And one more picture...

Travel Call!

We found out on Friday that Daniel is coming home next Thursday (12/18)!!! We were completely in shock on Friday, ran around like crazy yesterday trying to finish all our errands, and are going to try to relax and get a few things done in the house today. Yikes!! We are so excited, and a little nervous...but this time next week we will be parents!
We can't wait for you all to meet Danny!

Pictures!

A family who traveled to Korea to pick up their son was able to spend some time with Daniel in the reception center at Holt, and sent us some pictures! He looks a little thinner in these shots, so he's probably pretty mobile by now. Looks like we'll be babyproofing everything!

Packet 3!

I called the Visa hotline in DC this week, and found out that our visa paperwork was received at the US Embassy in Seoul on November 19th. They processed the file and sent a bunch of paperwork (called a Packet 3 or P3) to the Korean agency on November 25th. The agency will be working on that this week, and hopefully they will get it back to the Embassy next week. Once the Embassy has it, they schedule a Visa Interview (I think it's more paperwork, not an actual "interview" with Daniel!) and grant the visa. Once that's done, we are just waiting for the call! When the agency calls us, we should get somewhere between 3 days and a week's notice that he's flying in!!!
I'm going to give the hotline a call back mid week next week, and hopefully I'll have another update to post :)

The Yellow Bus

Dom tracked down what may just be the "perfect yellow bus"! We've been on the lookout for one ever since we got the pictures of Daniel playing with one in Korea, and last week he hit the jackpot in Toys R Us. Here it is:


Hopefully having a few similar things will ease his transition from Korea to the US!

National Visa Center

When our I600 was approved last week, immigration sends a letter to us and also sends the file to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. Once they receive it, they log the file in and out, and send the necessary paperwork to the US Embassy in Seoul! Well, we just got a letter from the NVC that our file was forwarded to Seoul on November 14th!!
Once it arrives in Korea, the Embassy works with the agency to gather even more paperwork (called a Packet 3-I have no idea why!), and then they schedule a "Visa Interview" to finalize the paperwork with someone from the agency and then the Visa is issued! At that point, all they have to do is find an escort to bring Daniel home!
Keep your fingers crossed that things keep moving this quickly!!!!

I600 Approval!!!!!

We got the great news yesterday in the mail that our I 600 was approved by Philadelphia USCIS on November 9th!!! Welcome House also told us that Daniel was submitted for Emigration Permission in the middle of October, so we should be getting approval on that shortly as well. Things are finally moving along!
There's still nothing definate as to a timeline, but the agency says that the average time from I600 approval to placement is 5-8 weeks. So everyone please keep their fingers crossed that we are closer to 5 weeks instead of 8! Hopefully he'll be home by the end of the year, but even early January isn't too far away :)
We also had an amazing surprise shower from the people I work with today! I was completely overwhelmed (yup, totally burst into tears)-they are so sweet. We got some really great presents, including a photo collage of all the pictures we have of Danny...I can't wait to get it framed and hang it up in the house. In the meantime, I can just stare at my little boy while I'm in my office! Like I said, I work with wonderful people!