For those of you wondering where we've been (in the adoption world) I can sum it up in one word: waiting. Yep,we received our LID (log in date with China) March 26th with great speed and began the 30-90 day wait for our LOA (letter of approval which is needed to move forward). So, being the freakishly do-ahead-of-time person I am I quickly got ALL the paperwork ready for the steps following LOA (umm, I think I was ready March 27th). Thirty days passed . . . sixty days . . . (PATIENCE!!!) . . . ninety days (BLAH!!). . . you do the math; we are still waiting. What we've learned is that our dossier (that giant stack of paperwork we sent) is sent out to be translated. And the time it takes each translator to translate varies greatly (think we got a slow translator?). Mid June our dossier was finished being translated and in process and LOA was expected "soon." I can just say that God is teaching me much about patience, His Sovereignty, and being grateful for the blessings each and every moment (that said some days are HARD). Thanks for praying that "soon" is soon. :) I will admit that these days the vision of my sweet SongLian grows faint--all the little projects I need to finish before we get her are more bitter than sweet these days. Well . . . a few days ago I sat here and prayed for some connect to my China-Daughter. I just needed SOMETHING! So I punched in some random things on good 'ol Google and found an amazing gold-mine: redthreadcharities.org. This is an organization out of Minnesota that works with 3 orphanages in China--yep, one is SongLian's. And guess what? They work with children with physical challenges just like SongLian. Long story short I contacted them and they responded . . . and know her. Here is an exert from the e-mail "What I can tell you about your daughter is that she is beautiful and charming, a little introspective but not particularly shy. She is well socialized. She is very observant. I watched her being very patient waiting for her 'turn'. I know that she will be a wonderful addition to your family." and we got pictures of her from last October (she is tiny and precious!) and this April. What a gift (and a reminder that God cares for even the least of these). Red Thread Charities has had an amazing impact on our daughter's life--we are so grateful. Thanks for following and keeping this journey in your prayers. We are SO thankful for your support. :) And . . . just a reminder that we are still collecting fabric for SongLian's quilt. What a neat reminder of the people who loved, supported and prayed for her even before knowing her (yes, that is YOU!). All we need is: *Fabric (your choice)-- 2 10 inch squares and a scrap with your note OR 1/3 of a yard *A note, prayer, blessing or Bible Verse (we will make a book out of these) Blessings, The Hardee-Mom :)

SongLian's 100 Blessings Quilt

SongLian’s 100-Blessings Quilt

In following Chinese tradition to welcome new life we’d like to create a Bai Jia Bei (also know as 100 Good Wishes Quilt). It is custom to invite family and friends to contribute a square of fabric. The squares of fabric are sew together to make a special quilt that is passed down form generation to generation. We love the idea that SongLian will have a quilt that represents the love of family and friends she is blessed with.

1. Choose any 100% cotton fabric –we only need 1/3 of a yard of fabric (or 2 10 inch squares and a scrap). Have fun choosing your fabric, something that represents you or that makes you think of her.
2. Write a note - including your prayer, blessing and/or thoughts for SongLian. You may include why you chose the fabric. We will make a book out of these: including your note and scrap of your fabric.
3. Send/Bring the fabric to us – we’d love to have all squares back by the end of June to give sometime to put the quilt together. Thanks! 

Little By Little

A few weeks ago we received our "ADOPTION TIMELINE" as following: (I've added the dates we've completed things)

1. Homestudy completed
2. 800a application submitted 1/26/12
(Fingerprints taken - 2/17/12)
3. Immigration approval received from USCIS (approx. 2-3 months)- 2/27/12
4. dossier certified/authenticated (approx. 2-3 weeks) - 3/2/12
5. dossier sent to China - 3/9/12
(Arrives in China - 3/12/12)
6. Log in Date Received (approx. 3-4 weeks) - 3/26/12

To be continued . . . now we wait for #7 (step 17 is travel to China): the "Letter of Acceptance" (3 months)--will you pray with us that God will continue to work? We rejoice in the speed at which He is moving things along and holding out that hope in the miracle of getting her this summer. :)