handsful

We received the email this morning from Jack Song (he works at CCAI in the dossier and China departments) that our dossier made it safely to the China Center for Adoption Affairs in Beijing, China! Whew, that feels good! To know that our part is over, and it is now in the hands of the CCAA is both comforting and nerve-racking! We have no control over the process from here and can only believe that God’s hand will lead us to the child meant to be in our family. We know this to be true!!

Our dossier is on it’s way to China, as of yesterday! We got the email today, letting us know that our official DTC (Dossier to China) date is 7/18/06! Once it gets to the China Center for Adoption Affairs office, we will be notified by email. Then, when they officially log our dossier in their system, we’ll get our Log In Date (LID). The count-down to referral is officially “on” from that date! Referrals are currently coming in approx. 12-14 months from LID. But, that could change.

We received an email from CCAI today…our dossier made it through it’s critical review process mistake FREE! Woo hoo! It took them 11 days to give it the A-OK and now it goes to the translation department. They will condense our dossier information into a summary format and translate it into Mandarin. One more step closer!

Our dossier is still at our agency, CCAI, undergoing it’s critical review. They will make sure that there are zero mistakes…it is actually looked at 3 times by 3 different reviewers! They are very thorough. Today is “Day 9″ and we’re told that critical review should take 10-15 days. We’re also told that no news is good news…if there are problems, they will contact us. When it’s through critical review and on to the translation department, they will contact us. I’d prefer to wait for THAT call!

Other than waiting patiently (or trying to act like we’re waiting patiently), our summer is going well. Swimming in our pool, sports camps, reading club at the library, Marley-Payton-and-Ethan’s 8th birthday parties, trips to the beach, VBS, and lazy days at home…that sums up our summer so far :)

One last thing. We went furniture shopping the weekend of July 1st and 2nd. We found this beautiful, though economical (you won’t ever see it on the Antiques Roadshow) white wardrobe and bedside table. It looks so nice in the room, with the white ceiling fan and white trim. This room used to be our office; but it’s slowly becoming the nursery. The dining room (which we never used anyway) has become our office / schoolroom. It looks so much better than it ever did as a dining room!

Well, our dossier is at our adoption agency as of yesterday!  The paperchase is over! Sort of. I don’t really think it’s “officially” over until the dossier is logged in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs.  At that point, we get our LID (a.k.a. log in date) and the wait “officially” begins.  Wait time from LID is approx. 12 months.  It could shorten…it could lengthen.  Can you guess what I’m hoping for???  Our dossier will be at our agency for a total of about 2-3 weeks before it’s sent to China.  CCAI will let us know when it passes critical review, when it goes into translation, when it’s sent to China, and finally when it’s logged in.  So, guess what we’re doing?  WAITING!!!  lol…

On another note, I was at gymnastics today waiting for the girls class to finish.  While I wait, I either read or crochet.  Today, I was working on the crochet edges on baby socks.  I’ve made about 7 pairs so far (can you imagine the sock drawer of our baby when this wait is over??).  These socks also have a little ladybug button on the side/edge of the sock.  A lady sat down and began admiring my work.  She asked if I sold them.  I told her no, I was just passing time, we were adopting a baby girl and the socks would eventually be for her.  Long story short, she is also adopting from China and got her referral this week!!  She had the picture of her 7 month old Eliza with her.  So cute!  We plan on meeting at the next FCC waiting parents get together!  Small world!

A couple of neat things from this weekend:

Saw our first ladybug :)  When we first found it, it seemed dead and just sat motionless in my hand.  Finally, it started to move it’s legs a bit, then started walking all over my hand.  I gave it to my youngest daughter, Marley (a.k.a. bug-lover) so she could let it go free.

On Sunday, we were driving home and noticed a new antique furniture store having a sale.  We’d never been to this store, and thought we’d stop by to see what they had.  My husband went in and I stayed in the truck with the kids…he’d call on his cell phone if there was anything we might all want to see.  He called right away and said, “this place is filled with antiques from China!”  Needless to say, we all went right in and were felt transported back in time to ancient China.  The proprietor was a very nice older Chinese gentlemen who spoke broken English.  Each item was tagged with it’s approximate age, province of origin, and type of material used in the item.  The gentleman told us that the items were actually much older than documented on their tag….China will only allow antique items “younger” than 150 years old to leave the country.  So, these were all tagged around 100 years old.  There were beautiful chests, wardrobes, baskets, pottery, benches, paintings, etc.  We found a chest that was completely made of leather, even the hinge.  We ended up buying a wonderful low bench, aspen wood and metal basket, and oil lamp holder.  My oldest daughter loves China and we were buying her a ceramic soup spoon, but the gentlemen “threw it in” for free.  I couldn’t help but think, what if the ancestors of our child made this bench or basket and here I was, holding it in my lap?  We’ll be back to that store.

Our last 2 documents are at the Houston consulate today!  I’m anxious to have them back so we can send our dossier to CCAI this week.

You know…the light at the end of the tunnel called Adoption Paperchasing!  I was looking at my previous post about the timeline I guessed for having our paperwork done.  I’m a few days off.  I originally said the I-171H would be here 6/16…nope, got here 6/21.  I estimated that we’d be able to send our completed dossier to our adoption agency on 6/30.  That might come true!  I’m sending our last 2 documents to the wonderful courier in Houston tomorrow.  She says I’ll have them back, properly authenticated by the Chinese consulate, on Wednesday, 6/28.  I should then be able to get our whole, complete dossier (yea!!) in the mail to Chinese Children Adoption International that next day, 6/29.  So, I might even be a day AHEAD of my guesstimation :)  Then, the real waiting game will begin!