Sending a package & a prayer

I just sent our little girl her first care package! It was so fun putting it together so I wanted to share it with ya'll! We sent her a lovie, a rabbit (if you squeeze his paw, it has our family saying I love you in chinese so she can hear our voices) and a board book with photos of the family that I made online. (You can see an up close photo below. It is from a website called pintsizedproductions.com )

I also put a few disposable cameras in hopes that they may take pictures of her over the next few months and return them to us when we go to get her. Then you will notice the pez and lip glosses.... a little gesture for the nannies. It is surprisingly hard to find candy made in the USA (that won't melt when being shipped). My hope is that as the nannies are eating PEZ and putting on some "made in the USA" lip gloss, they will feel more motivated to snap a few photos of my baby! :) I prayed over the package at the post office.... praying that it makes it to China and then praying that they will actually give her some of the goods!

Many have asked about the next step? So we are waiting on this piece of paper called the LOA and here is the deal. It can take anywhere from 30-100 days with really no rhyme or reason. Based on how long that takes will determine a lot about when we travel. If it takes on the normal to longer end of the spectrum, that lines us up to travel smack dab in the middle of the chinese new year..... which the Government shuts down, so we would have to WAIT!!! I know in the scheme of life a couple of weeks is not a big deal, but when you are picturing your daughter in an institution, every day matters. So, will you pray boldly with me that our LOA would come miraculously fast? I know that God is in total control (not the Chinese Government) so praying that He would cause our LOA to be processed swiftly.... I'll let you know when it comes. Oh and one other request, we asked 2 weeks ago for updated photos to be e-mailed to us. They are under no obligation to do so, but it would be such a treasure to get some... perhaps she has hair now :) So, praying for photos and a fast LOA... thanks for joining us on this journey friends!