It's hard to believe this day is finally here. It's now 4:30 a.m. and I've been awake for a couple of hours. We went to bed quite early (especially for me!) last night, and I guess I'm not used to that. Hopefully we'll both be able to grab a nap this afternoon so we're prepared for Alex being awake all night if he doesn't want to sleep when he first gets home.
I think, overall, we're pretty well prepared for him. The only jobs left today are to pack the diaper bag and extra bags were bringing (just in case we have to stay in Toronto for some reason), and I'm preparing the pre-printed cards to bring to the airport in case anyone wants to write a message for Alex's scrapbook.
The house is tidy, his room is all ready, we've got formula, bottles, food, dishes, spoons, wipes, meds, diapers, clothes, blankets, etc. so I hope we're not forgetting anything major. We also installed his car seat today in the van - and I drove Chris nuts by reading the entire manual before I'd even let him touch the car seat. I did the same for the baby gate, high chair and stroller... my Dad would understand this - you can't begin to put something together until you've counted and arranged all of the spare parts, nuts, bolts, etc., and have read everything through. Okay, I'll admit I'm a wee bit anal about following instruction manuals to the letter - if it says to read through the steps before doing something, that's what I do. If it says to count all of the pieces before beginning the assembly, that's what I do too.
Both of us plan on closing off on some work-related things today, and just puttering a bit before we head into Toronto for the evening. We're heading up early - just in case, so Gulliver is going to stay with a pet sitter for the night as we'll be gone for a long time. We also don't have to worry about him if the flight is delayed at all, or if we have to stay in Toronto for the night for some reason.
Chris and I went out to a local restaurant for a Korean dinner to mark our last night before we officially become a family of three. The dinner was wonderful, and once the chef found out we were adopting from Korea, he came to introduce himself and I got to practice my garbled version of thank you in Korean.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Two More Sleeps
Chris and I are still in a state of overjoyed shock as we make the final preparations for Alex's homecoming in two days.
We're so excited about meeting him and having him become a part of our life. The house already has taken on a bit of a "baby" feel, with the nursery all ready for him, bottles, formula, cereal and baby food in the cupboards and a high chair taking over part of our small kitchen. All of the little details of preparing for a baby are still so exciting and magical to us.
I'm still closing off on some work projects and Chris is busy with some meetings in his territory until he takes some time off effective Friday.
We're so excited about meeting him and having him become a part of our life. The house already has taken on a bit of a "baby" feel, with the nursery all ready for him, bottles, formula, cereal and baby food in the cupboards and a high chair taking over part of our small kitchen. All of the little details of preparing for a baby are still so exciting and magical to us.
I'm still closing off on some work projects and Chris is busy with some meetings in his territory until he takes some time off effective Friday.
Monday, January 10, 2005
He's Coming Home!
Shannon called us at 7:30 a.m. to tell us that she’d received the fax telling us that Alexander was ready to travel.
Date of arrival: January 14, 2005 at 22:57 (not June 14 *grins* - major baby brain happening)
Flight: AC100 at Pearson International Airport
Escort: Ms. HAN, Sang Kyoung
Date of arrival: January 14, 2005 at 22:57 (not June 14 *grins* - major baby brain happening)
Flight: AC100 at Pearson International Airport
Escort: Ms. HAN, Sang Kyoung
Sunday, January 9, 2005
Adoption Milestones
Here are some of the big dates so far in our journey to adopting our son.
- November 1, 2003: Initial Consultation with Social Worker (Marcy).
- November 29, 2003: Official start to homestudy with Social Worker.
- March 27, 2004: Final homestudy visit with Social Worker, including visit to our home and get together with SW and family.
- April 30, 2004: Homestudy sent to Children's Bridge.
- May 18, 2004: Homestudy sent to Ministry of Children and Youth Services by Conlin & Payette/Children's Bridge.
- June 24, 2004: Ministry Approval Letter Issued!
- July 16, 2004: Our dossier is sent to Korea. Package arrives at the SWS on July 22, 2004.
- November 1, 2004: E-mail received by Children's Bridge explaining that our file had been accidentally misplaced by SWS, but they had located it and were going to match us to a baby right away.
- November 8, 2004: Referral received!
