So, what do parents of an almost two year old do on New Year's Eve? Well, so far they put the boy to bed, each find a computer, and spend awhile looking around the internets for items of interest. When that gets old they'll watch a movie or two while enjoying some fine boxed wine, and when the ball finally drops perhaps they'll have a piece of New Year Birthday Cake washed down with cheap champagne, and call it a night. It's not a glamorous life, but we like it just fine. And just so you know, we had options. We could have gone out...we even had an offer to babysit...but we just didn't feel like it. Staying in felt cozy and good after a week of running around and endless visiting.
While strolling about the Internet this fine evening, I happened across the USCIS website (what, you don't regularly check out US Immigration and Naturalization Services' website? You're sooo out of the loop!). While there I checked to see what dates the Albany suboffice is processing through for I-600 applications...if you'll remember, that is our application for Emma's VISA. September 14, 2006, is the current date they are processing. When I checked a few weeks ago they were processing through August 14th, which leads me to believe that they take about a month to process a month's worth of applications, and they are currently 3 months behind. This is not necessarily a happy deduction, as we did not apply for the I-600 until November 4. If my calculations and speculations are correct, this means that we will not have VISA approval until maybe the beginning of February.
With Harrison's adoption we applied for the I-600 on 4/21/05, received approval on 6/11/05, and he arrived on 7/26/05. That's 21 days from I-600 application to approval, and then another 45 days until his arrival, bringing the whole process to about 66 days. Now, if I am right that the USCIS is roughly three months behind in their work, and working with the idea that they will not catch up (c'mon, this is a government. bureaucracy we're talking about) then if we get her VISA approval on February 4 that will have been 93 days since we applied for it. If she follows Harry's lead and arrives 45 days after VISA approval that means she might be home on March 21, the vernal equinox. That is 80 days from now.
Of course, all of this is subject to a million influences, including but not limited to: US government bureaucracies, Korean government agencies, Korean adoption agencies, our adoption agency, etc. This fancy math makes me realize that I have to stop focusing my energy and hope on a February arrival. It's most likely not going to happen, and even March is a long shot. April is much more likely. In April Emma will be 8 months old. We were so hoping to have her home by six months of age, when attachment and bonding are still issues, but less so. I was hoping to once again have an infant (or rather, have one for the first time...new readers probably don't realize that 5.5 month old Harry arrived crawling at full throttle, cruising along furniture, and eating solids). Whenever she makes her debut, Emma will be loved and cherished and adored by all of us...but it really wouldn't be so bad for her to arrive early, would it?
Enough speculation already. Have a happy New Year. Be safe, and enjoy whatever merry traditions you choose to partake of. See you in '07.
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