MATCHED!!

Yes, yes, you read that right...we are officially matched with M! It's only been a year now since we started this process....Oh boy, it's been a fun one.

The last time I updated the blog about the adoption process I think was when we resent Package II. We heard that it arrived safely and then started hearing almost every Thursday that we were going to be officially assigned. I would get an email in the morning saying "Today's the day!" and then by the end of the day, there was no news. We knew that we were at the bottom of the list to get assigned because we are an international case. After a few weeks, we also heard that there were errors on M's paperwork from the orphanage side that had to be fixed before we could officially be assigned. We had no clue how long that would take to resolve...but ugh..seriously, whatever CAN go wrong HAS gone wrong this time around, am I right, or am I right? One of the weeks they took off too because the Pope was visiting. Okay, fine... that's understandable.

We were into July at this point, but surprisingly, the committee kept meeting. I am not sure why we were under the impression that they would take the whole month of July off. Now we are hearing they will take August off. Anyway, we don't really care at this point, because we have what we need from them!

We got an email Friday morning, the 24th, stating that we had officially been matched on the 16th. Why it took a week to get us the information and documents, I don't know. But we are not complaining at this point! That was a much better email- a surprise- instead of a "you'll be assigned" and then being disappointed when it didn't happen.

So, we know little from here about timelines, but we are guessing (and this could vary widely) that if I800 is filed this week as it is supposed to be (our agency has the documents and attaches the information from Ecuador on M...so they file for us), that hopefully we can get approval and Article 5 issued in a month or so. So, we anticipate that if all goes well, we can travel in 6-8 weeks. With Flor, it was 6 weeks from time of assignment to travel. We hope sooner rather than later-- tickets are at all all time cheap right now! That'd be awesome if they stayed this low...

Anyway, we are super excited! My cousin Hailie is there now and she has been sending me updates on M. She doesn't think she has been told yet that she is being adopted. I hope she is around when she is told....how cool would that be? Even cooler if she could take pictures, but we all know that isn't happening. Speaking of pictures, I did get two from the agency--the first we have seen of her since we were there in 2012. She is really grown up, really tall, and really beautiful! I will share those some day when I can.

Information we have gathered from both Kenna and Hailie about our girl:

*She is super energetic and spunky
*She is well liked at the orphanage (hurray!)
*She is extremely skinny and very tall (Hailie says about her height- 5'3"---crazy! We will have the world's tallest Ecuadorian and the world's shortest Ecuadorian!)
*She likes to play soccer and basketball
*She cares alot about the younger kids and is always looking out for them
*She's a cuddler
*She wears glasses for reading but doesn't like to wear them (We are going to have to get her the most rockin' pair ever so that she likes them better)
*She is apparently in an English class, but struggles. Hailie says she is smart in all other subjects
*Her favorite colors are pink and purple

I am going to start shopping a little bit for clothes for her to take. I think we have approximate sizes (and even shoe size- Hailie spied on that for me too!). I will get just a few outfits to get us through until we get home and then let her pick her own clothes. She likely has nothing to her name that is her own, nor has she ever. So having her own clothing will hopefully be exciting for her.

If we go in six weeks, we will be at the beginning to mid- September, which means that we could spend both M's birthday and mine there (hers is the day before mine!) We would love to be there for her birthday. We arrived right before Flor's birthday last time and that was a really neat experience to have a birthday with her in her native country. Devin's birthday will likely happen while there too (He's October 4), but he could possibly be back too. He will come until court is over and then return with Flor and Hals so they can go back to school and he can go back to work.

At the same time that we are rejoicing in excitement, we are also thinking of and praying for M as she is about to experience a huge loss in her life. The loss of her culture, her language, her friends, her school, her customs, her parental figures, EVERYTHING is going to be taken from her. That kind of loss cannot be underestimated. We are praying specifically for her to be comforted through that and to adjust well to our family. We are not naive to the challenges that may come. I have studied and worked in the field of attachment for a while now and so I understand the risks of adjustment and attachment. We are adjusting our expectations and will follow her lead with what she needs when she gets here. For now, though, we will be focusing on the gift that she will be to our family. What a crazy process this has been (and it's not over)-- but even through it all, never have we felt so strongly the Lord's hand in our lives. We know this is His will for us and for her and we are anxious to see it through. We are grateful for all the support  you have all given us and continue to give.