7th Anniversary & paper jams

Kurt and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. We had a wonderful day. After a relaxing morning we went on a walk with Ava then out to a movie and dinner by ourselves. We have a wonderful teenage babysitter. But, it was the first time that we were away from the house while Ava was awake... Of course we worried and our conversations continually drifted to Ava but we did not call the sitter to check on her. OK, honestly, we called the baby sitter's mom to see if she had checked in on them & she had. She said all was good and we decided to let our worry go. And, we also planned the "date" early enough so that we could be home to put her down for the night - I guess we could be acting like new parents a little....:).

Friday night we had one of my friends from college, Dave and his son, over for dinner. They gave us the cutest wool fall/winter outfit. They are in NY from Georgia to visit his family. We thought it was very hot that night and apologized for the heat - Dave reminded us that it was probably hotter in Atlanta. On Sunday, Ava and I went to Cazenovia to visit my family (grandma, grandpa and Uncle Mick's family). We also paid our respect to my youngest brother Dan who passed away in an accident two years ago. I am sorry that Ava will never know Uncle Dan in person - he was a very kind and caring brother/uncle.

On Friday we were excited because we had an envelope from NY Vital Records in the mail . We quickly opened it thinking it was going to be her certified birth certificate. It was not. They were documents indicating that a birth certificate had been created based on our court appearance and for $30.00 and more proof that we are who we say we are, they would be happy to send us a birth certificate. Of course, I filled out the application over the weekend and made copies of the legal documents they needed for proof on Monday. Then I sent more money and the documents off to get her NY birth certificate with her American name and us listed as her parents. The amount of paperwork and patience to complete an adoption is simply amazing.

On Monday, July 30 we had a large envelope from Home Land Security in our mailbox. We were very excited because we thought it would hold her new Certificate of Citizenship (with her US name on it) and we would be sure we had beaten the August 1st deadline of fees increasing by $200.00. Guess what - that is not what it was. The envelope contained the check and all documents we had sent in with a note indicating that I had not signed on one line... It was not an accident that I did not sign it - it was a purposeful decision because I did not realize a parent should sign it... But, I guess I should have. So I signed it and Kurt put it the in overnight mail - hopefully we will beat the August 1st deadline and not receive the package back requesting more money.... We will let you know when we do.