The doorbell just rang and it was UPS and the driver had in her pretty little hands my baby's mural!!! I am so excited!!! Can you tell???
Now I just have to decide which wall it is to be painted on, get the brushes and the paint. Oh and since I painted the room yellow last year, I need to paint the section of wall the mural will be on white. The idea is to have the mural on a white background and then once it is completed to buy wood trim and in essence frame the mural on the wall. It is a big project but I LOVE projects.
Hubby says we (read I) need to refinish the patio table and chairs first. UGHH. I sanded all of our patio furniture and applied 3 coats of clear coat on it last or the year before I can't remember. Anyway, we leave the furniture out on the deck covered over the winter. Well, our lovely furniture cover blows off on those windy winter days so we decided to put a brick on top to hold it down. Yeah, in hindsight not a smart idea. Water/moisture got trapped under the cover and hence has ruined the finish on the table top and the tops of some of the chairs. So we need to clean, sand and refinish these items. I know it needs to be done but the mural sounds like more fun.
I tend to be the one in our house who likes to tackle the projects. Especially, the painting, staining and sanding projects. I like it. Hubby helps when I ask, especially when I had to stain the deck and the spindles were hard to reach since our deck is 1 story high. He is going to help me clean the patio furniture but the sanding and clear coating will be my task. As for the mural, he will help me tape and transfer the mural on to the wall and then it will be up to me to paint it. I can't wait.
This all means a trip to Michael's craft store, one of my favorite places. Yeah!
Well, I have a list of things that still needs to get done before company comes tomorrow and since I work in the morning tomorrow, I better hop to it. Stay tuned for mural updates. Oh and for the time being Thursday song day is on hiatus. It may or may not return I haven't decided yet.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
First gift for baby
Today I went shopping. No secret that I LOVE to shop. I went to Target. The goal was to figure out what to get for 4 beautiful little girls. Two of the girls are my nieces and they will be turning 2 in November. As Auntie Cathy, it is my job to spoil them like crazy. I talked to their mom yesterday (YEAH!!) and found out that the girls love Curious George. She will be glad to know that I found 2 Curious George DVD's to send along with some other special gifts.
The other 2 girls are 4 and 4 months. Their Mom and Dad are coming to visit this weekend (YEAH!!). I had some things already purchased for the littlest one but not the 4 year old. I know that she likes to play dress up and that one of her newest fascinations is Fancy Nancy. I found a few Fancy Nancy things for her. She may already have them since she just had a big birthday party but I got a gift receipt just in case.
Okay task accomplished so why was I in Target for an hour an a half. Besides the fact that I love Target, lately when I go their by myself I wander over to the baby section and just start looking at things. One day it was bottles and liners for travelling, or pacifiers or sippy cups. Today it was a little of everything. I looked at formula, bottles, pacifiers, toys, clothes, etc. My main focus though was looking for hair/skin care products for our little one. I found some that smell great and are alcohol free and great for sensitive skin. It was from the Burt's Bees line. I found it in the baby aisle and it smelled really good and was all natural. I know from experience that black babies can tend to have very dry skin and very sensitive skin. The twins did. Both of them had mild forms of ezcema and some very dry patches of skin on their legs. I have learned that we should have avoided using products that have mineral oil, alcohol or petroleum in them. The Burt's Bees didn't have any of those things and it wasn't too expensive for a big bottle of shampoo/baby wash. Yeah!
So I wandered around some more, picked up my next book club book and then headed back to the baby section. I couldn't resist, it drew me in. I felt the need to buy something, so here is what I bought.
Yes it is a teething ring and no it isn't that special really but it is special to me. This is the first time since we started the entire adoption process that I have allowed myself to get attached to the idea that I will really be a Mom and need to buy actual things for a baby. Yes, I know I was "attached" to the twins but at the same time I wasn't. I always was a little guarded and never truly felt like a Mom as I knew that until all the paperwork was signed, sealed and delivered they could be taken away from me and they were. I was trying to protect my heart. It didn't totally work. I couldn't fully resist two of the cutest faces I have ever seen but I had to. I kept my distance emotionally from them to a certain extent. That probably doesn't make sense to anyone but it is the truth. I just had this gut feeling that something wasn't right with that situation and as it turns out something was very wrong.
