Thursday, January 14, 2010

Another Step Closer....

I am very happy to say that the very last piece of documentation that makes up our dossier (our I800-A - Immigration Approval) is on its way to The Assistant Stork (a courier that helps adoptive families) to be authenticated by the Chinese Embassy!

All of the rest of our documents that we've been working on since October....gathering them from various sources, having them notarized, certified and authenticated, are now on their way to Xiaoqing (our agency coordinator) to await the above last piece of documentation that will be sent directly to them by The Assistant Stork (overnight Fed-Ex I might add....not wasting time here)! :)




We are VERY excited about this, to say the least. It puts us one step closer to Luke. If you're not familiar with the adoption journey to China, this is a huge accomplishment. This means we prepared our dossier in about 2 1/2 months. This can take much more time, even 6 months to gather everything for some folks depending on their paperwork. This entails ordering certified copies of documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates, having the homestudy completed, clearances with the local police, Immigration fingerprinting and clearance, employment letters and records, financial records, passport information, and medical exams and clearance. After you have each of these gathered and prepared, each one has to be notarized, then sent to our State Capitol for certification, then sent to the Chinese Embassy to be authenticated. Not until then is the dossier ready to be sent to China. Whew!

All along our goal has been to push, push, push and have our dossier ready to be sent to China in January. Then we can officially say we are DTC (Dossier To China). We still have a chance of being logged in before January's end, which was another goal. This is being LID (logged in date). Adoptive parents hang on each of these stats, believe me!




So now maybe this clears up why we were so excited over this little Fed-Ex envelope! It was a big ordeal and accomplishment!

But you can be sure that I will definately let you all know when we are officially DTC and LID! We still really want to be traveling by June to bring Luke home for good......if not before! Jason still says he has a feeling we will travel before then, but I don't know.....

Thanks for hanging with me and sharing our excitement! You have no idea how much it helps with the wait! I appreciate all the visits and comments so much!



Yes, Joy, it REALLY is on its way! :)



Blessings to you all!
~ Tammy ~

38 comments:

Tiffany said...

Oh, this is so wonderful! Praise God! I stumbled on your site,a nd it is just lovely. I love you background - I am a huge fan of country prim decor! I hope you have a blessed day!

Sharon said...

I pray that all will go smooth and fast for you.
I was wondering why since you have done this already why it takes so long. sorry for being so noisy.
Can't wait to read more about your journey.
GOD bless

Never So Simple said...

Tammy I am so excited for you and Jason. I know it seems like a long process but it seems to be going fairly smooth. I think you will also be going before June. Not sure why but it's a feeling I have.

So how are the rooms going any pictures to share?

Donna

Colleen/And Baby Makes Five said...

What a fabulous accomplishment for you all, Tammy! It's no wonder you're so excited :D

And every day brings you one day closer to Luke. I hope your travel date comes quickly, my friend...

All the best to you and your sweet family.

Carmen S. said...

Wonderful news Tammy, I am SO,SO happy for you and your family, how exciting!!! little Luke sure is a lucky little boy to be coming to such a loving home:)

The Farmers Oldest Daughter said...

I am very excited for you and your family. I have to agree with your husband that you will travel sooner than anticipated. God is in this and he can do miracles. Keep us updated on everything.

Blessings to you and your family.
Maxine

Michele said...

Oh Tammy, what wonderful news! I just love the pictures of Luke...he is absolutely adorable!

Hugz,
Michele

•♦•©The Olde Weeping Cedar •♦• said...

How WONDERFUL, Tammy!
I am so happy for you and your family and for little Luke!
I have to agree with Maxine...GOD is in on this one for sure...and I think you'll be traveling sooner too;)
Keep us posted...wishing you all the best and praying for that little bundle of happiness to join your happy family very SOON!!!☺

At Home With Amy said...

Oh it won't be long now Tammy. How excited you must be getting. Have you started on his new bedroom yet? I would love to see how you are going to decorate it for his arrival home.
God Bless,
AMY

Unknown said...

I have been praying that God puts Luke in your family..One step closer. I admire all people who adopt..It takes special people like you guys..I had special parents that adopted me so this journey you are taking is close to my heart..You will have him in your home soon...Lisa

A Bit of Colour said...

So happy for you!!!!!

Rhonda said...

So happy to hear that your journey is progressing so quickly. It is a wondeful thing that is happening. Thank you fro sharing it with us.
Looking froward to hearing the updates.

Blessings,Rhonda

denise said...

GOOD LUCK!!!!

horse loving lineman's wife said...

