Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
While we Wait (2)
We have painted the nursery...
Forgive me for all the photos, but I am really proud of our work :)
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| Tor gets the detail-oriented painting assignments |
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| I get to just roll paint all over the place |
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| A completed green wall...keeping it gender neutral |
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| (The cupcake on the left is a chalkboard) |
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| How appropriate since Spring is here :) |
A visit to the state capital that I would like to forget.
Yesterday our I-171H notice arrived...
which was the missing piece of documentation needed to take all our forms up to Sacramento and have them authenticated. So, as you may imagine we were pretty excited. I had visions of driving the 90 min to the Secretary of State office, cruising in and getting or $460 worth of state seals stamped on our 21 notarized documents, having a beautiful sit-down lunch date with my husband, snapping smiling photos for our daughter's Life Book, and then driving back to Berkeley to enjoy the afternoon off being lazy on a Friday. IT WAS NOT TO BE!
We find parking and walk into the building with paperwork and smiles, only to be told that 16 of our 21 documents ($320 worth of notary stamps) had the wrong "official language" on them. Apparently, they have started to crack down on the EXACT wording that the notary puts in and our forms said "sworn" instead of "some-other-random-bullsh*t-word-that-means-the-exact-same-thing"! Yep, full on RED TAPE brought us to a halt in our little fantasy world of "The smoothest adoption process ever". So - we walk 5 blocks to the nearest notary, to pay another $320 for new signatures with the correct wording. It takes about 90 minutes, and with only one person working in the UPS Store that day we made plenty of enemies in the line in back of us. Not that I care. So, we are out a few extra hundred dollars and some time, not so bad right? Oh but wait. The very last form in the pile, Tor's birth certificate, was signed by a doctor and not the county administrator in San Francisco. And the Secretary of State cannot authenticate or certify it. Holy Crap. I now have to go back to SF, get another birth certificate, and have the wonderful folks in the state office put the great CA seal on it. Another trip to SAC awaits me...
The woman behind the counter reached over and gave me a hug!...I'm not kidding. She said "I know this is rough, but when you hold your baby girl for the first time, this will all be forgotten." Sigh.
So....Retail Therapy at the Vacaville Outlets!!! That's right, we decided to treat ourselves to shoes! It makes total sense right? I also bought some clothes for our little-girl-to-be at the GAP outlet...it made me feel a little better just to walk up to the counter with a pink and frilly size 2T dress. (If none of this works out, baby Aya is going to have one helluva wardrobe from her Auntie Drea)
To top it off we had a horrible dinner at AppleBee's (we were starving) and reminded ourselves why we NEVER eat that crap.
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| I have no idea why I am including an illegible photo of it |
We find parking and walk into the building with paperwork and smiles, only to be told that 16 of our 21 documents ($320 worth of notary stamps) had the wrong "official language" on them. Apparently, they have started to crack down on the EXACT wording that the notary puts in and our forms said "sworn" instead of "some-other-random-bullsh*t-word-that-means-the-exact-same-thing"! Yep, full on RED TAPE brought us to a halt in our little fantasy world of "The smoothest adoption process ever". So - we walk 5 blocks to the nearest notary, to pay another $320 for new signatures with the correct wording. It takes about 90 minutes, and with only one person working in the UPS Store that day we made plenty of enemies in the line in back of us. Not that I care. So, we are out a few extra hundred dollars and some time, not so bad right? Oh but wait. The very last form in the pile, Tor's birth certificate, was signed by a doctor and not the county administrator in San Francisco. And the Secretary of State cannot authenticate or certify it. Holy Crap. I now have to go back to SF, get another birth certificate, and have the wonderful folks in the state office put the great CA seal on it. Another trip to SAC awaits me...
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| Underwhelmed by the capital, but satisfied with the plastic treat. |
The woman behind the counter reached over and gave me a hug!...I'm not kidding. She said "I know this is rough, but when you hold your baby girl for the first time, this will all be forgotten." Sigh.
So....Retail Therapy at the Vacaville Outlets!!! That's right, we decided to treat ourselves to shoes! It makes total sense right? I also bought some clothes for our little-girl-to-be at the GAP outlet...it made me feel a little better just to walk up to the counter with a pink and frilly size 2T dress. (If none of this works out, baby Aya is going to have one helluva wardrobe from her Auntie Drea)
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| Nothing makes my day brighter than a new pair of Air Max |
To top it off we had a horrible dinner at AppleBee's (we were starving) and reminded ourselves why we NEVER eat that crap.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Slight Progress
I called and spoke with our case worker today at USCIS (Immigration) and I'm so glad I called. She told me that the top of one of our forms was illegible and "she was just about to call us"...suuuuuurrrreeeee you were.
