Happy 1st Birthday, Kai!!

Today is Kai's 1st birthday, and although we aren't with her for that.....we WILL be with her very soon!!

Trying to get a flight booked for Friday has proven too difficult for so many reasons (crazy layovers, cost, etc.), so it looks like we will leave on Sunday instead. I can't stand to spend one more second without her, but the return travel was going to be like an Amazing Race episode, and I don't want to put her through that! It means we won't have our Giving & Receiving Ceremony until Wednesday probably, but it means a much saner process for us all.

Austin has a school party on Friday (and I'm helping), there's the trick-or-treating/hayride tomorrow night, and he has a birthday party to go to on Saturday, so we'll still be able to do all of those things with and for him.

Now I can start packing and getting all the last-minute things done, including voting (DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!) without feeling like a chicken with my head cut off!

Thanks to EVERYONE, again, for all the kind words, calls, and e-mails. I haven't been able to respond to most of these, but just know how much it is all SO very much appreciated!! What an exciting time for us!

OMG, Part II

Well, it looks like after all the incessant waiting - - - we will wait no more! Our Giving and Receiving Ceremony is set for MONDAY - that's right - THIS MONDAY!!! We will be holding Kai in our arms in just 5 short days!!!!

Shawn is on the phone now booking flights that leave on Friday and return in two weeks....I will give the details when we have them.....

What a wonderful day it has been!! Such an outpouring of love and kindness for Kai.....my heart is so full!! Thank you to everyone for the tremendous support!!

O-M-G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH-MY-GOSH!!!!! I absolutely-positively cannot believe I am FINALLY telling you this, but WE RECEIVED OUR PRELIMINARY TRAVEL APPROVAL FROM USCIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have waited so long to tell you that, I can't even believe I am saying those words!!! I was so deflated yesterday and have been so sad that we were going to miss being with Kai on her first birthday. I was having a hard time thinking about anything but her in the last couple of days, and I have been poring over all the documentation and wondering what our next step would be if we didn't get approved.

Then - - - about 20 minutes ago - - - I get up to do one of my usual overnight e-mail inbox checks, and there it was!!!!! I didn't even pull it up, I just read the subject line: I-600 preliminary approval, and went running into the bedroom to tell Shawn!! We laughed, hugged and cried - - - I feel like the 1,000 pound gorilla just jumped off my shoulders!!!

GOD IS SO SUPER-GOOD!!! I prayed yesterday for strength to get through this, for understanding and acceptance for His timing, and for peace that Kai is being taken cared for and getting the nourishment and attention she needs.......God gave me all of that and MORE!!!

I can't imagine going back to sleep tonight, there are 8,000 things I want to do to get ready to go! I don't know exactly when we'll travel yet, but it should be within a week.....I will update the blog as we know more!!!!!! Thanks to EVERYONE who prayed, who thought of us, who lifted us up to God in the last 10 months. We have appreciated so much the outpouring of your love and prayers. I don't know why it's taken so long, but God had a plan - He still does - and He always will!!

My friend Jessica brought me some of her should-be-world-famous cookie dough yesterday with a sweet note of encouragement. We call it "crack dough" because it is SOO yummy and hard to stop eating......could it be that it's "lucky dough", too??????? Thanks, Jess!! Love ya!!

Worth a good chuckle!

If you find yourself sitting around eating bon-bons with nothing better to do......(ha!).....check out this website for some laughs: www.yearbookyourself.com

It's HI-LAR-I-OUS!!! And I needed that....

What a Wonderful World!

As many of you know, Austin's school's Fall Festival was this weekend, and what a fun time it was!! It poured down rain on Friday and even Friday night, so I was really concerned about the weather, but as promised on weather-com - - - sunny skies!!

Austin promptly got his hair painted red and won a goldfish - - - what a wonderful world!!!

Shawn and I had a date night last night, and we were talking about how glad we are that we moved from the "big city" to raise our children in a small-town lifestyle. Just spending the whole day with kids running around, eating cotton candy and doing all kinds of fun things is just what I envisioned when we made plans to move. What a change from six years ago!! I'll take this any day......

The countdown is on until the 30 day waiting period is up. Saturday will be 30 days. We hope and pray that we will hear some GOOD NEWS (I-600 approval) this week!!! I wish I had a dollar for each time I've said that - - - I'd buy you ALL a new car! :)

Warning: Extreme Cuteness Ahead!

As promised, we received some new pictures of Kai today!! She is SUCH a sweet cutie-pie - - - I almost can't stand it! I am thrilled to see how big she is and that she looks healthy. We hope she's waiting to take her first steps until she's with us!

