Not a baby anymore!

**Lately God has been "speaking" to me in very audible ways. I suspect that right now He is specifically revealing Himself to me so that I will remember His goodness later when things get tough. I know that if I don't write them down that I'll forget and these days, I need memory boosters. There is another story involving preschool for Kylie and Caleb, but that story will come later ~ today is about our little one still on the other side of the world.**

I've been discouraged with how long our paper chase has taken.

Somehow I had the idea that paying the extra money for an expedited home study would mean that it would take less than THREE MONTHS to have a completed study in my hands. (I may sound bitter, but I'm at peace with it now, really...)

Then we got our hopes up when we were able to be fingerprinted early for our immigration clearance. Our adjudicator quickly dashed those hopes with the very firm statement of, "honestly I haven't even looked for your fingerprints, I have a VERY big stack of applications on my desk and I'm reviewing them in the order they came in..." (good news there is that yesterday was our original print appointment, so hopefully we're getting close now)

Each day I stalk the mailman hoping that I'm going to see that envelope from immigration/homeland security, but each day brings disappointment.

Yesterday I wrote an email to our social worker at our adoption agency to check on the rest of our dossier (which is ready to go). I ended the email with the following, "We still haven't gotten an update from Ladybugs 'N Love. I think that I'm starting to give up hope that the CWI will cooperate until we get our LOA."

Can you guess what came through my inbox in the wee hours of the morning? I think God knew that I needed a booster! See, back when we requested an updated picture of Darcy as we were praying about our decision to pursue adopting her we got a picture that was precious, but her eyes were so sad. It made me so desperate to get to her, to be able to hold her tight and tell her how much I loved her. Fast forward six months between the pictures and there is a world of difference! She went from forlorn to, well..., I think you can call it spunky!

And as we read the answers to our questions, Ian and I found ourselves laughing at how the descriptions are a combination of words and phrases we use to describe Kylie and Caleb. Some examples:
"Putting on beautiful dresses makes her happy." ~ just like Kylie
"She loves to ride her little tricycle." ~ just like Caleb
"Her favorite activities are outdoor activities and watching cartoons." Kylie always wants to "take a nice walk" and Caleb would watch cartoons 24/7 if we allowed it.
"She is outgoing and lively, but sometimes looses her temper." ~ hmm, sound like her big sister?
"Pick her up to soothe her" ~ like snugly big brother.

They say that she is very easy going and that she has a deep sense of empathy. She relates to adults well and is very in tune with her foster parents. She is currently their only child. This is both a good thing (as it implies that she has a very positive relationship with them and has known what it means to be loved) and potentially a difficult thing (as she will be going from being an only child with the focus on her to being the youngest of three and her siblings are going to be in her face...). She has no idea what she is in store for in a few months!

Oh, and her size? Well, let's just say that if we didn't know "Little Lottie" that I'd tell you that the idea that Chinese girls are petite is a myth! She's just shy of 38 inches tall and weighs just under 32 pounds. (Keep in mind that she's 2 1/2 this month). According to an online American growth chart that I've found, both of my girls are right at the 90% in height! And yeah, that does put her about 3 inches taller and 2 pounds heavier than her "big" brother. Guess we'll have to use the term "older brother."

There was also very good news concerning her potential medical problems. We're praising God for that! There are still some unknowns, but each time we learn more the big picture looks brighter and brighter.

And the sweetest thing? This morning when I showed the kids new pictures of their sister, Caleb said, "Yay Dar-hee!" and Kylie said, "Hey Mommy, look! Darcy's hair cut is short like mine! We can be twins!"

I love how children see the sweet spirit of others!

So we're waiting to be DTC so that we can enter the next stage of waiting, but now we're waiting with a new purpose. Our baby girl isn't so much of a baby, but at long last we know more about her!

Our sweet girl, you have no idea that we're coming. But we'll be there as soon as we can. And if you've ever been lonely as an only child I can promise that you won't feel that way much longer!

Now you'll have to excuse me, it's time for my daily mailbox stalking...