What a whirlwind! Like I said, this is all going down far quicker than any of us had expected (as a matter of fact, I think that’s the first time in our adoption process I have been able to say that), and now we’re scrambling like absolute maniacs to get all of our preps done before we leave. Here’s a glimpse of our day yesterday…
- Woke up. Got the amazing news. Made Elizabeth bows. What?! Yes, hairbows somehow pushed their way to the top of the priority list. Don’t judge.
- Called my work and kindly informed them that “uh, you might want to stop scheduling patients for me because I’m kinda leaving for Africa next week and won’t be back for a long time”. It’s yet to be determined how that played out at work yesterday. I’m headed in today. Pray for me. 🙂
- Put the finishing touches on the binder full of paperwork (see below) that will be presented next week to the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa. Assembled paperwork into several other folders that will be given to other governmental entities in DRC.
- Took a deep breath, said a prayer, and shipped off our paperwork to DRC. The guy asked me the obligatory “what’s the value of the contents of this package?” question and I just looked at him. No words, just a look… because really, how do you put a price on something that contains every piece of paperwork necessary for the adoption of your daughter? I may or may not be stalking the package on its tracking site like a mad woman. Pray that it arrives safely with our contact in Kinshasa no later than next Wednesday!
- Made a Target run for travel items. One of the first Target runs of many in the next week, I’m guessing. I’m about to go a month of my life without stepping my foot in the store, so I feel like this is completely legit. Just getting it outta my system, y’all.
- Came home to a scanned copy of Elizabeth’s passport! Ahh! Baby passports might be the cutest things in the world. Apparently, the poor baby girl has just had her shaved bald, so it’s a darn good thing I made those hairbows for her. She’s so stinkin precious.
- Worked on packing. Y’all, don’t judge the way I look in any pics of me in DRC. We’re talking bare bones here.
- Booked our airline tickets! Eeeek! We’re flying out of Richmond next Sunday, November 4th! And we’re going to be able to do all of our travel with our new friends, the Pritchards. What a blessing!
- Found out we need a few more passport pics for our visa application. Ran to CVS with the kids for said passport pics. Bribed crazy “I’ve been dragged out on too many errands today” kids with Halloween Peeps (?!). Came home. Completed visa application. Hyperventilated at the thought of shipping out our passports a week before we leave the country. Stuck ’em in our package anyway, as it’s the only way we can get into DRC. Will overnight visa application to New York this morning and pray that our visas and passports arrive in time for our travel.
Whew. Like I said, the past 24 hours have been an absolute whirlwind, and I’m guessing I won’t find much rest until I sit down for that looong flight next Sunday morning. We are so ridiculously blessed, though. Thanks for all of the excitement, the messages, emails, calls, and prayers. T-10 days!!