Where No Burror Has Gone Before - Round 2

Ok, this is sort of old news, but I warned you that I would be bad at updating this thing. We found out a few weeks ago that *surprise*, Kazakhstan is now processing adoption dossiers faster (Mark this day on your calendar folks: ”Kazakhstan” and “fast” were used in the same sentence…on purpose). Actually, I think what really has happened is that the Consulate has finally caught up in processing the massive amount of dossiers they received when Kyrgyzstan closed for adoptions and everyone switched to Kaz. They were swamped for a while, which is why the wait times were so long. But apparently, they are caught up now, and timelines are back to usual.

So basically all this means is that our timeline until travel has shrunk. By 6 months. Part of the reason we started the paperwork now was to get in the (what used to be) long line for a Kaz adoption. We thought we had about 18 months AFTER the paperwork was turned in before baby came home. But now we are looking at travel very likely next summer, or latest, next fall.

We have very mixed emotions about this. I feel like I am in the midst of a pregnancy that happened sooner than planned!…wondering how we will cope, will we have enough money saved by then to take the girls with us, will the girls be ready enough/old enough, will WE be ready enough/old enough, on and on.

But then when I see a baby somewhere when we are out and about, my motherly instincts start working overtime. All my worries fade and I know that everything will be just fine, or at least fine enough for us to survive. As we have requested a child 18 months and younger (and almost no one in Kaz gets a child under 9-12 months), and seeing that we will almost certainly travel next summer, you may have surmised at this point that it is quite possible that our child is already born. S/he could be anywhere from a newborn to 6 months old. This thought is really one that is hard to live with…the thought that your child is sitting in an orphanage somewhere on the other side of the world. It is what is spurring me on to kick butt on the dossier (which I am doing, by the way….woohoo!). I feel like everyday that I make some progress on the paperwork is one day less that our kid has to be alone.

Provided that the FBI and USCIS cooperate (and that our notary doesn’t screw up like last time!!!!! Anyone remember that fiasco?!), I hope to have all the documents ready and on their way to our agency by the end of August. I think that THE best part of the summertime travel dates is that we are almost assured to avoid this:














You have no idea how happy I am that we will almost certainly be missing the "Stillettos on Ice" show this time around. Honestly the timing will be perfect to take Gianna and Camille if we go in the summertime. They will be out of school, and traveling to Kaz in summer with 2 kids seems waaaaaay less daunting than traveling in subzeros.

Ok, so I guess that is all the update I have for now. I will post again when the dossier is done, and will post a picture of it, like I did last time (just for fun, we can compare the 2 stacks!). I hope to have it all done and sent off by end of August (or sooner if all the government officials decide they have nothing better to do than cooperate with me!). We are very excited (and nervous too, but mostly excited!), and want to thank everyone for their continued support and enthusiasm! The process of international adoption is fraught with so many unknowns, uncertainties, stresses and questions, so we appreciate all the unconditional support we have received so far!!!