We’re Having Another Girl| An Open Heart Message
This is something that I’ve been so excited to share with you! We have been working on growing our family through adoption for a couple years and we’re getting closer!
I’ve mentioned a few times that we’re adopting, but I haven’t shared very much more than that. In the early stages, there really wasn’t much more to say.
The Boring Paperwork
The beginning of the story is boring and full of ink and paper, social worker visits, psychological evaluations, and waiting.
Lots of waiting.
But recently we got some exciting news!
Receiving Our Match
We received our “match”!!! Which, if you’re unfamiliar with adoption lingo, simply means we finally know who our baby is!!
They sent us all the paperwork and pictures about one precious baby and asked us if we’d be her parents!!!
The story is amazing and gave me goosebumps.
We are adopting from South Korea.
That being said, we were prepared for a son because 85% of the children adopted internationally from South Korea are boys.
We had a boy’s name picked out and everything.
I’ll be honest, I was a little terrified about having a boy.
I mean, I’m a girl mom.
I knew that if God gave us a little boy He would give me what I needed to be a boy mom, but even so, a small part of me hoped for that 15% chance.
When we got the phone call that the baby they wanted to send us was a little girl I was beside myself.
The poor social worker who called me…
I like to think that all the moms act the way that I did when a social worker calls them with this information.
It was bad.
I kept losing track of my thoughts, repeating words, stumbling over the words.
You guys, I was an excited mess!
Then I found out her birthday was only 3 days from my mom’s birthday!!
It may seem silly, but to know that we were given a little girl (15% chance) and her birthday was so close to my mom’s, there were no words.
We’d been praying that God was taking care of our third child and receiving some of those little details just confirmed in my heart that He has hand-selected this precious baby girl for our family.
She was MY DAUGHTER immediately.
Now what?
Now we are back to waiting.
But this time while we wait, we get to send care packages and receive pictures and videos of our baby girl.
It’s the best and worst thing ever!
But you guys, do you remember my Instagram post from earlier this week?
If God has taken care of all the details up to this point, I know He is going to continue to take care of all the details moving forward.
There is no doubt in my mind that He is going to keep showing up.
FAQ About Our Adoption
Why did you choose South Korea?
My baby sister was adopted from China.
Pair that with this yearning in my heart ever since high school to care for orphans overseas and you have a pretty big reason why we chose S. Korea.
But international adoption is expensive and quick frankly it isn’t the way it was 15 years ago when we adopted my sister.
So we prayed and prayed over what we should do.
Our hearts felt like South Korea was where we were supposed to adopt from. We just wanted to make sure we did the right thing, the thing God was asking us to do.
Well, one day we were at the public library for storytime.
We went almost every week and we also brought home 10 books each week.
Before we left I counted the books we had in our pile and discovered we only had 9 books.
We needed one more.
So I told the girls, “Let’s find one more book” and I kid you not, I turned around to look at the bookcase behind me, and staring me right in the face was a book (facing forward) entitled “Let’s Learn About South Korea!”
Are your older girls excited?
The girls are so excited!
We talk about her and pray for her nearly daily as a family and they have started calling her their baby haha!
“Our baby” is the exact phrase they use.
Honestly, I think my oldest seriously thinks she is going to be her baby because she has decided that she should get to name her not Mommy and Daddy haha!
How much longer until you bring her home?
This is a hard one.
We are in the waiting phase again.
Waiting for paperwork to be processed.
Immigration stuff. Legal stuff.
Before COVID it looked like we would be able to get her late Winter to early Spring 2022.
But since COVID everything has been backed up and it feels like it just keeps getting back up.
The latest projection is that we would get her mid to late Summer of 2022.
Honestly, this is a HUGE prayer request of ours. We want to bring her home as soon as possible.
As you can imagine, the younger a child is when they are put with their forever family, the smoother the transition period goes.
So, if you pray, we would love for you to pray to the God who can part waters and stop the sun so our family can be together soon!
I wanted to take a minute here at the end for those of you who made it this far, and tell you how grateful I am from the bottom of my heart for you.
You have no idea how wonderful this community has been for me and I’m certain I don’t express it nearly enough! You are wonderful and I’m so grateful for you!!
Thank you for your sweet comments, advice, and above all your prayers!
Open Your Doors,
Aliya
Aliya
Hi! my name is Aliya and I'm so glad you stopped by today! Truly you have no idea how much it means to me. I live in Ohio with my husband and 3 little girls. I believe that once we start opening our doors, that hearts will start to open around us as well. You can head over to the About Aliya page to get my whole story.
22 Comments
Jennifer Howard
Oh Aliya, I’m so happy for your family ! This little girl will be blessed having you for her Mom. I am praying so hard that you can be united before next summer.
Aliya
Thank you so much Jennifer!!! You have no idea how much I appreciate those prayers!!!
Jen
Oh, Aliya! I am so excited for your sweet family. What wonderful news! It sounds like she is absolutely meant to be your daughter.
Praying that all goes smoothly and you get to bring your beautiful baby girl home SOON!
Aliya
Thanks so much Jen!! We can’t wait to bring her home!
Kelly
Aliya!!! I am so happy for you guys. God is good and I am so excited to see how he continues to make his path clear. A sweet girl for your sweet family ! I will continue to pray for you all. Yay!!!
Aliya
Thanks so much Kelly!! We need all the prayers!
Tracy L
Congratulations on expanding your family. Hope things are worked out soon.
Aliya
Thank you so much Tracy!
Carol Karl
Oh this is such amazing news. It must be so hard waiting and not knowing. At least now you know but the waiting must still be hard. As far as being a boy mum, I didn’t think I was one either but when my beautiful boy came into the world everything changed. I think being a girl mum with a boy makes you a better boy Mum. You teach them all the sensitivity and respect of girls. Not saying boy Mums don’t do that. I’m so very happy for you.
Aliya
Thanks so much Carol!! I’m so excited for our perfect addition. She can’t get here soon enough!
Crissy
Aliya, I’m so excited for you and your family! I will definitely pray for a smooth adoption process for you. I can’t imagine waiting for something so wonderful to happen in your lives. I’m sure you want to hold her in your arms as soon as possible, and I know the world is a bit crazy and unpredictable right now. Thanks for sharing your story with us, and may God bless you all! Hugs, Crissy
Aliya
Thanks so much for such kind and encouraging words Crissy! 🙂
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Darlene
Prayers that you get your little girl soon. As a Mom of two sons and a Grandma of four grandsons, and two grandaughters, I can tell you boys are so easy to love. My sons were so happy to give us two girls, as we didn’t have one of our own. You will make lovely parents and that is all that matters. Just love.
Aliya
You’re so right. God has planned and purposed this family the exact way we are. I’m so excited to see all that He does in the years to come. Thank you so much for your prayers!! We appreciate them soo very much! and congrats on a couple of girls!!! 🙂 XoXo
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Shirley
Aliya..congratulations on this adoption of a s. Korean baby girl! This is Oct 2022 so has this happened yet? I just signed up for your blog and so far I’ve only read above about this adoption so I’m really curious to know where this has gotten to. Congratulations!
Aliya
Shirley!
We are all home and doing well! She’s been home with us for 4 months now. It’s been a wild ride, but every single day we are seeing growth and attachment. Kinda crazy, but today she told my husband “Yes!” and we all threw a party for her communication with us!! I hope to put together an update about how things are going soon!! Have a great week!