Preparations

We have less than two days before we are leaving and I am starting to feel stressed. Everything is falling into place; we have plane tickets, we have a place to stay while we're there, childcare/schedule for the boys is in place. Stu and I never seem to pack for our trips until the night before but I have a good idea of everything that we need to take so I'm not concerned about that. I think it is just starting to hit me that we have to leave Chipmunk and Monkey for 2 1/2 weeks!! I have absolutely no doubt that they will be taken care of (and spoiled rotten, I'm sure) and will be absolutely fine. But it is such a long time for both of us to be away from them. I'm already starting to get emotional about the thought of dropping them off on Friday morning (and I am definitely NOT the emotional type at all). I'm going to be a basket case by the time Friday morning rolls around. I do feel better knowing that at least they will be together and we hope to call them often (if that doesn't upset them too much).
But underneath that, I am starting to get a little excited about our impending journey. I can't wait to hold our little one in our arms!! We did find out that we will most likely only be able to go visit her every other day during our trip; evidently, the baby home doctor is concerned about outside germs since our little one is so young. We are a little disappointed about that but if we've learned nothing else through this adventure, it is definitely to go with the flow. This will leave us with lots of time to get to know and explore her birth country.
We were unable to get hotel reservations because of the short notice, so we will be staying at an apartment. Although we won't have internet access, there are several internet cafes nearby (so we've heard) so hopefully I'll be updating this blog while we are there.
Gotta run and spend some precious time with my boys. I'll write a short post before we head out.

Good News!

We have new travel dates! We'll be leaving on May 2nd and returning home on May 18th. One week until we are on our way. I better get busy!
I'll post more details in a few days.

The Roller Coaster Continues

I was getting ready to write a post about how excited we were getting about our travels next week. Unfortunately, we just received word that a top official in Kyrgyzstan that works on adoptions has resigned and the entire adoption process within the country is going to go through an internal review. We have no idea what this means. It could be quickly resolved (the option that we are praying for) or it could drag on for a long time. One thing it does mean is that our trip next week is postponed indefinitely. Just as we were getting our hopes up that this was actual going to happen after 18 months, another roadblock appears. I'm sure that everything will work out and this is a temporary setback; I just need a little time to be sad and disappointed that we won't be meeting our HotDog quite yet.
I'll post when I know more.

We're Back

The Monkey and I had a fabulous time in Florida. The weather was perfect; we did the beach every morning and then hit the pool in the afternoon. Of course, the Monkey being himself did not sleep much at all. So I came back from vacation more exhausted than ever. But it was really nice to get away and get a little one-on-one with him. While we were there, we were able to meet up with some friends that we've made during our adoption journeys. We've talked for a couple of years but had never met "in real life" so it was wonderful to meet them face-to-face. We were actually their reference family before they adopted their adorable son from Astrakhan (the same city our boys are from), and they were the family that introduced us to Kyrgyzstan. They brought home their beautiful daughter from Kyrgyzstan a couple of months ago. There are many cool parallels in our lives and it was great to see our boys play together. They are two peas in a pod (and amazingly enough, share the same birthday, although the Monkey is a year older). I can't even describe how wonderful it was to hold their daughter in my arms, knowing that in just a couple of weeks I'll be able to hold my own Kyrgyz girl close.
Speaking of which, we arrived home late Tuesday night to find an email from our agency with our travel dates!! We're expected to be in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) on April 27th and we will stay through May 11th. I can't believe we have only two more weeks before we are on our way to meet HotDog!! We have so much to do, like update paperwork, make childcare arrangements for the boys, book hotels/airline tickets. But surprisingly enough, we are not too overwhelmed at this point. I don't know if it's because this is our third time at this and we have a good idea of what to expect or if we are just burying our heads in the sand in the face of how much we need to do. Either way, who cares?!!? We are just so excited!!

Spring Break

I was really hoping to have an update for you, but I have no real news to post. We haven't heard about possible travel dates but are expecting them any day now.
We are still in shock that we have a picture of our little HotDog. We stare at it in amazement that she is really going to be our daughter. She is so cute and has the biggest cheeks! It all seems so surreal. But the moment we looked at her picture, we knew that she was meant to be with us. I felt like I had seen her face forever in my mind. It was incredible to be able to share that moment with Stu, too. The boys and I had been at the science museum all morning. On the way home, Chipmunk asked if we could stop by Stu's office since it was nearby. Even though it was naptime and we needed to get home, for some reason I said sure (which is surprising; this was only the second visit to his office in the year that he has worked there). We stayed for a short while and as Stu was walking us to the elevator, my cell phone rang with the news that we had a referral. We raced back to his office where we were able to view HotDog's picture for the first time all together as a family. It was such a special moment.
Anyway, I'm hoping to hear good news this week as to when we can go and visit our little one. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update the blog since the Monkey and I are headed to Florida in the morning for a little vacation. Of course, this was planned before we knew we'd be traveling to Kyrgyzstan so soon, but I think it will be good for the Monkey to have some one-on-one time with Mommy before he life changes forever with the addition of a baby sister. I've taken Chipmunk to Florida on big-boy vacations twice and figured it was time to take the Monkey. I'm really looking forward to the beach and sunshine.
I'll update with news as soon as I can.