Impending Adoption

I know I haven't posted much about our adoption on here. If you've talked to me in person or via email, you know it's on the forefront of my mind all the time. I keep my blogging on the subject to a minimum due to some, er, political reasons. However, be assured that we are eagerly waiting our little Carolina. Whenever we are finally matched with her, I will post tons of pictures and give you lots of details.

Some friends I met via the internet, who live close by, are currently in Vietnam picking up their little girl. Every morning the first thing I do is check her blog to see if they've posted pictures of her and to hear their tale. I saw pictures of her this morning and my eyes just filled up with tears. I am so happy for them and I am so anxious to meet our own little girl.

We spend a lot of time with Sam's friend Elijah. He had the blessing of being adopted from Guatamala by his mommy and daddy, Trish and Brian. We went to their house this morning and I was reminded, again, how blessed they are. They deal with the same struggles as every parent with Elijah and it is obvious he is well-loved by the way they handle it. Trish is an amazing mother. They are really a tight family. I hope that Carolina will feel the same love from us.

I spoke to Sam this morning about Carolina. He can barely say her name (kay-lie-na) and says having a little sister would be "coo." I think he'll be a great big brother.

I haven't started working on her bedroom yet. I think we'll wait until we are finally matched with her before we do anything. It has almost been five years since we first sent in our application to our agency and it just doesn't feel real. But, lots of our friends have completed their adoptions recently and we are constantly reminded that ours is impending. We absolutely can't wait.

A little over five years ago, I bought a stuffed panda bear while we were in Chengdu (where the earthquake hit recently) visiting their panda refuge. It was for our adopted baby - the one we had just started the process for. That little bear was the first and only thing I purchased for the baby I knew we would eventually have. Even after Sam was born, I put the bear away because it was specifically for Carolina, not Sam. It is waiting in our storage unit now and Bill is going to get it next week. I cannot wait to take it with me when we pick her up and see her eyes examine it for the first time. A stuffed panda bear that will likely be five and a half years old by the time she finally holds it - a symbol of the hope we had that God would finally bring us our adopted baby and make our family complete.

This is likely the last time I will post about Carolina until we are finally matched with her. But, for those of you who were wondering, she is still on our minds all the time and we are continuing with our plans to adopt her. We feel that God has called us to become adoptive parents and we know she is in an orphanage or with a foster family right now, waiting to be united with her American family.

If you think of her, pray for her health and safety. Carolina is waiting and so are we.