Found this old article

and really wish I could find out what the outcome was. It is not quite the same as our case, but to me it has the same feel. Reading about this case makes me feel better and much worse......better because I do feel like our agency in proceeding correctly and taking all the right steps to make sure her citizenship is obtained correctly and once we get that certificate we will be golden......and of course worse because I'm realising just how serious this problem is and the delays we could experience could be even longer. I haven't found anyone who has had these same Russian citizenship issues so I have nothing to compare our delays to and no way to know what to expect. The passport office did say they "by law" had 2-6 months to process the citizenship so I might have to prepare myself for the a worst-case-scenario of May before its complete (well no, I guess worst-case would be that her citizenship would be denied and left in limbo!!). Anyway, I'd be interested to hear others take on this case:

http://rt.com/prime-time/2008-11-28/Unlucky_orphan_trapped_in_red_tape_.html

Other than worrying about this and researching for answers, we ditched all the Super Bowl fun and headed to Knott's Berry Farm yesterday. What a great day there! It was practically empty. I also picked up a few souvenir travel mugs for gifts for when we actually make it back to Russia.

2 years ago my angel ~Chelsea Kay~ was born

My second little girl, born too soon. I will forever remember you dancing in my tummy, the precious little time you spent in my arms and know you are now with your sister ~Sarah Kay~ watching over us. She was ultimately the one that set us on the path to our Little Miss and I will continue to pray that we do not once again end up with broken hearts and empty arms. Hopefully our Little Miss will one day hear about her sisters and truly understand what a blessing and the miracle she is to our family.

A new month

The start of a new week, a new month, perhaps this will bring some news. I'm really tired of posting once again that I have no news.......but I have NO news. The Russian staff still has not gotten her certificate of citizenshop processed. We are trying to get an update and perhaps some current pictures on our little miss, but nothing yet. Hopefully soon, very soon.

18 months today

Little Miss is 18 months old today. Thinking about her and hope she has a good day.

I'm encouraged by the activity I'm seeing

** Edited to add the beautiful rainbow that awaited me this morning. I'll take it as a good sign from above!!**

I'm so happy for so many of my blogger friends that are getting court dates & getting referrals. It brings me hope that things are full-speed ahead in Russia and our little miss's citizenship can be processed and our papers can FINALLY be on their way to court. I keep hoping that I'll hear something by next week, but that may be ambitious.

Now, I'm worrying about the US side of the paperwork as well! I submitted the extension for our I600a Nov 19 and just now received confirmation that they received it! I thought the letter was our approval! I had already known they received it Nov 19th as I had delivery confirmation. Also, I'm hearing the FBI is backed up and our clearances expire next month. I sent them in a few weeks ago but am afraid it will take 10 weeks to get back. Both of these things are crucial for court. Here I am, so upset that the Russian passport office can't process something in a week or two, when our own government is taking months to process just a renewal of our immigration clearance (everything is the same as before!!) and FBI clearances that were also just done in August.....still have same fingerprints last I checked!! You'd think it would be easy enough to run them again. So, while I'm hoping for Russia to move along swiftly, I also need to worry about the US movely quickly as well. I'm trying not to let this all overwhelm me and just be diligent and do what I can to keep things moving forward.

Hitting the 5 month mark has been really hard of me. I'm struggling big time. Now we're barrelling in on 6 months. In the beginning, I think I was trying to just focus on getting back to Russia, on getting paperwork in, on our magic Nov 29th to come along so her citizenship could be processed.......Now, I am literally aching for my little girl. I think about her daily routine, I think about her being alone in her crib, I think about her being hungry, sick, lonely. Its like all at the same time I feel more connected to her, and yet more distant from her all at once.

I'm so very happy for all the families moving forward, bringing home their children. And for all those families still in the various waiting stages, my heart is with you! This is HARD.