HS Finally Done... or Maybe Not

Well, I'm sitting here trying to think of the best way to tell this story without saying something too mean or horrible about our home study social worker. Dealing with her has become a nightmare, basically. The worst part is that I did so much research before choosing her, and spoke with people who had worked with her before -- all of whom said that she was fast, professional, and great to work with. Boy, I wish I knew where THAT version of her went!

The version WE got is one who set out a timeline of no more than six weeks beginning with our first visit on December 12. Six weeks is pretty normal for a home study (we have since talked to a number of people, and no one had their home study take longer than 6 weeks). Well, here we are THREE MONTHS later and we just received our final home study in the mail this past Saturday. After our placement agency reviewed it, they discovered -- what else -- that she had not corrected a mistake that both FTIA and I pointed out to her in the first draft. Fortunately, it's a mistake that Vietnam won't really notice. Unfortunately, it's one that USCIS will notice. Argh! So, we now have to wait in suspense until USCIS gets around to reviewing our file and decides one of two things: either they will see that it's a mistake and there is other documentation covering the issue, or they will say that an adendum must be added to the home study to address the discrepancy. If they let it go, we'll get our I-171H. If they want an adendum, we have to deal with the social worker again and nag her into actually doing her job and writing the correction and sending it in. This will delay everything long enough that we will have to redo most of our documents. So we're on pins and needles for the next two months.

On a positive note... Jack, Ethan, and I took the HS that will be included in our dossier to Vietnam to the Secretary of State office in downtown Chicago today. We left home at 1:15 and got to the office at 3:00 (finding a parking garage took forever). I had packed lots of books and snacks thinking that we'd be sitting in the waiting room for awhile. Both of the boys wanted out of the stroller, but they were very good and stayed close to me. I talked with a woman who is adopting from Guatamala. Five minutes later they were handing me my certified home study! I was very surprised it went so quick considering it takes two weeks when I mail things to Springfield (I'm still waiting for the documents I sent back there on March 6). They were super nice, too, and actually smiling! In a government office! So back to the car we went, paid our $18 parking fee, and we headed home about 4:00. The boys got to have their Sponge Bob Square Pants Cheez-Its and watered-down juice on the way home. A big adventure to the Big City. We got home at about 5:40, so the whole trip took us 4 1/2 hours, but now we can send the HS in with our other documents to the consulate. After that, all we have to do is wait for the I-171H! Whoo -hoo! Another step checked off the spreadsheet. :)

The boys were so good on our trip today. Jack had a great time seeing all the crazy sculptures and glittering lights on the theatre marques. They didn't even ask to watch a dvd on the way home in stop-and-go traffic. We are so blessed to have such great kids. Ethan is just all smiles again now that his teething has subsided for awhile, and Jack is the cutest little jokester. We were hanging out in my bedroom this morning and the boys were watching Noggin when I drifted off to sleep on the bed. I woke up to Jack's little voice saying, "Mommy..." I opened my eyes and his face was right up against mine. He gave me a little kiss and then said, "Make me a sandwich, please." It totally cracked me up. Then when I said ok and sat up, he started yelling, "Yeah!" and jumping around the room. Ah, the power of peanut butter and jelly! Today he decided to have it cut in triangles. :)

So, we're still inching forward in the whole paperchase. Progress is slow right now, but it is happening. Oh, and since a lot of people have asked lately, we have it figured that the EARLIEST we would have a child home would be September 2008. A long way away, but so worth the wait!