Referral In Hand!

Daddy proudly holding his daughter's referral.

Mommy trying to grasp that she is really holding the referral and original photos in her hands.

Jeff is excited. He has been handling the whole thing better than I from the beginning. Oh, there were a few times when we'd get news of it taking longer or when we got the news of her hearing loss that he was sad and it really hit him. He, too, loves this little girl more than anything. But, in general, Jeff takes things in stride more than me and he's been very positive about it all - lifting me up when I got so down. He's also been SO busy with work this past year, that he didn't have time to really think about it morning, noon, and night like I have. Of course, Ruby is never far from his mind. He is such a proud Pappa. Must have watched her video a 100 times already! He got the referral package today when I was out running an errand. He left it unopened on the counter, although dying to see it. Wanted me to take a picture of him with it and he took one of me opening it. He's so sweet! 

Me, I was little emotional today. Could blame it on the hormones, but really, I think it was just the realization of how far we have come. How close we really are. The dreams...the years of trying...years of waiting...years of hoping and praying and not ever being sure when and if it was going to end...it has all come down to this. We are only a few months away from holding our daughter and being a family!

Just knowing we were sending in our child acceptance letter got to me. In a good way! We notarized our letter and shortly after there was our full package. So we ran back to the UPS store again, had 2 more things notarized - one for Wacap and one for the state of Washington where Wacap has to file. We had to sign and initial a few more things - basically all stuff saying that we know this is for the child's life and we know the risks of adoption, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. So we signed and initialed and Fed-X's the whole thing back. We had also scanned the first notarized letter and emailed to Kate before going back the second time. 

Still have to get her that photo album. Totally forgot to do that in my excitement and sentiment. Uploaded to Walgreens and had them in an hour. My how I love technology! So now all I have to do is bring with me to FL, find another soft photo album, and ship off to Wacap this week. This will be the 3rd album we sent to her, so by George, she is gonna know who we are!

Oh, and I'd like to admit that I drove poor Kate NUTS this week. She was so nice when I was in a panic over not getting the package yesterday. Well today I called all worked up that the referral was sent in the MAIL. Not insured, not UPS, just plain old US postal service. I said, I love ya Kate, but I have to give you a hard time about this! I insist we get all of our documents Fed-Xed next time! What if the most important document we have ever received had been lost in the mail? How could they mail it? Why couldn't they have Fed-X'ed it? I rambled on and on. She was calm and nice and told me there was nothing to worry about because it was a copy. They would never send the original just for that reason. Also it wasn't time sensitive because I already got the info emailed and I could scan and email her the child acceptance letter and then SHE could email directly to DSDW. Oops. Stopped me dead in my tracks. Oh, well, then, uh, gee...sorry! (my exact words, I think). She just laughed and said I am not the only Mom to worry about these things. But she didn't say it condescending or as if annoyed. She simply said "it's understandable to get emotional or be worried about this kind of stuff..and that families tend to feel so out of control for so long so when they get the paperwork it's like this is something they CAN control." EXACTLY! She was just so kind and understanding that I had to hang up before bursting into tears at the UPS store. I felt like such an idiot. I thought, why on earth am I getting all stressed out? I guess deep down I worried our paperwork wouldn't make it's way back to Thailand and would get delayed somehow. Which, in hindsight, is ridiculous.  Of COURSE it will get there okay. I waited until I got to the car then called her back in tears and apologized like 10 times. She laughed and was like, PLEASE go relax and have a spa day. I didn't have the heart to tell her I had just HAD a massage today and was still like that! But I did tell her I was off to FL for some R&R so she had a week off from my calls! 

And on that note, my friends, I need to scoop up the remaining laundry in the dryer, throw it in the suitcase, and get to bed! This girl needs some zzzz's! Jeff is already out like a light. We both are looking forward to some beach time this weekend and a chance to chill out a with our friends. If you don't see a post after June 5th, send a search party! You find me baking in the sun on a beach somewhere with a big 'ol smile planted on my face. :-)