Preparations and Celebrations

Yesterday we rec'd an email from our agency saying that Devika/Satarupa's passport has been requested. The timeline given was '15 days'.. but we'll see. Hoping for less than 15, but that would not be hideous by any means. We jaunted up to the Global Travel immunization office and rec'd our shots and prescrips for the trip today! That just makes it feel so close! Maya was awesome - she intently watched Mommy and Daddy receive thier shots, and then took hers like such a big girl! Not a cry or anything! I was most impressed - as were the nurses. I could not believe, however, that she still weighed in at only 22 lbs. Criminy! She is completely healthy though, so I guess we can't complain.
We tentatively scheduled our hotel reservations in Goa yesterday. Thought we would go ahead and try to ensure that the Park Hyatt has availability when we are there. If the dates work out, we should be good to go. We also checked on flights, and looks like we can fly all of us via web fares for less than $5,000 total. I guess that means that I'm not going to be luxuriously flying on the top floor of the plane with a private sky-suite, complementary Givenchy-pajamas, a feather matteress and duvet, and a 23" personal tv. Seriously, what's up with that? I feel extremely deserving! And heck, Maya could just snuggle in with me.. no need for her own sky-suite. I think that is well worth $14,890, don't you? And think about how comfortable little Devika would be on the ride home! I would even let DH visit on occasion from the back of the plane.. ;)))
Maybe we could start a little fundraiser and raise the money for my suite experience. I promise to blog all about it DURING the flight!! :D
Oh, and by the way, for all who have inquired as to whether I'll be blogging during the trip - the answer is def. yes! That's the best way for me to keep everyone updated without writing a zillion emails.. and it also helps me to have a nice record of the experience for future input into Devika's lifebook/baby book.

The slideshow below contains some photos from Maya's 3rd birthday. We celebrated once with Dad, b/c he had to travel on her actual birthday - we rode the train downtown and had a fab lunch at McCormick & Schmick (yes, that might have been more for us.. haha!). We then celebrated again on her actual birthday, with friends. She had asked and asked for a Barney cake, and luckily she had one! Wasn't easy.. which I found odd. Who would guess that Barney cakes are not popular among the toddler crowd these days?? She LOVED her Thomas balloon.. it plays a VERY LOUD song and talks a little when you smack it. Needless to say, it kept getting jostled between the floral dept of the supermarket and my car.. and it sang/talked at 'airline-decibal' the entire way. I was quite a spectacle - juggling this HUGE balloon.. a cake.. and 6 other balloons! Thank god for large sunglasses. :))