Gotcha day -TOMORROW!

Tomorrow will be 9 weeks to the day that we had our “blind date” with Leeza.
Tomorrow is our "Gotcha Day"…9 weeks to the day.

It just dawned on me this week that this pregnancy is almost over-and my lil princessa will soon be with her mommy ALL THE TIME!
It will be a little different then when I came home with her brother…who decided it’d be fun to arrive 5 weeks early, on April 15th instead of on the May 19th day his LOI was issued for.


He was tiny and skinny-and Joe said he looked like a “Tyson chicken”, and he had no fat on his tiny lil body. I was scared bringing him home…He was so fragile and delicate, I was so afraid I’d ‘break him”. Even changing his lil diaper, while trying to avoid being peed on, and attempting to clean his circumcision scar and his black stump of a belly button was frightening. Joe went back to work a few days later and I was wondering how I’d manage.

Of course, after the first few hours, we were fine. He didn’t break-and we figured it out.
This time, my baby is not a tiny fragile Tyson chicken look alike. She is an active, mobile one year old princess with chubby cheeks and toes she doesn’t get to see very much. I’m not as scared, because I have gotten to play with her for 9 weeks, everyday for almost 4 hours. It will be a big change for both of us, but I’m ready and I think she is too!

I remember reveling in Sean’s “newborn-ness” and holding him constantly, even when he slept, until his Daddy made me put him down because “if you hold him all the time, he’ll never sleep unless he’s being held”. I wanted him to play with toys, but he wasn’t very interested. I remember asking Joe…”When will he want to play with toys?”

I’ve waited a long time for my princess-about 4+ years if you count how long it’s been since we decided we DID want another baby to love. I changed my lifestyle and learned patience, and renewed my faith, over, and over again. My patience was rewarded, and God has blessed us with beautiful Leeza Grace Serra.

This time-I don’t have to wait for her to want to play with toys. She already loves her toys, and she is NOT content to just sit and be held and let her mommy kiss her sweet cheeks and snuggle buggle. She is WAY too busy for that, but she will let me lug her around in the ergo, and we’ll be doing plenty of that!


The gifts are wrapped in tissue, in their gift bags, with sticky notes placed on the outside.
The new snowsuit was purchased at the market this morning, and her outfit is laid out ready to go.


It’s Teacher Appreciation day tomorrow and there is a “performance” at 8 am. I am attending, and bringing the gifts. I hope to be able to take Leeza after that.

Hopefully we'll get the final stamp from the judge tomorrow morning as well. Tatiana is at the notary office now translating our apostilled marriage licenses and passports to get Leeza's final adoption paperwork completed and ready to go since the court order will be in it's full force after TODAY!


My DSL is down right now, and even dial up is sporadic, but I hope this is just a temporary problem and we’ll be up and running tomorrow. Dial up wouldn't even work this morning-no dial tone. I am on dial up now, but have no idea how many minutes this card has left. :)

If I am not, PLEASE DO NOT PANIC if I don’t post.

Thank you EVERYONE for all your support in this journey. It's been wonderful!!!
I love everyone so much!!

This pic cracked me up...looks like she is saying..."Mom, are you sure you are gonna feed me when you take me home?"