then the referral on Ethan's birthday and Parker coming home on our anniversary would be coincidences also. It must be Fate.

National Adoption Awareness Month

It's true, a whole month dedicated to Adoption Awareness. Here is just one of many, many sites that has some history and tips on how to observe adoption in November as well as year round. http://national-adoption-month.adoption.com/

home 3 weeks

It’s been 3 weeks and it’s hard to imagine life without Parker. Things have been going great; he is adjusting well and is a very happy baby. He is meeting new people all the time and going places. He already has a very busy social life. He loves the beach, going for walks around the neighborhood, brushing his teeth and playing with the dogs. He turned 10 months old today! He has changed so much already and has a great personality. He is still fussing at naps, bedtime and wakes up during the night for a bottle but over all sleeping much better. He had his first doctor appointment and that went well, he is 19.4 lbs and very healthy, other than the cold we all had. He is crawling all over the house, and will probably be walking before his first birthday. We can tell he’s going to be trouble already.

Visa!

Parker had his Visa Interview and was issued his Visa! All we are waiting for now is a phone call from our social worker telling us that he's ready to come home and the flight details! Our baby will be home very soon.

getting closer

I won’t confuse you with all the terms and abbreviations; I’ll just say we’re getting closer. We have more paperwork out of the way and are now counting down weeks instead of months. How many? We’re still not sure and there really isn’t any time frame we can go by until we actually get a phone call telling us when Parker’s flight will be. We are currently waiting for 2 major things to happen; Parker’s visa physical then his visa interview. No, he’s not actually going to be at an interview. Once his visa application is filled out and he has his physical, the Embassy will go over everything to make sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. If everything is in order he will be issued his visa and be ready to travel. We are having him escorted so our agency will have to line up and escort and once that is done he will be on his way home. We are hoping that all of this will go quickly but are prepared for it to possibly be 4-6 weeks, or longer.

8 month check up

I can't believe it, Parker is 8 months old! He had his WBC a couple of weeks ago and he's doing great. Parker is 19 lbs, has 4 teeth and right where he should be developmentally. He is pulling himself up and walking while holding onto furniture!

We are moving right along with paperwork too. As far as I can tell there are only a couple more things that have to happen before we get a phone call telling us that our son will be coming home to us. Hopefully not too much longer.

I600!

Ethan emailed the USCIS this afternoon to check the status of our I600, which is the form we’ve been waiting on for approval from the US. We have been approved!!! This is a big step in the right direction.

We are still waiting for Parker to have his Visa Physical and Visa Interview so Korea can approve him for his emigration permit. That all can happen at anytime now, let’s hope it is soon and all goes well.

what a handsome boy!

Need I say more?

Hurry home Parker!

well baby check

Parker had his WBC last week, and is doing great. He is growing like a weed, eating well and overall healthy. He is right where he should be developmentally, too. Unfortunately we did not get any new pictures...hopefully soon.

success

We would like to thank everyone who donated items to our sale, family and friends that got up very early to help set up and those who came out to buy! The sale was a success and we are very pleased. People were generous with donations, many saying keep the change. All in all it was a great day.

Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day weekend, let's remember all mothers. This was posted on the Bethany S. Korea Adoption Blog and I wanted to share. Please take a few minutes and check it out.

http://www.bethany.org/blogs/koreablog.nsf

next steps...

We filed the acceptance papers April 21st and now we’re back to waiting. Before Parker comes home, a few steps have to take place and these can happen in any order.
1- Visa Physical
2- I-600 approval
3- Emigration Permit
4- Visa Interview

These steps are a bit lengthy for explanation, but once they are complete, Parker will be ready to travel home to us! We are done with filling forms out, but will still have some signing to do over the next few months. I’m just hoping that this time goes by a lot faster than the referral did. It’s going to be hard watching Parker grow up on paper and through pictures, but I guess we at least have that.

Parker was born November 9, 2008.

Meet Parker David aka Chuck!

we have a son!

details soon...

expiring...

