Yesterday was a big day for us....we met with our agency to sign the "acceptance paperwork" stating that Graham will officially become part of our family. We really can't say enough good things about Children's Home and the individuals we've worked with there. With most agencies around the country, when a family receives a referral, their agency sends them their "acceptance packet" to work through then they return it completed to the agency. The amount of paperwork is actually unbelievable (think stacks of paper similar to buying a home!) but for us it couldn't have been easier. When we got to Children's Home yesterday, EVERYTHING was filled out for us, we just had to sign an initial! Finally, something in this process was easy! Never before has signing our name been emotional. But this time, knowing what we were signing for, was an amazing feeling.
Some of you may be wondering, "So what happens now?" Things are completely out of our hands again, but at least we know what will be happening while we wait. Here's what we're waiting for...
1. Children's Home needs to receive from Korea what are known during a Korean adoption as "legals". In Korea, this is basically known as Graham's family registry. Sometimes this takes weeks to arrive, but, we are LUCKY and already have them! WOO HOO!
2.Children's Home will then submit us for I-600 approval. This is the US side of processing the adoption and is on done on a state level. Luckily Minnesota is fast compared to other states and we were told we should have this in approximately 2 weeks (some states take months to complete this!) WOO HOO!
3. After we have I-600 approval, it is faxed to Korea, so they can begin their part of the processing. We will then wait for "EP" or the emigration permit. This part of the process is what takes the longest and unfortunately the timing can vary greatly. Some cases make it though quickly and others are slow due to paperwork errors. We'll just have to cross our fingers!
Now, it's time to GO GET GRAHAM!!!!!!!!!! After all the processing is completed, Children's Home will be notified. They will call us and let us know that Graham is ready to come home. At that point, we begin the mad scramble to get to Korea as fast as possible and finally have Graham in our arms!
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We are SO excited and happy for your family! Your days of waiting are almost through, and knowing that that sweet little baby is finally coming home has to be a relief! Graham's picture is up on our fridge, next to Alexandra's ultrasound-- who knows.... maybe romance is in the air?? :-) (my mom is already referring to Graham as "my future grandson-in-law"). We love you ALL so much, and are joyously celebrating the growth of your family!
(Graham: if you're reading this in the future, don't worry-- your mom and I will NOT pressure you and Alex to be a couple...it's just fun to talk about right now- we're both really excited)
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