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Our daughter is home and her life will now have equal billing with her brother over at our family blog: www.nosmallfeat.typepad.com

Thanks for your support, encouragement, cheers, tears and prayers. They all meant so much to us!

Back to the Future

So I just checked Delta to see if the flight took off okay and it told me that it was complete and had landed. Then I realized (after about 10 minutes of utter befuddlement) that they actually took off tomorrow. So they took off on time and are scheduled to land in France on time tomorrow (er, today).

When I pick up my youngest child who is also my first child (pretty unconventional, I know) we are going to Toys R Us so he can buy something special to greet his big sister with (who may actually be smaller than him). I don't know if we can top her riding on an elephant today (er, yesterday) but we'll see what we can do.

Fasten Your Seatbelts...

So today I learned that the crew in India had a hearty laugh at my expense while holding on for dear life in a rickshaw as they recalled my OCD level concern over whether I should bring the carseat, the booster seat, or both (just in case) to the airport on Saturday. You see in India seatbelts are not optional... they are quite simply not an option.

Family Fiesta!

They did it again! Uncle Rick and Aunt Leah came over and outdid themselves with a fantastic Mexican meal (and Zoe brought a balloon for her big cousin)! After dinner, Aunt Leah made a fresh batch of cookies for the kids to decorate and devour while we drank coffee (oh, we ate cookies too!) and talked until it was the kids' bedtime. These two have taken such good care of us these past two weeks and I am so thankful.

Now Playing...

This may seem a stretch to some but I tend to associate everything to dates and numbers (though I hate math with a vengence.). On June 23, 1989 the first Batman movie was being released (starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, as the Joker). I had every intention of being front and center on opening night but then something happened. Christopher was born (my first "nephew"). I had to wait to see the movie... it was a disappointment I was glad to overlook.

Our daughter shares Christopher's birthday. She shares something else with him. She has the dubious honor of being the reason I will miss opening night for Batman: The Dark Knight (starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger as the Joker). Obviously a disappointment I am happy to overlook as well but just found it interesting how my mind remembers things. Random but somehow not so much.

Here's a trailer to the movie. I may be a total geek but it gives me goosebumps:

Double The Fun

Tonight we had a visit from another dear friend, Shirley and her sons Andy (blue) and Chris (orange) (Shirley, I hope I got that right! LOL). Shirley and I have been friends for about 3-4 years. We met at a time when we both longed to be moms and she is one of the sunbeams God put in my life that I know will never burn out. After years of struggle we are able to rejoice together over these children that we've been blessed with, and doubly so. We truly enjoyed their visit ... someone had so much fun that he wanted to go home with them!

Missing Daddy

Over the weekend I began to see cracks in our son's tough boy exterior as I was seeing more and more evidence of how deeply he was missing his daddy. By today it was so apparent, and heartbreaking, that I left work early to make some time for fun with my favorite little boy, and fun we had...

First we went for ice cream with his good friend "George." We sat outside on a bench and talked about our day and enjoyed our ice cream. Someone enjoyed his ice cream so much there was evidence of it all over his clothes and his body... so the next thing we did was take a bubble bath. Yeah, George did too:

Then after his bath he was led into the kitchen where a present from Daddy awaited him. He shrieked with delight and anticipation as he opened the package. Most of you know that our son has a bit of a dumpster fixation. Well, what better gift than a garbage truck, complete with dumpsters... what a Daddy!!

Comfort Food

This morning Uncle Rick, Aunt Leah and Zoe came over for breakfast. They did not just come to have breakfast... they came to MAKE breakfast and it was SO good. I'm talkin' cheese eggs, hashbrown casserole, biscuits, sausage gravy, bacon, coffee and OJ. I am going to be full until tomorrow!




They also had the opportunity to have a video chat with our family's world traveler (well, one of them... his older sister is currently in China with her husband). They also got to see our sleeping beauty snuggled up next to Sarah for a rest during the call. I was encouraged to see she is a heavy sleeper because our house is rarely quiet.


Now our little man is napping (HOORAY!) and I get a break this evening as our babysitter comes and I can visit with my friends in small group. This day should pass quickly and I cannot believe that we are less than a week from them being home. I can't wait!

"Young Man"

The adults got food poisoning yesterday (they think foccacia might be the culprit). So today was a pretty low key day for them... a few walks around the grounds of the hotel but otherwise lots of naps and not much eating. When I spoke to them this morning they were all feeling better but tired from the physical ordeal and it was already nighttime there so they were gearing up to go to bed. What's next...

... when we wake up they will already be at the airport traveling to Delhi for the last leg of their trip. This will be the first time our daughter will be on an airplane. I don't know how she will feel about that but apparently she loves the thrill of the car ride (and, apparently, in India it is quite the death-defying experience) so she might find it fun. I am hopeful to speak to them tomorrow afternoon when they check into their hotel. So, where are they staying? Here's a hint:



I'm SO not kidding.

Turn the Page

A new day has come and gone in our daughter's life and she has made great strides in such a short time. We have been videoconferencing and the changes are apparant. Yesterday she looked overwhelmed and tired, quiet -- sad. Today she looked inquisitive, many shy smiles, and pride. She showed me using her Doodle-Pad how she can write the alphabet. So I took our magnetic board and began putting the alphabet up one letter at a time in camera's view while she began calling them out to me. It was a small first moment shared between mother and daughter. Her little brother was beyond excited to see and hear his Daddy, sister, Heidi and Sarah and helped gather the dogs so she could see them too.

