First Care Package to be delivered to OUR GIRL!!!!!!!

I sadly sent our first care package to my friend Angi last Tuesday as she was leaving Friday.
Figured it would be coming back to me unopened after a week.
It barely got there on time Thursday.
It flew to Ethiopia and arrived Saturday.


And hopefully it will be delivered to baby girl Olivia Wages tonight as we sleep as we got our referral today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is 8 months old. And I just keep telling people, she is just so healthy. We are so blessed as she has been very well taken care of. Her sweet little photos though, so, so sad. Can't wait to see her face light up in smiles! (however, I do NOT think she will be in any photos in that 3-6 month p.j. outfit)


So the call:
I was leaving a visit at 12:30 and as I went down their steps I heard the 'African Lullaby' song I had set. So I scramble to pull the phone out of my pocket ------- and hang up on her.

So I call Jennifer back, as I shake like a leaf, and she tries to get Tony on conference as "this is your referral call!!"

Tony doesn't answer (he was in court and couldn't)... so I go ahead and get the scoop! But don't even think to ask her name! Then drive 15 min to try to find him at the courthouse, run down a handicap ramp to jump in his arms and say "we have our girl!!!".

But then he has an appointment (arg)... so I go and pick up the kiddos..... and then we go home to wait for Daddy to get home to open up our email cause for Pete's sake, it's been going on 2 hours and I don't even know her name yet!!!

When Tony comes home we all sit on the sofa and open up our referral email and photos together... so, so, stinkin sweet.

And then we go into shock for about 10 minutes.... the mental picture I had of an itty bitty little Olivia is now a pretty big, almost toddler Olivia?!? BUT you know what, I am really happy about that!! As I said, she has been taken care of VERY well. And from her history, she was VERY loved. So we are VERY, VERY blessed to have a healthy little girl and can't wait to go and hug on her and get some more smiles!

So when do we go? Now (after we submit the acceptance paperwork), we wait for a court date. Recent families have traveled around 2 months after referral. So maybe late February??

Do we bring her home then? No. We will attend court and if we pass, she will officially be ours and we can post her photos all over the internet and Facebook (until then, as she isn't legally ours, we can't share her precious photos, sorry! But come see me and I just might have one on me, maybe, probably)

So we hopefully will be able to bring her home after passing court, then making it through embassy, and THEN we can go back and get her... maybe a Spring baby??

Whew, my head is pounding. I think it's from all the spinning it did today! And I know this post is almost as choppy and incomprehensible as my speech has been all day - my apologies!!!