Waiting

Waiting. Something I have never been good at. Although going through 2 adoptions now has taught me to be a little bit more patient.....

Our dossier is now in China. I looked at my FedEx account and it was received and signed for. Big sigh of relief. DTC (dossier to China) was 5/9. They received it on 5/12, just a day before my birthday and the day after Mother's Day. I was so excited to know we were moving forward. Another adopting mom I have "met" on our Facebook groups was also DTC on 5/9. It is exciting to know that we might really meet in China while Mike and I pick up our daughter and she and her family pick up their son.

So, it has been almost 2 weeks and no word yet. The next step would be LID or Log In Date. That is when China has looked at our dossier and actually logged it into the system. This is a huge step because only then will they begin to work on our LOA or Letter of Approval. Most LOAs come anywhere from 45-60 days after LID. Well, we haven't heard yet if we are LID. A few other moms have received LID already even though they were DTC after I was. Not sure why. Made me a little sad to head into this long weekend without word. So, please pray that our LID comes this week and we can move that huge step closer. Our Little Miss is waiting on us. I feel stuck. I just want to go NOW!!!

D. T. C.

Well, it has been a busy few months here, but somewhere in there I was able to pull everything together. Today I received amazing news, just in time for Mother's Day and my birthday. A wonderful birthday gift!

We are   D.T.C!!!!!

What does that mean? Well, we are one HUGE step closer to bringing home our little China Princess. All our our documents for our adoption dossier (packet) are now on their way to China. From here we start the waiting game and then we get to go bring her home. We will fill out a couple more papers but nothing big. The U.S. has approved us to adopt and bring her home. Now we wait for China. How long? Hard to say. Most other adoption timelines are anywhere from 4-6 months after DTC (dossier/documents to China). I'm shooting for travel for Mike's birthday, early October. Really wish it could be earlier but that seems the most realistic.

So, now what can we do??? WAIT! Wait! Wait! UGH! And, don't forget about our adoption puzzle sponsorship. See the post dated May 1 for details. Help us travel to China by sponsoring a piece of a puzzle. Then we will hang the China photo puzzles in her room with your name on the back of your puzzle piece(s). 

So, a little song to sing. please join in:

Happy birthday to me!  (OK, birthday is 5/13 but this is an early birthday present!)

Happy birthday to me!

Oh looky at what we have.

Today we are   D.T.C!!!!

A Busy Few Weeks

Well, it certainly has been a busy few weeks here. Thankfully I think Winter is finally on its way out. We have the windows open and Colby started Spring soccer today. The team did great, winning their first game! And now we head into Spring break and Easter. Amazing how quickly these months go by.

Aunt Trisha and Uncle AJ are visiting from Virginia so a big week is planned. Colby already has a playdate on Monday, a trip with Auntie and Uncle on Tues, and a sleepover at Grnadma Donna's with cousin Keith on Thursday. PLUS, a trip to the Bronx Zoo with cousin Lizzy, aunts, uncles, and Grandma Laurie and Grampy Tom. What a busy week! Somewhere in there the Easter Bunny will come too. Wow!

And some really great news: Friday was a great day here. Mike and I went for our fingerprint appointments with USCIS (Immigration). Hopefully we will have our immigration approval by the end of the month. And, all our other dossier documents returned from the NY Chinese Consulate. They have very pretty Chinese lettering on them and look all official! I sent everything we needed for the dossier to the agency on Saturday. They will start uploading everything into the system, get them approved, and ready to go to translation. Then we just need our approval and we will be DTC (dossier, or documents to China). A HUGE step towards our Little Miss. Once we are DTC I am told it will be about 4 months. It seems to be about standard on everyone's timeline. Wish we could speed it up but we have come a long way in just these few months. Please continue your good thoughts and prayers for a speedy timeline. Let's pray it stays as smooth as well, things have gone really well so far, no big hiccups!