Leaving on a Jet Plane

Almost every adoption blog I have read has a post with this title and this is mine.  :)

First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on the last post!  My goodness, I never knew I had so many sweet readers!  :)  I'm very flattered that so many people want to follow along on our journey and I am eternally grateful for the prayers and well wishes.  I'm not sure when I'll change the privacy setting, but it won't be for a few more days so if anybody else wants me to add them, I still have room for you!

Tomorrow is the big day!  I have been crying pretty much all day today.  So many emotions and I just can't seem to keep it together.  On a brighter note, we are almost packed, which is good because our flight leaves in about 12 hours.  The packing for this trip has taken weeks and weeks.  I can't wait to zip up the suitcase and hit the road!  Dana, here we come!

Going Private

I know I haven't posted much lately.  I've been soooo busy getting ready to leave.  Too busy, really.  I don't think I've ever had so much to do and so little time to do it.  It's definitely been very overwhelming and stressful but it's all coming to an end very soon because, ready or not, we get on a plane Tuesday morning and fly to Eastern Europe.  It's feels so surreal that after all these months of planning, preparing and dreaming, the time has finally arrived to go get our girl.  We are really praying that we don't encounter any surprises when we arrive in Dana's country.  There are a few things surrounding this adoption right now that really concern me, but since they are out of my control I'm trying to let go of the worry and just trust that God is in control.  I know that whatever happens is what is meant to be.  Right now, we need prayer for three things.  First, please pray that our flights are all on time.  We do not have much wiggle room if one of them runs late or we miss a connection.  We obviously don't want to miss our appointment.  Second, please pray that Dana is still at her orphanage and we are able to get the referral without any problems.  Finally, please pray for our boys who are staying at home with family.  They are seven, five, and (almost) two and have never been away from me for more than a few nights (my little guy, Caleb, has NEVER been away from me).  This is going to be hard on them.  They know why we are going and are willing to make the sacrifice, but still, they're going to miss their mom and dad (and we're going to miss them).

I'm going to be making my blog private in a few days.  I went back and forth on this (hence the late notice), but ultimately decided that if I want to blog freely, I'd have to go private.  If you want me to add you so you can read, leave me a comment with your name and email address.  I won't publish the comments.

A Date for Dana

I realize I'm not a very good blogger.  We hit a major milestone in our adoption journey this past Wednesday and I didn't even post about it.  We received our appointment date!  We'll be traveling to Dana's country in 17 days!  Hang on a few more weeks, D!  We're coming to get you!!!

Snow Who?

This afternoon Sam was keeping me company as I did some cleaning.  He was playing around with a little Snow White doll and cottage that somebody gave us for Dana.  He kept calling the Snow White doll "this girl" and I finally told him that she wasn't just a girl, she was Snow White.  He looked at me and said, "Huh?"  I repeated myself and said, "You know...Snow White."  He said (totally seriously), "Yeah, I know snow is white."  I didn't realize until then that he has no clue who Snow White is.  I didn't bother to fill him in.  I'll let Dana do it later.  :)  We're obviously not big on princesses around here, but I have a hunch that our three boys are going to get a crash course in all things princess very soon! 

Happy Easter!

SUBMITTED!!!!!!!!!

I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get to post this, but it's true, WE WERE SUBMITTED TODAY!!!!!!  Can you tell I'm just a tad excited?

Isn't It Ironic?

When we committed to Dana on October 3rd, it began a sort of frenzy in my life.  Everything suddenly began to revolve around fulfilling the requirements to bring her home as quickly as possible.  "Hurry" became my mantra.  I was in a hurry to get our home study started and then finished, I was in a hurry to get our dossier documents completed and apostilled, and I was in a hurry to mail our dossier and get submitted.  Since October 3rd, I've lived life with a constant sense of urgency and a feeling that there was something I should be doing to move things along.  Since March 17, I have done almost nothing adoption related and, when I think about it, all I can do it laugh at the irony of it all.  I hurried for 5 months and now we are sitting around waiting.  It's a classic case of "hurry up and wait."  Yet another example of how I am not the one in control of this adoption.