our log in date and other thoughts

On June 29, we were officially logged in to China’s system! In the adoption community, this is referred to as our LID (log in date) and is a really exciting step! This means our dossier has been registered into CCCWA’s system (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) and they have started translating our documents. As I mentioned in another post, sometimes it is difficult to feel connected in this "paper pregnancy," but I am grateful that this was a very special connecting point for us. 

My sweet mother even sent us a card that made me cry. I'm posting photos of it below (without her personal message). So very thoughtful of her to acknowledge how special this date is in our journey.

In other adoption thoughts...today (July 21) at breakfast Gavin randomly started talking about Strawberry as he sometimes does. He said she was growing and her hair was getting longer. This was very potent for me to hear. It’s so hard to visualize our little girl. We believe we’ll find her, but we don’t know her yet. And, yet, she’s out there growing. Growing without us, without a family. Her soft, sweet hair is growing, and we aren’t there to kiss and caress her head. We aren’t there to mark her milestones. Ian and I can’t imagine our lives without Gavin and Hudson. And someday, we won’t be able to imagine our lives without Strawberry. Once we do have her, I imagine that we won’t be able to bear imagining her being alone right now. Baby girl, we love you and we pray you would feel God’s presence right now and a heavenly caress of your beautiful, growing hair.

life with littles

In the hustle and bustle of life with littles, there are so many things I want to remember. But with a terrible memory like mine and the general passage of time, I know it’s impossible. Due to that reality, I’m hoping to keep a few of these memory treasures on the blog so I can look back some day and remember the sweetness of these days.

When Gavin was one and still in his crib, sometimes he liked to stay in bed and request certain books from me when I came into his room in the morning. Primarily he used to request the “Bibey” – his name for the Bible. I found this absolutely precious and I took a photo of him reading the Bible in his bed about two years ago.

Gavin - April 17, 2014

A little over a month ago, I came into Hudson’s room in the morning, and he also requested a book from me. From his crib, he asked me for the “Biba” – his name for the Bible. My heart was full of joy thinking not only of Hudson’s request, but also of the memory of Gavin doing the same thing. So, I of course gave Hudson the Bible and took a picture of him, too.

Hudson - May 30, 2016

I pray our boys would always know how very much God loves them and how very much we love them.