Nothing But Craziness and Joy Around Here...

But how is that different than any other day?!


I800 Approval!!!!


On Friday, after Immigration telling us it would be another week of waiting for our officer to look at our i800, Matt emailed Senator Inhofe's office and asked if anyone could help us.  He got a response right away--of course, I am sure it didn't hurt that Matt attached a photo of Luka and an explanation of his medical issues.  They immediately emailed Immigration an informal inquiry as to the delay and then asked Matt to forward Luka's medical records with specific references to the Poland physician's recommendations for immediate care so they could make a more formal inquiry.  Which meant I spent a frantic hour and a half cross referencing and summarizing.


Just after I finished emailing Matt my summary and the pertinent records, he forwarded me an email he was cc'd on from Immigration to the gentleman in Mr. Inhofe's office.  The email stated that they couldn't expedite i800s because they already took priority over all other requests "however, the good news is, that this case was provisionally approved yesterday (5/31/2012).  The notice would have gone out with this morning's mail."


Now, I called 5/31/2012 and was told it hadn't made it to the officer's desk.  But, it's done and that's what counts.  I have an "internet" friend on an adoption board who filed her i800 on 5/16 (two days before us) and as of today her's has still not made it to her officer's desk.  I am convinced I have the gentleman in Senator Inhofe's office to thank.  Who knew a politician would actually be helpful?  So grateful.


We received the Approval Notice today!


Travel Dates Confirmed


We learned that we are expected in Poland on June 22 for Court--as long as the Article 5 is issued by the Consulate as expected within the next two weeks.  Our agency contact in Poland sent us apartment rental options and we have been debating.  At least we now know that Matt will return the weekend of July 6 and I will return on August 6.


New Issues


While looking at the State Department's travel information for Poland this weekend I discovered that our passports must be valid for 3 months after our expected return date.  When we started this When we started this process in December, we never thought that my passport's expiration of October 20, 2012, would be an issue. However, the process being unpredictably long, we now find that my expected return date (Aug 6, 2012) will make my passport valid only approximately 2.5 months past our stay in Poland.


I spent all day trying to figure out how to get my passport renewed before our estimated travel departure date of June 20.  I called our friend in Senator Inhofe's office who said that if I overnighted it today, he would be happy to call on Thursday and see if they can help push it through (wow!) but that it may or may not work--they've been able to sometimes and unsuccessful others.


I rushed down to the tag agency by Matt's office to get my photo taken.  Matt came down to the car and sat with the kids while I ran in for the photo and then we all had lunch together at The Thai Kitchen (for those of you who don't know it, it's a great place with little air conditioning, cramped and few tables but great food).


And one of my many heroes at Matt's office, Rachel Harrison, shipped my renewal application overnight with return envelope.


Fingers crossed that it gets back in time. Oh, and it is the WORST passport photo EVER.


Airfare Purchased and Other Matters Settled


I spent all day trying to work out the best airfare and negotiating so that when we bought Matt's ticket with our credit card reward points through their site, I would be able to get the same departure flight on Travelocity.  It worked--and WE ARE BOOKED!!!!!!  The best part will be when I book Luka's flight tomorrow.


And, once we saw what the price of tickets had become as we approached the two week out marker, we decided that taking Iain and Learned as planned is not going to the best idea.  So, two of my other heroes (our babysitter, Erin, and my mom) have agreed to help out those two weeks Matt is still in Poland with me and then Erin will take care of all of the kids during the day while Matt works.  And we will work out some additional assistance for Erin and my Mom.


Last Worries


Now I just have to worry about my passport getting back and the Consulate issuing the Article 5 in time.


And cleaning my house good before we leave.


And that my kids don't forget me and stop loving me.  :-(  Or grow up too much with out me.