Can't do anything but hope for the best

My lawyer drives me nuts. While I fully believe that he is completely competent at what he is doing, I want to punch him in the head! Over the past three or four years I have been regularly trying to get our green card application moving. I'm not one to leave important things to the last minute but every time I tried to voice my concern he told me that all would be alright and there would be no problems because he anticipated that we should have green cards in our hands before our R-1 and R-2 Visas ran out.

April 2010 - I finally get the questionnaires and lists of everything the lawyer's office needed to put together our application
June 2010 - after a few emails asking what was going on and where we were, the lawyer tells me that he just needs to put on the finishing touches and all will be good.
....more emails go unanswered as I try to find out where we are with everything....
November 2010 - FINALLY! I hear from our lawyer and he says that he just needs a few more things before putting in the applications. WTF! I thought they were already put in! Needs checks made out to Homeland Security for our applications. Another WTF! because we've already provided him with them. Oh! But it was so long ago and they are no longer valid so we need to provide new ones. Ok. Still told that all is going to be fine and we don't have to worry about anything.
Early 2011 - the church receives notification from Homeland Security that our applications for green cards has been received.
May 2001 - Big Love starts to have some concerns that we haven't received our travel documents and whether or not he'll be able to work once our visas expire. I told him that our lawyer said everything would be ok but I phone his office just to confirm. As with many other emails, I am sent to voicemail with no returned phone call. A week later I call again. Same thing. A few days later I email and ask what is going on. We finally get an email that is not very good news. Our visas expire July 2, 2011 and something happened so he can not file the two petitions concurrently and things are backed up in California with the applications, and blah blah. We have to apply for completely new visas while the green card stuff is in process so that Big Love can continue to receive pay checks. While our lawyer says there is still nothing to worry about in regards to our green card applications going through, it may be another year before we have the actual green card in hand.
June 11, 2011 - The new visas have not been applied for because we are waiting on our lawyer to tell us he's got his part done and how much the checks need to be made out for, as well as the fact that Big Love's passport has expired and we're waiting on the new one being delivered. Again, the lawyer says he has no doubts that we'll be accepted for this new visa and so we are preparing for a worst-case scenario of losing out on half a month's pay which can not be retroactively paid once the new visas are approved. We know we're going to be ok and we have some savings, but if we have to go the full half a month, all of our savings will be gone. We are not happy about this and it is a stress that is sitting in the back of our minds 24/7. I can not help but believe that had our lawyer gotten onto these a hell of a lot sooner as I had been requesting, then this would not be going on right now.

There's also a possibility that we may not be able to renew our Driver's Licenses in time for their expiration on July 2 (only get them as long as we have a valid visa) and so to put salt in the wound, Big Love will be on an unanticipated holiday but we won't be able to go anywhere! Not even to the nearby beach for Sweet One to play. (We were there the other day and to say she loved it would be a gross understatement.)

How I hate having my fate in the hands of mere mortals.