Finally now as we approach two years in our adoption journey, I have allowed myself to start preparing for our little one emotionally. Yes, I have all of the physical basics and more but all of that stuff was bought in a hurry in a short period of time and some of it I am not in love with but given the situation we were in I had to buy things that were in stock. We will survive after all it is only furniture. But now that I am fully embracing that in the next few months I will be a Mom, I want to do things they way I would have had I had the time. I always dreamed of decorating my nursery so that is why I want to paint the mural on the wall myself.
So this teething ring is the first real thing that I bought specifically for my little one in Ethiopia. Our bundle of joy will also get full use of all previously purchased toys, books etc but this little teething ring is all theirs and no one elses. Again, some people may not understand this rambling post but as soon to be adoptive parent I feel like I have taken a giant step in my personal journey.
The other 2 girls are 4 and 4 months. Their Mom and Dad are coming to visit this weekend (YEAH!!). I had some things already purchased for the littlest one but not the 4 year old. I know that she likes to play dress up and that one of her newest fascinations is Fancy Nancy. I found a few Fancy Nancy things for her. She may already have them since she just had a big birthday party but I got a gift receipt just in case.
Okay task accomplished so why was I in Target for an hour an a half. Besides the fact that I love Target, lately when I go their by myself I wander over to the baby section and just start looking at things. One day it was bottles and liners for travelling, or pacifiers or sippy cups. Today it was a little of everything. I looked at formula, bottles, pacifiers, toys, clothes, etc. My main focus though was looking for hair/skin care products for our little one. I found some that smell great and are alcohol free and great for sensitive skin. It was from the Burt's Bees line. I found it in the baby aisle and it smelled really good and was all natural. I know from experience that black babies can tend to have very dry skin and very sensitive skin. The twins did. Both of them had mild forms of ezcema and some very dry patches of skin on their legs. I have learned that we should have avoided using products that have mineral oil, alcohol or petroleum in them. The Burt's Bees didn't have any of those things and it wasn't too expensive for a big bottle of shampoo/baby wash. Yeah!
So I wandered around some more, picked up my next book club book and then headed back to the baby section. I couldn't resist, it drew me in. I felt the need to buy something, so here is what I bought.
Yes it is a teething ring and no it isn't that special really but it is special to me. This is the first time since we started the entire adoption process that I have allowed myself to get attached to the idea that I will really be a Mom and need to buy actual things for a baby. Yes, I know I was "attached" to the twins but at the same time I wasn't. I always was a little guarded and never truly felt like a Mom as I knew that until all the paperwork was signed, sealed and delivered they could be taken away from me and they were. I was trying to protect my heart. It didn't totally work. I couldn't fully resist two of the cutest faces I have ever seen but I had to. I kept my distance emotionally from them to a certain extent. That probably doesn't make sense to anyone but it is the truth. I just had this gut feeling that something wasn't right with that situation and as it turns out something was very wrong.
Finally now as we approach two years in our adoption journey, I have allowed myself to start preparing for our little one emotionally. Yes, I have all of the physical basics and more but all of that stuff was bought in a hurry in a short period of time and some of it I am not in love with but given the situation we were in I had to buy things that were in stock. We will survive after all it is only furniture. But now that I am fully embracing that in the next few months I will be a Mom, I want to do things they way I would have had I had the time. I always dreamed of decorating my nursery so that is why I want to paint the mural on the wall myself.
So this teething ring is the first real thing that I bought specifically for my little one in Ethiopia. Our bundle of joy will also get full use of all previously purchased toys, books etc but this little teething ring is all theirs and no one elses. Again, some people may not understand this rambling post but as soon to be adoptive parent I feel like I have taken a giant step in my personal journey.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Busy and more busy
I was looking at the calendar last night and wow are we busy. We have at least one thing to do every weekend in September. Some weekends we are booked both days. It is going to be a wild and crazy month. I am so glad we have a lot to do so I won't go totally nuts when we hit 8 months of waiting.
I got word today that my mural has shipped so that will be a project I can start soon, when I manage to find some free time. Then there is baseball playoffs...
We are hoping the Brewers make the playoffs and we get first chance at first and second round tickets so of course if that happens we are going to go to at least one game. So here is hoping to a busy October too.
Other than that we are going (hopefully) on a brewery tour in Milwaukee. I need to find someone to work for me. Then we have 2 Brewers games left this month. We are planning to spend a Saturday at my parents and then we are going to the Eagles concert.
