Progress

Well, I have been very busy over the last week and have realized that I should do a little update(ok not so little).  Because we did not have exact travel dates right away, we decided to do shopping last weekend. Little M now has a nice new wardrobe, even Russ was enjoying looking at cloths. We got the basics along with a few toys, new safety latches, sippy cups and so on. It was a fun start to a very stressful week. The main goal was to get the visas off (done by Wednesday), contact the Mortgage company regarding our letter, and booking plane and hotel. Since we are making a second and third trip it took longer to get the details of our travel dates so I did not actual finalize the plane and hotel reservations until today. It is amazing how much money I can spend on plane and hotel rooms in just a couple of hours( 7 nights stay in Moscow and 4 different plane flights). Thankfully we have been able to collect many Marriott points over the past year plus and are able to really reduce our bills at Moscow hotels.

The main drama of the week is getting the Mortgage letter. I fully expected to receive the letter this week but thankfully I received several responses to my plea in the last post and I was able to get a phone number of a helpful person in the US. Actually our letter had not even been written but the people were very helpful and were able to get it out right away. However, there was and error in the first letter so another one had to be done and sent(I did not handle this very well and thankfully Russ realized - after a tearful phone call - that I was at the end of my rope and took over from there. We finally got the letter and then began the amazing coordination of how to get it to Frederick county Maryland for verification and then to Annapolis Maryland to receive the apostille. Well, it is off and my prayer(Yes I am still praying fervently for papers) is that it will be back in our hands safe and sound(and correct) by Wednesday.

Thankfully through this anxiety filled week, my bible study had some focus on anxiety. The one that struck me was Matthew 6:25-34. This talks about not to worry about food and clothing because God takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field and He will take care of you. Specifically verse 32 says"... for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." God has lead us into the wonderful journey and carried us through many trials and tears, He knows we need this paper for our little boy, why would He not provide it for us? Me of little faith.

So we have 11 days until we leave, it seems so far away but at the same time, I don't know how I will get everything done. Besides all the prep for the trip and court and his homecoming, I have to organize things for my parents and their crazy schedule with the kids. I also find myself working on things that don't have to be done for awhile but I know that once we return with little M that I won't be able to do - or won't want to do - like getting the oil changed in the car, cleaning the carpets, and the list could go on and on...

One thing that I never fail to remember is how much I miss him. I look at his pictures constantly and think about how things will be when he is here - in fact last week with our trip to King's Island, we all were making comments like, M would like this ride next year. I told Russ that once I pick him up to take him out of the orphanage, I am going to want to hold him forever and never let him go.

Before I leave I want to congratulate Kyley and Greg on their Court Date(just a few days after ours) and for Craig and Phyllis who will be on their way home from trip one after meeting their three boys. It is so heart warming to see all these children being adopted and getting their forever families.

May God bless you all!