Inching toward the goal

We had Baby J over the weekend and - WOW! - he is a precious little blessing. Those big, brown, long-lashed eyes are so beautiful. So many things to love about him.

Today we got our letters that USCIS received our paperwork. Last time it took 21 days to get our approval, so maybe we'll hear something on March 7 or earlier. Although I am hoping for an approval, I really am expecting that we are NOT going to be approved until the paperwork is fixed.

Our approval and fingerprints also expire on March 21, so I need to send in our re-file information tomorrow. I should have done it before, but I forgot about it with all the other things we had going on. In any event, we have to get the fingerprints done before we travel so we need to speedily comply with all the paperwork.

Assuming we might be approved, we are just weeks away from leaving.

A writing lesson (and there has to be another lesson in here somewhere)

Update the Paperwork Process
Step one - Physicals -  DONE!
Step two - State of IL approval - DONE!
Step three - USCIS approval - DONE!
Step four - Poland approval - DONE!

Step four a - Send the paperwork to USCIS - En route

Step four b - Nervously await USCIS response - ordered stomach ulcer medication
Step five - USCIS approval
Step six - wait 30 days before we can travel
Step seven - meet our children!

When writing, you're supposed to minimize the "extras." Things like quotes, italics, and bold font should be used sparingly. If you use them too much, their effect is somewhat minimized. Read on for a demonstration of what I mean.

We got an email today. "Someone" is being "difficult." He/she does not want to fix the paperwork that is incorrect. I (Lisa) tried to follow along with the situation, but it's complicated. I can see why the certain "someone" does not want to correct it, because it's not a simple "oh-I-put-the-wrong-date-of-birth down" kind of thing. And another "someone" has tried to get the first "someone" to fix it for weeks. He/she gave up. The paperwork really should be corrected. But do we wait forever to get it done? Our agency is ready to at least try for approval.

So we are going to send the paperwork in as is. One of two things will happen: either we will be approved, even with the discrepancy OR they won't approve it until the paperwork is fixed. So we're hoping to get approved as is. We should find out within 4 weeks. 

There has to be a lesson in here somewhere but we aren't sure what it is. This is a situation in which we have no control. Even in our disappointment and questions, we feel renewed by the prayers of friends and family to tackle the next few weeks. Thank you for helping us!

Another memory, another day without them

The longer we wait, the harder this gets. At first (and by at first, I mean while we were still doing the paperwork - months ago), I'd heard about people waiting to get their kids and how difficult it was. The weight they lost. The tears they shed. I have to admit thinking, well, there is nothing you can do about it. Stay busy and it will happen eventually.

Now I know. It's hard to wait. I probably won't lose any weight...only water weight. If we don't get this paperwork in the next two weeks, we'll most likely miss my sister's wedding. I'm so disappointed about that. But even more than that, we have missed out on so much of their lives already. Each day that goes by is a yet another day that we make our own memories...without them.

Sometimes we misunderstand the information and I found out yesterday that they have not been told about us. They have not seen our photobooks. They have only been being prepared for adoption in general. This makes me feel better because now I know they aren't wondering what is taking us so long. Also, English lessons have been started one hour per week. We're trying to get that extended.

New Pictures!

We were so grateful to get some new pictures of our precious children today. They have changed since our last pictures, for sure. We scrutinized the new ones to see if we could see hints of their personalities or how they are doing with the huge changes coming to their lives.

Anyway, nothing new, but new pictures were definitely a bright spot in this long stretch of waiting.

The reason for waiting

That paperwork we're waiting on? I found out today that it still isn't done.  We also found out that it's at square one, meaning that it hasn't been done at all. Our contact over there has been "putting the pressure on" to get it done, but can't do much more than that.

Patience. We must have some left, yes? I keep looking for the silver lining in this wait, but really, the ones I come up with are all about us (finish the semester without a sub, get to do most of the planting season, Springtime in Poland will be great!, etc.). Frankly, though, I just keep thinking of the children and from their perspective this doesn't make sense. I hope they know we will jump on a plane the minute we're able, that this wait has nothing to do with them.

So can you pray for us? Pray that our paperwork can get done as soon as possible. Pray that we can be patient and wait on the Lord. Pray that our kids understand what's happening.

Thanks!