It was a great e-mail to get, but of course, we would have preferred THE e-mail with I-600 approval - - - - it's been 21 days since we submitted the additional paperwork.

We are keeping the faith and staying strong - - -

8:45 a.m. in Vietnam....

....and you know what I'm doing.....checking e-mails for that elusive one that will grant us freedom to go get our sweet baby girl...

The best news I can share is that we have been promised new pictures of Kai this week!! If nothing else, we can at least see what she looks like now. The last pictures we have were from July 19th, and I know she has changed so much since then.

I will post those here just as soon as I see them....can't wait to see her sweet face!!!

A Glimmer Of Hope?

I had a lengthy conversation tonight with a fellow RFE recipient who gave me some encouraging information regarding what it took to get their I-600 approval - - -finally!

There are too many details to share here, and we have to allow the 30-day window for the USCIS review, but I felt very hopeful after hearing her story (which was nearly identical to ours is circumstance)!

Just keep up the prayers - - - God is never late - - - and keep the faith that Kai will be home with us very soon!!

It's Monday morning in Vietnam....

....and in between refreshing my inbox page every 5 minutes or so, I'm poring over any and every blogsite I can find about other RFE cases. Maybe it wasn't a good idea since I found a few that were extremely discouraging!

It looks like most responses to RFEs include a rebuttal (9 pages in the case of one family I found!). Since our response was the additional documentation only - - and CIS has never asked for a rebuttal - - - I'm not feeling very good about getting approval. It sounds like we missed an opportunity to plead our case, but how could we have known??

I am 100% prepared to hire an international adoption attorney if we don't get our approval. The cost is definitely a deterrent, but what choice do we have?? We can't keep playing this cat and mouse game back and forth with CIS, and maybe that will be what it takes to get it done. I just don't know....feeling a little deflated today.....

Snaggletooth!

Check this out....Austin lost his first tooth last night!! Isn't that the cutest little guy you've ever seen?? He was so worried that it was going to bleed that he let it get SO loose - over the last two weeks - that it practically popped out on its own! He was so tickled that it didn't bleed.

We are still waiting, waiting, waiting for a response to our additional documentation. It's now 7:50 a.m. in Vietnam. I imagine the CIS office opening soon to the smells of coffee and the sounds of morning chatter. Everyone is glad it's Friday and....let's hope everyone is in a very happy, understanding and caring mood! I can just see our big, fat file coming across the chick-in-charge's desk and her thinking, "Gosh, this family has been waiting SO very long for their sweet little girl! Look at all the time and effort that was put into their response! It's a little hard to sort through all the paperwork, but this is just silly. Uniting this child with her family should be our top priority! Let me just type up this I-600 approval and get it to them right away......."

We've got until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow or it's on to next week......I seriously doubt anyone over there is working over the weekend. Keep praying, and we will, too!!

Soccer!!

Finally - a post NOT related to the adoption!

Saturday mornings in the Fall are filled with soccer games these days! Following the inevitable last-minute rush to find the shinguards and socks, we faithfully pile chairs and a cooler and zoom out to the local soccer fields. It's great entertainment, actually! Friends who have preschoolers too young to play even join us to watch the 4 and 5 year olds attempt to get the ball down the field and into the goal (a shout out to Dee and Bee!). Deft coordination is not on most of the youngster's skill list, but they get an "A" for effort in my book!

Unlike the older kids (I'm not looking forward to the serious competitiveness ahead!) they are simply learning team participation and basic soccer techniques. There's no mean-spirited shouting or criticizing from the parents; it is meant to be a positive learning experience for the kids. But what is amazing to me is how quickly they improve in their abilities! This is Austin's second year, and he's much more likely to get in the middle of the fray and make his own attempt to get the ball. He has scored a few points, pulled off some great turn-arounds, and made lots of assists. Last year I'm not sure he kicked the ball more than twice! And some of the kids are really good!

Shawn is one of the Assistant Coaches, so it has been a fun family experience for us all. And I am officially a "Soccer Mom"!! Sure, there are those that snicker at the title, but I really love it! And I am proud of us for focusing on our family rather than wallow in despair about not having Kai home. Some days are easier than others, but we are so blessed, and I'm glad we consciously recognize the blessings we do have. God IS good!!!

Go Blue!!!

Paris Pics!

