Quickly moving along.......

As I stated back in July, there were a few words that have come to mind during the adoption process. So I thought I would continue along those lines as I sit on the very same continent that my daughter is sitting on as we speak.

Preparation is defined as the action or process of making something ready for use or service or of getting ready for some occasion, test, or duty.

Busy is defined as engaged in action.

These both seemed to fit well together as I make my way through China.

Our house is in preparation mode. I guess you could say as we begin to hit the “third trimester” of this paper pregnancy, we are nesting.  We are beginning to work on our daughters room. Making the necessary repairs for her arrival, taking down shelves, repairing a damaged ceiling everything short of painting and turning the room into a haven for a very special little girl.

We are also preparing our hearts. We are constantly anticipating the day that we get to find out who she is. We are already praying for her transition into this family, to America and to all those that are anxiously awaiting her arrival. We are preparing for the moments that will be filled with love, preparing for the moments that will require tender love as she learns to trust us, and the exhaustion we will go through as she is in our lives.

So as you can see, Busy and Preparation go hand in hand. Life for us is also very busy. At the same time we are doing all of our preparation, we are also working through a ton of paperwork. We are currently anxiously awaiting our appointment with the Department of Homeland Security (On the 24^th) to do our biometrics (aka finger prints). We were told this appointment could take up to 3 months to get and we were able to get ours in 3 weeks. During this time we are also preparing our Dossier packet. This is encompasses many, many hours of paperwork, our lives essentially written out for the Chinese government.

Currently we are working on getting our stamps from the state of Georgia and the state of New York and then all will go off to the Chinese consulate. Once that is all done we can begin to have things translated for the Chinese government. Once our biometrics are off, we can send everything off to China.

Simultaneously, our agency had begun to pour over all of the children that are waiting for a match to look for our daughter. They are trying to get a feel for what we are exactly looking for. But, we cannot be matched until we have a LID (Log In Date) from the Chinese government.

By all that is listed above, you can see that we are extremely busy getting ready. I am currently in China for work. Visiting our schools has always been a highlight of my job. It is also bitter sweet as I know that it will probably be a long time before I potentially come back to China for work. The next time I step foot on this soil, it will be to bring home a Bowden.

Much Love,

Jennifer