Whew...that is a lot. I just keep thinking all of this stuff won't be possible next year so I should enjoy it now. See next year we will be planning trips to do more family friendly stuff. There will still be baseball but some of these other activities will need to be restructured to include our little one. How cool is that... Next year at this time we will have a baby. We can buy a Halloween costume. Yes, I am going to dress up my baby for Halloween and take lots of pictures and hand out candy to the neighbor kids. But I digress...
What I should be doing instead of blogging and watching bad reality TV is cleaning my house. Our friends are coming to visit this weekend and I have floors to clean and dogs to bathe and I should think about dinner at some point. Well back to wet floors and dogs.
I got word today that my mural has shipped so that will be a project I can start soon, when I manage to find some free time. Then there is baseball playoffs...
We are hoping the Brewers make the playoffs and we get first chance at first and second round tickets so of course if that happens we are going to go to at least one game. So here is hoping to a busy October too.
Other than that we are going (hopefully) on a brewery tour in Milwaukee. I need to find someone to work for me. Then we have 2 Brewers games left this month. We are planning to spend a Saturday at my parents and then we are going to the Eagles concert.
Whew...that is a lot. I just keep thinking all of this stuff won't be possible next year so I should enjoy it now. See next year we will be planning trips to do more family friendly stuff. There will still be baseball but some of these other activities will need to be restructured to include our little one. How cool is that... Next year at this time we will have a baby. We can buy a Halloween costume. Yes, I am going to dress up my baby for Halloween and take lots of pictures and hand out candy to the neighbor kids. But I digress...
What I should be doing instead of blogging and watching bad reality TV is cleaning my house. Our friends are coming to visit this weekend and I have floors to clean and dogs to bathe and I should think about dinner at some point. Well back to wet floors and dogs.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Time to paint...
One of the things on my to do list before baby is to pick out and paint a mural on the wall. Now, if you know me then you know that I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler. Quite a talent actually, I get this particular trait from my mother. To say we are not artistic is an understatement. What I have learned though is that I LOVE to paint. I have painted Christmas ornaments and figurines, two rooms in my house, helped my BFF paint walls in house, and even painted when I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
I have painted the nursery yellow, my favorite color. It works for both boys and girls but I want something else on the walls. When we lived in CA, we used to go to Art and Wine festivals in the Bay Area and at one of them either Santa Clara or Sunnyvale, can't remember which, we bought a watercolor of Noah's Ark. I just love it. We have probably had this print for going on 6 years before having a family was even in the works for us. There was just something about this painting that I loved so we bought it. I still need to have it framed but can't wait to hang it in the nursery. So that will hang on one of the walls, one wall is a window, one wall will have the crib on it so that leaves us with another wall. Well I have found the solution.
http://www.elephantsonthewall.com/proddetail.php?prod=461
I have purchased this mural. The smaller one which is still large. It is paint by number. So when it arrives it will have the design, transfer paper and a color guide. With the help of my hubby, we will center it on the wall and trace the design and then I just have to paint it. I really am excited about this. I wanted to do something special for our little one. It will be like coloring on the walls. How cool is that!
It will be nice to have a project to keep me busy and help pass the time. I know I have been down and up emotionally in the last few posts but I really am doing okay. I know it will all work out and I have found tremendous support from the other families in the same boat as us.
I have painted the nursery yellow, my favorite color. It works for both boys and girls but I want something else on the walls. When we lived in CA, we used to go to Art and Wine festivals in the Bay Area and at one of them either Santa Clara or Sunnyvale, can't remember which, we bought a watercolor of Noah's Ark. I just love it. We have probably had this print for going on 6 years before having a family was even in the works for us. There was just something about this painting that I loved so we bought it. I still need to have it framed but can't wait to hang it in the nursery. So that will hang on one of the walls, one wall is a window, one wall will have the crib on it so that leaves us with another wall. Well I have found the solution.
http://www.elephantsonthewall.com/proddetail.php?prod=461
I have purchased this mural. The smaller one which is still large. It is paint by number. So when it arrives it will have the design, transfer paper and a color guide. With the help of my hubby, we will center it on the wall and trace the design and then I just have to paint it. I really am excited about this. I wanted to do something special for our little one. It will be like coloring on the walls. How cool is that!
It will be nice to have a project to keep me busy and help pass the time. I know I have been down and up emotionally in the last few posts but I really am doing okay. I know it will all work out and I have found tremendous support from the other families in the same boat as us.
Friday, August 22, 2008
A little sunshine on a cloudy day
I have recovered from the disappointment of yesterday at least as much as I can anyway. It still stinks to have one time line in mind and have to keep readjusting but there is really nothing I can do but adjust.
