Praise the Lord! EP Approved!

More good news! We found out yesterday that Gyeong-han's EP was approved on 4/28/11! Another big step, but of course, there is more waiting. Now what, you may ask?

• Travel Certificate: Holt applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the travel certificate. It typically takes a week for approval.


• Visa Physical: After EP and travel certificate are complete our little guy will be scheduled for a physical to make sure he's ok to travel. We should be notified of the date of this physical.


• P3: The P3 is the packet that Holt submits to the Embassy for a one-way travel Visa. This packet contains important documents surrounding the child and adoptive parents and typically takes 5-8 business days for approval.


• Visa Interview: The foster mom will take Gyeong-han to the Embassy for an interview. What kind of conversations they'll have with a one-year-old is beyond me. This happens after all the paperwork has been submitted to the Embassy.


• TRAVEL CALL!: We need to be a on a plane asap and in Seoul no longer than 10 days after the call.

We're in what I call high gear finishing projects around the house and at work. Hoping we'll be on a plane at the end of May. We'll keep you posted.

Another Step Closer!

Today we found out our son's permit for immigrating to the U.S. was submitted to the Korean government on April 6, 2011. We're thrilled that we're getting closer. Perhaps traveling in early June?????

Face plant -- poor little guy!

We found out from our agency on Thursday that our little guy had fallen off of the foster family's car but is ok. Ouch -- poor guy! We are waiting on more information on how it happened, etc., but we suppose it won't be the last time he will be acting like a little boy and end up a bit banged up. We have no reservations that our adoption agency made sure he really is ok and safe where he is staying - sometimes these things just happen -- especially with toddlers! Not exactly what we had in mind for updated pictures, but so nice to see how much he has changed. Hopefully next week we'll here more on the next step in immigration.....thanks, everyone for your support!

A Few New Pics and Progress Report

Thea has been busy growing up way too fast --riding her new tricycle, practicing pottying, saying bye-bye to binky forever and letting us put a ponytail in her hair. We have her enrolled in preschool two days a week starting in September. She's so ready for the next step!

Speaking of next steps, we are still waiting, waiting, waiting on our dear son. We are hoping we'll hear some good news this month on the process itself. Looks like we might be traveling in June now. We did receive a very detailed Progress Report this week on our son, which was great. It gave insight into sleeping and eating habits. He likes to do "cute acts" to get everyone's attention -- wonder what those are?? Quite a little charmer, I'm sure! He is not much of a sleeper as far as naps go and is, of course, very attached to his foster mother, who pretty much is with him 24/7. He is very loved by his foster family. We are so thankful for their love and care. If we get new pics of him we'll be sure to post them. For now, keep fingers crossed that we'll move a step closer this month.....

Adoption Update

I've been getting a lot of questions regarding the status of the adoption. I wish I had more information, but at this point it's simply a waiting game. What are we waiting for? We are waiting on the Korean government to issue an EP (immigration permit) for our son to leave Korea. Then it will be time for his VISA interview and physical. If all checks out there, then,.....drum roll, please....we'll get our TRAVEL CALL and be on a plane shortly after that! I'm hoping this entire process will take approximately six weeks from today as I'd like him back before his first birthday. I keep reminding myself that in the grand scheme of things application to placement in less than one year is pretty darn quick!

We did get our monthly update on him and he is doing fine. The doctor wants the foster mom to feed him rice cereal along with his formula so he can gain more weight. He's approximately 17 lbs at nearly 10 months.

Winter 2010-2011

Past due photos of Thea's third Christmas and other winter favorites. All is going well at the Lierman household. Matt and Sarah celebrated birthdays in January. We are preparing for our trip to Seoul and hoping our travel call comes soon! Thea is talking up a storm. She enjoys swimming lessons (sometimes) and attending Wee Read at the children's library.

Latest Family Pic -- Thanks Jerry (our favorite photographer!)