Can I get an AMEN?!

After 18 months, the same number of days that our daughter has had breath and life, we are going to be a family together!!  Embassy date of September 7th.

Here's how it went down...

Yesterday morning at 8:30 am I opened an email from the Embassy (it had been sent at 1:30 am EST) saying that we were clear to come and bring Penelope home and they requested that we send them 3 date options for them to choose from, to assign us an Embassy appointment date.  We gave them August 29, 30 and Sept. 1st and hoped we would hear something back within a day or two.

Last night as we were going to bed, Dustin said "Heid, I'm going to set my alarm for 1:30 am to check and see if they got back to us about an appointment date."  And we turned over and fell asleep - until Dustin hopped out of bed even before his alarm went off because he couldn't sleep, he was so anxious to hear about his baby girl ;)  He asked me to check my laptop in our room and there was no email from the embassy.  Bummer!

I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to wait until morning or the following day to hear something and very easily rolled over and fell asleep... NOT Dustin.  Poor guy tossed and turned for another hour, lying awake and praying for us to hear something from the Embassy.  I heard him get up at 2:30 am and head downstairs to get my phone and when he came back upstairs I woke up hearing him whisper, "Heid, we got it!  We got the email but it says that those dates won't work.  They can take us this week or after September 6th.  They need more date choices from us."

Ugh, more waiting?  Geez ow peets!  We typed up a quick email to the embassy after checking flights to see if this week would be doable... In a perfect world (which, evidently we do not live in) we would be able to afford the astronomical prices of airfare to get us there this week to pick up our little girl.  But, hence, that is not the case and it felt a bit harried to get everything prepared and ready for us to leave today or tomorrow, so we sent the email requesting September 7th or 8th.  And then I rolled over again to fall asleep.

Poor Dustin did not.  He laid there wide eyed hoping that maybe they would get our email and respond RIGHT away.  So ten minutes after sending our date prospects, he checked my phone again.

"HEIDI!  Wake up!  Hon, we just got a date!  They just sent us an email saying September 7th is our date!"

"What?!"  I said through blurry eyes and a foggy mind, "How is that possible?  We just sent that email across the world and they already replied?!"

"Yes!  Now, get up.  I have GOT to get some sleep so I can wake up in 2 hours to go to work - you've got to go make the plane and hotel reservations while the prices are low."

I hopped out of bed and stumbled down the stairs to my office to check on flights - we ended up getting an awesome rate on Cheap'O Air - best deal around by FAR.  As I made the reservation, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and Dustin plopped down on the chair in the corner of the office.  "I can't sleep.  This is unbelievable!  It's finally here!  She's finally coming home!  It doesn't seem real!"  Sweetest man in the world, that guy...  he was so jazzed that he stayed up and talked with me about the trip and plans and Penny and we just ogled over the excitement of it all until 5 am.  Then I reserved our hotel reservation, we turned off the lights and crawled into bed, both wide eyed and over-the-moon excited, for another 20 minutes before we got up so I could cut Dustin's hair before he headed off to work.  (I know, not the most monumentous ending to the excitement, but that's our life ;)

Sooo, we get to leave in a matter of days to bring home our baby girl.  Can I get an AMEN?!