72 hours

72 hours from now, our flight will be rolling down the runway and I will probably be bawling my eyes out. The emotions of this journey are intense; both the joy and nervous anticipation of meeting our daughter, and the anxiety and fear of leaving my boys for 9 days are just about to put me over the edge. I'm a big ball of nerves.

Bags are beginning to brim with medicines for AHOPE (thank you to all who participated in the raffle!), care packages for loved ones from their family, lots of *just in case* meds and Miss B's things. Our clothes will inevitably be last to be packed, but we'll get there.

A quick snapshot of our trip: We will arrive in Addis on Thursday night and meet Baby B (name reveal coming soon!) on Friday morning. We will spend Friday and Saturday getting to know B at the care center before heading down on Sunday to the Southern region, to the area she was born, and are hoping to have the opportunity to meet with a member of her birth family and visit the intake care center where she stayed for several months before being transferred up to Addis last month. We'll return from our trip to the south on Monday, and are hoping to take custody of her on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. We will then have our visa interview at the US Embassy on Tuesday, and receive it Thursday and leave for home that evening. It will be a whirlwind. We will be wiped out when we get home, that I'm sure of. But, we will be greeted at the airport by two very excited boys who we will have terribly missed.