The Waiting Does Not Get Any Easier the Second Time Around

We have officially been logged into China's system for a little over two months now and are currently waiting on a referral for our daughter. For those of you who don't know, we feel led at this time to wait for a file for our daughter  from the partnership orphanages through our adoption agency, Lifeline.  The following link will explain this in more detail:  http://lifelinechild.org/orphanage-partnerships-in-china/.  Our social worker is unsure at this time as to when the files will be ready. She was hoping that they would be ready in July or August, but as August quickly comes to a close, this prediction may advance into another month. The waiting so far has not been that difficult; however as the time goes by, the waiting seems to become increasingly more difficult,especially when Karlye talks about her all day long.  Please pray with us that these files would come quickly so that these precious children can be on there way to having a loving, forever family. We continue to remind ourselves that God's timing is perfect and that in His timing our daughter will be revealed to us. What an incredible day that will be!  

Karlye talks constantly about her little sister in China. Every airplane that passes over is headed to China!  She prays constantly for her sister in China and for her to come home quickly. She is always asking for her to sleep with her and to ride in the backseat of the car with her. For those of you who know how passionate Karlye is about her Bao Bao's (lovey), you know that they are her most loved and prized possession. We sent her a Bao Bao to China in a care package and she came to us holding this bear. Well, the other day, Karlye asked if she could send her little sister one of her Bao Bao's. Our hearts melted!  Sweet girl!

Karlye is doing really well!  She will begin Mother's Day Out next week!  It is definitely going to be a bitter sweet moment.  She has met her teachers and has seen her classroom and seems to be very excited. Her teachers are both so precious!  She also began her preschool gymnastics class and is loving "doing gymnastics by herself" while mama watches from the waiting area. Her language is exploding even more and she continues to keep Nathan and I laughing constantly!  She is really enjoying learning Bible versus and has memorized 4 versus in less that 3 weeks. I am so proud of her!  Now, for some incredible news that could have only been orchestrated from our Heavenly Father...Karlye will be released from wearing her shoes/brace (aka devise that ties her feet together) when she turns three.  Yes!...two years early. Praise the Lord!  Dr Doyle, Karlye's orthopedic doctor, delivered this wonderful news to us at her last visit. She was originally supposed to be in these braces until she turned five.  He is very pleased with her feet and feels that any type of regression is very slim at this point.  Oh, and also we hit a major milestone...Karlye actually sat in Dr. Doyle's lap and did not shed a tear the entire time.  This is huge, as she usually screams and clings to me so bad that we cannot even carry on a conversation. She also did an excellent job at the pediatric dentist for a cleaning and at the after hours clinic this month after her neck swelled to double its size from getting bit by something. 

We have had a wonderful summer!  I will post some pictures below. I have realized that we have not taken many pictures this summer. Oh well, I guess we have had too much fun to even get out the camera!  

I will close by saying thank you to everyone once again for praying with us through this amazing journey of adoption!  We are so blessed that the Lord has chosen us to bring these precious blessings into our family. Keep praying for those files!!!

Hopefully the next time I post, it will be to introduce our new daughter! 

Playing at the beach!

Waiting patiently to go to the beach!

Loving the ice cream from Mrs. Jennifer!

Sweet friends!

Smooch!

Playing with Tu!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Karlye, Pops, and Mama at the beach.

Papa Steve and Grandmother Marcia on Gotcha Day!

Chopsticks!

Painting a picture for her little sisters room.

Painting a cross for our next little blessing!

Yearly footprints!

What a difference a year makes!

Fun with my sweet friend!

Dress-up



At Daddy's work.

My first tricycle!

Gold Medal!