Ready for a New Year!

I feel like I am waking up from a long, sometimes bad dream. I'm not quite fully awake, but I'm getting there. After the months and months of waiting, it is finally almost here. We should see our baby's face this week, probably on Wednesday. I can't believe it, and it doesn't always seem real. Maybe her face will make it seem real? I hope so. A friend summed it up well on her blog when she said that sometimes "getting a referral" just seems like the next step of things that happen to people on the internet. This statement really hit home for me. I've become pretty engaged in the online adoption community, and it has been a positive and supportive experience. It has truly sustained me during the last few months of the wait. On the downside, it does take some of the reality away from the whole situation. I need to remind myself that she is real, a real child. Our child. Not just a photo to post on my blog. It sounds idiotic, I know. Of course she is real, right?! I've spent so much energy trying to restrain my emotions the last few months, I am not sure I will know how to let them out. But it is a new year. A new start. The beginnings of a new family. I smile just writing that word -- family. There will finally be three of us. She will be here, in our home and in our arms. What happier thought could there possibly be right now? Just a few more days, and our new year will really begin...