We have DTC!!!

Yay! The agency called to tell me those words I've waited for nearly five months to hear, our dossier is on its way to China!  This is a big step!  A week or two after our dossier arrives in China, it will be logged into the CCCWA. (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption)  The day our paperwork is logged into the system is when we acquire our next set of acronyms, known as LID meaning Log In Date.

We will then begin waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance).   This is our official approval  to adopt our girls.  It can take anywhere from 1-5 months, with 52 days being the average.  This is also the magic date that triggers being allowed by our agency to send care packages to the girls at the orphanage, and finally being allowed to put photos of them on our blog.

Some have asked, "What all is in the dossier, anyway?"  Well... if you really want to know, here is a list of what we needed to include:

Birth Certificates for Ethan and me.  His was complicated since he was born out of country to missionary parents.  These had to be certified copies which then had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.

Marriage Certificate, a certified copy - notarized, verified and authenticated.

Financial Statement with notarized signatures then verified and authenticated.

General Physical Examination forms.  Our physician had to complete the form, sign it, and have it notarized, then it was verified and authenticated.

Police Clearance Reports for Ethan and me.  This one had to be completed by our local sheriff department after doing a criminal history check.  Of course it too had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.

Letter of Employment for both of us. This is interesting because they want the employee to spell out "prospect of continuous employment" which in today's economy is tricky, huh?  I had to type a statement as to why I am NOT employed, and that I basically mooch off my husband!  LOL!  And...you guessed it  notarized, verified and authenticated.

I-797C Notice of Action: Approval Notice.  This is what we received back after being fingerprinted for immigrations and asking for approval to adopt foreign children on the I800-A.  Of course it was  notarized, verified and authenticated.

Adoption Application Letter (with several required points), notarized, verified and authenticated.

A copy of our Homestudy - it ended up being a summary of 15 pages.  (The list of requirements for completing the homestudy was even LONGER than this list!  It was the one that reduced me to tears reading it last summer.)  Again,  notarized, verified and authenticated.

Homestudy Agency form

Copies of Passports

Additional copies of passport photos

Six photos of our home and family

Whew!  As I looked at that list, and the list of things we submitted for our homestudy, I remembered those days, just a few months ago, when the paperchase dominated my days.  Let's hope now that we are on the waiting end that it is a little bit easier.  There are still a few key, REALLY important documents to file as we near travel, but the bulk of our paperchase is done.

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at the home of one of our daughters in the Indianapolis area.  Most of our "kids" were able to come, and all of the grandchildren.  Add in Ethan's mom and a nephew with his wife, and it was a house full!  It was great to be together, if even for just a few hours.

I will admit to holidays being just a little "off" for me right now.  Don't get me wrong, I am engaged and enjoying the here and now with my family, but my thoughts are never far from our two little girls who live a half a world away.  As we celebrate our traditions, and as we go about our normal, every day lives I wonder what they are doing and experiencing. How strange will our life here seem to them?   Next Thanksgiving we will make room for a couple more little princesses at the kids' table.  I can't wait to share our fun times with them!

Princess Dormitory!

We are working on transforming the big bedroom into a dormitory for three princesses!

 Of course, a princess must have a canopy bed.  Let me tell you that three canopies in one room, and all in a row is a LOT of bed AND a LOT of curtain! It is pretty adorable though!

 I cannot wait until the other two little princesses are home!

DTC is just around the corner!

I got an update from our agency today.  All of our documents went to the Chinese embassy in DC last Friday  (November 9) for the last authentication step. They say it typically it takes 6-7 business days for them to turn around documents, plus shipping time on each end.

Our case manager said that theoretically our documents should be back at the agency by Wednesday, and they'll be able to mail them to China before they close for Thanksgiving.  That all sounds good,  but she also added that the Department of State has been a little more variable on processing time recently, so it might not get there in time. They are closed both Thursday and Friday for the holiday.

Hopefully the "usual" will happen and our documents will be back at the agency on Wednesday.  I'm told they are typically able to send the dossier the same day it arrives back from authentication, so whether it is Wednesday or the following Monday, we are really close.  Once the dossier goes out we are looking at anywhere from 4-8 months until we travel.  In looking at the timelines of others online, China seems to be moving fairly quickly right now.  Here's hoping for the shorter side of waiting!

