good news and not-so-good news...

Alright.  Good news first.  This is the email I received two weeks ago from the United States embassy:

Dear Ms. Benson,

Please be informed that the I-600 petitions you filed at this office for the above orphans have been approved. Your case has been transferred to the Adoption Unit of the Consular Section for the visa process.  This completes all action by this service on the petitions.  The Consular Section will soon contact you to follow up on your case.

Regards,
Department of Homeland Security

U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Embassy
Tabarre 41Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Yes!  The last freaking approval, done!  Right?  Nope.  Apparently, some procedure has changed and now the medical check-ups that the boys need to get their U.S. visas can't be done until after the I-600 approval.  Unfortunately I was not privy to this vital piece of information.  Up until now these check-ups were already done before the I-600 approval.  Not only that, but they must be completed by U.S. certified doctors.  And all of those doctors were home in the good old U.S.of A. for the holidays.  So, long story short, I was told it would be another month (around the middle of January) until we could travel to pick up the boys.

I know in the grand scheme of things, a month really isn't that long.  But, it is kind of like being 9 months pregnant (or 15 in my case) and you are all set to have that baby but the Dr. says you have to wait another 5 weeks.

I had a minor meltdown.  Regrouped.  And I am now patiently waiting for a freaking medical check-up date so we can get our freaking visa appointment and pick up my freaking kids!

Freak!

november update 2011

I got my November updates for the boys on Friday.  Hopefully this will be the last update I get from Haiti before my boys are home!  Our files are now in USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Services) and I am waiting "patiently" every day to see an email pop up from USCIS saying that our files have been approved and we can set a date to pick up our boys.  It should only be a few weeks until they are actually home.  I am so excited I can't believe it.

Here are a few excerpts from the boys' reports:

Mickenson (just turned 5 last month)

"Mickenson has picked up many English vocabulary words during class time, he can recall almost all the picture cards without prompting from other children or the teacher.  Mickenson is a very smart child.  He will lay out all the picture cards and identify them all by himself.  If he does not know a word when he hears it, all you have to do is spell it out for him and he will go and find it by the spelling.  He takes pride in knowing his flash cards in school."

"Mickenson plays really well with all the older children.  They are always in a corner thinking up different playing scenarios for the playground.  Mickenson is very active in all the planning of different activities that the older children are involved in and loves to share his active nature with others.  Mickenson shares well and knows how to take turns on the playground.  Mickenson loves to play tag on the playground with all the children.  He is one of the fastest runners out of all the children and takes full advantage of that during tag games."

"Mickenson was very happy doing all the Thanksgiving crafts this month.  Lori told him the meaning behind Thanksgiving and how it is spent with family.  Mickenson says that he is very grateful for God and his family.  He is also grateful for sports and parties.  Lori and the staff at Kenscoff have now put out all the Christmas decorations for 2011! The crèche looks all festive and filled with Christmas music already!"

Love it, I am grateful for sports and parties too. :)

Ashley (2 years old)

"Ashley is a super active toddler!  He can be seen storming the creche at all times.  You will hear Ashley from miles away!  He loves to run away and yell in delight!  He loves rough and tumble play and at times scares some of the quieter children at the creche.  He loves to explore his surroundings and will knock things over every chance he gets.  He is a very active climber, as well.  Benches, rocks, chairs, you name it, he will climb it!"  ....um, Ashley-zilla?

"Ashley loves to play with blocks and then knock them over again.  Not only does he like to knock over his blocks, but he loves it even more when he knocks other people's blocks over!  He will run around, doing things similar to "war cries" and knock things over!  He can pre-occupy himself with just a garbage bag filled with clothes.  He and the other toddlers will take turns jumping on it.  Ashley is usually the one instigating the situations."

"When Ashley gets super excited he will start to grunt and make a low "Yay, yeah" sound!  He will run around in excitement and often times get quite clumsy in his steps.  He will often fall over and bump his head on the ground.  The loud "thud" noise seems to amuse him!  He will quickly yell and get up to explore again!"

Ha, this is so true.  When Micah and I were there, he fell hard onto his head.  We were horrified, and then he just started giggling.  It's like he is made out of stone. :)

Seriously, I am DYING to get these little guys home and give them constant hugs and kisses!