I'm SO Excited!!! (But kinda sad, too!)

In 24 hours, I'll have Lili in my arms. Or should I say my mom and I will be fighting over who has her in their arms?! We leave tonight from our house around midnight, the flight leaves Ohare at 3:15am, and we get into Guatemala at 6:30am local time. I didn't sleep well last night because I was so excited and my mind was racing thinking about the stuff I still need to pack, etc. We're pretty much packed, although the pack 'n play and stroller situation still have not been resolved. I'm trying to take down lots of baby supplies that our foster family could use, including a bouncy seat, boppy pillow, activity gym, stroller, pack 'n play, and clothes, toys and bottles. We've fit almost everything into existing luggage, but can't figure out how to transport the pack'n play or stroller. We thought a travelling golf bag would work, but it's 3 inches larger than allowed by the airlines. So, we're scrambling to figure something out. If we can't fit them into a "bag", I'll have to buy new ones when we get to Guatemala.

As excited as I am, I'm really kind of sad about leaving Moses and Max. Max is very upset about the fact that he's not going with us. We've told him what's going on, but have tried not to mention it over the last couple of days since it just causes a meltdown. Additionally, I'm feeling guilty about Moses not being able to go. He swears that he's happy I'm going to see Lili, and that my mom is able to go with. I know he means it, but I still feel badly that he can't see Lili and that he's gonna have his hands full taking care of Max while I'm gone. A small consolation is that we are trying to plan another trip to visit Lili in May (again, just myself, Moses and Max). I'm hopeful that will be our last trip before we pick her up to come home!

So, I may not be able to check in from Guatemala.... but please say some prayers that mom and I have a safe trip, a nice visit with Lili and that Moses and Max do well with their boys' weekend!

It's a MATCH!

I've been so busy at work and home that I haven't posted much. We received news on Monday in the mail.... the results for the DNA test came and it was a MATCH! Basically, there's a requirement of the US Embassy that DNA samples be taken from the baby and the birth mother to prove maternity. If for any reason the DNA does not prove maternity, then the child cannot be placed for adoption (unless the true biological mother is found). So, this is a huge hurdle to cross! We were thrilled to get the results and to be past the thought of "what if". Now we're pretty much only thinking of "WHEN"!

So, other than craziness at work for both Moses and I, we've had some transition with our adoption agency in Indiana. We found out Wednesday evening that our coordinator, Kristi, is no longer working for the agency. Thursday morning, I called and spoke with the Director of the Guatemala program and told him that, being this is our 3rd loss of a coordinator and we are going to be assigned to our 4th coordinator, I preferred that we were assigned either to his caseload, or to the Senior Coordinator's caseload. He readily agreed, and we found out this morning that we will be working with Diana, the Senior Coordinator for Guatemala. I've already spoken with her today.... and it's a GREAT FIT! I was excited even before talking with her because our good friends Misty and Chris have been working with Diana for their adoption and they love her. They've been raving about her from the time we met them, but since we were happy with Kristi, there was no real reason that we had to interact with Diana. Now that Kristi's left, it gives me a sense of peace to think back on all the wonderful things that Misty has said about Diana and to realize that she will be walking with us through the rest of our journey to bring Lili home. I think this process is certainly made more bearable by the people that you are surrounded with during the journey, and I couldn't be happier that we will be able to work closely with Diana for the remainder of our adoption.

I've been getting ready for my trip with my Mom to go visit Lili. We leave two weeks from today on 4/19 at 3:00am. We'll be with Lili from Thursday morning through Sunday evening, and I couldn't be more excited about introducing my mom to her granddaughter. I think the only person possibly more excited than me is MY MOM! Between the two of us, we probably have 30 outfits for Lili plus a lot of toys. Of course, they're not just for the 4 days we're there... we plan to leave most of them with the foster family for Lili to wear daily. We're also taking down a stroller, a bouncy seat, and some other baby supplies (boppy, bottles, etc). That's the nice thing about travelling so often... we don't need to worry about how we're going to ship things down to Lili and her foster family... we're able to deliver them ourselves. Of course, the flight/travel expenses are a little more costly than just shipping a package, but I can't seem to pass up an opportunity to see Lili as often as possible!!!!

We're getting ready to go our for pizza. Daddy is staying home with Max tomorrow (daycare is closed for Good Friday), so they're going to come up to my office and take me to lunch. That'll make for a great start to the weekend! Take care, and if I don't post before then, have a GREAT EASTER!!!