Trevor Pictures!

Trevor has been home three months and is doing very well. He is almost walking and loves to wheel his pushcart around the house. He really likes to follow Ella around and imitates whatever she is doing. He is "talking" quite a bit, loves to watch people, play outside and eat snacks!
We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family and I can't believe he is turning 1 year old!

Trevor has been home for a month now and is doing great! He's getting big, enjoying table food, "chatting" up a storm and cruising furniture with ease. He loves imitating his big sister and chasing her around the house- wherever she goes, he crawls right after her! Trevor made his first trip to the zoo and Kings Island and really did seem to enjoy people-watching. Everytime someone would smile at him, he would laugh and wave at them!

4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! We are doing well. Trevor is adjusting to his new routine and is a very smiley and cuddly little guy!

We're Home!

We are home with Trevor! It was a much easier trip to pick him up then our travels to China for Ella. He is doing well, just trying to get over jet-lag and establish a routine and schedule. Trevor is a very gentle, smiley baby and loves the be held and cuddled. He really loves watching his sister, she is starting to want to help with his diaper and feeding him.
He is also extremely active, crawling as fast as lightning, pulling up on anything and trying to cruise the furniture. The pediatrician thinks he will be an early walker as he was trying to stand by himself in the doctor's office. He loves table food, Puffs, his baby swing on the swingset and playing with his toys, although he is not overly crazy about his crib since he isn't really used to sleeping alone yet or his carseat as he is still sitting rear-facing and can't see us.
We are glad to have him home. Let us know if you would like to visit sometime.

Meeting Trevor

We traveled to Detroit, Michigan to meet Trevor and pick him up from the airport on Tuesday, June 30th. His plane was to arrive at 1:45 PM. While the plane was on time, it took another hour for him to go thru immigration with the escort from the foster care agency. We were chatting with our greeter when all of a sudden, there he was right in front of us! Wouldn't you know, the video camera stalled right as we tried to turn it on, but we did get some good pictures of the hand-off.
Trevor was very tired and jet-lagged from the long flight, not to mention the fact that it was the middle of the night in Korea. They checked his arm band and passport to make sure his name matched up and took a few pictures with the escort and that was it. Trevor came with quite a bit of luggage. Our greeter, who has been doing this for 30 years, said his foster parents sent the most stuff she had ever seen.

Once we got back to the hotel, he wanted to get down on the floor and play. For just meeting us, he was smiling and laughing quite a bit. It was obvious after unpacking all of his toys, favorite quilt and presents from his foster mother, that he was very well-taken care of and shown a lot of love and attention, for which we are so grateful. These pictures are from meeting him at the airport and the first pictures from the hotel. He was very intrigued with watching Ella.

Trevor Is Coming Home!

We were contacted by our agency late Wed. afternoon to let us know that the travel plans and escort have been arranged for Trevor, so he is ready to come home!

We'll be picking him up at the Detroit Airport on Tuesday, June 30th, which also happens to be the day he turns 9 months old. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 1:45 PM. Hopefully, he will be awake since that will actually be his "night".
We're obviously elated to finally meet our baby boy!

New Pictures and Immigration Update

We received updated pictures of Trevor several weeks ago. These were taken at 6 1/2 months old and he just turned 8 months old the other day. He is doing well, getting big, sitting and creeping on his own now. They reported that he is very smiley and likes to be played with and held.
Our U.S. immigration paperwork is completed and approved and has been forwarded on to the Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. We will now be waiting for him to receive passport and visa so he can come home!!

Big Sister!

Ella is excited to be a big sister. Not quite sure about the "sharing" part yet, but I think she'll love helping out!

What Are We Waiting On??

Trevor's legal documents arrived from Korea a few weeks ago, which we then forwarded to our local US citizenship and immigration service. The purpose is to name the child as an immediate relative of the petitioners, which would be us, so that he can obtain the necessary visa and passport to enter the country. After this is issued, we'll wait for things to be sent back to Korea. They will then start the ball rolling to prepare for travel. So, pretty much a lot of bureaucracy and waiting for paperwork at this point.

Introducing Trevor Michael Thomas!

We received a referral for a baby boy last week. Unbelievably, it came on Ella's Gotcha Day. She has now been home for 2 years- time just flies!

Our little guy just turned 6 months old and his birthday is Sept. 30th. The pictures I've included were taken at 5 months. He weighed 14.5 pounds at that time. He is currently living with a foster family and likes playing, eating, and being held. A pretty standard list of enjoyable activities for a 6 month old!! We hope to have him home in 10-14 weeks so please pray that the the process goes smoothly.
It was a very wonderful Easter blessing for our family.

South Korean Adoption

The South Korean adoption program is the oldest organized international adoption program operating in the U.S. After the Korean War, the Korean peninsula was divided into the communist country of North Korea and the country of South Korea. In 1955, international adoption began when Harry Holt was so moved by the situation regarding South Korean orphans that he and his wife Bertha began adopting children from the country. The adoptions created much media attention and brought adoption from South Korea to the forefront and, in turn, international adoption to the U.S. of children from abroad. Holt International, named after the Holt family and founded by them, is now one of the largest international adoption agencies and they operate in many countries. Holt facilitated our China adoption and brought us to Ella so we are forever grateful to them.

Children from South Korea are generally cared for by foster families before being adopted. The adoption is not finalized in South Korea as it is finalized in countries like China while you are still traveling in country with your child. The adoption will be finalized in the court system of the U.S. Adoptive families also do not need to travel to the country when meeting their child. The family is welcome to travel, but the child can also be escorted to the U.S. by a representative of the agency within Korea.