Stinkin' Medical Forms

Ok, I have to vent a little so that I don't cry....

On February 9th, we had our medical forms for our adoption completed by our doctor. I found out earlier this week that the form had an error on it. Not MY error or the doctor's error, an error on the form that the Ukrainian government gave us. But, even though it was THEIR error on THEIR form, they would not accept it until it was redone.

So, on Tuesday morning, I dropped off the new forms with very specific, written instructions to our doctor's office. Here were the instructions, let's see if you could follow them (keep in mind they had already done this for me about 2 weeks earlier):

1. Copy the forms onto your letterhead.

2. Complete the forms.

3. Date the forms with today's date.

4. Finally, have the forms notarized.

Seems simple enough right. I thought so too, but apparently not. What they actually did was complete the forms and THEN copied them onto letterhead. So, instead of having an original signature on the letterhead, I have a copy of a signature on letterhead. What person with a high school education thinks that is appropriate? What government agency is going to accept a piece of paper that only has a copy of a signature on it?

We Got It!

We received our Immigration approval today!!!! Wow, only three weeks. It took 5 months when we adopted Xan. All of our paperwork should arrive in Ukraine by the March 9th deadline.

DSS:
mailed 01/06/10
Approved - 01/29/10

Dept. of Homeland Security:
mailed - 01/29/10
Approved - 02/17/10

Dossier Completed - 2/24/10

Ukrainian Government:
mailed - TBA
Approved - TBA

Travel Date - TBA

Snow...Yes! Snowman...No!

Bucky did get further along in the snowman making process than my mom did, but we left our eyes off of Brennan just a second too long, and SMASH, there went the snowman. Oh well, maybe next year. The kids really enjoyed the snow and played outside for nearly an hour. Bucky and I enjoyed being outside with them.

Xan liked to lick the snow. He's weird, but he's mine!

"I'm gonna get you mom" is written all over his face.

I love how after a snow, God paints the sky a beautiful blue. It makes the snow seem even whiter.

Dossier Complete...almost

We are still waiting on our Immigration approval, but all the documents that I am in control of are complete! YAY! If you have adopted, you know what a RELIEF this is. The dossier can be the most time consuming, frustrating part of the adoption process (being fingerprinted a million times comes in a close second).

It will truly be a "God thing" if our Immigration approval arrives in time for all of our paperwork to be in Ukraine by March 9th. So, I am just sitting back and waiting to see what God does. Ugh...waiting...it is a necessary part of life.

Adopted for Life . . . and in Death

I would encourage you to go and read Dr. Mohler's blog entry about a Haitian orphan...

Adopted for Life . . . and in Death

Adoption Update

Our home study was registered with the Ukrainian government earlier this week. They requested we have all of your dossier documents in Ukraine by March 9th. YIKES!!! That is exciting and stressful all at the same time. I have so much work to do before the end of the month. We could actually have a travel date by the end of March if all continues to go well.

I thought I was doing pretty well with all the stress...that was until this week. I have had three migraines this week. The migraine I had last night got so bad that I threw up. YUCK!! I don't think I will be able to eat Wendy's for some time :-) And on top of the migraines, my intestines are rebelling as well. I may loose 10 pounds this week. Just kidding, but I did loose two pounds yesterday. Not the way I want to loose weight, but I'll take it.

So here is timeline stuff:

DSS:
mailed 01/06/10
Approved - 01/29/10

Dept. of Homeland Security:
mailed - 01/29/10
Approved - TBA

Dossier Completed - Currently working on collecting all these documents.

Ukrainian Government:
mailed - TBA
Approved - TBA

Travel Date - TBA

Things are moving and I am SUPER excited!

Rocky top, you'll always be...

home sweet home to me! The boys and I spent last week with my mom in Tennessee while daddy was gone to Bulgria. Anytime we pass by the Tennessee state sign Rocky Top always comes to mind. On Thursday, we took the kids to the Tennessee Aquarium (if you are ever in Chattanooga, you should check it out!) and then to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

Checking out the beautiful fish in one of the salt water tanks.

The penguin's are always a BLAST to watch. You can see one swimming right above Brennan's head.

Xan is saying, "Whoa". See the butterfly on the finger.

My kids LOVE their Grandmommy!

After the Aquarium, we got on the electric bus and road to the Choo-Choo. The boys really liked riding on the public transportation and seeing a real steam engine...

Then on Friday, IT SNOWED!!! The forecast was calling for a rain/snow mix, but what we got was 4 inches of beautiful, fluffy, white snow. We even got to enjoy some snow cream. Yummy! The boys had a blast in the snow.

We went out and played right after lunch and then put the boys down for a nap. By the time they woke up, another 2 inches of snow had fallen and you couldn't even see where we had played before. My mom tried to make a snow man, but every time she would get the bottom complete, Brennan would come and tackle it, wrestle it, and smash it to the ground. He is sooo WILD!