Good Progress

Ok! That's what I'm talking about! I talked with our agency today and found out that 2 of our needed documents have been turned into the embassy! This leaves our updated fingerprints. It's hard to explain but I'll try:) We went to USCIS and did a walk in refingerprinting on May 6th. This is not how they usually do things so our fingerprints didn't get sent onto Ethiopia like I thought they did. I assumed that since they had our case number and our other fingerprints were sent without request, this set would be too. They weren't. So last week I filled out the form requesting them to be sent to Ethiopia. I had to snail mail this form along with copies of our fingerprint appointment slip, case number and the LAST copy of our homestudy to Missouri (yeah, I know?!). I tracked the package and saw that it arrived at their office last Thursday (May 26th). As of today, they have had it for 3 business days. Our agency said that stuff can often times sit on some one's desk for 10 days before it actually gets sent on to the National Visa Center where they cable it to Addis. I sent them an email today asking about our pending case. I hope to hear something back tomorrow. I'm a little nervous because we didn't follow the steps the way they wanted us too but all the stuff should be there. I'm hoping we will get word that our stuff is forwarded to the National Visa Center soon. I'm ready to go but I can't get on that plane until I know that our fingerprints are in Addis and they won't need my fingers again in the States!

Feeling more hopeful today

I spoke with our agency today. They had just got off the phone with our agency over in Addis. They said that they have had requests for our missing pieces before and they are hopeful that they can get our missing items into their office by the end of this week or next week. This is such good news. On Monday, we were looking at no timeline but possibly months... it sounded very grim. However, a two week delay is FAR better than a two month delay! Here we are hoping again. It's very weird but I think it's safe to say that you can't stop someone from hoping. After this most recent excitement being dashed I told myself to stop hoping so it didn't hurt so bad when bad news came. I REALLY tried to take today's good news in stride and not get excited but it didn't work. My heart jumped in my chest and I called Amos right away. There are no guarantees that our stuff will come in by the end of this week or next week but it gives me hope that someone thinks it can be done:) And even if it doesn't come in, this new hope gets me through the day.

I don't even know...

I hope you all don't think I'm cranky and mean but I have a favor to ask. Please don't ask me how things are going or who's fault this all is. I have no answers. The embassy can choose to pick on any one's case and ours has things that don't meet the standards. What we don't have could take a long time to get. This, again, isn't a matter of just slipping it in and saying, "Oops sorry we forgot that!". It's dates and spelling that should have been filled out more completely by various people. The agency has to go back out and find those people and have them REDO forms. They get mad because they feel the US is too picky (and I agree!) so they don't get right on it if you know what I mean. It requires sending requests for documents and then waiting for them to come it. God only knows how many weeks it will be.
I'm not getting on a plane on Friday. The embassy specifically told me not to.
I'm enraged, sad and empty. The sucky thing about all this is that life goes on. I have a school to run, dinner to make and a pet bunny to feed:) I'll be plugging along but it would make it easier if you don't ask any questions or try to offer something helpful to say because I'm constantly fighting tears as it is.
Thanks and hugs to all you supportive, loving friends. I'll just be in my hole until this ends.

Insane

We got word last Friday that our case was submitted! That was so exciting. However, Amos got an email this morning from the embassy saying we need 3 more things. Can you believe it?! It's random stuff and it doesn't even really matter if I list them or not. This whole process is so ridiculous. I'm fuming. The email from the embassy specifically says, "Tell the family NOT to make travel plans until they hear from us...".

Wow.

Okay all you eager beavers who like to stay on top of what's going on with our adoption...
After getting word from the embassy that we should submit yesterday, I got an email this morning from our attorney asking me to quickly scan and email our I-864W and visa. I was so confused because I was told to fill out the I-864 (no W) and my scanned visa was emailed to the agency months ago. I yanked Amos out of bed at 6AM and told him we needed to fill out another I-864 and scan and email all 8 pages along with my visa (again). We knew that we didn't get it to our attorney in time to be submitted before the embassy closed but there was nothing else we could do. I got a call from our agency today saying that the embassy screwed up. They wouldn't allow us to submit without a I-864W (which is not relevant to our situation) and Amos' visa (that doesn't exist because he didn't travel to Ethiopia with me in February). Our attorney was livid and our agency got all fired up because the embassy has been doing this with families often lately and it doesn't make any sense. So.... the lady at our agency is going to stay up late tonight and call the embassy in Addis to let them know that they are insisting on papers that aren't relevant and don't exist. She is going to ask them to let us submit today because it was their error that made us miss our deadline.
On top of that, the embassy is all booked up with the massive flow from the 800 MOWA cases that just recently got shoved through with our case. They are having to book embassy appointments a couple weeks out instead of a couple days.
I still plan on traveling to Ethiopia next Friday or around there because we are getting so close and these stupid little things will get sorted out. I just may be there a few more weeks than planned.
Seriously, I am not surprised by anything anymore. If this was a different situation and we weren't trying to bring our little guy home, this process would be hilarious.

Oh YEAH!!!

I got an email from the embassy this morning when I got to work! You should have been there! I screamed and jumped up and down in my office:) It basically said, "Tell your agency to bring your case in on your next submittal day (Thursday). We asked for this new document but we will not deny your case without it." CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! So... there is a possibility that the person reviewing our case could ask for more documents but we are on our way! It usually takes about 3 or 4 days to hear from the embassy whether or not our case is approved or not. If we hear on Tuesday (which is when most of my friends have heard) that our case was approved, I will fly out on Thursday or Friday of next week (26th or 27th). I WILL FINALLY GET TO TAKE CUSTODY OF KEPLER! So, we wait again...until Tuesday:)
I cannot tell you the joy I feel right now. Nothing can take away my happy! I'm going to Ethiopia and I'm coming home in a few weeks so we can begin our new life together as a family! Take that!
Amos is so excited too. He will be meeting his son for the first time in a couple weeks:)

One Last Effort

We heard back from our attorney in Addis today. Apparently he requested this missing information months ago. The hang up is in Kepler's home region. Kepler comes from a very remote farming village. Attempts to meet up with government officials have all failed. When our agency tries to set up appointments, government officials don't show up. I guess this has happened a couple times. It boils down to the fact that I won't be able to do much from here OR there. It's been 13 weeks of waiting. There is no telling if our missing document will come in tomorrow or in another 13 weeks. It's a bit scary to think that I may not see Amos for months if I hop a plane.
I had emailed the US embassy earlier this week and they said that as of January they asked agencies to include this new documentation in the court process IF POSSIBLE. Amos and I are sitting down to email them back asking if we can be excused from this rule because we have done everything we possibly can do to get them but with no success. In the past, I have heard back quickly. My hope and prayer is that they will let us submit without these documents and we can be submitted this Thursday. Please pray that the person reading our email and the one looking over our case at the embassy has compassion on us and lets us through!