WOW!!! My God is good! Unbelievably good! I went to the Embassy yesterday to get Pea's visa, and at every step, it seemed the whole thing would fall apart (there was a mistake in her birth certificate that wasn't seen until the last minute, we were very late for the appointment, on and on), but God came through with everything we needed in just the nick of time. One of the most amazing things I didn't even discover until today. I found my passport in my suitcase rather than in the security wallet I took to the Embassy (after the airport, I just jammed it in somewhere instead of putting it back in the wallet where it belongs). The guard at the gate is required to check your passport to let you into the Embassy. BUT, the guard saw the staff member I was with and just waved us through! Praise God!!! I had NO idea at that time what a huge miracle that was!

Pea's taking a nap now. She's so sweet. She just wants me to hold her all the time. She doesn't want to play with the other kids here, or me, for that matter. If I set her down, she doesn't cry, but she sticks to me like glue and waits for me to pick her up again. She's very afraid of the chickens and dog that live here at the guest house. She screams and clings to me for dear life every time she sees them. It's given me several opportunities to hold her close and reassure her. I think it's helping her to trust me more.

I have noticed that Pea is making eye contact with me more and more as time goes by. It's a heartwarming sign. I still can't get a smile out of her no way, no how. I know that will come. I'll probably get her just to that point right before we get home and she's in a whole new set of circumstances and she'll retreat into her reserved self again! Oh well. It will all be worth it when we see that gorgeous smile for the first time in person!

She also hasn't spoken one word to me yet. She watches everything and takes it all in, but never makes a sound (except screaming about the animals). I wonder what her little voice sounds like and what her growing vocabulary includes.

It's hotter than you can imagine here today. Much hotter than the last time I was here. It's draining and just plain gross. I wish I could take 10 showers a day! It's a good thing I love that baby girl so much because otherwise, there's no way she'd be on my lap or in my arms constantly, like she is!!! Even in this oppressive heat and humidity, I just love the feeling of being close with her.

Tomorrow I'll spend the day at the office (Pea will go back to the orphanage for the day). I'll sit in on the staff meeting so I can see how things go here (we missed that opportunity last time we were here), and then I'll meet with a couple of staff members who are most key to my work in the states. It'll be a full day, but very helpful to my work back home.

I'm not sure what the other days will hold, but I'll be heading home with my baby-girl on Wednesday. Yippeee!

Well, this post is getting toooo long. :) I'm looking forward to reading all the comments! (Kudos to you all, by the way--the last post had a great response! I feel so blessed to have all of your support!)

Editor's note: This post used to include a question about how to name our daughter--with her birthmother's name, her original name, etc. So, all the comments had remarks about her name. Since I have decided to remove the children's names from the blog, I had to delete all the comments as well.