Paralysis

You guys are just too kind.  Thank you for all the sweet comments and emails and FB messages and everything else.  There aren’t really a whole lot of words when you feel like people are genuinely excited for you.  So all I can really say is thank you!

When we leave…oh so very soon…we will be meeting itty bitty boy for the first time.  Oh my goodness…I really cannot believe the day is almost here.  My heart has been racing the entire day.  He will not be coming home though until after we get through Embassy…which is estimated to be around the end of July.  I wish it were already the end of July 🙂  But nonetheless…we’re meeting him so very soon and WOW, that is just about all I can say, WOW.

After we talked with our director yesterday the paralysis set in.  I remember with Solomon, they called and said we needed to be in Ethiopia in 14 days and I was instantly paralyzed.  I mean, we knew this was coming…this is the day we’ve been hoping and praying for, but still when it happens and on short notice, I just freeze.  I don’t know where to even begin.  So yesterday was pretty much full of game planning.  Josh got busy writing on our chalkboard and we started trying to work out details and today we were going to make stuff happen.

Well I’m not sure just how much stuff got really done, but I will say that at the end of the day Harper said, “Mom you have been on the phone and the computer all day.”  Yep.  She nailed it.  I told Courtney that I was really unsure what my kids had done all day, but they were quiet while I was on the phone and they were all still alive 🙂  And that was success in my book.  It took almost the entire day to book tickets…we have to do an in-country flight along with our flights from Tennessee to Addis, so that was interesting…and they’re not even officially booked yet.  And don’t even get me started on how much time I was on the phone with a local international clinic about getting shots.  We used them last time and it was so smooth…not today.  I was a bit hacked off.

While waiting one bajillion minutes on hold to only get a voicemail, not once, but twice and at the end of the day still not hearing from anyone, I did start working on making room on our computer for the bajillion new pictures and videos that are about to find their way there.  Lots of transferring of pictures to our hard drive went down today.

I literally had over 19,000 pictures in iPhoto…yep.  My goal is to have iPhoto whittled down to only 2011 & 2012 pictures.  I’m not ready to let 2011 go yet.  I took 1,082 pictures in July of 2009 alone.  That was the month we brought Sol home…the last time we were in Ethiopia.

I also wrote more letters.  With all of yesterday’s excitement, I got behind on Mom’s birthday cards.  Mom’s birthday is Sunday and I wanted to mail out 65 cards on Friday, so people would receive them either Saturday or Monday.  So I finished up the last of her birthday cards…each card is for reals…written with love and intention and to send some encouragement.

The wee Kelley’s made messes.  Big messes.  And I just let them 🙂  All bets were off today…as long as they were quiet while I was on the phone and no one was bleeding…we were good.  And can I just go ahead and say that Squinkies, whatever the heck they are, may be my new arch nemesis.  They are just so darn tiny.

This is just the tip…I mean tip…of the iceberg…I wish I had a wide angle lens.

I had to make a few purchases on Amazon…a bigger card for our camera, so it can hold video.  I was on a time crunch to get the order in so it would have a shot at arriving before we leave.  And I just kept getting this…

I finally got it to process.  Now crossing my fingers it arrives in time.

I received the sweetest card and apron in the mail.  What perfect timing.  Harper oooohed and ahhhhed.  Thank you so much Lynette you are way too kind and it totally blessed my socks off.

Apron from Jessie Steele

Let’ see….I did some stress eating.  Why am I so good at this?  I wish there were emotional or stress eating contests…I would totally win.

And I got started on collecting wall decals to take to the orphanage.  The orphanage where itty bitty is currently, just moved buildings and they are really wanting fun wall decals to decorate each room with.  When I asked about donations to bring, our director told me…wall decals.  They need monetary gifts to purchase beds, etc, but they really wanted wall decals.  DONE!  This is right up my alley.  So we bought some today and will continue to buy them up or collect them until we leave.  Thank you to everyone who gave me ideas on Facebook.  And just so you know, I don’t have a Cricut or a Silhouette machine…it seems like this was the #1 recommended way to make wall decals.  Way cool, but I don’t have either of the machines.  So for those of you who said you would make some and mail them to me…THANK YOU!  Way to put your crafty machines to work 🙂

So today was a bit crazy, but the paralysis wore off…even though I still feel overwhelmed.  But I get to meet a very special little boy in just a few days.  I am still just so humbled and honored.  And tomorrow…well, I’m sure tomorrow will be just as crazy, but plane tickets get officially booked tomorrow…and that is totally rad!

Happy Thursday!