DTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and Christmas Stocking

Finally our papers are off to China! or as in the adoption world DTC (dossier to China)  What this means is that we are in the wait mode again.  First we will wait to hear when our dossier gets logged in.  Because of the Moon Festival and a 60th anniversary celebration in China everything will be closed down for a week.  So we won't be expecting to hear anything right away on our LID or log in date. Some LID dates can be a week after DTC or some a month or more.  The LID is important because you can begin counting for your LOA or letter of acceptance.  The LOA is the paper telling us that we have approval to adopt Lily.  When we get the LOA then it is our turn again to process some more paperwork as fast as possible.

Sending the papers off is a big relief.  I went down to Fed Ex to make copies of everything.   This was almost impossible since our State Department and the Chinese Consulate had both put staples in places where I could not fold back the pages to make copies.  You cannot remove any staples or alter the documents in any way.  I needed two copies of each page.  One for us and one for our agency.  I had made copies before sending to those departments so that I would only have to copy the certifications, but it was still tricky.  I had a copy machine that was not cooperating and had to ask several times to restart it.  Then I moved to another machine with no more problems there.  Then I had to check and re-check and re-check to make sure that each was stapled to the right pages and to make sure that I had everything.  It is a process that would be easier with someone to help you.  The whole time I am thinking about what these documents mean and it is a scary feeling to think that leaving one thing out might make the process take longer.  Finally I had it ready and sent it off.  It weighed almost 3 pounds.  I overnighted it to Lifeline so it could get there on Friday and so that they would be able to send it to China that day. Whew!  I got notice on Friday that they had received it and they had sent it on to China October 2.

That same day I came home to find the stocking I had made for Lily that matches my childhood stocking that my Grandmother made for me.  Emma and Meilynn have the same one!