Happy. . . Sad

Happy 10 months to my little, sweet Joye! I CANNOT believe that she is 10 months already! I had to do the math a couple of times, just to make sure. And the ticker in the sidebar confirmed it as well.

In two months she will be a year old. (Sigh)

THAT makes me sad. Really sad. Will we see her in the next two months? I don't know. I hope so, but honestly it would be a miracle. Could it happen? Absolutely! Is it realistic? Unfortunately, no.

I'm preparing my heart that she will be a over a year old when she comes home. BUT our Heavenly Father is still in the miracle-making business, and so I DO have hope in that.

However, I am thankfully happy that she is a part of our lives, even though she's not physically here yet. And I am happy that we are on this journey, and that she is so stinkin' adorable!

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On the paperwork side, if you haven't already noticed in our timeline, we are NVC in AND NVC out!! YAY! Now, all of our 'stuff' has made it's way to the US Embassy in Korea! When we were logged out of NVC, the very nice lady said that it had been sent to the Embassy that day. So it's official, ALL of our United States (or stateside) stuff is completed! Whew.

Now what?

Well, now that our stuff is at the US Embassy, our P3 (or packet 3) is compiled and then given to the Agency (Eastern Social Welfare Society) in Korea. Once they pick up our P3 from the Embassy, that is known as 'P3 out.' I was going to call and see if we are P3 out, but yesterday was a holiday in Korea, so I will call maybe today or tomorrow.

Beyond the 'P3 out' is where we are currently stalled. And will be for a while, I'm afraid. We have quite a few family and friends following along with us on our journey so I am going to take a moment to explain this part of the process.

Hang on. It's kind of confusing.

When we signed the oodles of paperwork (back in November), stating that we intend to adopt Joye, called acceptance, all of that information was sent to Korea. Usually after that, Eastern (Korean agency) will begin to prepare our EP or Exit Permit. This allows Joye to leave Korea. So normally once you are in the P3 stage, your EP is waiting for you. That's not the case for us.

Currently, there is an EP backlog. Families from last year are still waiting for their childrens' EP. This backlog is what lodged our typical 3 month wait (from referral to travel call), to a 6+ month wait. Eastern (Korean agency) has MANY US agencies it deals with. So it is unclear how exactly they are processing these infamous EP's. One can only guess. 'Word on the street' is that July/August EP's are currently being processed. It differs with each US agency. We are a November Acceptance, so that's where we stand.

SO, now that our P3 is at Eastern (or should be soon) we will wait to hear for the glorious day when we are submitted for EP. Please pray that The Ministry (people that are responsible for approving EP's in Korea) will push through and grant them quickly. There are SO many of us waiting on this step. Many who have been waiting for EIGHT months to bring home their baby. Eight . . . Months! Please join us in praying these sweet children home!

Once we hear something, we will let everyone know. Otherwise, we will be on our knees praying for a miracle!