Tuesday's Thoughts

YEAH--yesterday we recived the photo of H with her Welcome Bag.  For those of you that don't know, the Welcome Bag is traditionally how kids find out they have a family waiting to bring them home.  I am pretty sure H had some idea she had a waiting family because other traveling moms have taken a couple of picturs of her.  I would imagine that when this happens, kids have a clue that someone is wanting to see them and probablly that someone is thier new family.  Also, in the past, sometimes the orphanage director would tell the kids about thier new family as soon as they knew.  We were told it didn't happen like that anymore, but we can now be assured that H knows she has a family since she has our Welcome Bag in hand.  In case you are wondering....our Welcome Bag included a photo album with pictures of our family and a map pointing out where we live, a t-shirt (of which we all are wearing matching ones in the family photo we sent), a disposable camera where she can take pictures of her friends, a paint your own magnet kit, a small puzzle, crayons and a drawing pad and of course the letter that tells her about us.

I wonder what her reaction really is.  She looks happy in the photo.  She has a beautiful smile. Someone who saw her picture once said that a true smile can't be faked, it is a sign of a beautiful heart.  That's what I really feel too.  I am so anxious to learn WHO she is.  We've seen a little snippit of her personality on video and she seemed a bit shy.  There is something about her that makes me think she might be a little like Hailey.  Seeing her in her t-shirt she apppears to be about the same size as Hailey is (as thier shirts are the same size and fit the same way).  I still want to know who she really is though.  What makes her happy, sad, laugh..what is her favorite color, can she ride a bicycle, is she scared of the dark.

As we're packing to go to meet her, I'm becoming an excited kind of nervous.  Will we click immediately as a family, will there be awkward silence?  Will she be happy to have 2 sisters, will she decide that she would rather not have a new family?  What will I say to her the first time I meet her?  "Hello" at once seems like a good start and at the same time insufficient.  I suppose I'll trust that the right words will come at the right time. 

I've still got tons to do before we leave in 2 days.  Today is my last day of work (a call day) and I'm hoping it will be slow.  So far so good as I'm sitting in the middle of my bed typing this. I plan to get up and get going, shower, get some laundry started and then head into work to do rounds.  Hopefully I'l be able to get back home and do more laundry and start picking up the bedroom and clean the bathroom.  I really want to come home to a clean house when we get back.  It sounds good in theory but not necessarily in practice :)  I also have small group tonite so we'll see what happens. At least the living room and kitchen will be clean tonite.

I'm planning to post a 'what did I pack post' so stay tuned !!!