Blankets for Plane Travel

I've been carefully evaluating what we actually need (and want) for the China trip.  While we don't want to take lots of baggage (I'm thinking backpacks would be ideal!) we do want to have some amount of comfort.  Tikvah it seems is always cold.  Let's face it, there isn't a lot of meat on her body to keep her warm!  One thing she requested was a blanket to take on the plane.  So, she and I have been looking at blankets for weeks.  Some have been too big, some too flimsy, some not pretty enough....  It has to give a decent amount of warmth, but it must be small enough to stuff into her carry-on.

At the same time we have been contemplating what to send in our "care packages" to the girls at the orphanage.  While many agencies allow sending packages on their birthday, or really any time after pre-approval, ours forbids any contact until we receive LOA. (Letter of Approval - shortly before travel)  One thing that has consistently been suggested (from various sources) to include in a care package is a soft blanket.

So, you can believe I was pretty excited last night to find fleece princess blankets from the Disney Store on sale for half price.  Want to make a sweet deal even better?  They also offered FREE personalization and FREE shipping!  Wow!  Yes.  I ordered three.

 The purple one will say "Tikvah" on it.

The blue one "Abigail Dawn"

AND.... Jennifer Lin will complete the set with the pink one!

Jennifer is "MeiMei's" name in her English speaking preschool, and Lin is Chinese for beautiful jade.  She will also have her Chinese name from the orphanage on her birth certificate as a second middle name.  I like that name pretty well, so you may hear it as often as you hear Jennifer!

We Have It In Writing!

Sometimes I don't appreciate government notices that arrive in my mailbox.  The recent demand by the county health department to update our septic system was one such notice I could have done without.  However, we received an official document from the government today that has me smiling from ear to ear.  The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) sent us a beautiful thing today!  We have received our written APPROVAL NOTICE.  It states, "You have been approved to adopt two children from the following Convention country: People's Republic of China"

I faxed a copy of this to our agency.  They say that it will be heading to the Secretary of State tomorrow. Once this document has been certified/authenticated our dossier will be DONE.  I'm loving National Adoption Month so far!

Speaking of which, have you noticed the really GOOD videos that have been coming out in response to the special focus on orphans this month?  One of them is by Third Day.  It is relevant to all believers.  There is a message for us here.I hope you'll take five minutes to watch it.

I800A Approval Granted Today!

Today was a great way to kick off National Adoption Month!  I received notice that our I800A form (immigrations) had been approved by USCIS.  The full name of this form is Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, the convention country being China in this case.

This was the final document needed for our dossier.  Once the hard copy arrives in the mail next week, we must notarize, state certify, and authenticate it for our dossier.  For those who are trying to keep track of these things,  the dossier is the all important file of documents that will be sent to China. It contains the application and letter requesting permission to adopt a Chinese orphan, home study, police reports, immigration approval, reference letters, medical reports, marriage certificate, birth certificates, letters of employment, and photos of our family and house.

It may take a month before the I800A has all of its certifications, then we will be DTC which is Dossier to China.  It is approximately five to eight months from dossier log in until travel.

I can breath a HUGE sigh of relief that most of our paperwork this side of travel arrangements is done.  Or not.  Next week I start applying for grants.  International adoption is quite expensive, and most people need help to complete it.  We'd appreciate your prayers as we enter this phase that we would find favor with the organizations that are able to assist.

We received a huge blessing of new photos of our girls at their orphanage, this time photos of them together!  An online friend "happened" to be there and got permission to take photos.  We didn't have many pictures of Mei Mei, so we were REALLY especially extra happy to get those! Our agency does not allow us to post photos of the girls online, but I would be happy to show them to you next time we meet.  Just ask -that is, if I don't immediately pull them out to show you!

Lastly, as we enter the final two months of the year, some of you may be thinking about donations, especially tax deductible donations.  Our girls were accepted for fundraising by Reece's Rainbow (advocates for special needs orphans) this past week.  We'd be ever so thankful if you considered them worthy of some of these end of the year donations.  There is a donation button in the right margin on this blog, or you may find our family's page on Reece's Rainbow by clicking here!  Donations through Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible.  Thank you!