We have travel dates!!!!! We will leave Sunday, September 6 to go to Bulgaria. We get to pick them up September 9, and then we will all leave for home September 12. We are so excited!

So, of course that means big changes ahead. Beyond the obvious that we'll now have three more mouths to feed and brains to entertain and grow, we will be focusing a lot on quality bonding time. In adoptive families, bonding looks a lot different than the kind of bonding that newborns get with their birth parents. It's a time called cocooning, and it means keeping the focus on just us five for a couple months to fully build those bonds before slowly introducing family and friends. We know how excited you are to meet them, so we really super appreciate your patience.

We will definitely share pictures, though—as soon as we get them home, we'll be allowed to share (provided the kids are okay with it, but they're hams, so I'm pretty sure they will be!).

We want to give a huge thank-you for how much you've all supported our journey. And now the real journey is just about to begin!

All our love, always,

Ali and Tim