I learned that today included a lot of breakthroughs in bonding between father and daughter as she was seen to be hugging, snuggling, holding hands and talking to her Daddy; laughing with and making faces with them all. They toured the many beautiful temples of the area and did some shopping.

Smarty Pants

Today Mimi's Daddy got to sit in her class. She is the star of the class, very smart and the first to finish her assignments. When done she is known to walk around and help the other students. She does not speak english, but can say her alphabet and say english words. She speaks and writes fluently in her native tongue (Oriyan) but the consensus is that she will be a quick study given her love of school and quick learning skills. Thankfully my sister-in-law is an elementary school teacher and is helping us figure out how to proceed with her education in the American system and at home tools to assist her school studies.

In other news... she had chocolate ice cream for dessert at dinner tonight. She LOVES her little blue purse and carries it with her everywhere. She is by all accounts a "girlie girl." She is experiencing some grief and sadness, which we expected. What is most encouraging is that she already seeks out her Daddy for comfort and reassurance. Tonight at dinner when she seemed sad and teary, her Daddy scooped her into his lap and she leaned into him, placing her hand on his arm in a show of tender trust...

(Sorry no new pictures to share; Heidi's computer is having issues.)

Building Blocks

Tonight my friend Maribeth came over for dinner (and by dinner I mean leftover pizza) and she brought yummy HOMEBAKED cookies for dessert. They were fantastic and thankfully she shared the recipe. Yes, my almost 3 year old son is sitting in a highchair... his baby cousin was in it last night and I guess he felt the need to reminisce about the good ole' days ... I will say that it was nice to have him "contained" for a minute. :)

The Hubs called to talk to his little man who was thrilled to hear from his Daddy and told him all about his day. When I got the phone back, I heard more about his visit with our daughter but with all that he said with words all I heard in his heart was this intense motivation to protect our little girl from any harm. In one day she completely wrapped him around her little finger. I was again proud and oh so thankful that he is my husband and the father of my children. His dedication to them both and to me as his wife is remarkable.

Oh and I also showed our boy a picture of his Daddy with his "big" sister. He was excited to see them together. It was fun to see his warm reaction to them together and thankfully Maribeth was here so she was able to take some pictures for me.

Daddy's Little Girl

This is a direct quote: "She is the prettiest thing in the world. Cuter than any picture we have gotten on her. She is so sweet. She is very tiny. Her little brother may be bigger than her. She is very shy. At one point she was crying because she is going to miss her friends and thought we were taking her home with us tonight. but we are taking her tomorrow. She relaxed after a little while and grabbed my hand and took me around showing me the entire place. You're not going to believe how beautiful she is." He also said that other children were grabbing at his leg and calling him Daddy and she was getting annoyed by that... she was taking ownership of him, which was great to hear.

This time when we spoke he sounded like he had no energy to spare and was going to sleep. He has been running on empty for a long while and I am hopeful that he will sleep for at least 12 hours. He said that they are returning to the children's home tomorrow around 10 a.m. I may speak to him this evening (his morning) and when I know more, so will you.

Night and Day

I was called at 2:30 this morning with word that he arrived at the hotel safely. He sounded tired but excited as once we hung up he was calling to plan a trip to meet our daughter. I did receive word from our agency that the meeting did happen and they were visiting.

When we spoke, he said he would talk to me "at night" but I did not catch if he meant his night, or my night... so at some point (day or night) I'll hear from him.

Ringing off the hook...

I spoke to "Marco Polo" while I was at work and he was laid over in Dubai. It was such a great surprise to hear his voice. He sounded great, but tired. He told me an absolutely hilarious story about Heidi bringing a rollout mattress that she puts on the floor in front of the seat and curls in a ball on the floor to sleep. The imagery given was "think George Costanza sleeping under his desk when he worked at Yankee Stadium." But the real funny part was that when he woke up from a nap down there and turned, he got stuck between the seats. Unfortunately, Heidi did not have her camera ready to memorialize THAT.


My in-laws came over to keep me company. We were hopefully expectant that we would get a call from India. The phone rang (a lot) and each time my heart would jump and then sink when it was not him.

When I put our son to sleep tonight he was crying that he wanted his Daddy. I did a pretty good job reassuring him and was able to bring a smile back to his sweet face and help him drift off to sleep. ... and now it is 10:20 p.m. and if I am correct their last flight is now underway and I pray to hear from him before I leave for work tomorrow. I miss him terribly.

... and they're off.

It was a busy day getting ready for the India trip. Heidi and Sarah came last night and slept over. We woke up early, had breakfast and enjoyed an early visit from my brother-in-law. While the brothers continued their visit over another cup of coffee, we gals took off to do what comes naturally (shop and have lunch). Later that afternoon my father-in-law came over to see his son off, bring me an amazing bouquet of yellow roses and a ragdoll for his granddaughter. It was a full and very happy, love-filled house and I was thankful for it.

The time finally came for us to say the goodbye. Naturally, I sobbed ... and naturally my husband prepared our son for this inevitability as he said from his carseat as we drove away from the airport, "Mommy, you cry tears of joy. You so excited! Hooray!!!"

I slept okay (albeit lightly) and anxiously await word from India that they have arrived.

Her room is done... (almost)

When we started decorating for Mimi's arrival I honestly had no idea what to do and yet, somehow, I feel like it has finally all come together at the 11th hour. There are one or two small touches to complete it fully but I finally feel like I can turn off the light and close the door for the night. Here are some pics: