So much progress has taken place in getting us ready for our time in the States. It's been awesome! And, for the most part, I am feeling ready rather than the overwhelmed mess I was a few weeks ago when we found out.

Here's what we've got settled so far:
- General calendar of our stay mapped out

- Tickets to the States
- Tickets to Ohio
- A car to borrow!
- Car seats organized
- Short term insurance selected
- Visa extension for Jeyson figured out
- Housesitters almost settled
- Elijah's Brazilian passport done
- And some money exchanged into dollars

Still to do:

- Try to find a crib mattress to borrow  (we only found a crib with no mattress so far)
- Decide if we're going to try to sell our car while we're gone
- Exchange more money
- Do a deep cleaning in our house...lots of purging!
- Pack up our clothes and extra stuff to make room for housesitters
- Go for routine dentist and doctor visits
- Finalize things with housesitters

There are many other items too, but I'd say we're really on track for leaving in less than two months.  We're really excited too!  We're excited about the training Jeyson will get (obviously!) but here are a few side perks that I get all excited thinking about:

- Being in the US for the 4th of July...first time in 7 years!!!  I really, really hope we get to see some fireworks!
- My sisters and I converging in Phoenix for my mom's birthday.  It will be the first time meeting my niece and nephew and for my sisters to meet Elijah.  I CANNOT wait!!!!!
- Giving Elijah baths in a real bath tub!  We don't have one here so we just do it in a bucket or shower where Elijah can't really play.  I can't wait to see all the fun he'll have!
- Seeing my parents' new house (they moved while we've been in Brazil).
- Going to a library!  Who knows, maybe they'll even be some kid's programs I can take Elijah too....dreaming here!
- Taking Elijah to some nice parks that have kids swings
- Cheddar cheese, blueberries, mushrooms, Cheerios, a HUGE Cesar salad, Thai food, and the list goes on.
- Hot water coming out of our faucet.
- Being able to flush toilet paper (tmi??)
- English
- Good customer service
- Gas station convenience stores (sounds crazy I know but I LOVE all of those coffee options!!)
- Gas prices (again, sounds crazy, but the prices in the States will seem like a bargain compared with here)
- Thanksgiving!!!
- A clothes dryer
- Hopefully doing a course to become a birth instructor/doula

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  Don't get me wrong, I will miss Brazil and our lives here, (in fact, at first I didn't even want to go to the States), but God has warmed my heart up to the idea and I am EXCITED!