ready, and yes we’re excited

The question I’ve been asked the most lately is, “Aren’t you SOOO excited?” Yes, of course I’m so excited. I’ve been excited since May when we first heard about the possibility of adopting Kelly and Monica, since November when we got our official referral, since Christmas when friends and family had showers for us to help us get ready, since I started packing last week, since my last “official” day as a  media specialist at Ridge Jr. School yesterday, since I went to sleep last night, and since I woke up this morning. It’s been a long time of anticipation and excitement.

But more than excitement, which is a wave that only goes so high and that you can only ride for so long, I’m ready. I’m ready to be mom. I’m ready to meet my daughters. I’m ready for my husband to be dad. I’m ready for Ava and Grace to be cousins, and Jeff and Kristen to be tio and tia. Firsts for everyone. And I think I can confidently say that, while we’re all excited, we’ve been waiting for this for so long that we’re just ready.

Sometimes I wonder what other people wonder about our adoption experience. Last night my brother and sil said, “Write more. Tell us what you’re thinking and feeling. We want to know what it’s like.” The last couple weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about how these are the ‘last’ days and nights Zach and I will have together as ‘just’ husband and wife. I think I’ll miss those even though I want the life-change that is staring us in the face. In a sense, we are saying good-bye to the couple we’ve been for 10 years. Sometimes it just hits me. That’s a whole decade. And that’s a long time without kids. And now everything is going to change. But we’re ready. We’re steady. Our roots are deep. And that will be good for our family. It’s something strong to build on. And that gives me hope for our future.