June 11, 2004

Dossier Sent To China!

Drum roll please... After seven months of chasing paper, our dossier has finally been sent to China.

We received an email from CCAI last night letting us know that our dossier has been sent to China. They said that CCAA will receive it in about 7 - 10 days. And that CCAA usually logs in dossiers a few days after it's been received. This log in date will be our DTC date.

Wow, what a ride. Putting the dossier together turned out to be one of the most challenging, frustrating, unpleasurable projects I've ever worked on. But like many things in life that require a lot of work, the rewards are sometimes so wonderful that the negative memories fade away forever...

I think I'm going to just relax, breath a little, and maybe even read a few books on China or adoption.

Thanks to everyone who helped us get through these seven months of paper chasing! Your comments and emails have been appreciated. I'll continue to update our blog. So please stop by from time to time, leave a comment or two, and say hello.

Posted by Mark at June 11, 2004 07:05 AM
Comments

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! I can't decide which has been harder - the paperwork or the waiting! At least during the paperchase I felt like I was actually doing something. Now, we can only sit and wait. But, now the countdown begins to have your baby in your arms.

We pray you are blessed with a speedy referral. :)

Lisa
DTC 4/21/04
CCAI

Posted by: Lisa at June 11, 2004 04:54 PM

I have been a lurker on your site for some time now and just wanted to say Thanks for keeping us updated.

I am just now beginning the process of adopting a child from China through CCAI and your site has given me a dose of reality in all that I will be facing.

Thanks again :)

Posted by: Monique at June 11, 2004 06:29 PM

Mark and Naomi-
Congratulations! It feels so good....now you will be checking the PAN every other day waiting for your DTC/LID. Let's see........I will guess 6/18/04 (Father's Day Present).
Joette

Posted by: Joette at June 11, 2004 11:17 PM

All RIGHT!!! Congratulations!

Posted by: Jenn at June 12, 2004 09:46 AM

Yay!!! Congratulations!!! I've been checking in on you guys to see if you were DTC yet. Phew!

Posted by: Michele at June 12, 2004 01:13 PM

congratulations!!!!

Posted by: Jenn at June 14, 2004 08:17 AM

Thanks everyone! It sure feels good to know our dossier is complete.

Lisa, for me I think the paperwork is going to prove to be the hardest part. I think I'll be able to handle the waiting. But I guess we'll have to wait and see. :-)

Monique, don't let our experience frighten you. We are an extreme case. I think most people get through the paperchase a lot easier than we did.

Joette, 6/18/04 would be fantastic! But I think Father's Day on the 20th? The 20th is also the first day of Summer. And I think everyone knows how much I love the Summer and hate the Winter. So the 20th would be fine also!

Thanks Jenn! Thanks Michelle! Thanks Jenn! We appreciate it.

Still doing the Snoopy Dance (someone sent me an email telling me it was okay to do the Snoopy dance)

Posted by: :: Mark :: at June 14, 2004 08:42 AM

Mark (and Naomi),
I'm catching up on my blog reading and am just so pleased to hear the good news!!! I think that 7 months turns out to be about average, even though everyone (including me) wants to be the one to get the paperwork completed in a record setting 3 months. Anyway, congrats and we'll be waiting along with you.

Posted by: Amy at June 15, 2004 09:52 PM

Congrats! I have enjoyed reading your blog. My wife told me about it. We are also using CCAI and were told that our dossier was in China in early June. I'm sorry to read that your paperchasing was a little frustrating, but its good to have a good attitude about it, as I believe it is all in God's timing. We started in late Feb, so our process was pretty fast.

I assume you are living in the Carolinas. We live in the Greenville, SC area (transplanted from MI --- Go Pistons)., and are familiar with the Charlotte fingerprint office. Perhaps we will be traveling to China together in the future.

I also read earlier that your "worst case" estimate was to travel in April of 2005. Based on the referrals that I'm reading about, I would think that your "likely" estimate might be more like Jan 2005. We are hoping for that.

Best Wishes to you

Posted by: Gary at June 16, 2004 12:52 PM