Ups and Downs!

The visit on Saturday went fantastically! We met B. and her daughter at the Cheesecake Factory at the Inner Harbor and from the start it was great. I gave her a great big hug, and the baby started kicking! Unbelievable! We gave the little one a big teddy bear, and she and I were instantly inseparable--every time I'd put her down, she'd start crying. By the time the visit was over, she'd drunk half my Diet Coke and I was covered in ketchup, but what a blast.

B. invited me to attend her next doctor's appointment on Monday, so hopefully if they do an ultrasound or sonogram, I'll be able to actually see the little dude myself. We got home Saturday night and she called to say she was having some contractions, so we wondered if we were going to have to turn around and go back up there. It was a total panic zone here for about an hour--trying to collapse the portable crib, wash laundry, make a phone list, etc. It's gotten us to thinking that we need a better plan than running around trying to throw things in bags, so last night we started preparing for our trip--got the laptop up and running, made a phone list, and I'm starting a list of things we need to pack up so that we can grab and go when the time comes.

This morning we got word that we were NOT approved for a Gift of Adoption grant due to our income being plenty fine to cover our fees. Oh really? I'd like to know how they figured that out. That's what I hate about financials on paper--they really don't give you a picture of how people manage. Not saying we're in dire straits, but we're not rolling in it either. The whole point of Gift of Adoption grants is to not look at people's income, but to give people that little boost they need to get over the last hurdle to the adoption. *Sigh* Oh well. We'll be fine, I'm sure. Especially now that we have someplace free to stay. That's going to be a big help indeed.

Abby's called us on Sunday to get our impression of the visit and of course we were thrilled with it and apparently B. was too and mentioned to Abby's how much her little girl had loved spending time with me. So that's good. Always up. :-)

That's all the news from here so far.

Extended Stay Suites

Our MI attorney sent us a bunch of places to look at staying in the county where we will finalize the adoption. I had looked at these extended stay places before, when the General was moving to DC and I had a bit of sticker shock then, which was 5 1/2 years ago. I was dreading what the price would add up to on a 3 week stay--the absolute worst case scenario if everything goes totally crazy.

Life outside the DC area is pretty nice. It's looking like the total hotel costs will be about $1500 if we have to stay the full time--hopefully we'll stay one week less than that, so it'll cost about $1000. That is definitely doable.

We are taking baby steps to ensure that we don't go crazy with waiting. Things like this give us something to keep our minds busy and active.

The great debate raging in my head is whether we should fly there and rent a car or if we should drive. Driving has advantages--we can take all our gear with us, don't have to pay extra to fly and then rent a car. It also has disadvantages--namely taking forever to get out there and forever to get back. And if I haven't been sleeping well with a newborn and I am the sole driver, that could spell big trouble. The debate rages on.