Anticipation

The confusion of a first Christmas, December 2007 - 5 months old

Anxiety Level: Stratosphere
Chocolate Consumption: Off the charts – to the moon and back…

I haven’t updated lately because I don’t have any official word on our case yet. I’ve been a nervous wreck. The amount of refined sugar I have consumed merits a blog post all on its own. I’ve also been dealing with a migraine with sinus and tension mixed in for good measure. I started to get a grip on myself on Monday of this week and I am focusing on the positive things that we know about our case:

The blog world reports that the Central Authority went to heroic measures, working around the clock to get all cases registered. There have been no reports of attorneys being turned away. There are certainly cases that were not registered, but these were most likely due to negligence rather then obstacles from the CA.

Our agency reported that all cases were submitted. I’m pinning my hopes on this meaning “registered.”

We also heard from our agency that as soon as our case was registered and PGN was accepting new cases, we would be submitted.

We have also heard that some cases submitted to PGN are travelling more quickly than usual through the red tape.

So, based on the facts above, we should be able to assume that our case is now in the PGN system. Of course I’ll truly only breathe easier when we have official word from our agency. We’ve been told that our attorney is now compiling updates and we will receive one soon. When that day comes, you won’t have to check my blog for an update: you’ll hear me cheering from the rooftops!

In the meantime, my sweet Gracie has been keeping me thinking positively. She has started talking about “Baby Brother” coming home. Until now, she’s been very enthusiastic about Danny, but a bit concerned about having him actually live here. She seemed to be advocating for limited custody with weekend visitation.

But suddenly, this week she has been talking about Danny coming home. What he will do when he is home, how we will take care of him. What toys he will be permitted to play with, etc.

Then today, she gave me a beautiful gift. We were playing at a local indoor rec. center with climbing tubes, ball pits, slides and other fun things for stir crazy kids. Gracie was pretending to be a bee, bringing flowers (balls) to her hive (big yellow tube.) She was busy running back and forth across the play area. In the corner was a baby, about Danny’s age. She was slumped in that immobile sitting position of the newly upright. She was miserable – every now and then letting out very audible signs of vexation. Her caregiver was preoccupied with one of the other four toddlers she was with. In one of her flower gathering trips, Gracie bee flitted past this unhappy little girl and without breaking stride, she leaned over and gently gave the baby a hug and a shoulder rub. Then she flitted off on her bee business. She repeated this again about five minutes later. I was so proud of my sweet little girl and her big sisterly ways!

We’re ready for you, Danny!

Managing expectations: I must warn you that I have just one set of photos of Danny remaining before you’ve seen them all. They are Valentine’s pictures. I’ll post them in celebration of PGN news. I suspect my massive junk food consumption is in part a subconscious reaction to the fact that I’m starved for photos. We were so spoiled by a very kind parent visiting the children’s home in December. Now we’re back into the reality of monthly photos and it’s a tough adjustment!

My sweet bee! Halloween 2007