50 days

As of today we've been waiting 50 days for our file to be submitted to the Korean government.  That's about 20 days longer than we expected as families have been typically submitted one month after they were notified their file was being prepared.  The last 20 days have definitely been the hardest on me out of the last year.  It's so difficult when you have expectations of something and are so hopeful and it doesn't come true.  It feels like I've been running a race for the past 3 years and they keep moving the finish line.

I spoke with my agency last week and they said the Ministry is still accepting files and right now the issue seems to be with the Korean partner agency just being backed up with files.  I just hope by the time they are done with our file the Ministry is still accepting them and not shutting down to prepare for their move to another city. 

Anyway, once we are submitted the process takes 5-6 months so we should probably start wrapping our heads around not making it to Korea by Grant's 2nd birthday on April, 20th.  This makes me so sad. 

Auden's teacher asked us to bring in family pictures for this Friday which is "family day."  The kids are going to share and talk about all the people in their family.  I so wish we would have been submitted by now and been able to tell Auden about his brother.  It breaks my heart that Auden can't proudly share with his class that he has a little brother waiting for us in Korea.   

In happier news, my two local friends are in Korea right now awaiting custody of their sons.  Everyday we chat through facebook messaging and I'm getting great information about where to stay, where to eat, places to go with kids, etc.  I'm so happy they will finally be united with their sons and I can't wait to have playdates with them and meet their little guys when they get home.  That will make it feel like one day, eventually, Grant will come home too.