We never thought that it would take so long for a referral that we'd have to get our fingerprints redone! One of the requirements for approval is to be fingerprinted through USCIS/Homeland Security, and after 15 months, if you do not have a referral they expire...just one more stress. We had to write a letter to USCIS explaining that we have not gotten a referral yet and our prints are due to expire in May. We sent the letter and got a response with an appointment fairly quick. The good thing in all of this is we don't have to pay to have it done again... we have one "freebie". We go April 21st to get reprinted, and hopefully they won't have as much trouble with mine as they did last time!

Chuck's room

The room is coming along great, we absolutely love it!

room progress

well at least something is progressing...

fundraiser!

Garage Sale & Bake Sale

Adoption Fundraiser to:
“Help Bring Chuck Home”

Please donate your unwanted toys, clothes, furniture and any other household items! Drop off your items at our home, or call to schedule a pick up. E-mail us at bringchuckhome@live.com for our address or phone number.

The sale will be held 8 am Saturday, May 9th at Barber School, 102 W. Exchange, in Spring Lake.

All proceeds benefit:
The Ethan & Jami Cramblet South Korean Adoption Fund.

We ask that we receive all donated items by May 6th so that we can prep. If you would like to help, but are unable to donate items, please feel free to stop by Barber School during the sale to lend a hand.

Thank you for your support! Come out and join us May 9th!


We also encourage donations for the bake sale, so please feel free to share one or more of your favorite goodies.

-Truck and trailer available to pick up larger items.
-All items not sold will be donated to charity.

update?

There haven't been any March referrals yet, so nothing to really update. Grandpa started working on the mural, and here's a picture of what he got done yesterday. I'ts just barely started and I already love it.

Fundraising event May 9th, 2009!

details coming soon...

more paper work!

No, we’re not done with paper work. I got an email from our social worker with several more forms for us to fill out. I knew in the back of my mind we’d eventually have more to fill out, but I also kind of forgot about it. We need to fill out the following:

Affidavit of Vaccination – which we agree to have Chuck vaccinated with in 30 days of arrival

I-864A – contract between Sponsor & Household Member

I-864 – Affidavit of Support

Statement of Adoption – which we are stating that it is our intention to legally adopt Chuck

Korea Travel Form – this needs to be filled out if we are traveling to Korea, we need to decide upon acceptance of the referral

More information on these forms can be found at
www.uscis.gov
http://travel.state.gov/pdf/DS-1981.pdf
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864.pdf
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864A.pdf

We also have to submit tax forms, statements of income, birth and marriage certificates.

not much longer now... hopefully.

it worked!

There were 6, yes 6 referrals last week according to the Bethany S. Korean Blog! I'm gonna keep painting! We are still waiting along with a few other families but hopefully not much longer now.

painting...

I couldn’t wait anymore; I started to paint Chuck’s room. Grandpa Jim agreed to help out by painting a mural, I won’t tell what it is but it’s going to be very cute. I’m hoping that since we started painting maybe we’ll be getting that phone call soon! I am taking pictures of the progress, here are a few for now.

finally...

There was finally a referral, and from my count that means that there aren't any families left from Novemeber! Woo hoo...we're finally into December! Let's keep those referrals coming.

a good start to the year

4 referrals this week! Families are still waiting since November 2007, but we're getting closer.

Happy New Year!

Well, I was hoping to be updating with something exciting, but nothing exciting has happened. We are still just waiting for a phone call...kinda boring but thatʼs what weʼre doing.

We had a very nice Christmas, and a fun New Yearʼs Eve that we spent with friends. Again this year Chuck made out alright at Christmas. Chuck got a rocking cow. Yes, thatʼs right, a rocking cow. I know, sounds silly but those of you who know about my strange cow obsession, itʼs not so silly. Chuck also got a Big Wheel. Unfortunately, itʼs going to be sitting for a few years until Chuck is old enough, unless Ethan and I get out riding it ourselves. Again, one of those weird things of mine, since I never had one as a kid. Itʼs more of a joke than anything, but I love it.

Hopefully weʼll have some sort of news soon.