Here's the latest on the rumor roller coaster:
A family with a Dec. 5th has been told "they're in". I've also read this family was told it was "probable" they're in. Does this mean they're definitely in or does this mean Dec. 5th is the new cut-off rumor??? Stayed tuned!
P.S. There's also a rumor circulating that China is going to start referring the same amount of boys as girls. Should I take the pink bedding back???
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rumor Roller Coaster
I thought I'd take my "readers" along on the rumor roller coaster this month. When a new rumor regarding the next cut-off appears, I'll report it.
This weekend the first rumor appeared. It appears someone was told December 10th was in. This doesn't mean December 10th is the cut-off date, but it's in.
Hold on tight! Some months this ride is bumpy.
This weekend the first rumor appeared. It appears someone was told December 10th was in. This doesn't mean December 10th is the cut-off date, but it's in.
Hold on tight! Some months this ride is bumpy.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Nesting
Here's how www.thefreedictionary defines nesting:
v. nest·ed, nest·ing, nests
v.intr.
1. To build or occupy a nest.
2. To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.
3. To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs.
4. To fit together in a stack.
It's been said pregnant women, when they get to the end of the pregnancy, begin to "nest". They begin to become obsessed with organizing their home; anticipating baby's arrival. I'm here to tell you, this phenomenom relates to paper-pregnant women too. Since we've been home from vacation, I have spent every afternoon organizing parts of our home. I went to Wal-Mart twice this week and had the best time looking at all the shelves and cubbies I could buy to help organize and nest! I've given away two car loads of things to a local high school for a garage sale. BTW, Brian is 100% on board with the phenomenon. His hope is that it continues.
v. nest·ed, nest·ing, nests
v.intr.
1. To build or occupy a nest.
2. To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.
3. To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs.
4. To fit together in a stack.
It's been said pregnant women, when they get to the end of the pregnancy, begin to "nest". They begin to become obsessed with organizing their home; anticipating baby's arrival. I'm here to tell you, this phenomenom relates to paper-pregnant women too. Since we've been home from vacation, I have spent every afternoon organizing parts of our home. I went to Wal-Mart twice this week and had the best time looking at all the shelves and cubbies I could buy to help organize and nest! I've given away two car loads of things to a local high school for a garage sale. BTW, Brian is 100% on board with the phenomenon. His hope is that it continues.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Vacation Update
Without a doubt, I could be a beach bum! Last week was so relaxing and we didn't have a care in the world.
It started with an uneventful flight to Raleigh. Stephanie picked us up and took us on a tour of Duke's Cameron Stadium. We got lucky and were able to walk through the stadium while a couple of the players were practicing. We also got to go through the trophy room and got pics.
That night, after Chris was finished with soccer practice, the four of us had dinner in downtown Raleigh.
Wednesday morning it was off to the beach! The condo was fabulous and the weather was perfect. The guys spent time fishing and Stephanie and I spent time visiting with a glass of wine or two. :)
We had to leave the condo on Saturday, but made it back to their house for the LSU vs. Kentucky game. I won't go into details, but I didn't watch it with Brian and LSU is no longer the #1 team in the country.
Here's some pics of our trip:
It started with an uneventful flight to Raleigh. Stephanie picked us up and took us on a tour of Duke's Cameron Stadium. We got lucky and were able to walk through the stadium while a couple of the players were practicing. We also got to go through the trophy room and got pics.
That night, after Chris was finished with soccer practice, the four of us had dinner in downtown Raleigh.
Wednesday morning it was off to the beach! The condo was fabulous and the weather was perfect. The guys spent time fishing and Stephanie and I spent time visiting with a glass of wine or two. :)
We had to leave the condo on Saturday, but made it back to their house for the LSU vs. Kentucky game. I won't go into details, but I didn't watch it with Brian and LSU is no longer the #1 team in the country.
Here's some pics of our trip:
Steph and I are in matching shirts that have "Wait, Hope, Dream, Repeat" written on them. The words surround China with a heart in the middle. My shirt was a birthday gift from her. (BTW, today is my 29+5 birthday.)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
We're On Vacation!!!
Before I get carried away with vacation talk, here's an update on our fingerprint appointment: I mailed everything USCIS said they needed (along with a cashier's check) on Wednesday. According to the USPS web site, here's the latest on the delivery: Your item arrived at 7:51 AM on October 5, 2007 in METAIRIE, LA 70001. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later. This doesn't say it was "delivered" and I'll feel better when I see "delivered" when I track the package.
