Court Dates!

Natalie from our adoption agency called us today to tell us we already have court dates for the next court season, after the rainy season closures.

Our first date is October 4th (Chris's birthday!); we don't appear for this one. The ministry of the Ethiopian goverment that oversees adoptions will issue an opinion or request more information, and L's family member must appear to relinquish rights.

If all goes well, our court date in which we will appear to legally become L's parents is scheduled for October 14th. We will have to be in Addis on the 10th and leave on the 17th (my birthday is the 11th!). There is still a chance this second trip could be delayed. But I'm so excited to have a concrete date to look forward to!!!!

If you're a family traveling the same week, e-mail me! DMichelC at aol dot com.

P.S. Once we pass court, we will travel 2-6 weeks later to bring L home.

The Court Date Wait

Sorry I haven't had much to post lately. We're still just waiting for a court date. I've been hopeful that we will get a court date before the closures, but I realize it's July 1st and it's less likely that's going to happen as each day passes. I'm really okay either way (at least today, ha!). Surely we will at least have a court date within the next four months, right?

A little part of me hoped we would get our court date this week. We got our referrals for our boys on the same day, so I hoped we would get the court date calls on the same day also (June 28). We didn't ever get to have our first court date (July 22), though, because of some closures. We found out about our second court date on July 14 (August 7th court date), so maybe there's still hope.

A year ago we were praying for Myles's court date, and the same prayer requests hold true today:

1. That we will be assigned a court date, and fast!
2. That all of the paperwork will be in order, that there's electricity, that all the judges are present, and that all of those other little details will fall into place so we can pass court on the first try and before rainy season.
3. That God will give us peace and comfort if we have to wait a little longer and that the waiting flies by.
4. That L will stay healthy and strong while he waits for us to come get him.

A couple weeks ago we got to meet Amy Curtis, our post-adoption coordinator at Gladney. It was so great to meet a Gladney staffer in person since we're all the way in Tennessee! Amy was wonderful and a great resource for us. She has met L, so she was able to thoroughly prepare us for some issues we may have when he gets home. We are so thankful to have her!

Happy Referral Day!

June 3rd is apparently a big day in the Hollomon family.

Yesterday was busy and stressful, as we took Myles to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to be circumcised. Because he's older, he had to be put under general anesthesia, which was scary for me. The surgeon assured us most boys his age do extremely well and are up and about within 24 hours as if nothing ever happened. The surgery went well, although Myles had a rough time post-op. After a long nap and his first meal of the day, he was doing so much better.

While Myles was napping, I took a nap also and missed a call from our caseworker. So she called Chris, and we found out she had our official referral for L! We got to know more about him and see new pictures. He's getting so grown-up looking! I can't wait to show you.

A little while later, I got a text from my friend Nancy, who reminded me that June 3rd was also the day we got our referral for Myles. Isn't that amazing?!? In all the craziness leading up to his surgery, it had completely slipped my mind.

So on June 3, 2009, we saw this little 2.5-month-old face for the first time.



And on June 3, 2010, we said yes to L.

Praying for a quick court date!

Quick Pics

www.alisonbynum.com

Myles: A Minute

M is the most expressive kid, and it is so hilarious!

At My Wit's End!

Please pray for me because I am losing it.

We’re having some issues with our local USCIS (citizen and immigration) office, and I’m beyond frustrated. I know not everyone who reads this has adopted, so I’ll try to explain it as best I can.

We submitted our I-600A, which is an application to bring an orphan into the country, in early January. As part of this, you have to be fingerprinted. In our previous experience, they send the fingerprinting appointment soon after they receive your application. More than two months went by and we still hadn’t received our fingerprinting appointment. This was my first sign that something was wrong. So I e-mailed our CIS office to ask about it. They said they were waiting to receive our home study because they couldn’t tell from our application whether we wanted an extension for Myles’s application or if it was a new application. I clarified that this was a new application, and they sent our fingerprinting appointments. Then we were fingerprinted and our home study was sent.

I e-mailed our CIS office again to make sure they were clear that second I-600A application was a new one, since they were confused before. I waited two weeks for a response and didn’t get one. Frustrated, I contacted our senator’s office to see if they could intervene.

In the meantime, our CIS office sent a receipt for our second application (three months later), but it had the same case number as Myles’s application. Another big red flag!

The senator’s office received a response from our CIS office saying they were reviewing our case this week (YAY!), but they said we were asking for an extension for Myles (NO!). If they would read our home study, they would see that Myles has been home for seven months!

I’m at my wit’s end! I don’t know any other ways to communicate that Myles is home and we’re asking to bring another child home. Please pray for my sanity :) and for this to be resolved quickly.

Adoption Brain, Part 2

Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote this little ditty. Although we don't technically have to go on the wait list this time, I'm experiencing many of the same symptoms as we WAIT. AND WAIT. AND WAIT. for our USCIS approval. Seriously, we still technically have a current approval! Myles's hasn't expired yet. Please just give us our clearance so we can tell our sweet 11-year-old he's getting a family and bring him home!

Ugh. Rant over.