One More Week

We've received confirmation that we should be in Ust on June 20, so we are leaving home on Wednesday, June 18. We miss Zak so much, but we trust our agency that this is the "right" timing for our return. The good news is that all of his paperwork will be in order, so we will go to Almaty just a few short days later (probably on June 22), and we hope to fly home on June 26. So, we will only be away from home for 8 days, and we will start our life together only a few days later than we'd been predicting. It looks like we will reconnect in Ust and/or Almaty with at least two of the sets of parents who we met a month ago, and we are overjoyed to be doing so.

I spent an hour last Saturday at the Delta counter in the Cincinnati airport, where two agents (both amazingly helpful) partnered to try everything possible to enable us to fly on Delta's direct flight to Amsterdam, to then connect to the KLM flight to Almaty. I am a Platinum Medallion member on Delta, and I have a gazillion frequent flyer miles that I've been dutifully saving for this amazing moment. But, wouldn't you know, there was simply NO WAY to use any of those miles -- no upgrades, no free tickets, nothing. And, the only way to get on that direct Delta flight was to purchase a Delta RT tix to Amsterdam, and a separate RT tix on KLM to Almaty. Those two tickets added together were $3000 EACH more than the Northwest/KLM trek. For a split second, that still sounded reasonable (have I lost my mind?!) because a direct flight home from Amsterdam sounds so amazing. I might have jumped firmly into lunacy had it been possible to upgrade on that Delta leg. But, that was not going to be possible, so it is Northwest/KLM for us, and a connection through Detroit both coming and going. So, while it would have been great for Zak to become a citizen upon landing in Cincinnati -- well, really Northern Kentucky, which is where the Cincinnati airport is located -- he will instead become a citizen upon landing at Detroit Metro. Both of my parents are from Detroit, so perhaps there is a message in there somewhere. :-)

We finally set up a crib and a changing table. I am so glad that we did not spend alot of money on a crib (bought it second-hand from a friend), because as we stand and stare at it, we can already picture our solid, tough 18-month-old child climbing out of it! I have a feeling we'll be searching for a toddler bed sooner than later. I can't believe my baby is already growing up before our eyes, and he's not even here yet! LOL!

It's amazing how much less stressful it is to prepare for this second trip. We are packing very light this time ... the only "excess" stuff will be things that we are taking for Zak. The same friend who gave us the crib also gave us dozens of shirts, pants, and shorts -- in a variety of sizes from 18 months to 2T. I had so much fun laundering everything over the weekend, and everything is folded and ready to go into a suitcase. I'm still mulling over his "baby house exit" outfit. I know I want it to be special, but I don't want to appear to be too over-the-top with it. (Plus, it's hard to predict the weather). I'll give that more thought this weekend, but if anyone has any advice or suggestions, please let me know.

I jibber-jabbered on forever last night with a couple who are leaving Thursday evening for Ust. I hope I was helpful more than I was annoyingly giddy. I was just so excited to share all of those memories and experiences with someone who is about to start their journey -- Glenn thinks I was both over-the-top and long-winded. I'll try to be better when the next set of parents come calling. :-)

One. More. Week.