A New Day

Today we received new pictures of our little one.  It's what I needed--anxiety, depression, stress, joy, and sadness have taken over this week.  We have only 36 days until we travel to Addis Ababa to meet our little one.  She was just over 2 years old when she was brought to the orphanage and now she is 31 months...3 years old in March.  She has grown soo much, beautiful as ever, and I am overjoyed at the fact that she will be in our arms for the first time.  I am excited to take her cute little photo book with pictures of what she will see when she comes "home". Her brothers, her room, her yard, her play-set, her car, her toys, her very own bed ( I might skip the dog pictures so she really wants to come! :0). All I wanna do is smother her face with kisses and tell her how much I love her.  I have done a really good job of staying detached emotionally....until now.  It will be a difficult trip.  Leaving her will be the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  To tell her that we are her new family and then leave her.  I'm not certain how that whole thing will work. Waiting for other families to tell me how their meeting with their toddlers went.  Waiting to see if any of my adopting friends got to meet her, hold her, tell her Mommy loves her.

There are soo many things that need to be done before we leave November 19th--just 36 days away.  I should start packing now because I am not a "packer".  Just ask my husband.  When we camp I stress.  So I should start now--before shut-down mode.  There is a list of suggested items to pack on a Yahoo board.  Very helpful, yet overwhelming.  This trip will be easier as we won't be packing toys and such to keep little "A" happy and entertained--she stays at the Care Center during our stay.  BUT I am using this trip as an opportunity to take LOTS of donations, mainly clothes for the older kiddos.  We are only required to be in Addis 3 days for the first trip, but Dic and I will be staying for five--pretty stoked about that.  Hopefully more time with our sweetie and also some time to get some sight-seeing in.  

Have you ever seen the movie called "Babies"?  I just watched it with my boys.  AMAZING!  I would love to know if the little African babies are a picture of how our babes lived with her biological family.  It was such a sweet film and I probably would have just oohed and awed over the cuties had we not been waiting for our African beauty.  It made me long for her.  So many questions that I'm sure will never be answered.  She is deep in my heart...in all of our hearts.  I love her soo much.  There go the joy and the sadness fighting each other again.  

It's really tough.  
Soon, though.  

Soon. 
Tomorrow is only 35 days....
Every day.

a new day.