Dossier is ready to go!

Okay...so after months and months of gathering documents and waiting to get documents from the US government. My Dossier is ready! Gathering all this paperwork is extremely time consuming, and once you get it all together, get everything notarized and authenticated, the entire "original" package has to leave your possession. After spending so much time and energy getting it all together, it's a stressful time while it's in transit to the Adoption Agency. You just hope and pray that it makes it there safely.

But...it's just WONDERFUL that all the paperwork (at least for this portion of the adoption), is complete and ready to go!

My 2nd Shower, Leila's Birthday

So today is Leila's 2nd Birthday. I'm sad that I can't be with her on such a momentous occasion. But, I was surround by friends, who showered me with gifts for the little princess. It was a wonderful event, with wonderful friends. I got some really great gifts, a lot of Leap Frog stuff, some blankets, books, a lovely table and chairs (toddler size, of course), and rocking horse, and a bunch of other toys.

One of my best friends flew in from Minneapolis, and her daughter, my God-Daughter, flew up from Florida to be at this event. Them being there made it an extra special occassion.

My two closets friends, here in Virginia, hosted the Shower. Liz and Shannan have been great support to me during this process, and they went all out with the wonderful food and decorations.

But what was on my mind the most, was that this would be Leila's last Birthday without a mommy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVELY LEILA!

A Surprise Shower

So, I'm partying with my 11 RBL girlfriends at a beautiful beach house on the Jersey Shore for a week. It's probably my last vacation without Leila...well, at least for several years! :)

Ann, Linda, Debee, and I decide to spend the day in Philadelphia doing the whole tourist thang. Had a Philly Cheesesteak (yummy), saw the Liberty Bell, LOVE Park, Chinatown, the Rocky steps, and all the other beautiful and historical sites in the downtown Philadelphia area.

Driving back, Ann, my ever trusty map reader and most proficient guide, proceeds to get us lost. Now, I think nothing of this...this kind of stuff happens, right? No, of course it didn't cross my mind that she somehow got us to the Jersey Shore from Virginia, driving back roads without a hitch...nope...I don't even think about that! So then the girls mention that maybe we should just stop at a grocery store and buy some food for the house...again, I think, sure, let's do that!

So after about an hour, we're back on the road, heading in the right direction. Another hour later we're back at the house. Ann tells me to honk the horn so that the girls will come down and help us unload the groceries from the car. So I do, again, thinking nothing of it!

Well...little did I know...that the horn honking was to let them know we were there. Also, the so-called getting us lost, was also a LIE. Ann and Linda were told not to bring me back to the house until 6pm...hence, the "oops...we should have gotten off at the last stop" comment by Ann, making me think we were lost!

When I walked in the door and there was a shout of "SURPRISE"...I turned and looked behind me, thinking that maybe it was Ann, Linda, or Debee's birthday. Then Michelle came up to me and said "Happy Shower Momma", and put a little Mommy medal around my neck! The waterworks began.

Let me tell you...people just don't get things over on me...I would have sworn I couldn't be surprised...but I was wrong.

Yep...I've got the bestest friends in the world! I'm truly blessed!