Countdown

We are now in a countdown for the last week before we leave -I find my mood has suddenly changed. I have gone from pure excitement to being down right scared. It doesn't help a lot that many of my patients at work bombard me with "Four kids. That's insane" until I actually begin to think it is. One of my favorite sayings ever is "One must do what one fears". I hope this is no exception - We are so incredibly thrilled to be bringing these girls into our family, I certainly don't want to let a little fear get in the way.
The truth is, however, that Ariel and I have no idea what it is really going to be like. I figure the best thing is to just jump in and be ready for whatever comes. I have been to Uganda before and lived in an orphanage in Mexico, so I think I have some understanding of what to expect. We will be staying at Ritmo house, which is run by the orphanage there for adoptive families. We will be in Rome for three days and Ethiopia for five. We have reservations at hotels, our planes tickets our booked, the girl's bedroom is almost ready.
One thing that has been the last couple days is looking at other blogs of parents who have been there - they pretty much universally declare it is the most amazing thing they have done in their lives, and that is very encouraging. If we could only somehow manage to eliminate our eight hour layover at Washington National coming back from Ethiopia, I might be down right optimistic.