Happy New Year!!

I'm still amazed that another year has flown by. I'm learning what I had always heard is true; the older you get, the faster they go. But also, hopefully, another saying I've always heard is true; the older we get, the wiser we get. I'm believing that one too. I'm already thinking about how I can make next year's holiday's a little less chaotic. Even though I started shopping earlier this year than ever, I didn't finish until the last minute. Mark will never believe it when I say I'm going to do better next year. I'll let you know next year how I did with that.

We did receive some news about the adoption a short time back and I started a post but never finished it. I kept thinking I would have time to sit down and proof read..........ha! Since our news (that was actually 3 weeks ago now) nothing has happened. Even though the USCIS expected to immediately begin receiving names of cases, no one has gotten the call that their case is ready to proceed. Hopefully, now that the holiday's are over, things will start moving. There is the issue of a new president and new faculty and staff that will also potentially slow things down............don't you know..........there's always something. But I believe our good news is around the corner. Below is the post that never got posted and was written on Dec 14th.

It feels like forever since we've gotten any good news but it has finally happened! We were contacted by the USCIS on Monday. The e-mail stated the CNA had given them our case as one that they are planning to process under their new Acuerdo. We were given instructions to call in to a teleconference call today to find out about the process. The absolutely wonderful news is that our case now has a path to follow to completion. The not so wonderful news is we have no idea how long that path is. We were told that the group of families who were invited to join the call are cases that could be ready to process rather quickly. Not sure if they're talking my idea of "quickly" or CNA's but I really hope it's mine. The process will be initiated by the CNA so when they are ready to begin the final stages of our case, they will contact the USCIS, who will in turn, notify us. We were informed about the documents we will have to prepare when the USCIS contacts us and then were basically told to just sit tight until we are contacted. That'll be easy........... I thought I was bad at stalking my e-mail before! Now that I know we could get a notification at any time, I'll probably be tied to this computer!! The process sounds fairly simple. The CNA will require 5 items for our file:

1. a CNA application

2. current homestudy

3. photos of the inside and outside of our home

4. a psychological exam for both Mark and I

5. a copy of our I171H.

We are responsible for getting any written documents translated into Spanish before we can submit them. The psychological exam won't be cheap and getting a certified translator to translate the documents won't be cheap either but at least now we know there is a process to follow and our case will be included. I had been praying Nola would be home by Christmas. That's not going to happen but getting this good news during the holiday's is certainly a blessing! And now............we wait again!

I'm praying the new year brings good news for all of the waiting families! Let 2012 be the year that all of our children come home!!