There has been a really long thread on our forum today for those of us having a hard time dealing with the changing expectations and time lines. One little snip it of info posted by one of my fellow January waiters gave me a little sunshine today.
We are hearing anyway that we are probably in the top 40ish or so waiting for an infant. That is still a lot of families ahead of us but this little tidbit helped my mood tremendously. See, the last newsletter told us that there were 289 families waiting so for us to be in the top 40-50 on that list is a little exciting. We really have come a long way. I know we still have a ways to go but I am hopeful at least more hopeful than I was yesterday anyway.
We have adjusted our thinking and in an ideal world we will have a referral by Thanksgiving or close to it and as a Happy New Year's gift we will have made it through court and then as a birthday treat for my fabulous hubby (in February) a trip to Ethiopia to go pick up our little one. I am hopeful that this is a semi-realistic timeline but I know that I may have to change it again and instead of a birthday gift for hubby in February it may be a birthday gift for Grandma in March.
As tough as all of this is I know we are doing what feels right. It feels right in my heart. I know my little one will be born in Ethiopia and I will go get them when they are ready to come home. For now, I know my little one is loved more than I can explain by families both here in the US and in Ethiopia.
There has been a really long thread on our forum today for those of us having a hard time dealing with the changing expectations and time lines. One little snip it of info posted by one of my fellow January waiters gave me a little sunshine today.
We are hearing anyway that we are probably in the top 40ish or so waiting for an infant. That is still a lot of families ahead of us but this little tidbit helped my mood tremendously. See, the last newsletter told us that there were 289 families waiting so for us to be in the top 40-50 on that list is a little exciting. We really have come a long way. I know we still have a ways to go but I am hopeful at least more hopeful than I was yesterday anyway.
We have adjusted our thinking and in an ideal world we will have a referral by Thanksgiving or close to it and as a Happy New Year's gift we will have made it through court and then as a birthday treat for my fabulous hubby (in February) a trip to Ethiopia to go pick up our little one. I am hopeful that this is a semi-realistic timeline but I know that I may have to change it again and instead of a birthday gift for hubby in February it may be a birthday gift for Grandma in March.
As tough as all of this is I know we are doing what feels right. It feels right in my heart. I know my little one will be born in Ethiopia and I will go get them when they are ready to come home. For now, I know my little one is loved more than I can explain by families both here in the US and in Ethiopia.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Bummer :(
I broke down and finally emailed my specialist today to see if I could get any insight into when we might start seeing referrals again and here is what she said.
After all the hype about whether families were open to "summer referrals," we didn't get any! Our staff in Ethiopia has advised us that our Care Center really was at maximum capacity, so they needed to wait for more children to be placed before they could bring new children into care. At this point, my best guess is that we might not see new referrals until mid-September...
The families at the top of the list waiting for referrals of infants have been waiting since mid-October, 2007 and are at the 10 month mark of waiting. Given your 1/22/08 dossier date, I would anticipate at least another three months wait for referral. I am definitely hopeful that you will get a referral by the end of the year, but I can't say for sure that it will happen -- it will all depend on the number of children brought into care, their ages, health and background concerns, etc.
To say I am not having a good day is an understatement. I always knew that hitting 9 months could be a reality but I hoped it wouldn't be true and now I have to adjust again to thinking we may be lucky to get a referral by Thanksgiving which would be 10 months for us. AHHHH. I am trying really hard to be patient with all of this and I know everything will work out in the end but this waiting is just so hard....
After all the hype about whether families were open to "summer referrals," we didn't get any! Our staff in Ethiopia has advised us that our Care Center really was at maximum capacity, so they needed to wait for more children to be placed before they could bring new children into care. At this point, my best guess is that we might not see new referrals until mid-September...
The families at the top of the list waiting for referrals of infants have been waiting since mid-October, 2007 and are at the 10 month mark of waiting. Given your 1/22/08 dossier date, I would anticipate at least another three months wait for referral. I am definitely hopeful that you will get a referral by the end of the year, but I can't say for sure that it will happen -- it will all depend on the number of children brought into care, their ages, health and background concerns, etc.
To say I am not having a good day is an understatement. I always knew that hitting 9 months could be a reality but I hoped it wouldn't be true and now I have to adjust again to thinking we may be lucky to get a referral by Thanksgiving which would be 10 months for us. AHHHH. I am trying really hard to be patient with all of this and I know everything will work out in the end but this waiting is just so hard....
