Itinerary Confirmed!

Got the call this morning ... they leave July 8th and they and our beautiful daugther WILL BE HOME on July 19th. Okay, so the story of "they..."

India requires one parent to travel so we decided that my hubby (who is a far better traveler than I am and also the epitomy of grace under fire whereas I am the dry brush that spreads the fire) would go to India and I would stay home with our son. Sometime after the referral of our daughter we were told that a man cannot travel alone but must either bring his wife OR a female escort. So, I said, we will ALL go to India. However, he was adament that a 2 year old cannot take such a trip. The plane ride to India requires several transfers and very many hours in flight.

Enter Heidi. Heidi is a friend of ours who we came to know after we both adopted our children from Ethiopia around the same time. In fact, Heidi met our son in Ethiopia before we even got the referral for him. It is hard to call her a friend because where I come from when someone is as important to you as she is to us they are referred to as "family." So, Heidi... she was ready, willing and able to act as the female escort to go with AND she said she was going to bring her 11 year old daughter, Sarah (who is an AMAZING young lady, and that's an understatement).

So that's the "they" -- my better half, Heidi and Sarah.

Oh, and one more thing... Heidi is a professional photographer who will chronicle the entire journey in film (er, digital) so we'll actually have pictures from this adoption journey (as this is the ONLY picture "proving" he was in Ethiopia):

Progress!

Last night we got an email from the Indian consulate that the visa application was approved and it is being shipped back via FedEx for delivery on Monday, June 30. We have a hold on a travel itinerary having them leave the US on July 8th and returning on the 19th. We are waiting to hear from the children's home approving it and then we'll book.

We still don't have any updates on her size BUT the director of the orphanage said that "she is very excited that her Daddy is coming to get her." I wonder if she could possibly have any idea how excited WE are to be bringing her home.

Due Date

I just received an email that our daughter will be free to travel on July 14, 2008.

We have visa applications pending people!

Timeline (moving target)

When you adopt you never REALLY have a firm date for anything until you get to that date. So while our timeframe is still within the 4-6 weeks, it is now looking more like the 6 weeks...

The Court Order should be received by the agency in India in a week and then they apply for her passport. That processing takes about 35 days. That puts us at approximately August 5th. From there we make travel arrangements and you are looking at maybe the 2nd or 3rd week of August. Of course, the processing could go quicker and travel is the last week of July or the first week of August.

I asked if we can pay an additional fee to have the passport application processing expedited. Haven't heard back yet...

Why I love my agency, and other musings....

It's always easy to get frustrated when you want information and aren't hearing anything but for those of us who have done this before we have a sense that you can only be told what is known. Why I love my agency is because they don't just give you information, they seem to share in your joy. I was receiving email responses from our agency rep. at 11:00 p.m. last night. Surely that constitutes as going above and beyond, right? So big ups to AIAA.

Also, the news is still seeping into me... I am absorbing this news quickly and slowly if that makes sense. I just cannot wait to meet our daughter. It is all so surreal to me.

... and our son. What a great kid! He is SO excited and has been saying things all last night and this morning, like: "hooray, Mimi come home! I so excited!!" This morning he pointed to his Dora flashcards and said he wanted to give those to Mimi. I told him she was not home yet but when she arrived he could. Then he said, "I want Mimi to play in my playground." I reminded him that it was both of their playground and he said, "Okay, Mommy. I want Mimi to go down the slide with me." I said that she would. He said, "Mommy, Mimi need a brother." I said yes she does and you need a sister. He smiled and said "Okay, Mommy."

Birthday Gift from God

Last night a friend asked me "any news on Mimi?" I said, "I keep praying that God have her pass court when it reopens on her birthday tomorrow but I know that kind of stuff only happens in the movies, so...." Well, God reminded me that He is the Director of our lives and so it should come as no surprise that He ordained it such that WE PASSED COURT ON HER BIRTHDAY!

We got the word at noon today. She is officially cleared and ready for take-off... they are obtaining her passport and then she comes home. We don't have a date yet but it will be within the month.

I am humbled by God's amazing love for me, to hear my prayers and to answer them SO specifically and to show Himself to me like this.

I am thankful and so SO happy!

I AM THE MOTHER OF TWO CHILDREN... TWO BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Today is our daughter's sixth birthday. We are heartbroken that we cannot celebrate it with her as she blows out the candles and makes a wish. We do feel, however, that her wish is the same as ours is today; that we hear something soon from courts and we can bring her home.


We emailed this to our agency last night. It is a collage of photos of her little brother wishing her a happy birthday in her native language:

The room is taking shape.

I returned to the boutique again this evening after work (Brian met me) and I found another item on sale that somehow missed my notice yesterday (on sale for $10 from $34). It's already hung up in her room. Below it are the Dora doll my mother-in-law bought her and the Madame Alexander India doll that I've had set aside to give our daughter for a very long time ...



It says: "Little girls are precious gifts, wrapped in love serene. Their dresses tied with sashes and futures tied with dreams."

Picture Perfect

I went shopping for Mimi again today after work at a local children's boutique that is usually high priced. Once a year they have an incredible firehouse type sale and I was able to buy a really great canvas print for her room (retail $85; I paid $19) .




You know the Truman Show type photo where kids are all wearing the same PJs as they open their gifts on Christmas morning? Well, I have always had this fantasy of the family wearing matching PJs to open gifts and with this sale I was finally able to buy the kids matching PJs (for $8 a piece, retail for $40). I resisted the urge to buy them for their folks ... I know there was NO way I'd get their father in the adult version of this (but it's perfect for the kids!):





I am SO excited for Christmas morning... she BETTER be home by then! Stomps. foot.