Working On Our Dossier

OK, so this Monday the agency emailed us the dossier instructions. I dont know whether I was being naive, or just plain stupid, but I had no idea of what we were going to have to do for this. Here I was thinking that ok.....we have all the papers we need (which I mentioned in my last post I think). So all we have to do is round them all up, stuff them in an envelope for the agency, of course sign a few papers, and then other than the certification/authentication, (which I didnt realize what there was to that!), we would be dossier to Vietnam.

Well, what an idiot I was. I really thought we were over the worst of it. That after the 171-H, everything else is downhill. In a sense I guess since after you get that, you are officially approved to adopt. But if you think youre done with paperwork, you are wrong, wrong, WRONG! I actually started to cry for a few minutes thinking to myself, "Im sorry my poor baby. Sorry your mom couldnt come and get you and bring you home. Because she was too stupid to make heads or tails out of her dossier instructions!".

But then I think that after the initial panic over the thickness of the instruction packet wore off, I did manage to get a fairly good handle on what we have to collect, and then what to do with it. And I already have two papers ready to notarize, and one ready for authentication. Not bad for a few days work.

Getting this dossier completed and on a plane to Vietnam is the only thing keeping us from our baby now. This is so much work, but its getting exciting too! It doesnt seem like it in a way, but were really getting there now. I'll tell you what though. I'm celebrating big time once I know that our dossier has been sent!