I’ve been up since 3:00 this morning, lying in bed, too excited, too nervous, too curious, too everything to sleep.

I thought about everything: the final two names we’re struggling to decide between, the fact that I have no deodorant and it’s 90 degrees in the shade, if our daughter will cry when she first sees us, how to comfort her during this huge transition from orphanage to giant world, how this journey began, the mooing stuffed cow Andrew and I bought her, the fact that in a few hours I’ll be a mom and have this tiny being totally dependent on me, and lots, lots more.

Then I finally dozed off and dreamt about a bear, which is how I always know that the world is okay. The bears are always looking out for me in the spiritual , swinging their giant heads this way and that, snarfling, and pressing their heavy paws into the earth. This bear was a big black-and-white bear...beautiful beast.

Now on to breakfast...