Winging it

Regan and I are big on winging it on holidays. But not so much when we have Ellie with us and we are in a foreign country. So we are both a little edgy. We are trying to pull together all of the little stuff that needs to get done before we go, plus book as much as we can from here for our trip. Regan finally booked the rental car. Yay! I feel much better. Anyway, I really really do not have time to write anything substantial other than a good remedy for pre-vacation stress? Pecan Mudslides from DQ.

I also got my t-shirt from my friend Lisa. It is black and says "Expecting from Ethiopia" on it with a drawing of the country over the letters. I got one for Regan that just has a map of Africa with Ethiopia highlighted. ellie is bumbed she didn't get one, but I really thought she would not be interested. So we are going to design our own "Big Sis" t-shirt when we get back. I am so thrilled that she is really excited about getting a baby brother or sister. I know there is still a lot of the normal anxiety that goes with such a huge life change for her after almost 8 years of being an only child, but we will all get thru it together. The main thing we are not doing is feeling sorry for her, I think that only makes things worse. We focus on the positives and reassure her that she will get special time with Mom and Dad and that we will make sure that if she needs us we will always be there. And we also always just let her get her feelings out about the whole thing if she needs to. Sometimes, though, she holds her feelings in because she does not want to upset people. As endearing as that quality is it worries me as a mother. I worry that she will bottle a lot up in her life and then let it eat her up inside. Anyway, I really do have to go make left overs for supper now and continue packing!