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.