Adoption Update

Ok so I can’t even tell you how much I HATE dealing with USCIS a.k.a immigration. During our initial process I was annoyed now I am super annoyed.

Here is what is happening: We were given an envelope in Ethiopia and told not to open it; the immigrations officer at point of entry has to break the seal. We followed these instructions and turned our son’s life paper work over to an immigration officer. This officer was to fill out a form and submit it to immigration…this is how you get your child’s green card. Well as you know I was half dead at this point from like 27 hours of travel and didn’t catch the mistake on the form, and signed it…. making it official.

Garrett’s legal name at the moment is Desta Thomas. That is the name on his birth certificate and his passport. Except that his green card came in the mail with the name Pesta Thomas!!! Now this is not the end of the world…. right? Wrong! Now I am forced to spend hours and hours dealing with immigration. And to top it off we cannot re-adopt him here in the states until his name is correct. **Sigh** There are so many things that need done for us to finalize his adoption and to make him a citizen, all of which is on hold until I can get his name changed from Pesta back to Desta.

On a personal note Garrett is attaching to us very well, he still has rough days but they are getting less and less. And now we know how to deal with him in those moments to keep him from slipping and shutting us out. We are actually going to church this weekend, the first time in 3 months Woo Hoo! This may not seem like that big of a deal, but we have not left him ANYWHERE or with ANYONE for 3 months. It’s a big step in the Thomas family and for Garrett. We are finally getting to a place where we are lightening up with his strict routine and schedule…and I have to say it’s really nice!