Got Zac's US Visa!

Kevin walked downstairs and picked up Isaac's visa at work today.
Woo Hoo. Now I can concentrate on being Zac's mom instead of worrying about paperwork and deadlines.
We officially finished this process two days before we fly out to our next post.
I knew it would come close, but I had no idea HOW CLOSE.
See, we aren't like most families. We couldn't stay here indefinitely due to my husband's job. We knew that, of course, which is why we have been pushing things at every step of the way.

I've said it many times before, but I think when we leave here and aren't under all this adoption-stress, that life will be much different. And then we'll look back and think, "Gosh, look what God did. This is crazy!"

I'm trying to put together another video of Zac of all his sweet little pictures. Things are crazy right now since we fly out in two days. But hopefully I can get to it soon.

I would like to keep my blog up, for future adopting families to see the timeline. I probably won't write too much more, though. Will take a while to decompress I think...

It's been quite a journey. I got a Word from the Lord a while back that we would adopt an Asian girl, and I told him, "This Kenya Hague adoption exhausted me and depleted me completely. If you want us to adopt again, you are going to have to drop her in our lap..."  So we'll see...

If A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

GOT ISAAC'S KENYAN PASSPORT!

It's in my hands today. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Our U.S. Visa appointment is tomorrow at 9am.
I'm out of words to say. Relieved beyond comprehension.

Yesterday.

So on Thursday we paid a courier friend to file Isaac's passport. About an hour later he called to say the application was approved, and that we need to bring Isaac down for digital photos. Well THAT wasn't in my day plans, ESP since I was shopping at the time. LOL! I whined and complained about it until Kevin agreed to take off work and go Downtown in a taxi with Zac. They were gone several hours but everything was done without any problems. Immigration is supposed to be ready with the passport on Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Ahhhhhh!

Sent from my iPod

Filing for Passport tomorrow.

Kevin picked up our COC today! Acquired certified copies of all our docs. And couriered over our passport application to our attorney so she could sign it as the Recommender. 
Will courier it back here tomorrow morning. And then we hired a consultant/courier (our friend) to file the application for us. We hope it takes only a week...but Immigration says could be up to 14 days. And so we keep praying! 
Woo hoo!!!! 

Sent from my iPod

Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!

Just called the NAC.
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!

And it's only been 5 working days, not 7. Yeh, now on to the passport stage!!!!!!!!

Second Day of Medicals at IOM

The only thing I can say about this portion is...bring your patience. Lots of folks waiting in lines at the medical portion. But you also have to SPEAK up, don't just sit there and wait for them to call your name. Because you are probably standing in the wrong line because no one told you where to go. So ask. Ask reception exactly where you are supposed to go and exactly what you are supposed to do.
Then when you get there, make sure they know you are there and make sure you are in the right place.
At one point there were about 70 people congregated outside the Vaccination Room. So when I walked up, I sort of got everyone's attention and directed everyone how to form lines...I mean, how else do we know what's going on and who is next?? Sometimes I hate my loud, boisterous personality but then I realize this adoption wouldn't have happened without it...

LAN is Being Awesome!

Yesterday my husband called LAN to request certified copies of Isaac's (original) birth certificates, and today a courier brought them to our door.
Talk about efficient! I am very impressed with LAN right now!

I spent this morning at the IOM's office here in Gigiri. Sat in a room with a hundred other folks awaiting our medical exams. This portion is needed for the US Visa.
Part 2 of the medicals will be on Monday. We go back to have his TB test read, get a flu shot (against my arguments because I don't do those for my kids), and have a complete physical.

Got the Certificate in Hand! I. Am. Happy. Right. Now.

After trekking to the Registrar's Office for two days in a row, I am happy to announce my husband was able to get the Adoption Certificate. Once he had it in hand, he met a person from our lawyer's office who had all our COC docs together. They walked over to the NAC and filed our application for the Article 23 Certificate of Completion. What a relief. It was a very, very stressful few days. Our i800/i800a expire on July 25, so we went round and round with USCIS and State Dept trying to figure out WHAT needs to happen before the expiration. Do we need to be back in the US by July 25? Does Zac need his US visa in his passport by then? Or what? We still don't have a clear answer, so we are playing it safe. We changed our flights to July 24 and will leave the country just in case!! Provided, of course, that we get everything else in order. The COC is supposed to take 7 working days, then we can apply for his passport (which will take a few days), then the US visa takes hopefully just one day.

I was so happy and so stress-free today that I literally danced in the produce market with my daughter today when we were shopping. Some Phil Collins song came on and I picked her up and twirled her around and spun her around. It was so much fun. Folks looked at us like we were crazy but I didn't care. It was nice to be carefree and not having this STRESS on top of me for one day. Needed it. Badly.