DTC!!

We have an official DTC date....TODAY!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Distractions

Still waiting for our dossier to be sent off to China...so while we wait, I'm trying to find as many distractions as possible!

Distraction #1 - School - I do have papers to write and projects to complete, but where's the fun in that?

Distraction #2 - Grease...You're the One That I Want - I was so happy that my two picks won last night! I would love, love, love to be able to see them actually perform the roles on Broadway, but I doubt that'll happen...

Distraction #3 - The Amazing Race - I really wish that Charla and Mirna as well as Team Guido would be eliminated! Those are two teams that I didn't even like the first time around, let alone the second. My picks for the win are either Uchenna and Joyce or The Beauty Queens.

Distraction #4 - American Idol - Well, duh...I mean who doesn't watch the train wreck? :) Just PLEASE make Sanjaya go home!

Distraction #5 - The Search for the next Pussycat Doll - Did I really just type that? Oh well...it's entertaining!

Distraction #6 - The Girls Next Door - I LOVE this show! The girls just crack me up!!

Distraction #7 - Spring Cleaning - Um, do you know me? I don't clean...voluntarily anyway!

Distraction #8 - Cupcakes!! Trying my best to perfect the art of the cupcake. I don't know if I'm succeeding, but I've never eaten so many cupcakes before in my entire life!

Distraction #9 - Stalking blogs - well, ok...not really stalking per se, but I have my few that I follow religiously...

Distraction #10 - Planning something fun for our five year wedding anniversary this September! I'm currently obsessed with trying to go to Vegas or NYC. Um...yeah...won't happen...I am reminded that we are saving our pennies for this thing called an adoption. Which then reminds me that we are still waiting for our dossier to go to China...

See...it's a neverending cycle!

And we're off!

Well...our paperwork has been sent for review and, hopefully, sent for authenticating! We received a message from our social worker that our file "looks good"!

According to our agency, authentication typically takes 2-4 weeks for authentication. Once authenticated, our dossier will be sent to China (affectionately known as DTC...dossier to China...clever, huh?). China will then log us in and give us our LID (log in date). Our agency says that could take 3-5 weeks. Your LID date basically represents your place in line with the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). The CCAA are the ones who take over for the next part of our adoption...they will review our file and then, when it's our turn, they will match us with our daughter!

The wait time right now is painfully long. But I am hopeful for a speed up...guess we'll have to be patient and know that when the time is right, we will be matched to our daughter...

Life is good...

We finally received our 171H in today's mail! I have been on edge every day this week just waiting for that danged piece of paper to arrive. Some new friends who were printed the day before we were received their 171H back on Wednesday. I truly expected ours to arrive on Thursday. It didn't..I even checked the mail twice! Cuz you never know if it was mistakenly put into someone else's mailbox and they put it in the right mailbox later. (Yes...my husband made fun of me for it too) And then it didn't on Friday. I was truly feeling like this dossier would never make it to China. Until today...I went to the mailbox and stood in front of it silently praying that it would be in there. If it wouldn't have been...well, it would have sucked. So I slowly opened the mailbox...pulled out the stack of envelopes...and saw the one from Homeland Security. I squealed and ran back to the house, promptly throwing the rest of the mail onto the floor...

This is real...after I state seal the last few pieces, our dossier will be complete. It will be turned into our agency for authentication and then it's off to China. Let's just hope we make the May 1st deadline...

And then we wait...and wait...and wait some more...