"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12
Well, that was the LONGEST pregnancy EVER!! At least that's what it felt like. In case you haven't heard me screaming it from my rooftop, we have a baby girl!!!! BABY!! We are thrilled to announce that we accepted the referral, and have been pre approved to adopt little 12 month old baby girl from China. She is simply gorgeous and a perfect gift from above.
We have given her the name Leah Joyce Freriks.
If you don't mind, we are going to keep her picture off social media and the blog until we have her home. We are MORE than happy to show you a picture of her should you see me or Jeremy out an about. My phone is permanently attached to me should I need my baby fix, which happens hourly :)
You can also ask any one of her aunts or uncles or grandparents and I'm sure they would be happy to share their niece/granddaughter/cousin with you! The kids are thrilled! Its been a long wait for them too. They can't wait to have a baby in the house, so they say right now, that may change when reality sets in and there is crying and screaming going on!
So, now what???? More paperwork, argh!!! We are waiting on an LOA, letter of acceptance, from China. This will tell us that they accept us to adopt her. We then file again with the USCIS, sending the LOA from China and her file to let them give us the ok to adopt her. We then send that approval from USCIS to China, along with some other paperwork, they look it all over and send us travel approval. They give us the ok to come get her! China will have given us a date to come to the Consulate to finalize her adoption, that is what we work our travel dates around. We are hoping this will be sometime in the next 4-6 months. This would mean we will have a pretty great Christmas this year!!
This will also mean we are starting over at the baby stage. She will be around 18 months old when we get her home. So, we need to restock our baby supplies! How fun will that be! I also get to decorate a nursery!!! YAY!!
We will keep you posted on the status of the remaining steps and when we receive the call to travel to get our baby! As always, we covet your prayers as we navigate these last steps in our journey to bring Leah home!!!
