Post referral craziness (part 2)

Sorry that these posts are so delayed, this week has been flying by. I know that I've accomplished a lot, but trust me, many hours have been spent studying Maisie's face and just staring at her picture.

Starting where I left off in the last post, Saturday we were up early as I needed to run to the grocery before the FedEx guy arrived with our referral packet. Sorry, no piccie here of the FedEx guy. He must have delivered these packages before and be camera shy because by the time I got to the door he was burning rubber down the street!! Hey, who needs a delivery guy picture as long as he left the information.

Eammon and I were upstairs and had just opened the package containing all of Maisie's information and her new pictures when the door bell rang again. This time there was a delivery guy with flowers. He was so cute, he said that he tried to knock quietly before ringing as he didn't want to ring the bell because he knew there was a new baby. I told him the baby was in China and boy was he confused. My parents sent some beautiful congratulatory flowers in a adorable sailor duck!!

Saturday afternoon I finally had the opportunity to really see some of the other babies who were matched with their families along with many more phone calls. A big congrats to all the new families. I managed to track down four of the six members of our travel group. I also made another batch of brownies, with out nuts this time so that I could bring both kinds to Deb's home later that day. Saturday night Eammon and I packed up both kind of brownies, some beer and all the information and pictures of Maisie and we went over to Deb & Dan's home for a nice relaxing, comfortable, fun bonfire. We got to be proud, bragging parents and show off all of Maisie's info. Ian was the hotdog cook of the night as he made perfect hotdogs on sticks over the open fire. Both Eammon and I were exhausted physically and emotionally from referral day so we didn't stay out too late but when we got home I checked the phone and there were so many messages. Eammon sacked out on the sofa as I once again was on the phone until 3am.

Sunday morning I didn't wake up until the phone rang at 11am. We decided to just have an easy day hanging out staring at our Maisie. Of course there were still many phone calls but it was a good day and it allowed me to plan what I'd need to do over the week.

On Monday, first thing in the morning I sent off our acceptance letter and then the real shopping began. This wasn't shopping for Maisie, it was shopping for Eammon and I. Neither of us have winter jackets so I was off to Land's End to get some real nice lightweight but very warm jackets. While there I also found a couple of pairs of chinos and some wonderful fleece tops for me so those were added to the bag. All in all Maisie is already costing us big as it was one expensive day! Trust me though it's definitely worth it!!

Obviously the best part of our weekend was seeing Maisie for the first time, it was the best thing that has ever happened to Eammon and I...Totally incredible. The second best part though had to be the calls, emails and comments left by all the wonderful people who have been following along with us on this roller coaster journey. If I didn't get back to anyone please accept my apology but please know that we have read every single comment and email and we appreciate and love every single one. I've saved them all and they will become part of Maisie's scrapbook.