One more day

One more day remains until our lives will change forever.  One more day until Juan David joins us.  One more day for David to be an only child.  One more day for us to be a little family of three. (Well, officially a family of three because unofficially we still include Julian).  One more day until our home becomes a very bilingual home again--this time not just for a month while we're abroad.

Lots of change ahead--including both excitement and also grieving.  Juan David was as happy as ever to find out that he's finally being adopted.  Yet we know that he will go through a grieving process as he leaves behind his country, his culture, his language, his school, his friends, and sadly, his brother.  I can't imagine the range of emotions that he is experiencing today, getting ready to be reunited with us tomorrow morning.  A moment that we told him last summer would likely not happen.  We promised him we'd be back, but we told him that we probably would not be able to get his adoption case reopened.

Actually, we got our flights (with approval from both lawyers and our agency) with the assumption that we'd be getting Juan David either yesterday or today.  Then the morning after purchasing our flights and applying for our visas, our lawyer wrote to confirm that the official date would be tomorrow.  That kind-of lengthened our stay for a few extra days, but I think God planned it that way for David's sake.  I think he needed to get adjusted and feel comfortable first so that he can welcome Juan David with open arms.  We gave him the choice to go back early with Mike or to stay the long-haul with me and Juan David.  We figured he could see how he felt when Mike gets ready to leave.  Well, he loves it here so much already that he told me yesterday, "I've already made my decision to stay."  We'll still ask him again when it's time for Mike to leave, but I'm glad he's so happy to be here.

I'm also glad we didn't get Juan David yet because I, personally, needed time to adjust to the change in altitude.  I had a headache for the first two days that went away with some ibuprofen.  But yesterday I felt completely knocked out and wanted to sleep all day.  I felt the same way last year when we came back from   Apulo, a place at a much lower elevation.  So thankfully I knew that I just needed to rest and drink a lot of water.  I'm feeling much better today.

Today I think we'll make a small breakfast and then head out to find a gift to give Juan David tomorrow.  We're leaning towards a soccer ball, but we'll see what we come across.  Julian got permission to be off work today, so he's joining us around mid-day.  We haven't seen him at all yet, so I'm really looking forward to spending the day with him.