DTC!!!

DTC!!!  Dossier to Ch*na!!! My agency is sending out our dossier to Ch*na today!  FINALLY!  All the paperwork we have gathered and had notarized and authenticated is going to be on its way to Ch*na no later than in the morning, but most likely this afternoon! Now, we will wait for an LID or log-in date, which should be no later than April 7th or so, however, we probably won't find out about it for a few weeks. After LID, we will be officially waiting for LOA, which is Letter of Acceptance.  In the meantime, we will take the required 10 hours of adoption classes online. Also, we'll be getting things ready for Raeanna to come home and gathering what we'll need when we travel for her.

We're so excited to be that much closer to bringing Raeanna home! Brett will be back home soon, too!  He's landing in Jackson, MS on April 12th. I can't wait to have all of us under one roof, even if it's only for a brief time! I know there will always be at least one or maybe more of my children going here or there, but there will be times when we can all be together, and I will always cherish those times.

UPDATE:  I just got an email from the agency, saying that it would not go out until Thursday because of the Ch*na facilitator or something, so I guess we won't be officially DTC until April 1st.

Authentications

I had hoped that we would have a dossier on its way to Ch*na this week.  However, the agency said our documents are still with the courier in Washington DC.  He called the courier, and he/she said they should be back to us by Monday, so God willing, our dossier will still go out in March.  Please continue to keep this process in your prayers.

I-800A Approval!

We got our I-800A approval from USCIS in the mail yesterday!  The approval date was 3/11/10, which is the day after the fingerprinting appointment.  So many people have said that it takes awhile to get it, so we are excited that it came so quickly. I will be driving to Frankfort to get the state authentications, and then to Lexington to take all dossier papers to the agency. The agency will then overnight everything to a courier, who will take it all to Hillary Clinton's office for authentications and then to the Ch*nese consulate for more authentications.  Then, the courier will overnight it back to the agency, who will then send our dossier to Ch*na. That will be a happy day!!  One big step closer!

Bring Me Hope

Some people ask "Why Ch*na?"  I found this video that explains why.  It is a great depiction of what the Lord laid on my heart many years ago. I have wanted for the past 15 years or more to adopt an abandoned child from Ch*na. I wanted God to use me and my family to bless that child. However, in reality, Raeanna has already been a blessing to our lives, even though we haven't met her yet. She has taught me more and more to be patient and not worry and let God lead.  She has allowed me to see evidence of His hand at work in a huge way.  She is already a blessing to our family in many more ways. I can only imagine what a blessing she will be when she gets here. We have fallen in love with a little girl on the other side of the world.  I can't wait to see where God is taking us on this road! 

Photos of Raeanna's Birthday Party

The orphanage sent me pictures today of Raeanna's birthday party.  We ordered a cake and a few other things for her through a service called Ladybugs and Love From  Above.

A Picture of Raeanna and her friend, Elon!

I received an email yesterday from someone who just got back from an adoption trip to Ch*na.  She had sent a disposable camera in a care package to her daughter, and it was with her things when she got her. She got the film developed, and lo and behold, there was a picture of our daughters together!!!  Her daughter is in the pink jacket, and Raeanna, of course, is in the playpen dressed in her blue jacket.  I also received pictures from our agency this morning of her hand. It looks pretty good.  It will probably need a little more done to it, but there could be some swelling still.

Happy Birthday, Raeanna!

Happy Fourth Birthday to our sweet little Raeanna!  We wish she were here with us and we could celebrate her birthday together. We hope she enjoys her cake and her presents. We look forward to celebrating next year with our little girl!

I-800A & Raeanna's Birthday Care Package

Yesterday, we received a letter in the mail from our government!  It says they received our application on February 4, 2010, and it is in process. Our notice date is February 8, 2010.  Now, we are waiting for our fingerprinting appointment.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Ch*nese New Year celebration, which is a very important holiday for the Ch*nese.  It is also the date that Raeanna's birthday was estimated to be. We sent her a care package through a service called LadyBugs and Love from Above.  The package we ordered included a birthday cake for her.  Every picture I've seen of the cakes sent through care packages have been beautiful!  Her orphanage won't send pictures until the adoptive parents pick up the child, except for the update pictures sent to the adoption agency, so we'll have to wait to see it.  Angela, with LadyBugs & Love from Above, is in Ch*na, and she arranged it all.  She bought candies and nuts for the others at the orphanage, and a panda bear and a little doll for Raeanna. We also sent a letter. The orphanage assured Angela that they would order the cake for her, and we're hoping they let Raeanna have some of it. She will be having her birthday,  Ch*nese New Year, and Valentine's Day, all rolled into one!  Next year, however, will be like a first birthday celebration for her, because she will be with her family!

Cade and Our Snow Man

Finally!! I-800a Mailed

Our agency mailed our I-800a today!  I don't know why it took so long. The homestudy had to be notarized to go with it.  Maybe it had something to do with that.  We have all of our documents ready for our dossier to be authenticated, except for the I800a. We are praying that our fingerprinting appointment will come soon, but not fall on a day when Bob is traveling on business and not during a time when Katey is in class. I don't know what we'll have to do if he is out of town when they assign our appointment. I'll be so happy when we get our dossier to Ch*na! The documents have been notarized. Now, we take them to the counties where the notaries are registered to get the notaries authenticated.  Then they go to the state to get the county clerks' seals authenticated.  After the state, they go to Hillary Clinton's office to get the Secretary of States' seals authenticated. After Hillary's office, they go to the Ch*nese Consulate to get authenticated. Crazy, huh?!
The agency advocate got our birth certificates, our marriage certificate, and our police checks state- authenticated for us, since they had to go to 3 different states.  We will send the documents altogether with a courier that the agency uses to get them done quickly in Washington.