Happy Birthday to Lukas! My wonderful friend Slava gave birth to a healthy baby boy last night. Baby Luka entered the world at 7:07pm. He was kind enough to keep the pounds off and even though he was almost a week late, weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces. It might be a couple days before I get to see some pictures, but I’ll be sure to share one when I do.
I’m sad that it’ll be awhile before I get to see Little Luka. Trips to NY are few and far between (in my opinion).
Congrats to Slava and Yura on their new addition. I am so so happy for you!

Here’s another bit of advice for someone that might consider adopting.
Get your own notary.
Find a good friend, someone dependable, that will agree to be at your beck and call for a year or so, and pay for them to take the class and become a notary. It will save you mounds of stress. Really, of all the things to be stressed about, getting the one thousandenth document notarized should not be one of them.
What would also be helpful is a registered notary site, where you can search for notaries in your area. Cause otherwise, how would you know. Its also helpful to find someone that doesnt charge you 5 bucks per stamp. Cause I would have spent 100 bucks by now.
I had found a notary at Duke. It wasnt entirely convenient, and she was always extremely bitchy, but it worked. Then, a new coworker of mine told me she was a notary. Saved! Until the day (that turned into 2 weeks) came that I had to get something notarized and her stamp went missing. Nice. So, I called back to the not nice Duke person and found out she had left (I hope she’s happier now). Now what? Someone suggested my local bank, and thats what I ended up doing. It worked, but it was still a hassle.
So get your very own notary. You wont regret it.

Now that all my official documents are happily notarized, I mailed them off to my agency. Jessica will hold onto them until Korea gives the word that we can send them over. Come on Korea!

Oh, speaking of mailing… I had the BEST FedEx experience. I brought my package in to get mailed off, and the girl behind the counter read my envelope (addressed to Carolina Adoption Services) and asked if I was adopting. I said yes and she asked where from. I said Korea and she smiled and said “I was adopted from Korea. Came over from Seoul when I was 4 months old.” Yay! She was very sweet.

In this case, no news is not good news. I’d like some news. Any kind of news. Here we are into November and I’ve got nothin. There was word that a social worker was traveling to Korea this past weekend (though I dont know when she gets back) and hopefully she will bring back news with her. In the form of a timeline, would be my preference. I like timelines.

Meanwhile, I’ve been getting my stuff together that will need to be sent over once we get the go ahead. Included in lots of paperwork is a set of pictures, representative of us, our home, and our family. I much enjoyed the instructions I was given for collecting these pictures, so I’ll share them with you. “Please also submit 2 sets of 6-8 photos of yourselves, your home and extended family. Exterior photos of your home and on of the baby’s room are appreciated. Conservative dress is suggested for at least one photo of the adoptive parents. It is helpful if you mount the pictures and provide captions; scanned photos are also fine. Please no wedding pictures, parents in sunglasses or pictures of pets.”

I went with 8 photos. Mounted on black card stock with bright colored paper behind each photo and printed captions. It wasnt easy to select photos. Especially since my side of the family is so disparate. It took 3 pictures to show my family, while it took Steve’s side only one. I hope they dont take that to mean that I think my family is more important… I also had to include a picture of the baby’s room, which is currently mostly empty. I made sure to let them know in the caption that we plan on furnishing and decorating the room upon referral.

And for your viewing pleasure, the photos I picked.

Hope they approve!