Family Weekend + Adoption Update

This weekend we had Isaac's family in town- his parents from Atlanta, his grandparents from Houston and his brother's family (Zach, Jen and Alyssa) from Tulsa.  Friday after dinner we went to Half Price Books where I bought these children's books:

On Saturday part of the crowd went to the Museum of Nature and Sciences where they have a neat children's area.  (FYI- On the 1st Saturday of the month Bank of America card holders get in free.)  Then, in the afternoon we enjoyed lunch at Picasso's, some pool time, playing games on the IPad, watching Alyssa chase around Riese, and reading books.  In the evening Aunt Jane, Cousin Cal and his friend (all from Georgetown) joined us for dinner and fellowship.   It was a really fun family weekend!

On the adoption front, we've received our final home study and we've sent in our I-600A form (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) to the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services).  This included:

• Cover Letter
• G-1145 form (E-Notification of Application)
• Copies of both of our birth certificates
• Copy of our marriage certificate
• Our home study
• 1-600A form
• $830 application fee 

We're first waiting to hear back from them regarding our FBI fingerprint appointment and then we'll be waiting on the USCIS to send us the "I-171H" approval form.  This is estimated to take about a month, but it could be shorter or longer.  Our hope is that when we receive that form we'll be fully prepared to mail off our dossier.  So, in the meantime we have to work on getting all our letters and documents ready, printed, notarized, and then certified in Austin.  With already a busy summer schedule (including work and play), we're going to have an extra crazy-busy month with adoption stuff!  And then after the paper-work fun is over, I'm anxious to start on the nursery!