DTC!!!

WooooHoooo! Somewhere between here and China is a very important packet of papers! On Friday, August 26 our dossier was sent to China. Yippee! Now we wait for our log in date (LID). That means that our dossier has been received and is officially waiting in line. Oh, by the way, we're still not officially waiting, that come after we get our LID. Hopefully that will be soon, but it can take a few weeks before we know for sure.

UPDATES!!!

Well, Lyla's orphanage did not disappoint. I had a feeling they would be quick in responding and they were. Today we received an update on her measurements and two pictures, taken 8/10/11! Our big girl is getting, well, big! Check her out!

It looks like they are letting her hair grow, or maybe she just needs a haircut. Either way she is perfectly beautiful to us. She looks like she is thinning out, and from the measurements we were given she has grown a few inches in a few months. I will say, measurements aren't always very accurate, but it's all we have, so we go with it.

This next picture made me burst into happy mommy tears. I had mentioned the care package we sent not too long ago. We weren't sure if she would get it, or if they would just put it away somewhere, well...

Our sweet little Lyla looking at us, her family!

What I don't know is if this was the only time she saw this photo album we sent, but honestly, I don't care. There she is, looking at us! I want to believe that the nannies read her the letter we sent that explained who we are and that were coming to meet her in China and make her a part of our family. I want to believe that she got to keep the photo album and that she was read each description on each page, and that she can look at it whenever she wants to. But, in international adoption sometimes reality has to take over, because the rose colored glasses are just not a good thing to hide behind. So, what I DO know is that in this instant, our girl, who lives half a world away, is looking at the people who will love her forever!!!

Immigration approval!

We got our I797 today! We were approved on 8/9 and we received it today. On Monday we will put it in the mail (overnight FedEx) to a courier who will walk it in to the Secretary of State in Austin, Tx. After it is certified it will be overnighted to a Houston courier who will walk it in to the Chinese Consulate for authentication. Then it will be overnighted to our agency in Colorado. Once the agency gets it they will have everything they need to send our dossier to China!!! Then the real waiting begins (you only thought we had been waiting for Lyla for 4 months).

Once our dossier gets to China our best guess to travel would be 4-6 months. Some of the steps are quite predictable, but some are not. Of course, we always pray to be on the short end of average, but God's timing is perfect, so we thank Him even if it's on the longer end!

More on Lyla!

Here is a little more about our big girl! This is the most recent info we have on her, and it was sent at our request, when submitted our letter of intent to adopt her.

April 2011

This is the very first sentence "...is just as smiley and zestful as before."

"...her plump figure grows increasingly cuter and silly."

Plump will fit in quite nicely around this house.

"Everyone who meets her really likes her."

Isn't this what we want people to say about our kids? I love this!

"Firstly, she really is incredibly cute; moreover, she has a sweet little mouth."

In the last report they mentioned her being cute many times, and here it is again!

"...if a child is naughty during a classroom activity, she will strictly scold them."

Macey and Xander have been warned. :)

"She has the demeanor of a leader, and can organize everyone to play a game together."

And this is why we know she will be the best big sister!!!

While we wait we hope to receive some more update on our girl, hopefully some updated pictures will come along with updated info. I'll make sure to let you know!

More about Lyla!

As we wait for some updated info on Lyla, as promised, here are a few more sentences from her background reports. This one was dated March 2011.

"She sleeps relatively soundly."

- You never know how that will change when she comes home, but at least we're starting in the right place!

"...a little girl with a cheerful personality who loves to talk and smile."

- Aw!

"She likes to express herself, every day, like a chirping bird, talking endlessly."

- And this would be my all time, favorite description of our girl! Ahahahahaha!

Today as I sat on the computer Xander came over to see what I was doing. I was reading the We Are Grafted In blog post for the day, and it had a picture of a street in China. He asked what that was and I said it was a picture of China. We do a lot of talking about China, we like to talk about Xander being born in China, and Lyla was born in China but she is still there until we can go get her. We talk about Mommy and Daddy will go to China and Macey and Xander will stay home with Nana and wait for us to come back. I learned, through our adoption with Xander, that these little ones understand much more than I originally thought, so we are forthcoming with everything.

Anyway, it's interesting what thoughts these two add when we mention China. Xander has called Lyla on his pretend phone to talk to her, he has mentioned that he knew Lyla when he was in China (he did not, but I love that he sees a connection), so you never know. Today's comments from Xander brought tears to my eyes. After he saw the picture of China on the blog he said, "I want to see Lyla pictures." So, I found them on the computer and just started a slide show so they would rotate through all the pictures we have. Then he began to say, "China is far away from our house. We need to go there. We have to walk there." I said, "Oh, you think we should walk there?" "Yes, we need some shoes. And Lyla needs some shoes." You could see his little wheels turning, "And Lyla can walk."

I know you are thinking, oh Allison, you are over emotional. But here is what this little conversation meant to me, it was the simple, innocent thinking of a child, that all we need to do was walk to Lyla, and she needed some shoes too because she needed to walk to us. It was as if he was trying to figure out how we could get to her, or how she could get to us. I love their simple solutions to things, and believe me, if I could just put on shoes and walk to Lyla I would do it in a heartbeat...with some cute 2 year olds following close behind!