Getting the Authentications Completed

I think I may have mentioned before about the mounds of paperwork we've been buried under. We feel like we're slowly digging our way out! All of the documents that are part of our dossier have to be notarized, then they have to be certified by the Secretary of State in the state where they were notarized, then they have to be authenticated by the Chinese Consulate that handles the state where they were notarized and certified. (That's not confusing at all, is it?) All of the documents from Indiana can be authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, so we sent those documents off last week and they were received by the Consulate last Friday. We have other documents from TX, AZ, and PA that would each have to go to a separate Consulate, so we made the decision to send those documents to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC using a courier service. Because the documents are going to the Embassy, the State Department has to verify the documents first, then the Embassy can authenticate them. Once the authentications are complete, we can send in our dossier! We are really hoping we can have it sent to China in early March. That will bring us one step closer to being matched with our son!

With anticipation,
The Knueppels