Ok - maybe she was. Either way, I was able to email a pdf version over to her and she said she was going to approve our case today and that we should get our official approval (I171H) in the mail next week!!! That means this time next week we could be mailing off our completed dossier to the agency. I am feeling much better today than last Friday :)
Ok - maybe she was. Either way, I was able to email a pdf version over to her and she said she was going to approve our case today and that we should get our official approval (I171H) in the mail next week!!! That means this time next week we could be mailing off our completed dossier to the agency. I am feeling much better today than last Friday :)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Fingerprints by choice
So our official fingerprint appointment was mailed to us...for March 29th. I assumed that since everything up to this point has been so formal and strict, I would just wait the 3 weeks. Then, I read that on someone's blog that they just showed up at the location and magically...they were able to be seen. Just like that. So, I did the same...and it worked!! It was surprisingly easy so I called Tor who hadn't left work yet, and he agreed to go in too. Voila! We now have our fingerprints on file with the USCIS :) 2 weeks early. I have to admit I am pleased, but still aware that things can turn either way.
Tor and I are still tossing around the idea of adopting 2 kids...yeah, can you imagine? Considering we are still working on babies the old-fashioned way, I cannot imagine having 3 kids running around the Xmas tree. Although - given the horribly lonely and miserable holiday season we just went through, I may have a whole kindergarten class by the end of the year.
Last weekend we went up to Benicia to hang out with our friends Gian and Tara, and their daughter Gemma...who is 4 (and 1/2!). We had soooo much fun walking the dogs and exploring their neighborhood. Gemma and I became total BFFs! I have to write this down so I can remind her of it in 10 years: As we were leaving, Gemma told us "I'm gonna wave to you guys until I can't see you anymore...but mostly I'll be waving to you Drea". This might be the cutest thing a kid has ever said to me...it totally made my day, probably my year :)
Tor and I are still tossing around the idea of adopting 2 kids...yeah, can you imagine? Considering we are still working on babies the old-fashioned way, I cannot imagine having 3 kids running around the Xmas tree. Although - given the horribly lonely and miserable holiday season we just went through, I may have a whole kindergarten class by the end of the year.
Last weekend we went up to Benicia to hang out with our friends Gian and Tara, and their daughter Gemma...who is 4 (and 1/2!). We had soooo much fun walking the dogs and exploring their neighborhood. Gemma and I became total BFFs! I have to write this down so I can remind her of it in 10 years: As we were leaving, Gemma told us "I'm gonna wave to you guys until I can't see you anymore...but mostly I'll be waving to you Drea". This might be the cutest thing a kid has ever said to me...it totally made my day, probably my year :)
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| Gemma and I adoring each other before dinner |
Friday, March 9, 2012
There are good days....and there are days like these.
Warning: Full rant and self-pity
I am being pitiful...miserable...sad. It is a full-out pity party starring me in my pajamas with a bag of trail mix, a bottle of Rum, and a full list of movies on cable...all drama! Today is the day of the month I hate most lately...when I find out for sure that yet another month has passed and I am not pregnant. In 9 months, I have lost two babies and had 4 consecutive months of infertility. Yet, everyone tells me to be patient and keep my head up...I appreciate the sympathy and the attempts to make me feel better, but I dont want to feel better...I want answers and solutions. I want to finish decorating the nursery without feeling like I am wasting my time. I want to walk past the park without feeling like all the mothers are laughing at me. Most of all, I want to stop feeling like a failure. This is the ugly side of the process. Okay - I am done.
I promise the next post will have REAL adoption-related information or updates.
I am being pitiful...miserable...sad. It is a full-out pity party starring me in my pajamas with a bag of trail mix, a bottle of Rum, and a full list of movies on cable...all drama! Today is the day of the month I hate most lately...when I find out for sure that yet another month has passed and I am not pregnant. In 9 months, I have lost two babies and had 4 consecutive months of infertility. Yet, everyone tells me to be patient and keep my head up...I appreciate the sympathy and the attempts to make me feel better, but I dont want to feel better...I want answers and solutions. I want to finish decorating the nursery without feeling like I am wasting my time. I want to walk past the park without feeling like all the mothers are laughing at me. Most of all, I want to stop feeling like a failure. This is the ugly side of the process. Okay - I am done.
I promise the next post will have REAL adoption-related information or updates.
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