And here he is...........

I know that I probably shouldn't be sharing photos yet but I'll share just this one. Isn't he adorable!! We met Rafael at 2:00pm today at the airport in Iloilo. It took him a little while to warm up to us but once he did, he did so well. He played with us and let us hold him. He made funny faces and laughed. He was especially happy when we gave him some animal crackers!! He loved walking around the large floor lenght windows in the restaurant of the hotel. He's a total sweetheart. He is now back at Dorcas House but we are supposed to bring him back to the hotel with us tomorrow evening after we visit Dorcas House. We cannot wait!!! He is one busy boy so we'd better enjoy one last night of rest!!!

4 hours from now....

In just four short hours we will be meeting Rafael!!!! We cannot wait. It still seems unbelievable but I'm guessing that as soon as we see him, it will all feel so real!!! We catching to the plane to Iloilo and will then meet Rafael. Wow!!!! After all this time, he'll finally be in our arms!!

Tomorrow morning!!!!!

We are boarding the plane at 7:00am tomorrow morning!!!! Things are still crazy around here and there is still so much to do. I finished work yesterday afternoon but had to go back in this morning as there was still more to clue up. I met with our travel agent and she went through our itinerary. So exciting!!!! We spend the first night in Manila, then 4 nights in Iloilo where we will pick up Rafael, then 4 nights in Boracay, and we end with 3 more nights in Manila. We will be staying at the Intercontinental which came highly recommended by many of you!! We meet with ICAB on Monday, Feb. 28. We will be meeting Rafael on Saturday but probably won't bring him back to the hotel with us until the following day. Hopefully he transitions fairly well but I'm sure it will still be very difficult on him. Wish us good luck!!!! Good luck to all of you who are still waiting to be matched or to travel. I hope that you all get good news very soon!! Imagine, the next time I post we will probably be in Manila!!!! Crazy!!!

In 2.5 days...................

We will be boarding a plane to the Philippines!!!!!!!!!!!! We are spending one night in Manila before flying to Iloilo. I'm not sure if we will be meeting Rafael that day or not. That is also Brian's birthday so we have soooo much to celebrate!!! I can't imagine a better birthday gift. We fly back on March 2. Wowsers!!!!!!!!

We're out of here!!!

Today we received the best news ever!! We got the invite from ICAB to travel to the Philippines!! It was exactly 3 months and 1 day from the time we signed the acceptance papers. Amazing!! I got the call from our adoption coordinator just before lunch and I couldn't believe it. I really thought that we would wait for another few weeks yet. After work I rushed home to start packing and I'm now all finished but there is so much left to do to the house. We have to start the childproofing, paint the playroom and about a hundred other things. Oh well, that will all get done sooner or later!
We are hoping to leave on Wednesday. ICAB didn't send us Rafael's passport number so we can't book the return flight until Monday. Our adoption coordinator asked ICAB to send us his passport info so hopefully we'll have it by Monday. This is all so crazy and exciting. I can't believe the time has finally come. If anyone has any helpful hints for this big journey, I'd love to hear them now.
Good luck to all of you still waiting. I hope and pray that your turns come very soon. It is so worth the wait so hang in there!!

3 months ago.....

It was three months ago today that we first saw our son's photo and signed the acceptance papers!!! I will never forget how excited we were to return from vacation so that we could learn all about Rafael and finally see his photo!! We haven't heard anything new with regards to when his visa will be approved but we just hope that it happens sooner rather than later. I bought all the safety stuff today so that we can get started on childproofing the house. Brian is supposed to start painting Rafael's playroom this evening. It's going to be orange. I love orange!!! As soon as I remember to charge up the batteries to the camera, I'll take some photos of his room. Sid has been sleeping in there the past few nights. It looks like Rafael will have a guest when he finally moves into his room! I'm sure that those two will have lots of fun getting into trouble together!!

Hurry up...... and wait!!

There is not much new on the visa front. Our adoption coordinator called this morning to say that Rafael's passport has been sent to the Canadian Embassy in Manila. She seems to think that his visa may be approved by the end of the week although I'm not so sure about that but I certainly hope so!!! Tomorrow the Canadian Immigration website is updated again so I'm hopeful that there will be some new news. Keep your fingers crossed!! The website still says that his visa is being processed.

Rafael's room is finally completed!! We have a jungle theme and I hope he likes it. I'll post some photos hopefully tomorrow or the next day. Brian has been away since early Friday morning so when he gets home tonight he will see a huge difference in Rafael's room. When he left the room was empty. Now it is totally finished with pictures and shelves on the walls, curtains up, and everything done. I can't wait for him to see it!!! Rafael's closet is absolutely stocked full with clothes and toys. I'm going to have to change his clothes every 15 minutes in order for him to wear it all!

The best part about today is that Agnes and Edward finally got to meet their daughter!!! It was so exciting to follow their journey with them. It was a long wait for them to travel but now they finally have their daughter in their arms!!! I imagine it must be such an amazing feeling. I can't wait until it is our turn!!! Not long now.............