Legals, Home Study Update, I-600 AND a New Picture! (Oh, and a WBC, too!)

So we went to New York for a few days. Had a FABULOUS time. I heart New York. I really do. Every time I go there, I just love it. I have about 312 blog posts to write about our trip. :o) Anyway, as we were coming back from the airport yesterday evening, I checked my e-mail, once again, as I had been doing all week, to see if there was any news from our adoption agency. Today marks six weeks since our official referral acceptance, and I thought our legals should have arrived already. ("Legals" include paperwork that transfers guardianship from the Korean agency to the U.S. agency. I believe this paperwork also includes the equivalent of a birth certificate. Anyway, we have basically been in a holding pattern, waiting on our legals. Some people receive their legals within a couple of weeks, just to give you an idea of the wait times.)

Soooooo ... no new e-mails from anyone about anything. :o( I was so disappointed. In addition to our legals, I was looking for our home study update and/or even a new photo of Isaac. Last week, we received a WBC (well-baby check) report--Isaac is healthy and doing well. (At his 7-month appointment last week, he weighed 17.86 pounds and measured 27.44 inches. Thank You, Lord!) Anyway, a lot of times, families will receive a photo soon after receiving a WBC (because, from what I have gathered, Holt usually takes photos at these appointments). I also figured that at this most recent WBC, Isaac and his foster mother would have received our care package--so I was really, really hoping that we'd get a photo of them with their gifts. But as of yesterday, we had nothin'.

Oh, what a difference a day makes!

This morning, I e-mailed our agency, asking about our legals and when we should be concerned. Don't get me wrong--I already was concerned. But I wondered when we should get REALLY concerned. ;o) I also wanted to check in to see if our home study update was finished. We needed both of these pieces to move forward with the next round of paperwork--the I-600. This is a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) form--a petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative.

Not too long after I sent my e-mails, we got GREAT NEWS! Not only was our home study update complete, but our legals had arrived! YIPPPEEEEE! Straight away, I got to work at getting our I-600 complete. I had worked on it a few weeks ago, but today I started a fresh copy and went over it line by line. (You know me.) I also completed another form (the G-1145), which allows you to receive e-mail and/or text updates regarding the status of the I-600. Fortunately, Tanna was off today, so he was immediately available to sign the I-600, and I drove our paperwork to the Bethany office this afternoon.

While I was there, I mentioned how disappointed I had been yesterday upon returning home to no news and that I had been hoping for legals, our home study update or at least a new picture. That's when Laura (our social worker) and LaWanda (our agency's government paperwork extraordinaire) said they may have received something--and they had! Just today! A new photo! It is Isaac with his foster mother--and the gifts we sent in the care package. (I cropped his foster mother's face to protect her privacy.)

I can't express how thankful we are today--not only that we have received our legal paperwork, but also that our home study update has been completed AND that we have a new photo to admire. Additionally, our I-600 has been turned in and is set to be mailed off tomorrow with the appropriate documents. Now we wait some more. And I am OK with that. For a little while.

Thank You, Lord!


Here I am with LaWanda and Laura. I am a hot mess, but I don't care! I have been trying to take a photo at each step of the process to keep in a scrapbook. And this is real life, people. :o) Today, getting that I-600 turned in was more important than getting dolled up. TIA!

P.S. I told LaWanda I'd stop stalking her for a couple of weeks--but I am sure she'll be expecting my calls tomorrow. LOL!