Our girl turned one this past July and is living with a loving foster family in Seoul, South Korea. They threw her a big, wonderful birthday party and put her in this gorgeous, white gown with a flowery headband. They even put our family picture in front of her for the celebration, along with the lovie we sent her. Lyla is the prettiest, little, dainty girl and has beautiful big brown eyes and the cutest little button nose. She is on the smaller size: about 25th percentile, but seems to be going through a growth spurt lately. Yall, I cannot wait to show everyone her sweet, precious face!! Almost as much as I cannot wait to hold her amazing, little body!
We have gotten pictures from when she was 2 weeks old, 4 months old, 6 months old, 9 months old, and from her first birthday. We also have access to all of her family medical history (as her birth parents willingly put her up for adoption) and as a baby placed for adoption, she has been to more doctors appointments and had more tests run than Madilynn may ever have. She has been well taken care of and we are so thankful to have all of this information and and the fact that she will have all of this information when she is older. Especially since most all children placed for adoption do not get the privilege of knowing about their early days, much less their birth family's history.
Lyla and Madilynn will be 14 months apart and I think seeing the two of them together might be the thing I am most excited about. The gift of a sister is something I cannot imagine my life without and knowing my girls will always have each other makes my heart swell. Madilynn asks about her "baby Yigh-Ya" at least a couple times a day. She asks when Lyla can come home, she asks if Lyla will be able to watch specific movies with her, she asks if Lyla can sleep in her room. My heart breaks everytime she asks about her sister, but I also smile knowing that The Lord is already knitting their hearts together.
We can send Lyla a care package every month, which we have already been doing. We are getting things together now for her 4th care package and hope to send it by the end of the month. Madilynn asks to "color for Lyla" daily and loves sending cards in her care packages.
We turned our dossier into our adoption agency, Holt International, on July 18th and they approved it and sent it to Korea on July 21st. Our dossier is filled with our homestudy, certified copies of legal documents, reference letters, numerous signed and notarized documents, and more. Now that it is in Korea, it has to be translated, and sent through several Korean government agencies.
Now we are waiting for our EP (Emigration Permit) Submission [hopefully in the next 2 months] and then our EP Approval [about 1-2 months after submission]. After that, we will wait to be submitted to court [a week or 2 wait], and then will be waiting for our court date [another 1-4 months].
We would be so grateful if you would pray with us for Lyla to get home soon! Please pray that God would push our paperwork through the Korean government at a supernatural speed. My best friend and cousin sent me this awesome reminder that God is able and He is God of the impossible.
"I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else - not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself." Ephesians 1:19-23
