No News is... ????

Okay so No News is "DRIVING ME C-R-A-Z-Y!" We really hoped to hear something this week about finalizing travel dates but ahhh... NO. We are really beginning to lose hope of leaving on the 13th.

Here's the scoop... (and a lesson in governmental waste!)
We are waiting for what is called an I800 from USCIS. We have the I800a from them. I thought it was THE last piece of the puzzle to get LJ BUT... the I800a is only a preapproval to adopt an orphan from a foreign county. Once you get the referral for the child, you THEN send in another application to USCIS for the I800... the REAL form that we need! Geoff mailed off our application on January 14th. It went to Chicago. From there it gets logged into a computer by someone and THEN the application gets sent to Missouri where the final paperwork is done and mailed to us. This is red tape at its best! I am feeling the meaning of "red tape" as it makes my blood boil knowing that IF we had this in our hand at TA, we could more likely leave on the 13th. Now it is a waiting game to find out if the Chinese Consulate will approve our appt and then even if they do... a stressful wait to make sure we get the I800 in our hands before then!!

This is the stuff that keeps me awake at night! Every time I look at a picture of Lexi my heart aches. I know many people say that "she's worth the wait"... "you'll get her in God's time"... "the timing will be perfect for you"... but honestly NONE of this helps during the process. I'm sure I'll look back at this post and realize that everyone's advice was perfect but for now... it just doesn't do it for me. I see those eyes and that face and just long to hold my daughter.

Tonight I was looking at pictures posted by others in the Dongguan Yahoo group. Many had pictures of the orphanage. I even found pictures of other babies wearing the same clothes Lexi was wearing in her referral pictures. As I looked at the pictures I just wanted to cry. We need to go get our little girl. She needs us and WE need her!

Plus Geoff can't handle much more of my nesting! I have cleaned all week trying to prepare for Lexi. Why do I need my sock drawer organized before she arrives is a mystery but it has been done. I'm running out of closets, drawers and rooms to organize and by the end of the weekend, I'll be finished scrubbing floors. I've even been in the garage. I've generated so much trash that I began to just pile it in the garden tub in our bathroom until trash pick up day on Monday.

I've been working on implementing new stuff at school that keeps me busy there. I just can't calm myself down. Yesterday I was at the point of forcing back tears just "thinking" while all by myself.

I think this post just lets everyone know... the last leg of the wait is pure TORTURE!