Now for vacation talk.....
We're flying out of Monroe tomorrow morning to go visit our friends in NC. We'll be spending time at Ocean Isle Beach, so we have big plans of doing a lot of nothing. We're both so excited to have some time off work. We really need the break to re-charge ourselves. I'm off to finish our packing! Pictures will be posted when we return. :)
Now for vacation talk.....
We're flying out of Monroe tomorrow morning to go visit our friends in NC. We'll be spending time at Ocean Isle Beach, so we have big plans of doing a lot of nothing. We're both so excited to have some time off work. We really need the break to re-charge ourselves. I'm off to finish our packing! Pictures will be posted when we return. :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Why I Hate Louisiana (plus referral news)
Alternate title to this post: Why You Can Be An Idiot & Work at USCIS in LA
Flashback to Sept. 2005. We begin our initial adoption paperwork. In Dec. 2005, the social worker sends our homestudy report to USCIS (aka "immigration") and we were fingerprinted by Dept. of Homeland Security. In Feb. 2006 (after waiting 9 weeks and me having to contact someone before they did their job), we finally received approval from LA's USCIS to adopt internationally. (We're basically asking for permission to bring an immigrant into the country.) We released a huge sigh of relief as our paperwork headed to China.
Fast forward to Aug. 1, 2007. Our approval and our fingerprints have expired and we have to file this paperwork again. I mail the application and our fingerprint fee and asked for another fingerprinting appointment. The fingerprint fee was returned to us (by USCIS) with the explanation we didn't have to pay the fee again since this was just a renewal. We knew the application fee would be waived and were pleasantly surprised the fingerprint fee was waived too. Good....so we thought.
Fast forward to this morning. I faxed the immigration officer (as suggested by our social worker) regarding our fingerprint appointment. We haven't received it and I sent a very friendly reminder that we really needed to be scheduled. Well, I received a call around 4:00 today stating that we had not been scheduled for fingerprinting because we didn't send the fee. What?!?!?!? We send the fee and USCIS sent it back to us!!!!!! Our paperwork has been sitting in New Orleans collecting dust because some incompetent employee (which basically includes all of USCIS) returned our money to us!!! International adoption is hard. For us, and many others, having a family is hard. Why must every step of the process be a struggle?
Our adoption agency warned us they have trouble with immigration in two states: New York and Louisiana.
Onto referral news....the cut off is Nov. 30th. Yep...5 whole days. I'm off to pour a glass of wine now.
Flashback to Sept. 2005. We begin our initial adoption paperwork. In Dec. 2005, the social worker sends our homestudy report to USCIS (aka "immigration") and we were fingerprinted by Dept. of Homeland Security. In Feb. 2006 (after waiting 9 weeks and me having to contact someone before they did their job), we finally received approval from LA's USCIS to adopt internationally. (We're basically asking for permission to bring an immigrant into the country.) We released a huge sigh of relief as our paperwork headed to China.
Fast forward to Aug. 1, 2007. Our approval and our fingerprints have expired and we have to file this paperwork again. I mail the application and our fingerprint fee and asked for another fingerprinting appointment. The fingerprint fee was returned to us (by USCIS) with the explanation we didn't have to pay the fee again since this was just a renewal. We knew the application fee would be waived and were pleasantly surprised the fingerprint fee was waived too. Good....so we thought.
Fast forward to this morning. I faxed the immigration officer (as suggested by our social worker) regarding our fingerprint appointment. We haven't received it and I sent a very friendly reminder that we really needed to be scheduled. Well, I received a call around 4:00 today stating that we had not been scheduled for fingerprinting because we didn't send the fee. What?!?!?!? We send the fee and USCIS sent it back to us!!!!!! Our paperwork has been sitting in New Orleans collecting dust because some incompetent employee (which basically includes all of USCIS) returned our money to us!!! International adoption is hard. For us, and many others, having a family is hard. Why must every step of the process be a struggle?
Our adoption agency warned us they have trouble with immigration in two states: New York and Louisiana.
Onto referral news....the cut off is Nov. 30th. Yep...5 whole days. I'm off to pour a glass of wine now.
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