Almost Ready

I can't believe we are leaving Friday morning! It still does not seem entirely real. I'm sure once we get on the plane reality will definitely set in. We have all of our documents ready. We did not receive our FBI records yet, but we were told that we can send them to our agency when we get home from our trip (I would hope they would be here by then).

We are almost packed. We are taking one checked bag and one carry-on a piece. Russia's weight limit is 44 lbs/ person, so we are trying to pack light. I just hope I packed enough books to entertain me on all our flights. I tend to go through books like they're water. :)

This afternoon Evan and I had a conference call with Dr. Schulte from the Cleveland Clinic. She specializes in International Adoption and will be reviewing pictures of our referral, as well as his medical information while we are in Tomsk. She was very thorough on the phone so we have every confidence that she will help us make an educated decision. If for some reason we have to decline our first referral, they will offer us another one. I am praying that we do not have to reject any referrals.

Thursday we have a conference call with Rebecca at Children's Hope to go over last minute details and what to expect on our trip. Hopefully, that night I will be able to get a good night's sleep before we begin our several day trip across 11 time zones!

I do have good news though. It is not freezing in Siberia right now. Weather.com is showing the 10-day weather forecast to be in the 40s and 50s. However, I know if I do not pack a winter coat that the temperatures will plummet.

I want to end with a little information regarding our referral. Nicholas will not be legally ours until after the judge decrees it on the 2nd trip! Therefore, there will be no pictures or identifying information about Nicholas on this blog until our 2nd trip. I will post pictures of Moscow and Tomsk. I will post pictures of Evan and myself, but no Nicholas. Sorry. Those are the rules. I will make sure to tell you how cute he is though!

So, I will try and blog at least one more time before we leave. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I'm getting a little more nervous than I would like to be. Sorry if this blog is a little all over the place, but so are my thoughts.

Kristin