Baby Max

Yesterday my best friend and cousin Lorie and hubby Chris welcomed Baby Maxwell into the world. I hate that we live so far apart. I am wishing for a cuddle with new baby Max but will have to wait quite a while i am afraid. Sending hugs from very far away... luv auntie brenda

2 for 2

So - guess what?? Another referral today!!! Yep - that's 2 referrals in 2 days. That is definitely good news! Our name bumps up another spot on the list. Oh - it would be soo cool to be 3 for 3 tomorrow!!! Fingers are crossed.

rambling...

To start things off - there was a referral today!!! Yippeee - John and Lorie have a new baby boy. I really don't know John and Lorie - so if you are out there - congrats!!!! But the deal is that there is some progress - we have moved up the list again. So good to see!!!!
It is getting kind of frustrating to keep saying to people - another year. I think we said that when we started... It never gets less than - another year. Keep having to remind myself that this WILL happen.
Anyhoo - a shout out to my sister who celebrated her birthday this week. Happy Birthday!!
On the weekend, i attended a local POMBA (parents of multiple births assoc) garage sale. this is a famous sale that happens twice a year. My friend Julie let me know all about it - so i got up way too early on Saturday and got in a massive line up with my cousin Wendy. This is a serious sale!! I was looking for some furniture type things (extra change table for down stairs, high chair etc). I have decided to limit my clothing purchases until we know a gender. I ended up getting a really nice wooden rocking chair, some toys including Fischer price little people - and an adorable chicken Halloween costume. Thanks for the tip Jul - good stuff to be found at said sale!!!
That's it for me. i feel bug coming on, so i am heading for the couch. Need to rest up for our trip to Canada's Wonderland on Saturday with the youth group. Its supposed to be 24 and sunny - should be a good day!!

tada...

Here at last!!!
Thanks to Ken for helping Mike carry the dresser upstairs!!

Some assembly required!

Our new dresser/change table

Notice the garbage can on the right - we are not quite finished with this room - but the furniture needs a home until its done. We still have - floor to paint, baseboards, light fixture to install, one more coat of paint on the walls and doors/trim. We are almost there... I am happy with the paint colour but it really doesn't show well in these photos. Its a very calm green.

We had been keeping the door to this room closed - to not see the mess i guess. And now i like to keep it open and peek in every once in a while. i even found some old baby blankets that were mine and Mikes and have them and some buddies in the crib.

Reno updates

Since i put the pic's of the nursery up, I thought i should add some of the hall. We have taken a bit of a break again, but will soon get back at it. The hall is pretty much done. Just need some more trim, baseboards and surprise, surprise a bit more paint.

Here is the hall before:

Here is the middle:

Walls are done and now i am scrapping off the yucky layers of paint: Mostly finished - new light/fan, new linen closet, new doors

A door on the laundry room - to the right, bathroom to the left and storage room at the end!!

Trim is getting done - door still need to be painted.

We started this mess last August - hopefully we will be finished by this August. Stay tuned...

therapy

Got some therapy this weekend. Much needed i must add.

First of all laughter therapy. I can't even really recall what was funny, but i know i had a lot of good laughs. Recap - Mike and I went on a road trip with my sister and her hubby to Lancaster, PA. We had lots of good laughs and just really enjoyed our selves. Lots of good food too - although i don't want to put eating down as a therapy. The Olive Garden did not disappoint!

My soul got some therapy as well. We went to the Sight and Sound theatre and saw an Easter musical. I am a very visual learner and so seeing a presentation like that speaks to my soul. Except for the flying angels in the gold lamae trimmed costumes and the big foam wings. I tried to get over those flying angels, i really did. Some times i really need to see something in 'real life' to hit home. There were lots of good parts. But for me- when Jesus was walking on the water and Peter gets out in faith - just kind of got me.

