Application Day

Ok, so I finally got up the nerve to drop off the application yesterday afternoon. However I left it in the capable hands of UPS, where of course I can nervously check the internet and watch it's progress. They promise me it will reach St Louis by 10:30am today. I am fighting the urge to call them at 10:45 and verify it is there and ask if we're approved. Ok, maybe that's too soon. Maybe they would just tell me they think we're really cute and have a great chance. :)
Now we wait for "up to" two weeks to hear if we are approved. Below is a brief synopsis of the process:

1. send in application
2. gain approval
3. do homestudy
4. once approved, do massive amounts of paperwork including, but not limited to: fingerprints (multiple copies), new birth certificates and marriage licenses, writing a biography of ourselves, employment verifications, etc., etc.
5. send all paperwork to multiple government dignitaries and heads of state where they will sign off that each person before is alive and has the authority to be a notary or sec. of state..
6. send all paperwork to be authenticated by Chinese officials
7. send all paperwork to be translasted
8. send all paperwork to China as a final "dossier"
( are you tired of the paperwork yet?
9. once our dossier is received and logged in, we will wait for approximately 5-7 months for a referral, or the call that says they have a baby for us
10. a picture and information will be sent to us, with more paperwork to sign
11. we wait (again) for 1-2 months for travel to be authorized
12. we travel to china and pickup our beautiful daughter (or daughters)
13. we meet all of our friends and family at the airport in celebration of our homecoming.

We are hoping this process will take right at a year, if all goes well and the paperwork goes smoothly. In the waiting times we will be reading about China and the culture and learning about others' experiences in adoption.