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.

Patience

Still no i800a approval.  In fact, our application has still not been assigned to a case officer.  I know because I have called the designated Hague adoption line once a week since we received notice that our paperwork was received by USCIS on February 7.  I can't help myself.  So, today is one month from being in USCIS' hands without so much as a once over glance by an officer.  It's also one month past Luka's first birthday and it's my birthday.  Learning patience.

Very difficult, this patience thing.  Especially since I sent a letter with the application requesting a "medical need expedite" with a picture of Luka and explanation of his many issues.  Today, I was told that it had to be a life or death situation to get the medical expedite.  I guess the fused cranial bones threatening Luka with brain damage and the missing cranial bones that leave his tiny brain unprotected in some areas of his head are not such a big deal--they won't kill him (right now) so any permanent damage deserves no consideration.

The lady I spoke to said that most of the kids coming through the process have medical issues so they can't give an expedite to everyone.  I guess I feel like if that's the case it shouldn't take more than a month to process anyone's application.  It truly is a matter of simply verifying documents and fingerprint searches already conducted by the FBI.

Sometimes I get so worried about the length of each step and how much further out that puts Luka from being in the waiting, loving and eager arms of 6 Kanes, from being seen by medical experts AND how much longer it keeps him in the institution.

1. One month (looks like maybe 2) for the i800a approval.
2. Then three weeks for all of our paperwork with i800a approval to be sent to Poland and translated.
3. Three weeks for Poland Adoption Authority to review paperwork and send our "official referral".
4. Three weeks or so after our acceptance reaches Poland for a court date to be set to grant us permission to meet Luka and bond for two weeks.
5. A month for permission to travel and start that two week bonding period.
6. Two weeks later, court date to finalize adoption.
7. Two to three weeks for appeal period--I wait in Poland with Luka and the other kids for this period to end.
8. One week to get Luka's Visa and immigration/citizen paperwork from US Consulate in Warsaw.

Seems insurmountable.  Now that I have listed it out, I am desperately trying to keep myself from looking back up at the list or I will hyperventilate.  Just focusing on the i800a is enough drive up the blood pressure.

The one reprieve we have is that when I emailed our agency today about the status of our i800a, she told us she can go ahead and send our dossier to their representative in Poland to start the translation so it is ready to go to the Poland Adoption Authority when we do get the approval.  She's double checking and will let us know when she hears.  This could shave two to three weeks off the process.

But you can bet I'll be calling USCIS next Wednesday!

USCIS I-800A FedEx'd! And a Minor Tangent

     After finishing our home study (hooray, we were approved as acceptable adoptive parents!), the next step was to fill out and submit the USCIS I-800A "Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country" with all of the necessary supporting documents: home study, copy of marriage license, copy of birth certificates.  Oh, and our agency recommended including a photo of Luka and a summary of his medical issues in the cover letter with a request that they expedite the application so he can come home and get treatment as soon as possible.

    I put off getting the photos printed and finally did it today with 1-hour development.  In order to be fully honest, I have to say I delayed because I was reluctant to expose Luka to any kind of stares or comments, even from the photo developer at Walgreens.  We are all mad about him but we are not so silly to think that he won't get second glances, averted eyes or uncomfortable shifting in weight when he's here and out in public.  Even the looks of pity will be bad enough.  That is the part of parenting Luka that I fear for him and will break my heart.  I'm already a mother and I know how much it hurts me when my other kids' feelings are hurt no matter what the silly reason (ex. Iain tells Millie she's a meanie and it's a flood of tears).

    Of course, we want him to go out in public proud and to heck with what anyone else thinks.  We will model that attitude ourselves but I know it will be hard to mask those feelings and always respond with light and airy answers to ignorantly hurtful questions.  But, as Matt is always reminding me, "What? Would you rather he avoid it all and stay hidden away in an institution his whole life?"

Ok, Back to the I-800A- 
     Filling that form out itself wasn't hard but I'll be honest with you--every time I looked at it and went through my supporting documents, I was sure I had something wrong and found myself totally confused.  I'm pretty sure I did it right and I was determined that it go out today.   Thanks to the help of Rachel at Matt's office, one of the most amazing paralegals on the planet, I did it!  And it will be delivered to USCIS tomorrow, February 7, 2012.  Luka's 1st birthday.

    Send us some prays, good thoughts, meditation vibes, or whatever your belief system allows our way that  the USCIS has mercy on us and expedites our application!