Update

Did you know that adoption paperwork expires after 1 year?

Let me correct myself, because I can only speak for the requirements in the Russia program. But, yes, if you are adopting from Russia, then expect that you will have to update your paperwork at 1 year...or 12 months...or 365 days, depending on how you prefer to keep track of time.

And believe me, it has a tendency to creep up on you and scare you silly. I liken it to the times that I am walking through the house, completely unaware of anything going on around me, when Isaiah jumps out from behind a corner and scares the bejeezers out of me. My heart skips a beat and then, as though making up for lost time, it goes into overdrive, thumping in my ears and nearly coming out of my chest...and then I get mad.

I really don't like surprises.

The whole idea about me having to redo paperwork certainly surprised me, not because I was unaware that we even needed to do it at all, but because I completely lost track of time.

But that's okay, because our case worker at WACAP has done a fantastic job of keeping us up to date and informed about everything that needs to be done. In fact, she is the brains behind this whole operation...I just fill out the paperwork when told to do so.

And that is exactly what I'm doing right now...filling out paperwork.

Luckily our homestudy has been updated, and it didn't take too much on my part aside from confirming some financial information. I have also started working on the first segment of our dossier, which expires in September. All we need to do is print these documents, sign them and have them notarized, so they should also be relatively easy.

But that's not the part that makes my heart skip a beat. No, that's coming in November when the second segment of our dossier expires and I have to contact our postmaster and have him sign this document again. And while it really isn't that big of a deal, it still puts a bad taste in my mouth every time I think about the frustration it caused me last year.

But on the bright side, I have another month or two before I have to deal with that one, so at least there aren't any surprises there. And in the words of Martha Stewart, that's a good thing.