- November 18, 2004: Letter of No Objection (LONO) issued by Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
- November 24, 2004: Acceptance letter, file and paperwork goes back to Korea. Package arrives at SWS on November 29, 2004.
- December 2, 2004: Canadian Embassy in Seoul begins work on Alexander's application for Permanent Residence.
- January 10, 2005: Shannon calls to say that Alexander will be coming home on Friday, January 14, 2005 at 10:57 p.m.
- January 15, 2005. Alex arrives home!
- November 1, 2003: Initial Consultation with Social Worker (Marcy).
- November 29, 2003: Official start to homestudy with Social Worker.
- March 27, 2004: Final homestudy visit with Social Worker, including visit to our home and get together with SW and family.
- April 30, 2004: Homestudy sent to Children's Bridge.
- May 18, 2004: Homestudy sent to Ministry of Children and Youth Services by Conlin & Payette/Children's Bridge.
- June 24, 2004: Ministry Approval Letter Issued!
- July 16, 2004: Our dossier is sent to Korea. Package arrives at the SWS on July 22, 2004.
- November 1, 2004: E-mail received by Children's Bridge explaining that our file had been accidentally misplaced by SWS, but they had located it and were going to match us to a baby right away.
- November 8, 2004: Referral received!
- November 18, 2004: Letter of No Objection (LONO) issued by Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
- November 24, 2004: Acceptance letter, file and paperwork goes back to Korea. Package arrives at SWS on November 29, 2004.
- December 2, 2004: Canadian Embassy in Seoul begins work on Alexander's application for Permanent Residence.
- January 10, 2005: Shannon calls to say that Alexander will be coming home on Friday, January 14, 2005 at 10:57 p.m.
- January 15, 2005. Alex arrives home!
Monday, November 8, 2004
More Referral Pictures
These are some of the other photos we received as part of Alex's referral package. he's 5 months old in these photos and as these photos were taken on November 3, 2004, they were probably taken the day he was matched with us (or close to it).
Cute Smile!
Alexander with Foster Mom
Alexander with Toys
Standing Up!
Cute Smile!
Alexander with Foster Mom
Alexander with Toys
Standing Up!
Referral Photos
These photos were taken at the Social Welfare Society (SWS) when Alex was 2 months old. They were taken on August 3, 2004 and were part of the referral package we received on November 8!
Alexander at 2 months at the SWS
Playing with Foster Mom
Sitting with Foster Mom
Alexander at 2 months at the SWS
Playing with Foster Mom
Sitting with Foster Mom
Referral News!!!!
At 2:27 p.m. on November 8, 2004, Shannon of Children's Bridge called to tell us the joyous news that we had been referred a beautiful baby boy named LEE, Kyung Hoon. We will be naming him Alexander John Kyung-Hoon Reeves.
Kyung means "bright" and Hoon means "teach" so perhaps he'll be a scholar or teacher.
Alexander was born on June 11, 2004 in Seoul, Korea. He weighed 3.9 kg (8.6 lbs) at birth and was delivered at 41 weeks.
At 2 months of age, Alexander was described by the Foster Mother and Social Worker as liking to be with people. He doesn't like to be warm, smiles easily and babbles well. They said he's stubborn and impatient and likes to be with people.
At the update that was done when he was almost 5 months old, they said he weighed 8.1 kg (17.8 lbs). He smiles and babbles a lot, rolls over on his own, grabs things around him and moves around in the baby walker. He likes to watch TV and loves listening to music and having someone read him books.
At this point, we expect that he should be home sometime near the middle or end of January 2005.
Kyung means "bright" and Hoon means "teach" so perhaps he'll be a scholar or teacher.
Alexander was born on June 11, 2004 in Seoul, Korea. He weighed 3.9 kg (8.6 lbs) at birth and was delivered at 41 weeks.
At 2 months of age, Alexander was described by the Foster Mother and Social Worker as liking to be with people. He doesn't like to be warm, smiles easily and babbles well. They said he's stubborn and impatient and likes to be with people.
At the update that was done when he was almost 5 months old, they said he weighed 8.1 kg (17.8 lbs). He smiles and babbles a lot, rolls over on his own, grabs things around him and moves around in the baby walker. He likes to watch TV and loves listening to music and having someone read him books.
At this point, we expect that he should be home sometime near the middle or end of January 2005.
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