Posie says "Happy Halloween!!"

Done with the Homestudy!

We had our final homestudy appointment, which was the home visit. Really, it was a breeze. The social worker took a tour of our house...some of you have had more detailed tours! She didn't inspect anything, she really just wanted a feel for how we live. She stayed for about 1 1/2 hrs and we talked about the process coming up and what some of our plans are. It was fun to talk about how when she calls us with a baby and then the how the travel arrangements will work. That's still awhile away but it was exciting to visualize and imagine what it will be like. Though, I'm sure it will be quite different when it actually happens!

She will now type up our "homestudy." Based on the types of questions we've been asked, I assume it will be a glimpse into our life and how we plan to parent. We've talked a lot about how we grew up, our relationships with our family, friends, and of course...each other. We've had to talk about how we make decisions, how we disagree, how our house runs, etc. Though some of the questions have gotten personal, we left every meeting feeling so energized about our marriage and our life's new path.

Our social worker will send the homestudy to DCFS who has to approve it. Once it is approved, it will be sent to UCIS. You don't need to know what all of this means, just that these are the next few steps. So, we are done with our part. Now we have to wait on other people, mostly government agencies, to do their job.

Overall, the homestudy was a lot of work...but it was worth it. We learned a lot and it has reinforced our commitment to each other and our soon to be child.

Korea Party

This past Saturday my mom and I attended a party at Lifelink, our adoption agency. A few social workers from Eastern (the Korean agency) and foster mothers from Korea were here visiting. The foster mothers were reuniting with some of the children they had taken care of the first months of their lives. The reunions were private, but I'm sure they were emotional and special.
For the rest of us, there was food, crafts, a dance performance and a tae kwon do demonstration. I was able to reconnect with some of my fellow Lifelink waiting buddies that Dave and I met at the adoption training day. I also got to meet in person some of the friends I have gotten to know online. Of course, my mom loved meeting them all :) All of us though really loved seeing the kids. I may be biased, but really they were so cute! There were some babies that had just come home, up to about 12yrs old. Most of the kids were 2-8yrs, and they really seemed to be having a blast.
Overall, it was a very festive day filled with friends, Korea, and cuties!

Hungry?

Food is a great way to learn and connect to a culture...and who doesn't love to eat?! Korean food is similar to other Asian food in that many dishes have rice or noodles, vegetables and a protein (beef, seafood, chicken). Korean food has some delicious spices and the spicy food is so good. When you eat in a Korean restaurant you are brought around 12 side dishes that have everything from potato salad, to kimchi, to vegetables. Kimchi is the most well-known Korean food and is a staple.

Some of the most popular entrees are bulgogi (soy marinated grilled beef ), bimbimbap (bowl of rice with vegetables, meat, and a fried egg on top), broiled short ribs and seafood pancake. Many of the meat dishes are cooked at the table.

We are lucky to live in such an ethnically diverse city, Chicago. There is a large Korean population that offers great restaurants. Here are a few (click on the name for info):
Cho Sun Ok

Jin Ju (trendy)

San Soo Gab San

Solga

Su Ra

Airarang (located at H-mart)

H-Mart (grocery store in a dozen states...located in Niles and Naperville in Illinois)

Enjoy!
For those of you more familar with Korean cuisine, I'd love to hear about your favorite dishes.

Thank You

The amount of love and support we have received over the past week has been truly awesome. We always knew we had wonderful family and friends, but the past week has been such a glowing reminder of that blessing. So thank you all...we feel so lucky to have you in our lives!


"Just as a house needs a foundation in order to stand firm, so does a person." -Jacquie McTaggart

We're Adopting From South Korea!

Dear Family and Friends-
I think the title of the post says it all! We know you probably have questions and we hope this post can try to answer some of them.

Why Korea? We’ve spent many months researching domestic and international adoption, and specific countries within international adoption. It’s hard to say specifically what brought us to Korea. Some of the reasons include: great medical care and information, foster care, and a very well run and efficient program. We believe in bringing our child’s culture into our home and felt that Korea was a country we know we could embrace. Having family with Korean heritage that our child can relate to was also quite comforting. All of these reasons were a factor. But mostly…it just feels right to us.
How long is the process? Adoption can be very unpredictable, though South Korean adoption tends to be a bit more predictable. We expect a referral anywhere from August 2009-October 2009. We will travel to Korea to bring our child home 3-5 months after the referral, depending on how long paperwork takes in both the U.S. and Korea. So, we hope to have a baby home anywhere from December 2009-February 2010.
How old will the child be when he/she comes home? Anywhere from 8-13 mos…but most likely about 10 mos.

We are very excited about becoming parents!! We love you all and look forward to sharing updates with you along the way.

Love,
Joanna and Dave

I will post updates here, so feel free to check in on occasion.