Shelby's Life and Whatnot

By the Numbers

1.75 Pounds
39 Stamps and seals
62 Signatures
17 Pictures
209 Days
5 Sets of fingerprints
13 Documents

Baby Hogan: Priceless

It is with great pleasure and joy that I announce that our Dossier is complete and is on its way to our agency in Colorado as we speak. The next step is our agency's Critical Review. Unless something is majorly screwed up, which is unlikely, we are 100% done with our part. After our dossier passes Critical Review, it will be translated and sent to China, where we will be put on the bottom of a very, very large stack of dossiers and wait. That's it. Wow--I can't believe our paperchase is next to done. We signed our agency contract on July 20, 2006 and have been collecting paperwork ever since--a process that was very frustrating and often lead to tears. Still, it's all worth it. Baby Hogan is out there waiting for us. She's probably not even born yet, but she's there, calling us to her, and we're here, waiting to come and get her.

Special thanks to Z, Michael, Deb, and Dorothy, our references; Dawn, my friend in Sacramento who saved us 2 weeks by walking our documents in to the Secretary of State's office; both of our parents and families who have provided nothing but 100% support; and Wendy, best friend extraordinaire, who has been cheering me on (and being a very sympathetic ear) throughout this whole process. Thanks everyone!