Sleep and pain

So, I need some prayer. I have not had a good night sleep for a week. The boys are taking turns waking in the middle of the night and I struggle to fall back asleep once they're taken care of. On top of these restless nights I am having some pretty intense pain in my hip. I have realized that I usually sleep on my back with my left leg pulled up and bent but laying down. This opens up my hip and it's causing the pain when I sit or lay down. I am trying to fix this problem so that when I have to sit on a plane for 24 hours I won't be in so much pain. So, please pray that through my Chiropratic adjustments and trying to get out of this sleep habit my hip will get back to normal and won't affect my sleep or the trip. Thanks!

"To-Do" and "Finished" lists

Done:

>tickets booked
>accommodations booked
>pets are covered
>mail is covered
>groceries for My brother's family (where our boys are staying)
>prescriptions are filled

To-Do

>Pick up prescriptions
>organize documents
>call insurance company about what name they'll use for Judah's coverage
>call pediatrician's office to give correct name
>finish setting up child care for Andrea
>clean house
>laundry
>pack our 4 suitcases and 4 carry-ons
>get someone to clean the church for us
>get tons of cash from the bank
>get another car seat
>get J's mattress from friends
>get passport/money belt from friends
>pick up Beth Moore book from the bookstore
>finish play lists for ipods

Check the blog

So, in my last post I mentioned that if you want to be on our email list to let me know. I realized that could get complicated. I will try to send out email updates BUT please don't bank on keeping updated through email. I will, however, be updating this blog first and foremost so if you want to know what's going on, check the blog. :-)

Tickets are booked!

We have paid for our tickets so this is it! We are flying out of Grand Junction in the morning on Saturday the 30th and we'll be getting back on Saturday the 6th of February. We have a lot to get done between now and then and we still are both in shock and it's so over whelming. If you're interested in meeting us at the airport when we arrive let us now and we'll try to remember to put you on an email list. :-) No promises.

I get to meet my son SOON!! AHHHH!

No more delays. . .PRAISE the LORD!!

We found out today that we got the February 2nd embassy date and we will be leaving in a week and a half! It's been quite an emotional day. I couldn't stop crying with excitement over the fact that I will be holding my son in less then two weeks! AHH! I have a hard time describing the emotion I have been feeling today. It's over whelming but in a good way. :-) Dave is in communication with a travel agency and we're working on plane tickets. We will most likely be leaving on the 29th and returning on the 6th. I've been reading "gotcha" stories (when families meet their kids for the first time and forever) on the BCS discussion boards. It's such a beautiful thing and always makes me cry. I know there is so much to get done in the next 10 days but today I am just trying to let it soak in and become a reality.

Not the best news

The USCIS refused to expedite our immigration approval onto the National Visa Center however they did go ahead and finish it at their office today. They will be mailing their approval via snail mail to us and the NVC on the east coast (hopefully, they mailed it out today). The NVC will take up to a week to get everything set for J to get his visa in Ethiopia so he can come home. Once we have that approval letter in our hand we need to fax it onto the national BCS office and it's up to them whether or not they will proceed to get us an embassy appointment set without knowing for sure the National Visa Center is done. The risk is that we could end up in Ethiopia waiting on them to approve us and get J his visa home. At this point, Dave and I are willing to take that risk knowing that they only need about a week and if we get a embassy date set it may not be for two weeks. Anyway, now we wait for this letter to come in the mail. If they sent it today from the other side of the mountains there's a chance we could get it tomorrow but then with the holiday on Monday, BCS won't touch it until Tuesday. Please say a prayer that things will move quickly after the weekend. We're ready to go. . .

Another update

Just talked to Dave and he said that the woman at a congressman's office said that USCIS is waiting on a new copy of the home study that shows we can adopt an older child. Bonnie with our agency said she over-nighted it over a week ago. Yet, They don't have it. So, Bonnie emailed them a copy of it today but it's not a signed copy. So, to cover our bases Dave called the CO branch of BCS to get them to fax a signed copy. I am hopeful that things could be moving along quickly by tomorrow. This is exciting and nerve wracking and overwhelming. I think the Lord's really been in this because I wonder how long USCIS would have waited for the home study copy that BCS supposedly sent. It's a good thing Dave called the congressman's office!

our congressman and travel prep

So, Dave made the call to our Congressman and they are ON IT! I don't know what the status is as Dave's busy at work and we haven't communitated a ton today. I hope they call him back to let him know what they found out. Like I said before, I hope the letter's in the mail today and that this was merely over-kill. I think it's neat that they're sensitive about adoption and wanted to take the time to help us. It's all we can do now so we conintue to wait.

I spend a good portion of my day making a chart of departures and arrivals and prices of tickets. After all was done I realized I hadn't checked those many flights for how many stops they made. Many of them, looking back, made up to two stops just from Washing DC to Addis Ababa. Ugh! That's 4 layovers total. Insane! So, I gave up. We need to just wait until we know for sure when we're going and then let a travel agent do their job. I got excited about some cheaper tickets then very disappointed with all the layovers. So, I quit.

Overview and Update

In April of last year we got our letter of approval from US Citizen and Immigration services to adopt a child up to two years old. In Oct. we accepted a referral for an older boy. We had a court date in Ethiopia in Dec. and were approved to adopt him. After that our agency was going to send in a new request to USCIS to get approved for a child up to 5. After the court date there was a lot of things they needed to get done in Ethiopia as well, like getting our son's medical tests done, getting his Birth certificate etc. Well, 3 weeks after the court date had passed our agency emailed appoligizing that there had been a misscommunication within two of their branches and the USCIS request hadn't been sent.

As of today, everything is ready in Ethiopia and we're merely waiting on the USCIS approval. So, our agency's mistake is what is holding us up. :-( We got an email from an agency worker suggesting that we contact our Colorado State Representative asking them to contact USCIS on our behalf. Dave is working on this now. They said they will contact USCIS for us but are looking for our case number which we do not have. So, once Dave can track down that number the congressman's office will get in touch with USCIS.

Our prayer is that this is all unnecessary and that the letter of approval will be in our mail box today. As soon as we have that letter our agency will contact the embassy in Ethiopia and set up an appointment for us. We're praying it will be Feb. 2nd as another Colorado family just got an ebassy appointment on that date and it would be wonderful to be there the same time as a CO. family.

If we get the Feb. 2nd embassy date then we will most likely be leaving on Jan. 30th. Please pray!

the delay update

As you know, our adoption agency submitted our request with USCIS later then they should have. We just got this email from our contact with our agency.

I did everything I could last week - and you did your part. They (US Citizen Immigration Services)do not process Orphan Cases every day. They have certain days set aside for Orphan Processing. They also do not usually notify me when a they complete something for a family. I did request that they do notify me. You will probably know of your approval first. You will receive it in the mail. Your I-171H is current, it just does not show approval for an older child.
You will receive a revised I-171H showing the extended age.

Ethiopian Calendar

Because Ethiopia follows the Orthodox Christian calendar, Christmas is on January 7 every year except during a leap year when Christmas is celebrated on January 8. The Ethiopian calendar year is on September 11 each year (our son's birthday). Gregorian calendar, which most of the world follow, runs approximately 7 years ahead of the Orthodox Christian Calendar. The Orthodox calendar year 2003 will begin September 11, 2010 on the Gregorian calendar.

Families traveling

Three BCS families got their embassy dates for January 21st. Two of them are leaving on the 15th and one on the 18th. The crazy thing is that they only found out a few days ago. The two families who are leaving on the 15th found out 8 days before they are leaving. It happens so fast!! I am very excited for them all!! Pray for them to have safe travels.

We could be next. . .