New Pictures of Ellie

After waiting and waiting, we finally received an update on our Ellie girl. . . We received the update last Monday, and we were all elated to finally receive new pictures of our little girl and sister. The other pictures we have were taken when she was approximately 7 months old. This new picture was taken on May 15, 2008 when she was almost 20 months old. She has certainly grown quite a bit- which is good. That's what babies do, right?

According to her measurements which may or may not be accurate, she is 24 1/2 pounds and is 34 1/4 inches tall. If they are correct, she and Lilly will be very close in size. Her cleft lip has obviously not been repaired and neither has her palate. For those who do not know, Ellie was also born with a patent foramen ovale (atrial septal defect) and a VSD (ventricular septal defect). Lilly also had these 2 heart defects. Ellie was fortunate enough to receive surgical repair of her heart defects last September and was discharged from the hospital on her first birthday. We were so thankful that she did not have to suffer as long as Lilly did with unrepaired heart defects.

The recent update we received only included new measurements and 2 new pictures. We would have loved new information on her development and personality, but we are most grateful for what we did receive. In her original referral information, her personality was described as "outgoing, lively, and full of joy." We simply can't wait to go and meet our newest bundle of joy! When will we go you might ask? Well we have not heard any new information regarding our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). It is really "overdue", and there has been some speculation that the delay may be intentional on behalf of the CCAA in order to prevent adoptive families from traveling during the Olympics. LOAs were coming out every 10 to 14 days for a few months, and this Monday will mark one month since the last batch was received. So our best guess now would be that we would leave sometime after August 15. The sooner the better in our minds, but again we know God's timing is always perfect and so we find great peace in that promise!

In the mean time, we have started school and been staying very busy. My goal is to have 6 weeks of school completed before we head to China. When we get home with Ellie, I'm sure none of us will be in the mood for school. But doing school in summer is a little tough!

I have realized after receiving the updated measurements that Ellie will most likely not be able to wear Lilly's hand-me-downs so once we get LOA, I will have a good reason to do a little shopping. I have only purchased 2 outfits for Ellie, and I'm so glad I have waited. Since our travel date is still unknown and summer will be over before we know it, she may not be here in time to need any summer clothes. SO the wait continues, and we just admire her sweet face and long for the day that she will finally be with her forever family!