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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Grrrrrrrrrrr...........

It's amazing how quickly the headache of government paperwork has come back to haunt us. Why can't anything be easy!?!?!?!?!?! And all this headache is because of an improper left turn that Jeff made back in 2003. WHY????? The United States Immigration Services (USCIS) requires written documentation of any "legal infractions" other than parking and speeding tickets. Since "improper left turn" doesn't fall into either of those categories I've been going in circles with the local police station that issued the ticket, and also the County Court that processed the ticket. I finally made progress with the police station and they're now willing to supply a notarized letter stating that Jeff doesn't have a criminal record. I've had it with the County Court though. I was told by a very unfriendly Becky (I feel badly for anyone that has to deal with this woman!!!) that they are unwilling to supply such a letter. We went in circles for quite a while with me explaining to her that her office did provide documentation two years ago so why can't they do it again. This very kind lady, basically called me a liar and told me that they never provided such a thing. She then went on to tell me that I have the right to send in a written request for a letter and they'll see what they can do but it might take several months. MONTHS??? We're talking about an adoption here, there is no way we're waiting MONTHS for a letter confirming that my non-criminal husband isn't a criminal. Needless to say I was pretty upset after that phone call and decided to call our adoption agency and figure out what to do. Thank goodness for CHS! Apparently the county I've been dealing with is notorious for giving people a hard time and instead of fighting with them any longer, I should just document the conversation I had with my new friend Becky and send that into USCIS. I guess the moral of my little story is to not make improper left turns into grocery store parking lots....they come back to haunt you!!! End of vent.....

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

We're expecting a baby!!!!

Yes, it's true....we've jumped back on the emotional roller coaster of adoption and we're ready to share our exciting news with the world!!! Our official paperwork is now in the right hands which means the process is out of our control at this point. Now the waiting begins. It really seems like just yesterday that we were waiting and waiting and waiting for Graham's referral. Then, we waited and waited and waited for his visa so we could bring him home. Now, we find ourselves waiting and waiting and waiting again-this time we're waiting for our little girl, our daughter and Graham's sister, to make herself known to us.

Here's what we know right now. The wait for a little girl is LONG! We've been told it could be a year before we receive our referral. I guess that means my "pregnancy" will be approximately 12 months long! It really does seem like an eternity, but we learned during our first adoption process that good, no GREAT, things really do come to those that wait. So, we wait.

I feel like I have a different perspective heading into the process this time. We know the "ins and outs" of the system, we know the right questions to ask and where to direct them, and most importantly we know that ice cream is the best fix on days when the process is emotionally draining. We experienced the lowest of lows and the highest of highs while waiting for Graham, and we've got our fingers crossed that the process is a bit smoother this time. Thankfully, the adoption laws have recently changed in Korea and won't be changing again anytime soon, so there shouldn't be any major delays in the process like we previously experienced. With any luck, next year about this time we should be able to announce that Graham is a big brother!

Welcome to our journey and hold on for the ride!!!


Children's Home Society and Family Services in St. Paul, MN....where the magic happens!!!



Sunday, May 4, 2008

Paperwork Sunday!








In order to get our process moving along, we made the decision a few weeks ago that today was paperwork day. Unfortunately, our stack of paperwork isn't any shorter this time around, so we knew we needed several hours to just sit down and get it done. It doesn't get any better than sitting inside on a beautiful spring day answering questions (for the second time) relating to culture and our parenting styles! We've got a weight lifted off our shoulders now though, because our application is done, done, done! WOO HOO!!! Perhaps you even heard our shouts of joy from Eden Prairie about 4:00 this afternoon! As part of our application all three of us are required to have physicals. Jeff and Graham have already had their appointments but for some reason my doctor was backed up, so we've got to wait 2 more weeks for my appointment before we can officially hand everything in. I'm still in shock-we're going to have a baby!!!!