What a week!!
Aaron and I have reviewed the files for a little girl and have chosen to move forward towards adopting her! 
I have sporadically looked at the waiting children lists over the past year. Typically kids on this list are there because their home country has been unsuccessful with placing them with a family. One little face in particular has been pulling at my heart for a year now. Typically our agency avoids placing children with homes that already have another child close to the same age. There is something called "artificial twinning" that can be a challenge for both an adoptive child and the biological child already in the home. This little girl is only 6 months younger than Neil so I just kept watching the list hoping one day her picture would be gone and she'd be adopted by a family who can love on her and give her the secure home she needs. But a year later, she was still there, looking back at us.
So I reached out to our agency to ask what they thought about our family possibly being the right family for her. We were told her special needs were a major deterrent to all the families they had tried placing her with but they sent us her files to review. We got to read about her history, her diagnosis, her likes and dislikes, and see pictures of her. We prayed, asked others to pray, and then said yes. Our agency had to meet internally to discuss the issue of the artificial twinning to see if they believed it would pose any risk to Neil or her well-being in the future. Today we were told that Aaron and I have been deemed a great fit and have the green light to move forward with the next steps.
When we started this process we knew it would be a lot. We knew that with international adoption comes children with special needs. That's a scary unknown but we have felt confident that this is something God has equipped us for and will continue to equip us for. We now have a face, a name, and a diagnosis. There's a lot swirling around in our hearts and minds - excitement, fear, joy. 
Next week we will meet with a doctor who specializes in international adoption. We will be as fully informed as possible about her diagnosis, outlook, treatments/therapies she will need. Aaron & I have been greatly blessed as parents of three very healthy children. This is a new world for us. But God has been paving a pathway between us and our future child for a while now. We see evidence of His providence all along the way.
Please join us in praying for Emilia. Pray that we be given courage, discernment, and strength. This is not something we could ever take on without the constant grip of His mighty hands. A lot can still happen and there is no guarantee we will be able to complete the adoption process with Emilia. But we will keep putting one foot in front of the other and walking this path as far as it takes us. 
Thanks again for all of you who have been following our journey and supporting us along the way. -Karen