It's in three days

Today is my (Laura) dad's 80th birthday.  I am very much like my dad personality wise.  He is very laid back and mellow.  We knew when he was mad, but it wasn't that often.  My dad worked very hard to support three girls on just his income.  I love my daddy.

We bought our tree yesterday.  Yes, we wait until the last minute.  It wasn't always like this, but it's worked for the last couple of years.  We go about a week before Christmas, get a beautiful tree for half the price.  Something tells me that when we have our princess, we're going to have to get things done earlier.

We've finished up a very wet week.  It has been raining since last Thursday.  Last night and today were the heaviest days.  Neil is going to go tomorrow to the Dreams do Come True campaign.  I'm going to wrap presents.

So on the adoption front, something told me to e-mail the I-171 to the agency.  I'm glad I did.  She saw two typos and contacted the USCIS for us.  I'm sure if I had tried, I would have spent hours on hold.  One was our fingerprints expired on 2/29/10 (10 months ago) and the other said it was a special needs child.

Next week Robert will be off.  I need to do lesson plans so that I can enjoy the last week of vacation.

The first post

Hi,

This is the first post.  I should have started this earlier, but better now than never.  This is making it real.

So, this is where I will be documenting our journey.  I actually have been thinking about this for several years, but the overly cautious side of me wanted to do all the research before jumping in.  After two years of soul searching and discussing, Robert and I decided it was the right thing to do.  Our families are supportive and Neil is looking forward to being a big brother.  He and I went grocery shopping and while we were in the produce section, he said, "I can't wait 'til I have a little sister."  Random, yes, but he is thinking ahead.

Here it is, December 20th and it looks like winter in Santa Clarita.  Last week it was 85 degrees.  Neil was wearing shorts as he went to take his finals.  Now, it's been raining since Thursday night.  We are supposed to get a two day reprieve on Thursday and Friday.

We're almost ready for Christmas.  Instead of our usual family gather Christmas Eve, we will be celebrating Christmas Day.  I'm looking forward to it.  Tomorrow, I'm planning on getting the tree. (Yeah, I know, but it's the easiest way.)  I also plan on finishing up shopping.  I'm  hoping that by next year, I'll be getting everything ready for our daughter's first American Christmas.