LOI and accepting a file

So our letter of intent was written yesterday...and now we are waiting for translation and a letter of acceptance. This step may take ten weeks I hear.
We were logged in LID on China on December 25. That was a great Christmas present...although we didn't know that until after Christmas.
Then...tick tock tick tock...fast forward to February 9, a Sunday...at like 11:30 at night and I decided...laying sideways in my bed, while Bret is sleeping, that I'm going to check out the waiting children's profiles on CCAI's site. So I'm looking and as I near the bottom of the page, I see a little boy that I think looks interesting. I check him out and decide to click the email link to ask Amor seeing his file. Well...I get an email the next morning and she said which child? I called Pam immediately and tell her and she has his file available to send to me! What!?!
So we open his file and I feel a mixture of emotions. Excitement, fear, anxiety! At one point I am hiding and praying under my covers fluff God's desire.  I have thought for years I would adopt a Chinese daughter...so is all of this different? And he will be two in March.
Well we find some conflicting things in his file. We ask for pictures and video. We are promised nothing but...hope. we pray and ask God to please send us something. The next day...while we were sleeping they were working...we get more info. A video! Willow and I are home alone. Bret is at subway when he gets the email.He forwards it...and I get to see my son. I yell let's go get him! Willow responds with "where are my boots!"
I think im good with a son. :) God is good.
The next day after hearing back from one more dr...we call and Bret tells Tony yes. New steps to complete...and now waiting again. I miss that baby already and am sad to miss his birthday. God has a plan. I trust Him.

First authentication from Chinese consulate in Chicago

Texas certification

All but one of our Texas certifications cane ib today! Bret's employment statement was rejected because the notary didn't date it. Grr Oh well, all things in God's time. Now waiting for our first authentication documents from Chicago.  We are waiting on our I 800a to finish up and our trip to Houston after that comes in to authenticate all our Texas documents.
We are praying for our baby every day. Love her.

I 800 A

Bret mailed this beast of today. So happy! Now we just have to authenticate at the Chicago consulate, certify a bunch of Texas documents....authenticate those and the approved I 800 A, at the Houston consulate, all within six months of the first dated document...and we are good to go :)  How's that for a run-on sentence!? We are thinking a lot about you little girl! We all love you already!

First certified document

I was so elated when I received this in the mail. Our first certified document. One step closer!

I have been working on The Dossier and and OH MY WORD, I go through moments of feeling like I can do this! To moments of complete freaking out. You see our home study was complete before our money made to the adoption agency, now I am feeling like that is a stolen good month and half to two months that I don't have to spare. Our documents need to be notarized, certified, and authenticated all before they are dated over 6 months. Time to expedite!!




Here is a letter sweet Henry sent to our neighborhood. I am proud of him and am so happy he is excited to meet his sister!

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

My name is Henry and I am 10 years old. I want to go with my parents to China to get my baby sister that we are adopting. We are not sure when we might go get her, it might be a year or two. My mom and dad say that if I want to go then I have to help save for my plane ticket and passport. I want to know if you can hire me for any jobs, like pet sitting, car washing, or any other odd jobs you might have.  I really want to see my baby sister! If you do not have any jobs, but would like to donate towards my ticket, that would be great.

God bless you,

Henry

Behold The Dossier....

And so it all begins...the real paper chase...the real mountain to climb... and yet I stand on this side of the mountain kind of sharing a couple of emotions. I am super excited to get my daughter, and I am terrified at the same time. There are so many questions and unknowns along this journey. We have been praying for her and I have been thinking about her for years and years. I wonder who God has for us. I cannot wait to love her, and yet praying for her and this situation is weird...  What do you pray for a child who may be unborn at this point.  The worst atrocity of her life, still yet to occur. All of her future may be scarred by this one decision. And yet, her family is waiting for her, and loving her already. I pray that God will bind the spirit of confusion, abandonment, and pain, and that she will live to the fullest that she can, knowing as God adopted us, so we have adopted her. We are so happy to have her and she is very much wanted. May God bless our journey and make our paperwork go smoothly. We also ask that He guide us and work out the details if we are to go for two. One would be special focus, which would mean significantly more issues. 

blessings