Our Meeting with Briana

Well we had our first visit and it went pretty well. She started off crying but after a little bit she sat on a table close to us and let us play with her.

Daniel started taking pictures and she loved looking at herself. I eventually was able to hold her. I got in lots of squeezes and kisses. She is absolutely adorable.

The Foster Mother said that Briana (Sa-Rang) has been doing very well around people at her church, and playing with the other children well. That's such a relief, because in all of the reports, we've been told she is very skittish of strangers.

The Foster Mother and Fatherwas with her. The Foster Mother said she has been showing Briana our pics and she say omma(mommy) appa(daddy). Soooo cute!!! She also saw pictures of the boys and has been calling them "big brother", in Korea.

We are going to have another visit with her on Wednesday and then we will get her for good on Thursday.

We found out she prefers fruits and veggies over sweet stuff, much like our boys. I took her some gerber graduates fruit snacks and they made her shiver. I'll try something different Wednesday. The foster mother is going to make her some porridge to send with us on Thursday. Porridge is like soupy over cooked rice. They said she loves it.

We also found out that the little silky we sent her, scares her. We're going to have to talk to Benjamin and Jacob about trying to scare her, like they do each other.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Melissa

Got our TRAVEL CALL!!!

We got our travel call this morning!!! Unfortunately, booking "last minute" flights to/from Korea is not easy...seems as nearly all of them returning are completely sold out...our outrageously expensive.

However, we did get a flight booked. We'll be heading out Saturday night and arriving in Korea Monday morning (local time). And our planned 7 days "in country" is now down to 5, as we'll be coming back on Friday....and we have an 8 HOUR layover at LAX. Oh well, at least we'll have our girl!

We also recieved a couple of new pictures this morning.

Isn't she CUTE?!?!

Adoption UPDATE!

We got a call Friday stating that only one form was left to "process" before our baby girl was ready for us to travel to South Korea and pick her up. That "process" should take approximately 2 weeks to complete.

SO, with that said...we're expecting to be traveling on or around the 31st of July! Which is GREAT because that's also our 10 year anniversary!

Daniel is in the process of getting stuff set up to update this blog (as well as Twitter/Facebook) from the road, so to speak.

We received update pictures again!! We are so thankful to get them

New Medical Update !!

We got a new Medical Update. She is 10. mo old and developmentally on target. She is doing great!! She is walking/standing holding on to something. She is playing pat a cake. She has 4 upper and 2 lower teeth. It's good to see her doing so well but it makes us want her home so we can capture these milestones.

Emmigration Permit Approved !!

We got notification that Briana's EP (Emmigration Permit) was approved on 06/26/09.
Now all we are waiting on is her Visa to be issued. We are hoping to travel in 3-4 weeks but it could take longer.

New Picture!!! 6-11-09

We received a new picture of Briana today. She's SOOO CUTE!! I want to go get her NOW!!

Emmigration Permit Submitted

Briana's Emmigration Permit (EP) was submitted. They said it should take 3-4 weeks for this to be approved.

I600 Approval.

We received our I600 approval. We got our approval in 2 days.

LEGALS !!!

Our acceptance paperwork was sent to Korea on Friday May 1st. Today 5/5/09 we received her Legals. So far the process is moving fast!!! Hurry Home sweet baby!!

Weve been matched with a Baby Girl!!!

We have been matched with a baby girl from South Korea. We are so excited. We expect a 3-4 month wait until we can travel to get her. Her birthday is September 2, 2009. We hope to bring her home before her 1st birthday.

Here's what's happening while we wait.

1) Send our acceptance paperwork to agency

2) Wait for her legals and then send w/I-600(application to bring an orphan into the states.)

3) Get I-600 approval

4) I-600 approval is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC will "log in" and then "log out" your info. Once you are "logged out," the visa application is being sent to Seoul, Korea.

5) Now we move from the NVC to DC.

6) Embassy requests packet of info from agency to complete visa (P3)

7) Visa is issued (VI)

Travel Call (TC)

Hope this helps!

Why we decided to Adopt from Korea

We did a lot of research about this.

• Korean orphans live in loving, stable foster homes instead of orphanages.
• Korea has excellent medical care--comparable to that of the US. We can expect regular medical updates about our baby once we are matched with one.
• Travel is optional. Korea has optional escorts for babies to the US. If we chose to travel to Korea, which we probably will, then the stay is only 3-5 days.
• Korea is a stable country to adopt from. Korean adoptions first began in the 1950s with Harry and Bertha Holt. We have selected their agency, Holt International, to represent us in this process.
• Mostly, it just feels right to us!

FUNDRAISING !

We are starting a fundraiser to help with the expense of our Adoption.
It is magazine sales and we will receive 40% of the sales. You can either start a new subscription or renew your current subscription. It's all done online.
The web address is www.magfundraising.com/theburkheads.
Thanks for all you support.