I want to laugh at my last post now. The relief of completing the paperwork for Holt was short-lived. After getting through all the holiday festivities and meeting out-of-town friends, I finally decided to tackle the China Guidebook that Holt sent us. I went to the section titled "Dossier" so I could get a handle on the next wave of documents.

Oh my gosh.

There are 21 documents, forms, and letters, 18 of which need to be notarized, certified, and authenticated. One big piece of advice if intercountry adoption is anywhere in your mind: make sure you have all your citizenship and other vital records in order and in your possession. Paul became a naturalized citizen through his parents before he was 18, but never got a Certificate of Citizenship. He now has to apply to get one for our dossier, even though he has a passport to prove his citizenship. The application itself to get the certificate is 5 pages long and takes about 6 months to process.

It's hard at times like this not to get really discouraged. It gets hard to see past all the logistics of adoption and see our child. Please pray that we remain hopeful and steadfast.