"She named him Samuel, for she said, "I asked the Lord for him." - 1 Samuel 1:20 When I was pregnant with Jackson, we landed on his middle name long before we agreed on his first name. His middle name is Cecil - in tribute to three great men in our families: my maternal grandfather, … Continue reading Samuel
We signed our referral acceptance paperwork yesterday! Basically, this is the official paperwork that identifies us as our child's adoptive parents. It does not legally make him ours by any stretch (this won't happen until final approval in Korea around the time we are granted custody), but it does get the legal process rolling with … Continue reading Acceptance Paperwork DONE
I am so excited to say that our home study is in the final round of revisions/signatures and nearly ready to send to Korea! Along with our home study, we will also be sending our referral acceptance (ATK) paperwork. Our agency is mailing it to us to sign/notarize this week, and then we will send … Continue reading Dossier is ALMOST ready!
The past week has been nothing short of a miracle to me. I shouldn't be surprised by it, and yet every time God shows up the way he does in the smallest, but most significant details, I stand in awe with reverence and joy. Disclaimer: This post is LONG. I probably should have split it … Continue reading Our lives changed today.
I'm sort of conflicted on how to write this update. The short version is: there's no update. Everything is still on hold until the home study is written. The longer version is: For the first time in this process, we are starting to see waiting kids pop up that we qualify for (due to Elliott's … Continue reading Keeping our eyes and hearts open
Our final home study visit was early Sunday afternoon at a Starbucks. It was short and sweet, more of a formality and confirming everything rather than new information. So now we wait! This will be our default mode for the rest of this process -- hurry up and wait. After talking through the timeline more … Continue reading All home study visits are DONE!
I am beginning to think the recurring theme for the Home Study might be, "Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be." Yesterday was our second home study visit. Once again, I had a plan and that plan did not happen. I thought I would take the boys to Mother's Day Out, … Continue reading Home Study Visit #2
I went from all at peace about the home study to a ball of nerves in about 24 hours. Organization and managing details are not strengths of mine at all. I can usually manage well enough to keep us functioning as a family, but it's not how I would ever choose to create a first … Continue reading All about the first home study visit
We are less than a week away from our first home visit! There isn't a ton we can do to prepare, but we have been going through the house, decluttering, organizing and making sure we meet all the safety standards. A few things they check for: Fire extinguisher on each floor of the house Working … Continue reading Just checking in while we wait
As Josh and I watched figure skating tonight, I looked over at him and mentioned that from this point until forever, I will be cheering for Team USA and Team South Korea at all Olympic games. It's amazing how quickly I am already feeling attached to this place and culture. I also had the same … Continue reading 2018 Olympics!
Five Sewells 