I'm so glad that it is Friday! Easter is so late this year that spring break is later than normal, but now it's only one week away! I think everyone should have spring break. And, not that I am counting, but I only have 35 more days of school! Hooray!

There is really nothing new to report about our adoption...I'm still waiting to hear from the social worker that she has finished our homestudy. It could be finished any day now. The absolutely latest it would be finished would be April 16th.

We continue to pray for our baby as he/she has probably just been born or is about to be born! Thank you for continuing to pray for us as we go through this exciting journey that is full of so many ups and downs.

Today I got the word that we were unable to get an earlier appointment for fingerprinting. That is a little disappointing, but the good news is that IF we were to get a referral before June 7th it looks like we would (at that point) be able to be seen earlier. So, now I have done everything I can, and I just have to trust that God has everything under control!!

I did talk to our social worker last night and she said she is almost finished with our homestudy! That is great news! Hopefully, we will be able to send it to Korea very, very soon!

This past weekend we finished cleaning out the nursery completely! (Thanks also goes to my little sisters--Kaitlin, Annie, and Meghan who helped while they were staying with us while my parents were on their 30th anniversary trip). Now, we just need to know "boy" or "girl" so we can paint and start decorating!! Can't wait!

Please pray!!!

One of the things that we have to have done before we can get our baby is to be fingerprinted by the federal government. Well, in NC there is only one office and they are evidently very backed up...On Tuesday we got our letter with our appointment date. Our appointment is set for June 7th! Ugh!! That is a really, really long wait for an appointment. Most states give you a date within a week or two. While this is probably not a big deal, it is possible that we could have a referral (where we are matched with our baby) and wouldn't be able to actually get our baby because our fingerprints wouldn't have yet gone through. (After we are fingerprinted it could take a few weeks before they are processed, we are notified of our acceptance, etc...) SO, I am asking any of you reading this to PLEASE PRAY! I have contacted the wonderful lady that I used to work for who is now in the Congress and she and her staff are working very hard to see if we can be given permission for an earlier appointment. I will keep you posted!! Please pray that they will find favor with the Immigration agency and that we will be able to be fingerprinted earlier! Thank you for your love and prayers!!!

Today we have been cleaning out the "nursery" which has been formerly used as "our room where anything that doesn't really have a place belongs." We won't start painting or decorating until we know we are having a boy or a girl, but we thought we could go ahead and start cleaning it out and getting rid of stuff. We have made a lot of progress!
Yesterday, I (Erin) told the teachers I work with and my students about our adoption! It was a lot of fun sharing our good news. Only 50 more days of school!

On Tuesday we received a letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that they had processed our application to adopt (I-600a). Next, we should receive a notice in the mail with our appointment in Charlotte to be fingerprinted. We are hoping that it will come quickly!

This is one of the hard parts of adoption--the waiting! We had SO much to do in the beginning--so many places to go to pick up documents, so many forms to fill out and copy and mail, and now most of it is out of our hands! We continue to pray for our little one--wherever he or she may be at this time, whether born or still in the womb, and we are encouraged because every day that passes bring us one day closer!

Our homestudy visit today went very well! Our social worker was here for a couple of hours and finished up her questions for us. Now she will begin writing up our homestudy report. She thinks she will have it finished in the next couple of weeks!! It seems like everything is coming together very well!

The next thing we need to pray for is that the U.S. government will process our paperwork quickly so that we can be fingerprinted. This is something that can sometimes hold up the whole process. Please pray that we will get our appointment in the mail very soon!

We are well on our way to getting our baby! We have finished all of our official paperwork and have completed our first homestudy visit. Tomorrow is our second (and probably last) homestudy visit. This time will actually be a visit to our home. The social worker will come and take a look at our house and neighborhood and also spend time going over more of the answers we provided for our questionnaires and autobiographies.

Our homestudy should be finished in the next couple of weeks. Once it is finished it will be sent to our agency in Michigan who will approve it and then send it to Korea. Once it goes to Korea our official "wait" begins. Because our agency has no waiting list at this time, the estimated wait will be 1-2 months before we get our referral. Our referral will be when we get a picture of our baby and all of his/her medical records. If we accept our referral we will then have a 1-2 month wait before our baby is brought to us! So, it is looking like we will have our baby sometime this summer, maybe early fall!

We are so excited to be on this journey and can't wait to see all that God is going to do through this process. We are happy to be able to share our journey with you, and we would ask that you pray that our process will continue to be smooth and that God would bless and protect our baby!