The latest...

Today came a big milestone in our adoption! We've received our I-800 approval from USCIS, which approves our family to adopt Joseph as our child. We now move on to several different steps to obtain our travel approval. Fingers crossed, we may be in China in early August to bring our son HOME!

As anticipated, we received an email from our friend at Agape Adoptions, once she just returned from China last week. Her email message came as an early surprise to me, knowing that she had just returned home and was likely very jet lagged. Not to mention the fact that it was Saturday night, yet she chose to take time to accommodate the hearts and minds of waiting parents! She truly is a kind person, and Myriam will always be remembered in this adoption process.

I had woken up around 3 a.m. a few nights earlier, and instantly--as my eyes popped open--I envisioned Joseph opening our gifts. It was as if I could sense that it was happening a world away (China is 1/2 day ahead of us). It turns out that Myriam was there delivering his gifts that day! At the exact time? Who knows, but I like to believe that the Holy Spirit was sending me signals!

So back to the update. The beautiful update...

She had this to say about our son:

"He is a very sweet boy. He takes a while to warm up to people, and its hard to get him to smile, but he is so very sweet and his shyness is just that. He is very alert and aware of his surroundings. He gets along well with other kids and seems very age appropriate to me in his development."

 

The only tough part of her update, that might've stood out to you, too, is that it's difficult to get him to smile. That is what hit my heart the most. We will have our work cut out for us, but Jimmy and I have faith that we'll get Joseph to come out of that shell. And hopefully he'll be smiling quickly and often.

Thanks to Myriam, we also received a few photos of our little munchkin. I think he looks like a wise, old soul, and I can hardly wait to wrap my arms around him. Forever.  Soon, little man, soon you will be a part of this Murphy family.