Finally a moment to breathe and post some pictures from our anniversary trip to Paris! I cannot figure out how to put captions next to each one, and they show up in the reverse order from how I upload them, but here's what you're seeing:

- This is me updating the blog at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris awaiting our return flight home.
- We weren't looking for it, but stumbled across the memorial to Princess Diana and the tunnel where she was killed. It was chilling to see; I can't believe it's been more than 10 years since that happened!
- This was taken in the GYNORMOUS plaza of the Musee' de Louvre, which is now an art museum. You can't imagine how big it is (it spans 15 acres), and the modern glass pyramid is in remarkable contrast to the 12th century architecture. Louis XIV, Napoleon I and Napoleon III all lived here at one time - - - - imagine THAT as your crib!!
- I forgot the names of these next two places, but aren't they unbelievably beautiful?!?
- Shawn and I at the Eiffel Tower. Again, you can't imagine its vastness until you see it in person! This steel tower (over 1,000 feet tall) was built between 1887 - 1889 as the entrance for the International Exhibition in Paris for the centennial celebration of the French Revolution and is named for its designer, Gustave Eiffel.

And that, boys and girls, is my history lesson for the day!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

The right decision??

Well, I just couldn't help myself - - - I called Vietnam last night and - on the second try - spoke again to "Russell". She was not as abrasive and condescending as she had been in our former conversation (I can't believe that was nearly 3 months ago!!), but she was definitely all business. She was aware of the paperwork issue and she said we had two choices: she would return the originals to us and allow us to send them back OR she would disregard the cover letter from our agency and allow the paperwork to stand on its own as the response to the RFE. Both e-mails we received from them stressed that we are only allowed ONE submission of a response, so this was an important decision. She kept saying that we have "plenty of time", since we were allowed 84 days to respond, but I reminded her that getting our daughter home as soon as possible was our top priority!

I told her I would need to talk to Shawn and would let her know our decision via e-mail.

Shawn and I discussed it and based our decision on: 1) having them return and then sending back the documentation would take about 10 - 14 days - - further delays - - , 2) there would be a chance that the paperwork could get lost and 3) the documentation itself is what they will base their determination on anyway.

SO! I sent an e-mail response to USCIS last night - which they acknowledged receiving - and our submission date is 10/3/08. They said they require 30 working days for a response. I hope and pray that it won't take that long!

Was it the right decision?? I guess time will tell....

Crazy and crazier!

Well, here's what we know: USCIS will not accept RFE documentation unless it comes directly from the waiting families (that's us, in case you're just tuning in!). Since they received the package that contains the only originals, we are having to ask (implore, beg!) them to FedEx the package to us so that we can then turn around and send it right back to them. Yeah, I know, it makes a lot of sense, right??

I just sent an e-mail in response to their's that came overnight. Wouldn't be surprised if they ignore that for another week or so......

Another hoop, another jump - - - I wonder what FedEx Express Service costs between here and Vietnam?

Not frustrated, not frustrated, not frustrated....

Today's e-mail from HCMC stated that they received our package of additional documentation, however, they cannot accept paperwork from our agency on our behalf. The paperwork has to come from us directly.

(Not frustrated, not frustrated, not frustrated....)

What?? Sounds like another delay tactic to me!

(Not frustrated, not frustrated, not frustrated....)

Seems like our agency should have known this, but rather than place blame and focus on that, I forwarded the e-mail to them and asked them what/how we should do as next step.

(Not frustrated, not frustrated, not frustrated...)

I will not allow frustration to take over!

At 3:30 a.m., we received what we believe to be an "auto-response" from the Embassy in Vietnam. It states that they cannot accept paperwork and requests via e-mail (you may note that this is a complete reversal from before we they would ONLY communicate via e-mail) and that they will notify us when they are in receipt of our RFE documentation. It's been 8 days since it was sent to them - from Vietnam, to Vietnam.

After a long conversation with our agency, I was extremely discouraged and disappointed to know that our only recourse at this point is to wait. A good rash of tears ensued; luckily no one was home at the time to have to listen to it other than the pets.

However, I have been attending a women's Bible study every Wednesday for a month, and it's funny how God puts things in front of you just when you need them. We meet for small groups then come together for a lecture by a fantastic speaker (who herself is battling cancer). The topic for the last two weeks has been angels and demons. One of the things she said today was particularly relevant to me when she talked about how Satan puts discouragement and doubt in our minds to keep us from a close relationship to God. I can see how that has been happening to me lately through this adoption process, but I will not allow it to continue! This has been God's journey all along, and if I am anxious it shows my lack of faith. I DO trust and I DO have faith that God will allow us to bring home our daughter, and nothing will take that away from us! I don't know the timing, but I will remain steadfast and hold to the fact that it will happen - and I will do it without frustration, without despair!

I can't wait to share the good news with you all very soon!!