Documents and Details

So, as I explained in my last post, even though we received the I171-h in record time, we have four documents that need to be completed before the dossier is complete. Hang with me as I explain.

We need:

--Joel's birth certificate, certified from his state, plain and simple (for all of you gathering documents, when you order the certificate, have them send the certificate to the place in that state that does the certifying/authenticating (each state uses different terminology...very confusing)...this will save you a step and a teeny bit of postage and the angst I am currently feeling as I try to do this ALL RIGHT NOW)
--my birth certificate, certified from Washington, DC, which is scary, because the birth certificate request that I mailed on May 6th still hasn't been fulfilled, which is why I eventually used VitalChek in desperation, which I recommend for all dealings with any public office in Washington, DC, except they don't CERTIFY documents, which is the next level up from notarizing, so I have to send it to the Office of the Secretary of the District. No one else does this certifying/authenticating except this office. So, back to the government office I go. Yikes!
--our marriage certificate. This is complicated. We have a notarized copy of our marriage license, which we got in the first few weeks of starting this whole adoption paper chasing process. Ya know, before I realized that I needed to do MORE with this document than just receive it and put it in a folder! But I digress. I ordered this marriage certificate from the county in which I got married, simply because it was $2.50, instead of the $12.00 that our state capital was charging. Now, I know that during this process, we are going to spend lots of money. But if I can get the same sheet of paper for $2.50 that I can get for $12, wouldn't you get it for $2.50? Me too.

The problem with the $2.50 version, which I obviously didn't know would be a problem until this past Tuesday when the good, the bad, and the ugly all came into plain view, is that it is only notarized by someone on the county level, not the state level (state registrar is the magic person apparently, the magic person who DID NOT notarize my copy of my marriage license!) I either need to send the $2.50 version back to the county from which I received it, and have them attach ANOTHER sheet of paper to it entitled the "Triple Seal", in order to make it ready to be certified/authenticated!

OR

just start over, pay the $12.00 I should have paid back in May, order another copy of the marriage license from the Vital Records office of the state, this time signed by the magic State Registrar.

Then, once I get THIS special marriage license, I can send it to the Secretary of the State for certification/authentication.

Does this make sense?

You should see my desk. It completely reflects the state of my mind.