August 9, 2006 *Adoption application sent September 4, 2006 *Fingerprint appointment with USCIS December 16, 2006 *Immigration approval (I-797 arrives) *Officially on wait list (#2 or #3 for a boy - agency never clarifies) *Agency tells us our referral will be any day March 6, 2007 *Referral of our son FINALLY arrives *Travel estimated at three months (of course it will take longer) * Friday, July 13th * drive from Atlanta to Long Island so Durban can stay with his grandparents while we are in Thailand and Vietnam Wedneday, July 18th * fly out of JFK - we are on our way! (An unusual storm in NY forced many delays but we are grateful we made it to the airport at all) Thursday, July 19th * arrive in Bangkok to relax for a few days at the incredible Sheraton Sukumviut Saturday, July 21st * fly into Ho Chi Minh City to meet our group Sunday, July 22nd * fly to Danang to meet Kieran Monday, July 23rd *trip to Red Cross Danang orphanage *meet Kieran for the first time Tuesday, July 24th *official Giving and Receiving ceremony. He's ours! *our 3rd Wedding Anniversary Thursday, July 26th *fly back to Ho Chi Minh City to have INS intervew and get passport for Kieran *Kieran crawling everywhere, getting 4 teeth Wednesday, July 31st * fly to Hanoi to wait for Kieran's visa from US Embassy *Kieran's favorite pastime is looking at himself in the mirror August 9th * fly back to the U.S. on my 33rd birthday August 10th * arrive at JFK to spend time with Kieran's grandparents on Long Island September 8th *Santosh & Durban drive back to home to Atlanta (15 hours) September 10th *Jennifer & Kieran fly back to Atlanta from NY (get lots of dirty looks from fellow passengers when Kieran cries for 3 hours straight) October * Kieran starting to say mamma and dadda * Kieran's third word is "uh oh" November 16th *Kieran practices walking - one or two steps per day. He's clearly in no hurry to master this November 30th *Meeting with the real Santa Claus ends in complete disaster when Kieran cozies up to Santa's bleach blond "elf" and is then totally devastated when he's torn away to sit on Santa's lap December 15th *Kieran's First Birthday. He's walking now but still needs practice January 1st 2008 *Kieran's running non stop now. His Franksenstein style walk has been replaced with something that looks more like a frantic Richard Simmons waddle with 'jazz hands' out to the side to protect him from frequent falls *Requesting hugs . . . . but only on his terms January 16, 2008 *Santosh teaches Kieran to stick out his tongue. This quickly backfires when Kieran sticks out his tongue at inappropriate times such as when neighbors wave and smile or to push out food that doesn't meet with his standards February 29, 2008 *Jennifer and Kieran fly from Atlanta to NYC *Santosh and Durban drive from Atlanta to LI March 4, 2008 *Jen, Santosh and Kieran fly to Dubai - 13 hour flight March 5, 2008 *Land in Dubai. Nothing to see so we wonder if we are in the right place. Two days spent wanderign around trying to find something to eat that isn't McDonalds, Sbarro or Krispy Kreme. March 7, 2008 *Fly from Dubai to Johannesburg South Africa for a one day stay with Santosh and Sue. 9 hour flight. March 8, 2008 *Arrive in Durban, South Africa March 24, 2008 *Depart Durban for Dubai for another 2 day layover of shopping March 26, 2008 *Depart Dubai for JFK *Week long stay on Long Island April 5, 2008 *Return home to Atlanta May 2008 *Kieran up to 16 teeth
1 comment:
Let's hope that holds!!!
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