"Labor Pains..."

"For those that do not believe you have labor pains when adopting, let me fill you in on a secret....

The labor is worse when adopting! I have done both and know that the physical labor pain goes away quickly, but when adopting the "pain" starts when you decide to adopt and does not end until that baby is in your arms!"  

 ~ Maria Hickman                

Oh, how I can relate to this! We are only 4 and 1/2 months into our adoption but it feels like we have been working on it for much longer than that. It is intensified because we are finally "at the finish line" and are waiting on the last piece of paper, the I-797,  so we can be DTC (Dossier to Ch*na). So close, so, so close...

What have we been doing while we have been waiting on the I-797? Well, we mailed the rest of the dossier documents, minus the 797 of course!,  to a courier who walked them in to the Houston Consulate on our behalf. (Thank you to Cindy at My China Docs for your superior service and for taking such good care of our valuable documents!)

 The Dossier consists of the following documents, all of which had to be notarized, county clerk certified, and Secretary of State sealed before going to the Consulate for their authentication:

• Adoption Petition-written by us to the Chinese government stating why we want to adopt and pledging certain requirements
• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificate
• Financial Statement
• Home Study
• Police Background Reports 
• Physical Exams with Comprehensive lab/blood work
• Employment Verification Letters

Here are some pictures of our package as it was leaving for the courier in Texas. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck but was thankful my mom was with me. She was my encourager and reassured me that they would be fine as we watched the UPS truck pull away with all our important documents.  

 Off they went!

We also made copies and compiled all the required photos for the dossier. We needed 3 photos of just Michael and I (waist up) and 8 "family life" photos, along with 6 2x2 headshots of each one of us, and copies of our passports. I checked everything a gazillion times to be certain that I was not missing anything. *Once the 797 arrives, the original will be kept with us but a copy will go through the sealing process, just like the other 12 documents. After that one comes back, we will be ready to submit our dossier to our agency for critical review before it is sent international mail to Ch*na. More to come when we get there, but have I mentioned that we are close now? ;)

I did not blog on the day that we were fingerprinted but here is a picture of us outside of the Application Support Center:

Unfortunately, I was not able to take any electronic devices, or a purse!, in with us so I could not capture any photos of the actual fingerprinting process. It was very organized and went pretty quick.

When we got home my birthday present from my sweet parents had arrived. How timely! It arrived on the same day that we were fingerprinted! :)   Its contents are pictured below:

 A beautiful necklace with Lia Grace's name engraved on the back of the heart. Love, love, love it!

Our girl is faceless,  a world away, but is so much a part of our family already.



The Process Part 2

"The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

~ Lao Tzu

Besides all the initial paper chasing, there have been other "steps" that we had to complete in order to bring Lia Grace home.

There were the home study visits. Here is a picture of our social worker meeting with our children.
(I wish I would have snapped a few pics when she was at the house. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20!)

She also had to speak with Brandon, our oldest, over the phone since he is not local, and he had to complete some paperwork as well.



We completed parent training.

We took family pictures for the Dossier. Our neighbor, and friend, Marie blessed us abundantly with that gift. Again, a huge "THANK YOU!" to Marie for taking all of our family pictures. Words cannot express our gratitude to you.

 

                                  

And most importantly, we educated ourselves, and continue to! We read books on parenting adoptive children, began learning about the Chinese culture and traditions, and familiarized ourselves with the HUGE country of Chin@ and the Hen@n province, since we were told that that is most likely where Lia Grace will come from.  We also viewed many documentaries on the one child law, child abandonment, and state run institutions in Ch!na.  Yes, of course, we talked with other adoptive families and asked LOTS and LOTS of questions. :)

                 

We were not the only ones busy educating ourselves.  I "caught" my dad reading one of our books one morning while drinking coffee.

                                      

My mom has spent hundreds of hours reading various blogs and has also asked LOTS of questions about adoption and our journey. My parents are supportive, and like us, are anxious to see Lia Grace's sweet face and meet her.  

So, as I have stated before, it is a long process. More to come soon! :) But, as always, in the meantime, keep praying...