An Authentication Anniversary

Last week, we spent our anniversary finalizing our documents for authentication.

We had an appointment at the Department of State at 10:00 a.m. They put all of our paperwork in a certain order and completed the authentication in less than 40 minutes. We left there and went to a UPS store to make copies of the 13 cover letters from the Dept. of State. We took all of the paperwork back to our hotel room. We had to sort the 4 copied stacks into the same order as our original copies. In preparation for the Chinese Consulate, we held our originals out and made sure to un-paperclip one copied stack (the Chinese Consulate is very picky about how documents are turned in to them). We checked out of our hotel and arrived at the Chinese Consulate around 12:30 p.m. After an hour and a half wait, our number was finally called. We sat down at glass window number 5 and passed our cover letter through a little slot to the lady. Next, we passed copies of our passports through. Finally, our stack of originals and the one copied set passed through and then we watched. The lady wearing gloves matched each original page to the copied page, going through our 13 stacks of documents. It was rather nerve-racking, as we had to have everything just right. At one point, she went back on a page, but luckily then just continued forward. She gave us our pick-up receipt which was scheduled for Thursday (Perfect!). I have never been so happy to get a receipt! It was like we passed the test! On Thursday, we drove back to the Consulate. We arrived there around 9:15 a.m. and were called to the pick-up window around 9:50 a.m. We left around 10:00 a.m. and celebrated with a breakfast at the Starbucks up the street. Mission accomplished! We then drove to the National Zoo and spent the day there! We saw the Asian Elephants and Panda Bears! Panda Baby Bao Bao was there too!

We met my cousin, Barry, for dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill and then walked over to the White House to get a few pictures.

Stressful but successful and fun trip overall! Next Step: Organize all of our paperwork (authenticated documents included)into Dossier form and submit to our agency for approval. From there, our agency will send our Dossier to China (DTC)! About a week after that, we should be LID-Log In Date with China! In the meantime, we are searching for our little girl on many blogs, threads, group pages, etc. It is possible that we could find our daughter before waiting to be matched by our agency.

Oh, The Pretty Papers!

We took a road trip today to have the rest of our documents certified at the state level. First stop was Louisville to have our Home Study Certified by the County Clerk's Office.

Then, we drove over to Frankfort to have 10 documents certified.

Now, all of our documents are ready for the Department of State and Chinese Consulate in Washington, D.C.! Woot-Woot! Just another step closer...

Official Immigration Approval Letter!

Great news! We received our Approval Notice Letter from the Department of Homeland Security today! It states that our Immigration approval actually took place on July 7th. We thought that this notice was just that, a "notice." Go to find out, this is our ACTUAL APPROVAL!!! They recently changed the format of the letter from the sample we were given in our dossier packet! Over-the-moon excited! Who knew that one little piece of paper could be worth celebrating over! It took 41 days for our approval letter to arrive (timeframe given is 45-70 days)!

Now, onto our county for certification of documents, then to Frankfort for state certification, then to Washington, D.C. for certification and authentication! Woo-hoo! Moving right along! The paper chase continues!

Panda Pop-Out Mini Scrapbook Albums

We have been busy working on little creations to help raise money for our adoption. I am selling these mini pop-out albums in my ETSY Store: Tiny Treasures By Tava. These are geared towards families who are in the process of or have adopted children from China. Panda Girl Pop-Out Mini Scrapbook Album, ex. Olivia:

Panda Boy Pop-Out Mini Scrapbook Album, example Jaiden:

Dane is working on some wood creations...to be revealed soon. This past week, I have been working on collecting items to send our Daughter once we are matched and get our LOA (Letter of Approval). So far I have an elephant teething ring , elephant blanky, and this adorable, soft little baby doll. I will add some pajamas, socks, hair accessories, and an outfit once we know how old she is and her size. All of these small things bring us one step closer to her. Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support.

Happy 4th Of July!

What a perfect day for an outdoor gathering! We are very much looking forward to our parents coming over this evening for a grill-out, fire pit, and fireworks! And of course, the reveal of our baby girl's nursery and initials! Here are the little invitations we sent our parents, as they are just as excited as we are!

Place Cards...

Dinner...We had grilled chicken kabobs, mac and cheese, salad, deviled eggs, beans, and veggies.

After dinner, the grandparents-to-be had to solve a puzzle to figure out our baby girl's initials.

Then, to check their work, they had to put together a 10-piece puzzle which revealed her initials.

And the initials are...

Once they figured that out, then it was time to go up to the nursery.

The nursery door...

We are so happy with the way her nursery turned out. Now, at least we have her room complete for when the time comes to go get our daughter. For dessert we had angel food cake and fruit, and I made these cookies.

It was such a fun night! Now to get started on her bathroom, and then playroom! Let the projects continue! Hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of July! :) Someday it will be the three of us...can't wait!