We Received our US Approval Letter!!!

March 29, 2012 ~  We received in the mail today our USCIS approval letter!  This is where the US department of Homeland Security and Immigration services reviewed all of our home study paperwork and approved our fingerprints that were taken on the 16th of March.  I didn't think this was going to arrive until late April or May but surprise, surprise!!!  I emailed our agency a copy of the approval letter and she will be sending it to Washington to the Chinese Consulate to get authenticated. This is where all of our dossier documents are currently and should be finished up in a week.  Once our agency gets the authentication back, our dossier will be on it's way to China!!!  Within a couple days of the paperwork arriving in China we will be officially "logged in".  That means we will be able to get a referral.  This phase is "the waiting phase".  It  could take anywhere from a couple of months to a year...just have to be patient and confident that God knows which baby is supposed to be our little girl and we will get her when the time is right.   Thank you again to those of you who are supporting us along this journey through your kind words, excitement and prayers.  We GREATLY appreciate it all!!!

Biometrics Done and Dossier on it's Way!!

March 16, 2012 ~  This was a big, exciting day for us.  We had our biometric appointment downtown Columbus today (fingerprinting for Homeland Security).  We also got all of our dossier documents certified by the Secretary of State while we were downtown!  On our way home, we stopped at FedEx and shipped our 35 document dossier to our adoption agency along with all the pictures they needed.  All 35 documents had to be notarized, certified in the county in which the notary is registered and then certified by the Secretary of State!  What a relief it was to ship that off!!  In the adoption world completing the dossier is like climbing Mt. Everest!!  Now, we have to wait on our approval letter from Homeland Security and as soon as we get that, we will send it to our agency and then our dossier will be on it's way to China!!  Woo Hoo!!  In the meantime, while we wait on the approval, our agency is sending our dossier documents to Washington to be authenticated by the Chinese Consulate.  I am so thrilled that we have crossed the hurdle of completing our dossier and I can't wait to get the news that it is on it's way to China!!  I'm just praying that everything goes ok with getting our US approval because when I had my prints taken the lady said there is  a 50/50 chance my prints will get rejected because she could not get a good read. (said my skin was too thin)  I'm really hoping that it all goes through without a hitch.  Thank you to everyone who has been supportive and praying for our journey to get our little girl!