We're already in November!

It's November! Chilly weather has officially set in, but it's still lovely. Our family has been quite busy. There have been Halloween festivities (more than I think we've ever done in any country!). Piles of candy in the apartment right now. Lucas had a major Halloween event at school, my school had Halloween festivities that consumed all my energy on the 31st, and yesterday we participated in a Halloween party for expat families in our area which was a ton of fun.

Performing with his classmates

Lucas and Daddy with the massive bag of candy loot

My costume at school

Lucas is Iron Man War Machine! Carlos worked to make it look extra cool

Two little superheroes decorating mandarin oranges with Jack-o-Lantern faces

Demolishing the remains of the Halloween piñata

Baby - We're at 34 weeks. Time is flying. Still no name picked out, but we're getting closer to figuring something out. I'm very grateful that this has been a healthy pregnancy. Although I don't particularly enjoy being pregnant, I have no major complaints, other than the massive belly that is making overall movement difficult. Also, the daily fatigue is building and it's getting increasingly more difficult to sustain the energy I need to make it through a day of teaching middle-schoolers. If you're praying for us, please pray that I can find that stamina and the energy to still be an effective participant of my household at the end of the day, too!

Immigration - I'm not comfortable sharing the details publicly yet, but we are in the midst of a new attempt at a US visa for Carlos, and at this point we're about to embark on a brand new stage of the fight. At the same time, DHS is currently working on revising its policy for applying the false claim of citizenship ban to people who were minors at the time. This has the potential to impact us dramatically and perhaps even bring Carlos back to the US by next fall.  Again, for those who pray, pray that this policy change will include us and that the path for advancing forward will be smooth. The thought of being back in the US with friends and family (And Chicago-style food! And a family-sized apartment! And a car!!!), with Lucas and Baby getting to regularly see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin, great-grandparents, and everyone else again is extremely exciting!

Finally, I've added a "Resources" page to the top bar of the blog. I've gotten a lot of emails from people in various situations, some battling US immigration, some contemplating moving their family to Korea, some mixing both. I've tried to address some of the questions I get by putting links and information on that page. I feel bad because I haven't been great at responding to all of those emails, but I hope that some of what I posted will help point you in the right direction until I get a chance to personally respond.