Didn't get much sleep therapy. Man am i getting old. We did some shopping and let me tell you, i just don't have it like i used to. By about 3:00 in the afternoon i was just plan done in. Until i got to the Carters store. If you don't know, Carters is a baby's clothing store. They have very cute stuff and good prices. This is the first time I have indulged in clothing shopping for the baby. I decided to get neutral stuff- as we don't know if it will be a boy or girl - i am tending to believe that it will be a boy - so the stuff got a bit more boyish. If surprise, surprise, we get a girl - oh well there will be more shopping. I also got mostly 12 months and up since we have no idea of how old our baby will be.

So, retail therapy also entered into our weekend. In a big way!!! Baby wasn't the only lucky one, mom got some good stuff too!!! Here is a peak of Jr's wardrobe to date. The pic's are a bit dark. The first thing is a 'bankie'. its a little stuffed monkey sewn on a little blanket. Once we have a baby assigned to us we are allowed to send a little something over for them and this will be what we send. Our baby's first present from us:

More therapy is definitely needed - but this weekend was a good start.

half way??

So, the ticker up there tells me that we have been waiting 6 months and one day for our referral. Hmm. 6 months, huh. Right now (at this moment - subject to change on a whim) i am feeling good about things. Feels good to have 6 months down. We have been busy with a few things and so i guess time is going by. I think it helps that spring is in the air. Maybe that means there will be less time to sit and be mopey about waiting. I sure do believe that keeping busy really helps. i have a few more posts up my sleeve, so i wont tell you everything that has been going on just yet.
I am also very excited to have friends joining us in the international adoption world. Its great to have someone in 'real life' joining us and its a good feeling to be able to pass on some of our knowledge and experiences on to them.
It also really helps to hear of other people's good news. Congrats to Carolyn and Adam on their referral of a baby boy!
Anyhoo, so yeah for 6 months. Lets all hope and pray that we are really 1/2 way there!!!

here is a sneak peak at what has me a bit excited today!

Wordless Wednesday

think spring

check this out

Shannon had a link to the article below and i thought i would share it as well. I just figured out how to do the link thing so I am feeling pretty high tech.
Its a CNN article about Madonna and the hoopla over her international adoption. CNN interviewed Melissa Faye Green. She wrote: There is no me without you. I love how she answers the questions. I am glad that there are people in the world who are articulate and smart - then i can copy what they say :) Take a peek.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/04/03/madonna.reaction.adoption.malawi/

Thankful for April.

Hey there.
Thought i might try something new. Haven't been blogging much lately. I have kind of felt down about things - not many (any really) referrals happening - which is really slowing things down. A year ago, when we started, we were told 3-6 months for referral. then around Christmas i came to realize that we will probably be waiting 12 months for a referral. Right now (according to my own little spreadsheet) - there would have to be roughly 5 referrals a month for us to get one by October. This looks fairly unlikely. I don't want to think of how far i need to push back my expectations so that they are more realistic. ugh. nuff about that. sorry to depress you.
So, I was thinking that i need to focus on the positive - and things i am thankful for. I know its Easter and not thanksgiving but humour me.
1. I am thankful for my husbands health. He has now suffered a second concussion - that would be 2 in less than 3 weeks. Luckily the last 'incident' was not as serious as it could have been and mostly, he has wounded his pride. It could have been way worse and so I am thankful that i won't have to be a single parent.
2. I am thankful for my sisters birthday!! She is celebrating a milestone - which only means that in 2 years i will be too. Anyway, this weekend we are heading to PA for a show at Sight and Sound Theater and some good shopping. Layne Bryant is my fav store - and I am looking forward to seeing what we can find at Carters for baby :) it is so nice to be getting away!!
3. I am thankful for spring. Ok - well today you wouldn't know it - got a nice dump of snow. But you can feel spring in the air. I have been dreaming about buying plants and being outside more!!
4. I am thankful for good friends. This past week i got to connect with 2 good friends. Seems like we are all busy these days and we don't get to see each other as often as i would like. Tracey and I are planning a mini-girls-get away in July and i am soooo looking forward to it!!!!!

So that's it. I found 4 things - not bad for someone who has been kind of grumpy lately. Maybe tomorrow i will find 4 more things.

wordless wednesday

i thought i might participate in 'wordless Wednesday'. This is one of my favorite pics of my grandma and my sister and me - a few years ago :) Next time it will be more 'wordless'.