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
To Do List...
As we get closer to our referral, we have decided that we need to make a to do list to get better prepared for baby. We need to clean some things, child proof some things and just some basic reorganizing.
The list is getting quite long...
1) Carpets cleaned in the whole house
2) Clean out the closet in the nursery
3) Clean the office
4) Buy a wine cooler with a lock and remove wine rack from kitchen (not child friendly at all right now)
5) Clean up the basement
6) Buy the last piece of baby furniture we need, the 5 drawer dresser
7) Refinish the patio furniture (long story...)
8) Repaint the entry way
9) Decide on and paint mural in nursery
10) Clean the exterior windows and screens
This is only the beginning of the list. There will be a lot more added to it once we have our referral and then more stuff after we have a travel date. Since we know the list will get longer we figured we should try and take care of this kind of stuff now so when we do get baby news we can focus most of our time and attention on things for our baby and our travels.
I am really glad we already have 2 cribs, a changing table, stroller, car seats and bases, diaper pail, etc. This saves us a lot of time. Well, I didn't really have a lot of time to shop for those things last summer. I had less than 2 weeks to prepare for the twins so off to USA baby I went, spent a few hours, made 2 car trips and ta da we had a full nursery of furniture. It was fun but a little overwhelming so I am glad that is over. Now when we have to go shopping it will be for the fun stuff like bedding, toys, clothes, etc. I really won't need bedding or bath towels if it is a girl since I have more pink and purple sheets and towels and blankets than I know what to do with. If we have a boy however I only have one yellow crib sheet so we would need some more of those and bath towels well we could use the ones we have but it would be a little weird for our son to be wrapped up in a towel that says Daddy's little girl. I know they won't know but I will. Beside shopping for stuff like that is a lot of fun so if we have a boy that will be fun. If we have a girl there is still shopping that needs to be done. We don't have everything we need so either way I am looking forward to lots of trips to Target and Babies R Us and one trip to USA Baby in Brookfield.
Now all I need is a referral. Some people have hit the 10 month mark and I know that I am going stir crazy at almost 7 months so I am really hoping that these families get good news soon. In the mean time we wait as patiently as we can and know that some day that phone will ring and it will be the call that forever changes our lives and not just Dominos pizza offering us a $4 large pizza.
The list is getting quite long...
1) Carpets cleaned in the whole house
2) Clean out the closet in the nursery
3) Clean the office
4) Buy a wine cooler with a lock and remove wine rack from kitchen (not child friendly at all right now)
5) Clean up the basement
6) Buy the last piece of baby furniture we need, the 5 drawer dresser
7) Refinish the patio furniture (long story...)
8) Repaint the entry way
9) Decide on and paint mural in nursery
10) Clean the exterior windows and screens
This is only the beginning of the list. There will be a lot more added to it once we have our referral and then more stuff after we have a travel date. Since we know the list will get longer we figured we should try and take care of this kind of stuff now so when we do get baby news we can focus most of our time and attention on things for our baby and our travels.
I am really glad we already have 2 cribs, a changing table, stroller, car seats and bases, diaper pail, etc. This saves us a lot of time. Well, I didn't really have a lot of time to shop for those things last summer. I had less than 2 weeks to prepare for the twins so off to USA baby I went, spent a few hours, made 2 car trips and ta da we had a full nursery of furniture. It was fun but a little overwhelming so I am glad that is over. Now when we have to go shopping it will be for the fun stuff like bedding, toys, clothes, etc. I really won't need bedding or bath towels if it is a girl since I have more pink and purple sheets and towels and blankets than I know what to do with. If we have a boy however I only have one yellow crib sheet so we would need some more of those and bath towels well we could use the ones we have but it would be a little weird for our son to be wrapped up in a towel that says Daddy's little girl. I know they won't know but I will. Beside shopping for stuff like that is a lot of fun so if we have a boy that will be fun. If we have a girl there is still shopping that needs to be done. We don't have everything we need so either way I am looking forward to lots of trips to Target and Babies R Us and one trip to USA Baby in Brookfield.
Now all I need is a referral. Some people have hit the 10 month mark and I know that I am going stir crazy at almost 7 months so I am really hoping that these families get good news soon. In the mean time we wait as patiently as we can and know that some day that phone will ring and it will be the call that forever changes our lives and not just Dominos pizza offering us a $4 large pizza.
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