Update is in the mail!

My trip to Springfield was less painful than last. I fed $.75 into the meter and sailed into the office. Just a very minor hiccup this time which means I should have no problems next time I go. I know where it is, I know the process and I know what I'm supposed to do. Yes, unfortunately there is at least one more "next time." But, hey, we can deal with that.

After visiting the Secretary of State, I marched into the closest Post Office facility I could find, only to discover they don't do packages. So instead, I practiced my Polish all the way to a familiar post office and requested Express mail again. This time, they could not guarantee delivery until Friday afternoon. I hope it gets there tomorrow, because every day counts. Christmas is going to delay things a bit, so the sooner, the better.

According to our agency, we should get the official referral within two weeks. While we wait, I will start the next wave of paperwork so it's ready to send off to USCIS as soon as possible. 

What all this means is that, barring any other paperwork delays, it seems like we'll be flying in February. I've suppressed my excitement for months, but we can see the end. And that's really exciting to us, so we may be annoying to be around :)!

USCIS approval!

We got our USCIS approval letter today! Giddy was the right word to describe me as I flipped through the mail, past the Christmas cards and catalogs to find a plump envelope from the USCIS. I immediately planned a visit to the Secretary of State's office tomorrow for another apostilling adventure. (I will take 4 quarters this time to spare myself a trip to McDonald's, if you remember last time.)

I was a bit deflated, however, when I found that I needed letters from our physician, instead of just our physical forms...which means I immediately called our doctor's office, leaving a message that we would love to have those letters ASAP. So, I am not sure when they will get done. But you better believe that as soon as I get them in my hands, I'll be burning rubber on the way to Springfield.

As soon as everything has the (literal) seal of approval, I will send it off to our agency. I am really not sure how long Step 4 will take. The entity responsible for our children must meet to formally approve us, and we don't know when they will meet again. 

Assuming they approve us, we will get a huge amount of paperwork and that will process our last (maybe) USCIS approval.

I say "maybe" because we are on a time crunch. If we don't get back to the US with our kids by 3/21/13, we need to apply for an extension from the USCIS.

Today is encouraging, so we're thankful for progress.

Update the Paperwork Process
Step one - Physicals -  DONE!
Step two - State of IL approval - DONE!
Step three - USCIS approval - DONE!
Step four - Poland approval
Step five - USCIS approval
Step six - wait 30 days before we can travel
Step seven - meet our children!

Happy Birthday!

Today, one of our children has a birthday. Of course, several weeks ago, we thought we would be celebrating there.  But we're here, and they're there.

Because we don't have an official referral, we can't send any gifts yet. And when we can send gifts, well, we probably won't go crazy. We have no idea what they have experienced as far as gifts, so we want to be conservative and not overwhelm them.

We got a letter from USCIS saying that they have received our packet. We're hoping to receive the official letter by the end of next week.

We've heard that Poland is really cold, but we have been checking this weather and it's always been very similar to ours.

Hope my next update is more exciting :).

Thankful for...

...One week down for our USCIS approval, hopefully just two to go

...friends who help us handle our wait by giving us chocolate (Mint Meltaways - yum!)

...being this far in our adoption journey

State of Illinois approval

I was so excited to get an email today that our State of Illinois approval letter was in. I picked it up and would have mailed everything off to USCIS, except no mail today :(.

So I will mail it off tomorrow. Then we expect to wait about three weeks for USCIS approval. Once we have that approval, I get to visit the Secretary of State's office for another apostilling adventure. THEN it goes to Poland.


Update the Paperwork Process
Step one - Physicals -  DONE!
Step two - State of IL approval - DONE!
Step three - USCIS approval
Step four - Poland approval
Step five - USCIS approval
Step six - wait 30 days before we can travel
Step seven - meet our children!

Still waiting (but the Thin Mints are gone)

Last time, it took the State of Illinois ten days to approve our homestudy. So a renewal? Less than that, right?

Today marks 15 days. Ugh! When I mapped out all the steps, based on my estimations of how long each would take, I thought we might be leaving in early February, Now I'm not so sure.

I really hope we get our state approval this week!

The Weighting Game

Someone left a nice little package of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies for us. I can't thank anyone for them (or for the other part of the package), because there was no name on the package. But we appreciate them very much.

Why Girl Scout cookies? Well, let's just say that when stress hits, some people start munching.

We are still waiting for the State of Illinois approval. Last week, I got an email that our approval was ready. Then I received a "recall" email. The email had been sent to the wrong people!

I have the envelope addressed and ready to go. One piece of paper needed to complete step two.