As my earlier post said, our dossier was sent to China on May 31st.
On June 3rd we received an email that our dossier was delivered to the CCCWA.
On June 4th we got an email that our dossier was logged in (LID). Which means it was officially received. From this point travel is estimated 4-6 months away (but can vary because of how international adoption works).
This week and last I have felt a longing for an update. I wasn't sure we would get one until after LOA but it is hard to love a child and have only a few pictures, a few videos, and a few papers of information. I want to know...Did she receive our package? Does she have loving caregivers? Is she happy and cared for? Does she know she is wanted and loved by us?
This week Matthew and I were cleaning our room and Emma came over to us and said, "It's taking too long for my sister to come home."
We said we knew it was long. Then she help up one of her notepads and said, "I am going to do paperwork to get her home."
This sweet girl knows we can't get Eden until all the paperwork is done, and although she doesn't completely understand it she has seen me doing paper work, and she knows we can't get Eden yet. So she was going to do some "paper work" to get her sister faster.
Edmund keeps trying to tell Emma to be patient and wait (after all he waited 18 months to even know who Emma was!) And he knows better what is happening. I think he is waiting to be excited until we get permission from China. Until then he loves Eden but it feels like he is guarding his heart and waiting until he can fully love her when he know we are going to her.
This week we also had Matthew go look at a used bed set. We told Emma that Papa was going to look at a bed for her and sister. She was really excited and when Matthew didn't come home with the bed she said, "Where is the bed for me and my sister?" "Papa didn't get it because it wasn't as nice as he thought," I said. She burst into tears. She was standing at the door and just cried. And through her tears said, "But I want sister to come home!" She somehow had connected it in her mind that getting the bed meant getting Eden and somehow not getting the bed meant she wasn't getting Eden. Matthew picked up her and help her and spoke words of love over her and said, "We will still get sister, and we will still get beds for you and her. It's okay, we will still get sister."
Today we received our first update since we saw Eden's file. It felt like such an incredible gift. Inside was a written update, her immunization records, previous surgery information, and two precious videos.
Emma sat with Matthew and I as we watched them over and over again. In each video there is one small sweet smile. I love seeing her. Knowing she is okay. Emma had the sweetest and most enchanted look watching her sister. It was wonderful.
I took a few screen shots of the videos. Right now I am holding the videos close to our heart. She is so dearly loved.
Will you continue to pray for her and for us? For our hearts to be prepared for each other? For all the paperwork, for the transitions that are coming in both her and our lives? You all mean so incredibly much to us!
