Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, well, after trying to digest the news, not wanting to talk about it any more...........the inevitable!!! (heart sank last Friday!) The call from our agency, we were caught hanging on the fence,after a week of waiting to hear, on pins and needles! The USCIS would NOT allow us to travel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is, under the "old" procedures, processing our I-600 in country, sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...................... we are one of the first families having to "process" it the "new" way! WAIT, WAIT AND WAIT SOME MORE! Granted, this will be easier for most families, less wait time in-country and upfront, thorough review of ALL babies documents BEFORE travel, but GOSH DARN IT, it is TOUGH! All the other families in our group (17) get to travel this month but we have to stay (however, they MAY? be in for an extended stay?)!

I subsequently, ran the notarized I-600 to our agency with accompanying letter, and the G-28 (POA) form on Monday, to be DHL delvered to HCMC US Embassy and we WAIT! Out little man still there and us, well here! Our hearts ache for this adorable little guy but, hopefully ours may be one of the first to be processed? (PLease kind Sir, in your bureaucratic robe, stamp your seal of approval! We need to be with our little guy! I know, no pleading begging will change things but can't I try?) Well, here is thie adorable face again!!!! How cute!!!

I am looking so forward to my baby shower this weekend! YES, my best buddies, Kendra and Stacy (you know who you are, gals! Stand up and take a bow!), are throwing me a shower! I can't believe it! You see, probably one of the most profound disappointment(s) I had in some of the friends I had, at that time, was that, not one of them offered (and I had thrown many showers for them) a gift, a quilt square, let alone a shower for me and/or for Claire! What a heartbreak that was! And......I got to thinking, it is so true with Mommies who arrive at Mommyhood through adoption! We tend to be overlooked, discounted, etc! I now can articulate it better, it is the sense of validation of honoring me as a MOTHER and WE, AS WOMEN AND AS MOTHERS! Now, THAT, dear friends is the love I feel for you! And, I thank you for honoring me as a friend, woman and fellow Mommy! (now, I hear Claire at my door, saying "Nigh Nigh, Mommy! I lub you!" )