Nothing much going on

Nothing much is going on right now. We are waiting for our LID (log in date). Travel approvals are taking about 3 months or so. I'm still hoping for January. I really want to go here. It's the Shenyang International Ice and Snow festival. It looks really cool and I can't wait. Of course I also can't wait to have Sophie in my arms either!

Just because

Just because her picture wasn't on the homepage :).

SNOOPY DANCE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE ARE DTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM BREAKING OUT THE DANCING SHOES. IT'S SNOOPY DANCE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ready to go down now!

Okay. I'm ready to go down hill now. Anytime your ready, I'm ready. Please start the thing up again. This ride is starting to make me sick. Do you ever feel like there is some goofy kid at the controls and he's just seeing how much fun he can have with you? We are still waiting to be DTC. My agency received the rest of our paperwork. Our coordinator assembled our dossier and told me everything looked good. She said I did a good job. They are just waiting for more families to turn in their dossiers. Come on people! Hop to it! What do you need? Can I help?

Fair

I can't wait until next year to go to the fair and have Sophie with us. I wonder what next year's picture theme will be. The one with the lady and man farmer is Brandon and AJ 2 years ago and the one with Maddie as the cow and her daddy as the farmer is from this year.

Is this the Atlanta USCIS office?

Is the Atlanta USCIS office?


On a side note, our form came back from the Houston Consulate today. Yipee!!!! Our agency has no dossier's going to China this week, so hopefully next week we will be DTC. I am sending the I-797 to our agency tomorrow. Woohoo! I will write later about this whole paperwork process. For now, enjoy the video.

Liaoning Province

Sophie is in the Dandong SWI in the Liaoning Province. It is on the border of China and North Korea. With everything that is going on between China and North Korea, please say a prayer for her and all of the other children who are there right now. I really want to bring her home soon.

Still waiting

We are still waiting for our I-797 to come back from the Houston Consulate. I found out that they were closed up until Wednesday. We should have it back any day now. I'm so ready to be DTC. This paperchase has gone so easily up until this darn form. I can't wait to get it back. You might hear me shout all the way to where you are. Also, some people ask what kind of paperwork is involved so I will list it here. This is what was involved with our adoption:
1. marriage certificate - TN, state sealed in TN and then sent to State Department and then on to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC
2. birth certificates (me and AJ)- GA, make sure that they are pen in hand. It is very important because the Secretary of State's office will not seal the document. They were then authenticated at the Chinese consulate in Houston
3. Financial Form - GA, notarized, notary certified, state sealed and authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
4. Medicals (me and AJ)- GA, notarized, notary certified, state sealed and authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
5. Letter from AJ's doc because of his diabetes - GA, notarized, notary certified, state sealed and authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
6. Petition to adopt - GA, notarized, notary certified, state sealed and authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.This is a letter that goes in our dossier to say that we will love our daughter and treat her with the same love and respect that she would have if she were our bio child.
7. Police Clearance (me and AJ) - GA, notarized, notary certified, state sealed and authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Houston. From our local Sheriff's department and it stated that we weren't criminals.
8. Letter of Employment (me and AJ) - GA, notarized, notary certified, state sealed and authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
9. Copies of our passports - Just copies.
10. I-797 - well I'm sure you've read all about that form
11. pictures - 6 pictures that described our family life
12. homestudy - sent to agency and they took care of it

That's it. You can see that it's not that much.... ;-)

Here's a picture of the top of Sophie's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It's actually finished, but I realized that I never posted a picture. I will take a picture of the whole thing and post it soon.

Waiting on the Houston Consulate

Okay, now I'm getting a little nervous. I USPS Priority mailed our I-797 to the Chinese Consulate in Houston on Monday, 9/25. They should have received it on 9/26 or 9/27. I'm sure I'll get it pretty soon and I know that they were closed on Monday, so just wish us luck. I'm really ready to send our dossier off.