Progress...

Here are a couple of pictures from Kiara's concert. She is quite the poser lately. So far our summer has been busy, but I am hoping after this week things will be more relaxing. We have had a lot of routine doctor's appointments. Today I was sitting in the dentist chair thinking how nice it was that this was the last doctor type of appointment for a long time, then I was told I have a cavity and have to come back! Oh, well, it could be much worse. The weather has been wonderful here, so it has been nice to be outside a bit.

On the adoption front, we got our new I-171H in the mail with our new fingerprint expiration dates. I am praying we never need to update those again since they don't expire until Sept 2009.

I got the endorsement letter from our state that I needed to be able to submit my I-824 which changes our approval with USCIS to adopt from Uzbekistan to Russia. So, the I-824 was submitted on June 23rd and they say it takes 2-3 weeks.

Yesterday, Ryan and I went and got our second round of Hepatitis shots. We don't get the third round for 6 months. Kiara has been vaccinated for Hep B, but not A. Since she will be going on the second trip with us, I need to get her vaccinated for Hep A. It is done in 2 rounds and she is old enough for her Kindergarten shots, so next month I think I will take her for a few of those and the Hep A shot.

Now, I am working on getting Ryan's passport renewed since it expires in spring 2009. Man, there just always seems to be some type of paperwork I need to do for the adoption!

I did get good news from my agency that it seems like things are going faster in Russia than they expected! But, I know next week that could all change. It was good to hear good news for a change!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Amidst all our busyness, I also celebrated a birthday! The weekend of my birthday was busy, but a lot of fun. I got to go and get a pedicure with a friend and I went out just for fun with some friends after Kiara's concert. We had a good time just eating good food and talking. I hadn't done that in a long time. I shared my day with Father's Day this year, so we spent the day at my parent's house hanging out with family.

But, the highlight of my birthday was the present from my husband. It is the necklace you see in the picture. It is an adoption necklace, it says 'I chose you' over and over on the heart. Mine, of course, doesn't say Silas and the name pennant will be added at a later date. I love it!! It somehow makes me feel closer to my next daughter. You can find this and other great handmade creations at Junk Posse, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5208670&section_id=5306798.

Busy...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. It has been a busy and hard couple of weeks. I don't have much time, but wanted to post just to check in. We have practice all morning for Kiara's big concert tomorrow and of course the concert at night. So, hopefully next week will be less stressful and more relaxed.

We were told about a week ago that our wait it going to be a lot longer for referral than originally predicted. :( I was really upset, but have worked through and am coming to peace with it. We went and got our fingerprints done on Thursday, so that is one more thing checked off my list. I will write more next week. I hope everyone enjoys Father's Day!

Fingerprint appointments

I received our new fingerprint appointments today. It took 14 days from the day I sent in the request until we got our appointments. The appointments are for Thursday, June 12 at 8 AM. Yeah, we live 3 hours away and our appointments are at 8 AM! Well, I think we will go up the night before and stay in a hotel. It will be fine, it just stinks that we have to spend money on a hotel to get our fingerprints done and Ryan has to take a day off of work. When we got our fingerprints done before, we had 90 days from receiving the letter to go and get them done, whenever they were open. Now, they have changed things and give you an exact appointment. Oh, well, at least they will be done.

Kiara's solo

Kiara had her first performance for her performing group this weekend. Here is a clip of Kiara doing a solo. Super cute!