February Life Update
Hey friends!
We've had so many of you asking the same question: "So other than waiting for Gideon, what have you been up to?"
At first I thought it was a funny question, because Gideon is the most amazing human on the planet, so what else would we be doing besides counting down the [seemingly endless] days until we bring him home?
Then I realized we've actually been pretty dang busy! And since it's been a while, we thought we would show you a little piece of our world these days.
EXIT PERMIT APPROVAL AND COURT SUBMISSION
Well, first things first, of course. Gideon's Exit Permit was finally approved on January 5, and his case was submitted to Family Court on January 17! This means we are SO CLOSE to meeting our son for the first time! We should know our court date within the next few weeks, and we will hopefully be flying to South Korea in March. We were just a TEENY bit excited to hear the news. Also, PSA: It's way too cold to take photos outside without a jacket.
ADOPTION FUND UPDATE
We have been budgeting and saving and working super hard to pay off as much of our adoption as possible before Gideon comes home!
We owe another $11,500, and then our adoption will be paid in FULL! We are very much looking forward to that day!
In the meantime, we have gathered up the remaining stars from the Stars for Gideon project, and we've renumbered them 2 - 60. We want everyone who wants to be part of Gideon's story to be a part of his story, and for some people reading our blog, that might be $2, which is still such a blessing to us! The number on the star represents the amount to be given for that star. Once a star is claimed, we'll write your name on the star and hang it on the ceiling of Gideon's nursery. Check out THIS PAGE for ways to give.
BONFIRE FUNDRAISER
Our t-shirt campaign was automatically relaunched for the third time (a relaunch happens anytime someone purchases a shirt after the campaign deadline) and just ended a few weeks ago! We raised $158 with this third batch of t-shirts, bringing our grand t-shirt total to $1697! Woo hoo, you guys are awesome!
Several of you have asked for another shirt, so we'll relaunch t-shirts ONE last time once we get approved to travel to Korea! Check back via the blog, Instagram, or Facebook soon.
Remember! If you purchased a shirt, please send us a photo of you in your shirt! We'd love short messages to Gideon as well, as all of this will become part of his "Waiting for You" book. You can send photos and messages to hello@forgideon.com or via Instagram/Facebook messages. Man, y'all look good!
KIMCHI-MAKING MAMA
Last month, I traveled to Chattanooga to meet with some fellow Korean adoption mamas I have been chatting with via social media for months! It was so good for my soul, and Michele taught us how to make kimchi! I knew I would never get around to teaching myself again if I didn't use my new skills immediately, so I dove right in and made two full batches! I think it's fair to say we'll still be eating this kimchi until Gideon comes home. It's been so fun to learn about our little bud's new culture, which we plan to celebrate as much as possible as a family of 3.
A BIRD, A PLANE…NOPE, JUST CALLIE NESTING
Ever since Giddy Bean's file was handed off to the judge, I've been in full-out project mode, much to Brian's chagrin, haha! We've sorted months of adoption, business (see below!), and personal paperwork. We got our taxes done so it's one less thing to worry about when we travel last minute. I finally finished our annual photo book, which, this time, covers about a year and a half of photos and commentary. And we are SO CLOSE to being done with Gideon's nursery! Photos to come.
BABY OLIVER IS HOME!
One of my very favorite things so far this year was being part of Baby Oliver's homecoming celebration! Oliver is Giddy's future bestie, and y'all, he's got the best parents ever. His mama, Kelli, is a rockstar. Even with TWO toddlers (and here Brian and I were worried about one) this past month, she continues to pour into me so well, knowing that the wait isn't over until both of our boys are home together. We've spent the last year eating ice cream until 1:00 a.m. together. Laughing together. Crying together. Cross-stitching together. Learning how the Korean court system works together. The list goes on and on. I got to officially "meet" Baby Oliver this past weekend (I mean, I technically met him at the airport, but this weekend I got to touch that fuzzy hair we smiled at for months), and you guys, he's the best. Kelli and Ben now have two amazing kiddos, and now Brian and I have two amazing friends. We knew adoption would bring us the blessing of Gideon, but we had no idea how God would surprise us with deep friendships too.
BRIAN AND CALLIE TROYER, BUSINESS OWNERS!
When Brian and I got married, we didn't just get married. Within the same 3-month period of time, we both graduated from college, got married, went on two honeymoons (I was sick for the first), both started new jobs, and Brian started grad school. I think that's what you call rocking the life stages, haha.
So it wasn't really a huge surprise to us then, when, right smack in the middle of our adoption, we felt God saying it was time to start the private counseling practice we've been dreaming about for the past 18 months! Brian has had some really, really incredible (and unexpected!) opportunities to create partnerships with a few organizations and other counselors across the Louisville-Lexington area, and we just had some really, really amazing people who helped us turn our dream into a reality.
The end of 2017 was consumed with the less-fun parts of starting a business: LLC paperwork, liability insurance, intake paperwork, office space, a medical record software, Quickbooks…on and on and on. BUT we are so INSANELY excited to announce that Fireside Family Counseling LLC is officially open for business! (Okay, okay, so it has been. Our blog is a little late in coming!)
As excited as we are, we won't be immediately jumping into private practice full time. Over the next several months, Brian will continue part-time at his current job, wrapping up client cases, ensuring we still have some sort of steady income, and waiting on Gideon to get here so we don't disrupt our official home study. He will also continue seeing clients for a church-based agency in town. And, of course, he will slowly start to build up his client base at Fireside until we feel confident that Gideon is settled and doing well, medically, spiritually, and emotionally.
That said, we appreciate all of your prayers, as this has been a VERY exciting but VERY scary time of big changes! We knew this was the right time and the right decision for our family, and we feel confident that God is going to use this venture to bless fellow adoptive and foster families in our area. But when we still have $11,500 left of our adoption costs, are about to become parents, and have seen a chunk of our income take a temporary leave of absence, we are just a little bit excited to see what comes next. :)
As always, we just want to say thank you again to the many, many of you who continue to pray our little boy home! For the messages of encouragement, the prayers, the random cards in the mail. We love you guys so much. Hopefully next update we'll be leaving for SOUTH KOREA!