Never would have thought.

Two short weeks ago we were not even thinking that adopting from Ethiopia would ever be a possibility for us again. And now here we are today - our completed dossier mailed in to our agency!

I rushed and rushed and rushed to get all those papers together as quickly as possible. Who ever knew just how picky you have to be when preparing paperwork for international use. No corrections, no white out, no scratch out, no staple marks, all dates and names matching perfectly including initials, etc. etc. etc.

I ended up have to redo several papers because people in doctors offices or banks simply refused to follow instructions. I had a goal to have it all notarized and county certified in order to be able to drive it all to Columbus last Friday to be state sealed and that way Abe and I could make a weekend of it and celebrate my birthday! With each paper I had to redo I got more and more agitated that people apparently could not listen when I told them how important it would be for the papers to be perfectly accurate. Even the Hamilton County clerk messed up one of the certifications!! It was a constant reminder over these weeks that everyone is human and that this adoption truly is a work of God in our lives. It has required the participation of so many different people over the past couple of years and it will require even more to come. I am so thankful for all the people who helped us do (and redo) this paperwork over the past week and a half. I can't begin to thank you enough for the role you are playing in our family and the life of our child.

So, It got accomplished! We went to the Secretary of State's office on Friday and got everything state sealed!

here we are waiting for our papers

all sealed!

Yesterday I went and made 3 photocopies of the entire dossier. Because I could not remove any staples I had to hand collate the entire thing and it took me about 2 hours at Staples. People kept staring at my with my giant pile of papers wondering what the heck I was doing. I am so thankful that my mom volunteered to watch Z cause I know there is no way we would have made it through!

this is about 3/4 of the way through copying

all collated and ready to mail!

Took it to Fed-ex and mailed it to the agency! The Fed-ex guy says it will arrive today. I sure hope he's right. I can't wait to get all the authentication in DC done and for us to officially be on the waiting list and have a DTE (Dossier-to-Ethiopia) date! 

I'll update you again when that happens! 

And Z turns two in a week! His party is this Saturday!