visas

FedEx just brought our visas! YAY! No errors either. I have to say that seeing the visa for the Russian Federation in my passport is one of the coolest things I've ever seen! Now I'm really really really ready to get on the plane!

ladybug

I went in the kitchen to make some tea, and I noticed a spot on the ceiling. At first I was annoyed, thinking how am I going to clean that off? When I got closer and looked up, I realized it was a ladybug! A nice little sign of good luck while I WAIT to get on the plane.

question (to pass the time)

Why isn't it time to go yet?

Actually, that's not the only question that comes to mind right now. R and I were sitting in our living room, chatting to pass the time, and he mentioned that every single person we have told that we are adopting said that they know someone who has adopted, and then they have shared the story with us. Some domestic, some international, but always, they know someone who has adopted. Policeman, store clerks, government officials, it doesn't matter. Everyone seems to have a personal connection to an adoption story. Has anyone else noticed this?

can't we just go already

Ok, I'm ready to go now. It's time. I wish we could get on the plane RIGHT THIS MINUTE!

I finally got my packing issues resolved. Thanks to everyone for all their suggestions. I took some things out and rearranged, and now we have 2 backpacks as carry-ons, 1 duffel and 1 19" suitcase. Once that was done, I felt so much better. I felt stressed yesterday, but now I feel excited.

Only 3 more days to get through, and then we'll be on our way to meeting our baby! We're leaving late Friday night, actually early Saturday morning. We're heading out at 1:00am, driving to the Atlanta airport for our morning flight to NY. Since I haven't mentioned it yet in this paragraph, I really wish we could leave right now!

I think about the baby and wonder what he/she is like, what he/she is doing, which orphanage he/she is in. I can't wait until I have a sweet face on which to focus my love, thoughts, and prayers. Just a few more days.

packing and more packing

We had a great weekend with my sister A. We went to Target, and got the rest of the items we needed for our trip. We got toiletries, and lots of snacks. We also got a little Winnie the Pooh, very soft and snuggly, to match the blanket. I'm hoping the baby can have it in his/her crib. Right now, our luggage is all food and baby stuff. Tomorrow, I'm going to have to make room to cram in our clothes!

I spent all day today packing. It's a good thing I started early, because it took a lot longer than I had hoped. I started out putting everything into 1 duffel bag, then 2 small suitcases, and then finally, the duffel and 1 small suitcase turned out to be the right combination. There was a lot of packing and unpacking and repacking! I'll be able to finish tomorrow.

We meet our baby 1 week from today! I can't believe it! We are so excited, and so grateful to God!

excited, exhausted, and then excited again

What a day! As soon as the email from C. arrived, my heart just started racing! I couldn't believe we were really going! Immediately I started trying to book a flight. My excitement quickly turned to panic when I realized the flight we really wanted was no longer available. We were hoping to be on the direct flight from Atlanta to Moscow. I found a few options, but I wasn't sure. I knew R would be home in 15 minutes, so I waited for him to come home, and then we made the decision together to fly Delta from Atlanta to NY to Moscow. We really wanted a direct flight, but this is the next best option, and the price was good. Once the flight was booked, we started to breathe a little easier.

R had taken the rest of the afternoon off, so we could get everything done. Then we started working on the visa application. I called our agency, and K. walked me through the form, and that helped. R proofread everything twice, and we quadrupled checked to make sure we had everything in the FedEX envelope - passports, return airbill, money order, applications with photos, travel confirmation and voucher. He took it to FedEx and sent it on its way. We did next day processing, so we're hoping to have our visas by Thursday at the absolute latest.

Then I took care of our travel insurance and printed all the documents for our carry-on.

About 4:00pm, everything was done, and we gave each other a big hug! We were both so happy but also completely drained and exhausted. For the last 2 weeks, neither one of us has slept well. We went right then and took a long nap. We collapsed into the bed and slept very deeply for 2 1/2 hours! After we got up, we ate some dinner, and now we're just letting it all sink in. We're going to Russia! We meet our baby in 10 days! (I will be counting the hours!) It is so amazing, and we feel very blessed. Everything has fallen into place. We are so thankful to God.

P.S. We're taking the weekend off. No computer Saturday or Sunday. Tomorrow we're going to see my sister. We're all going to Target to pick up the last few items on our packing list, then have dinner, watch a movie, just hang out and relax. We're going to spend the night at her new house, and come home Sunday afternoon. It will be so nice to spend some time with A., especially before the baby comes. This will be our break from all the tension of the last 2 weeks. I can come back refreshed, and then finish my packing on Monday!

MOSCOW, HERE WE COME!

We got confirmation! We are traveling on the 9th!
We are excited, overwhelmed, and rushing around trying to take care of things!
More details soon...