Got the 171H

It arrived today, three weeks after our fingerprinting. Obviously, USCIS wasn't too upset with Ryan throwing up on their floor. It is good through February '09, and our prints are good through November of '08. I still don't get the time difference, but we should be good to go. One more big thing is done.

Waiting Game

No news yet about our first ruling. A family a day before us in their hearing had their first ruling amazingly quick last week. There is no way to know if they have the same judge or when our ruling is scheduled. Also, no one knows if the super typhoon that hit Taiwan two weeks ago slowed down the courts. So we wait. My hope is that we get our first ruling as a birthday present to me on Friday.

No word after three weeks from USCIS about our new fingerprints and approval form for Taiwan the 171H.

I'm trying to get the nursery together this weekend. We will order the crib tomorrow and it should take 10-14 days to arrive in Reno. I also plan on sorting through our baby stuff from Ryan and seeing what we can reuse and what we still need. I am also packing baby items and personal items for the trip. As we may only have one week's notice to travel, I want to have everything ready to go.

4th Update!

We received new photos today, along with a video of Yu-Wen. She makes baby noises and laughs out loud. (Sorry, I still have no idea how to post the video; maybe some brave soul can help us). Yu-Wen looks very happy, healthy, and well-cared for. Everyone who has traveled to Taiwan has said nothing but good about the foster families and their care of the babies.

There is no hearing date yet, but a family who sent their dossier to Taiwan a week after us had their first hearing on August 20. We hope ours is on the same date, or possibly even next week.

Re-Fingerprinting

We renewed our fingerprints today. Wish us luck and a speedy (and correct) 171H. We received our original 171H 2 weeks after our prints were done, so we hope this one goes as quickly. Even though we had an appointment, we waited for 2 hours with Ryan, who had just had his Botox procedure that morning. As per usual, an hour and a half after Ryan's procedure, Ryan threw up. It gives me a little bit of satisfaction that he threw up on USCIS. They were kind enough after that to let Ralph stay in the car with Ryan while I waited inside.

As for everyone's favorite question, "When do we bring Yu-Wen home?" it's still a guessing game. Two of my Bloggetts (Yahoo group members) traveled 6 months after submitting their paperwork to Taiwan. We just got news today that another member is traveling after 5 months in court. If we make it through the courts, then we will have Yu-Wen home for Christmas.