Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is Chinese New Year and I am thinking about our soon-to-be daughter who is somewhere in China. Wondering where she is and what she is doing. What she looks like and who she is with. Wondering when we'll finally see her face ... when we'll hold her in our arms. When we'll once again be a forever family.

We talk about her all the time at our house. Britton and Lia Kate call her "baby sister". Just yesterday, Lia Kate was saying "I have two beds in my room. One is for baby sister. Britton doesn't have two beds in his room. Because baby sister will be in my room." ;o)

Recently our paperwork hit a snag. We were thinking we would be DTC (dossier to China) by Chinese New Year. But it wasn't to be. After waiting 60+ days for our file to be reviewed by USCIS (immigration), my officer issued a RFE (request for evidence). This means my file cannot be approved until she has the requested information. Apparently, my home study mentions that I had a summer internship in DC. Part of the hoops you have to jump through when you're doing an international adoption is that you have to get background clearances for every where you have lived. I did not consider DC a permanent residence because I was only there a very short time. But my home study mentions it when it discusses my background/college experiences. So, my immigration officer can't approve our application until I have a DC clearance. Problem is that DC is not the easiest place to get a background clearance from. They take at least 30 days, and sometimes more than that. So, here we wait.

The way I look at it is that it was not time to meet our daughter. We firmly believe that this obstacle was put in our path to lead us to the right little girl, who was meant to be ours. Having been through this before, I can't imagine not having gotten Lia Kate's file. It worked out so perfectly, and we are trusting it will this time around too.

So, we wait. Rather patiently, I might add. Trusting that God has a plan and looking forward to seeing it unfold.

Until then, we celebrate Chinese New Year and imagine our next daughter, somewhere in China experiencing, perhaps, the only CNY she will ever have in China.