April 2004

April -- Aahh April. The month I got my 171H!! What's a 171H you ask? It's the official form the US government sends when they've approved you to return to the USA with an orphan -- and I can't get back from Kazakhstan without it (well I could, but there wouldn't be a baby with me).This month has also included becoming "paper ready" that essentially means that all of my forms and paperwork have all of their required approvals, and are now in the hands of the Kazakhstan embassy in NYC.The biggest news of the month is that it's looking like my referral -- which I didn't think would come until October -- will potentially be received anytime between MAY and OCTOBER! My adoption coordinator called me a couple of weeks ago and told me "don't be surprised if you get a referral fairly quickly". When I asked her if she could be any more specific, she unfortunately said no, and then said "it could be as quickly as 1-2 months"! Holy crap! So it's good that I've got the crib ready to go! The bad part about the above news is that it still could take until October -- there's just no telling. If nothing else in this journey I've learned that nothing is within your control, and you just have to learn to roll with the punches -- I'd say that's probably a good lesson regardless!Until next month, be safe!