WAHOO! THIS IS AWESOME!! (We too have finished up all our paperwork for theraputic foster parenting...so we are excited too.) I WISH GOD'S SPEED FOR YOU! AND THAT EVERYTHING WORKS GOOD AND QUICKLY!

Sue said...

How wonderful! I am believing like Jason...it will be sooner!! Can't wait until Luke officially is yours and we are reading and seeing pictures of him every day.

Parsley said...

Doing a happy dance for you! Hooray.

Ribbonwood Cottage said...

Yippeee Tammy. I was soooo happy to read this. It seems like just yesterday you told us about this little guy and now things are going to fall into place for him to come "home." This made my day and is great news!
The Lord bless you and your sweet family.
Debbie

Wendi said...

Oh, the memories this brought back. By the time we were done I was on a first name basis with our local Fed Ex store clerk.

I hope you get your DTC date very soon and Jason's feeling of early travel is right.

Mandy said...

How exciting! I can't even begin to imagine what this wait is like for you all.

I'll be praying and thinking of you!

Oh, and thanks for sharing with us, I feel like I was right there with you!

terrypi said...

I am so excited for your family. From just reading your blog (I look at it daily), I know Luke will have a wonderful family.

Linda ★ Parker's General said...

I am so excited for you! This is major. I look forward to seeing Luke in your loving arms!

Lee Hill Primitives said...

Hi Tammy, Wonderful news!. I am so excited and happy for you and your family. Hope everything will be OK and Luke come to your house soon.

Nancy M. said...

That's wonderful! It seems like y'all are moving along rather quickly! I hope the process keeps moving smoothly for you! I know how hard it was for my cousin to wait for their daughters.

carolyn@simple~primitive~devotion said...

Oh Tammy! That is wonderful news! May your fed ex envelope travel GODSPEED!
Praying and hoping right along with you & your family. I truly believe that the Lord will iron out any bumps that may show up along the way.
Have a great weekend!

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

OH MY WORD - WOO HOO! I had such a grin reading this but then when I saw the picture of Joy and you and DH getting ready to send off that envelope, I got the biggest goosebumps! How exciting! I am hanging on every mention of Luke!

AG'smoma said...

WOW!!! Congratulations Tammy!! What an accomplishment! And that i800 came quickly after your fingerprints!

Tonya said...

Congratulations, Tammy! Keep me posted on how things are going. Can't wait to meet your new addition!

Sharing Life and Love said...

Yes! You did it! You met your January goal---Woo-Hoo!

So excited for you all and sweet Luke!

Sharing Life and Love said...

Yes! You did it! You met your January goal---Woo-Hoo!

So excited for you all and sweet Luke!

Simple Home said...

Exciting news Tammy. I rejoice with you!
Blessings,
Marcia

Audrey said...

What a beautiful child you have waiting. I will be so pleased when I see the picture of him in your arms.
I will keep all of you in my prayers. God is good!!!!!

Joy ~ Doodlebug ~ said...

Yes..I know it's on it's way. :D

I'm glad we got it sent off! Love ya! 8!

Love, Joy :)

Laura said...

I'm sooo glad and happy !!!!

My pray is with you !! (....and also with the Chinese Postman LOL! LOL! LOL!)

Blessings,
Laura

Lynn said...

Tammy, this is so wonderful!! I will keep you all in my prayers and hopefully you'll be going over there before June! I've got a feeling you will just like you mentioned Jason has a feeling you will!

Thank you for visiting my blog Tammy... I also wanted to say Congratulaions on your weight loss!! Needless to say, I'm still working on mine!! I've got 15 pounds to lose before I'm back to my goal weight.. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

I am enjoying having my own blog!! You were right, it's alot easier than what I had imagined that it would be! Thanks for being one of my inspirations for starting one Tammy! The only regret I have, is not starting one sooner!!

You and your family have a wonderful weekend Tammy!!

Love & Blessings,
~Lynn/OKC

Nicole said...

Tammy, WOO HOO!!! So wonderful to read this update! Prayers for a quick LID!!!
:-)
-Nicole

Melissa said...

Yay! Congrats! I love the photo of the three of you with the FedEx envelope!
Wishing you a speedy LID and all the A's to come!

Our family said...

You are almost there! I know what a huge relief it is when all of the papers are on a jet plane to China. I'm so glad that we "met" and I look forward to "chatting" again soon. Hoping travel together may be a real possibility.

Elle Bee said...

Oh your joy and anticipation is leaping through my computer screen! This is so exciting--I'm just tickled for you! I love the photo of the three of you with the fed ex envelope. Won't it be fun to show Luke all these things when he's older. How sweet it will be for him to know how much he was loved and wanted.