Monday, July 31, 2006

There's been a ladybug sighting


We've looked and looked in hopes of having the lucky ladybug sighting and it finally happened, after all this time. Who would have thought that the ladybug sighting was an Anne Geddes.

This weekend when Mom and I went shopping for my secret pal and for the Cyber shower, we got so into the shopping thing that we just couldn't pass up the bargains. Shop we did, purchasing outfits, bibs, and even this adorable ladybug for our baby girl Chynna.

Who ever said the ladybug sighting needs to be a real ladybug, and besides sometimes fate needs a helping hand, so here we go, now our Chynna has her first doll, and it helps to remind us that our receiving the "call" is not too far in our future (althought it may feel that way).

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Pictures of my "baby" boy


I know I keep speaking about my "baby boy" who I spoil every chance I get (and Ray keeps telling me that I can't do that with Chynna, little does he know, hehe), and decided I should be the proud "mommy" and show him off. He really is my pride and joy, and this is how he looks most of the time. As my answering machine says, "Ray and I can't get to the phone right now, and it's Freckles' naptime..." The $1M question always is (on the answering machine of course) "when is it not Freckles' naptime?". The life of a spoiled rotten cocker spaniel, to eat, sleep, play, what a life?!


And then on another note, more Chynna goodies were purchased by Mom and I today, what fun we are having, and to think how much more fun we'll have once we actually know more about her such as her actual age, size, etc. My next post will share in some of the cutest bibs we have ever seen and they became a must have, so stay tuned.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Getting Chynna's Nursery ready, slowly but surely


Chynna's nursery is slowly coming along, we purchased her first outfit finally (hopefully it will fit her when we get her), it is her American dress either for the swearing in or for when she touches down in the US and becomes an American (both moments of which will be truly exciting times and already brings tears to our eyes). And the ladybug rug is adorable (we won it on Ebay) , it is our ladybug sighting when we go into her room, so everytime we see it we think about how it is that much closer to actually bringing Chynna home (can we go to get her yet?).

Other new additions to her nursery are a frog nitelite (did you all expect any other kind for our babygirl?, hehe), sheer curtains with gorgeous butterflies, the curtain rod (with these beautiful red ceramic type balls on the end, on sale at an amazing price of $10 instead of $45, yes that's right $10 as the box was opened but it didn't appear to be used at all because the hardware was all still in the plastic), and oh yeah this darling hardcover book with a ladybug finger puppet in the center which was a must have when we saw it (plus it was on sale) which were all obtained from Pottery Barn Kids (now that is an awesome store).

Next on our list of to do's is finishing the closet and putting down new tile floor. We will keep you up to date as this gets done (oh yeah and we will publish more pictures as that happens too.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

The Dream of becoming parents, closer to reality



It seems like just yesterday this picture was taken, and yet it was almost 5 years ago, the day we spoke about starting a family right away, and we tried and tried and tried, but yet we just couldn't succeed.

But then something happened, we had a "calling" to look into adoption (after going through the fertility tests and determining it was most likely not going to happen and I don't think our hearts could have taken it anymore, the waiting to see if we were successful this month to only have my "Aunt Flo" visit yet again month after month), so we explored the option of adoption, researched domestic adoption and was swayed away from that route (after seeing the pain cousin Eileen and Jay went through before finally be blessed enough to adopt Arianna), and started researching international adoption, country after country, the pros and the cons, and then after hearing from cousin Troy and Naomi, the journey to adopt from China was thus born. As Troy and Naomi were going through the process themselves, they were such a blessing, guiding us through the "rough patches" of the paperchase. Now we find ourselves playing the waiting game, knowing that every day that passes we are one day closer to finally reaching that dream we had almost 5 years ago, to finally become first time parents.

Sunday, July 9, 2006

Working on the nursery

Sorry it has been a few days since posting last. I have been trying to be pretty consistent and post in the morning each day, however, this weekend, I started slacking but decided to update tonite and bring you up on the progress of our getting ready for our baby girl to come home.

We have pretty much finished the painting in the nursery (it's a light lilac, with a light light pink border), and are getting ready to retile the floors in there (it's been a few weeks or a month or so since we purchased the tile so I am ashamed to admit that I don't remember what color it is, but I do remember that we both really loved it a lot). I put the finishing touches on the walls with fairies, bugs (such as butterflies, ladybugs, and centipedes), and stars, which really added to the boring but beautifully painted walls. I do need to get some more fairies to complete the one wall.

Next we are working on the closest. I know I want to get closest organizers, and clear tote boxes (for all her toys and such), so I am looking at those next.

We are fortunate enough to have some great friends who are giving us baby furniture, so I am unsure what colors the furniture will be but am quite grateful that Mike and his wonderful wife have thought enough about us to donate their baby furniture to us.

I walk into her room, and think "someday, someday this room will be filled with laughter, tears, and lots of love" and hopefully that day will come sooner than we expect.

Thursday, July 6, 2006

7/7 we will be DTC

Well baby girl, tomorrow we will be officially DTC. We will be coming to get you soon (well a girl can dream can't she).

My dh has been really excited talking about how he can't wait to be a dad. Of course when our dd gets on his nerves or is misbehaving, I will of course have to remind him how excited we were to become first time parents, and how we petitioned, and paperchased, and waited, and worried, and hoped, and did lots of praying to have her as part of our lives. I am sure he will be thrilled to have me remind him then. But hey what are good wives for anyhow if not to remind our dh when he was happy, and excited, and nervous. The before-child stage, the time when we as adults think we know how to be parents, how to actually raise our child, the what to do and what not to do to be good parents.

I saw this commercial this afternoon, where they say "a child changes everything". This of course could be taken either way. Now don't get me wrong, I know we will be great parents, but I am nervous. How will we know what is right? I guess it is a play it by ear kinda thing, a just jump in and "parent", a learn it as you go. Just to know my dh and I are in this together, I think we can make it as long as we stick together during the long haul.

Chynna, here we come (at a turtle's pace if you ask me).

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

We passed inspection

Well the 4th of July went off really well. The family came over and my dh cooked anything that stood still long enough for him to throw it onto the barbecue grill. Thank goodness Freckles (our cocker spaniel) knew well enough to stay away from his daddy. =)

Seriously though, everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and we passed the white glove inspection with flying colors. I guess we got all those pesky dust bunnies (my dh says they taste really good with barbecue sauce on them).

We got to show off the baby room, which was a success also. All it needs now is the furniture, some clothes, the new tile, an area rug, some shelves in the closet, and oh yeah, the baby. My sister and brother in law did however buy us the cutest frog mobile for us while they were in Sweden this summer, so we got to add it to our pile of presents while we await our baby girl. It was really cute and we can't wait to be able to use it.

Baby girl, we are one more day closer to getting you. Our prayers are with you. We love you and can't wait to become your parents.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July America. Today is a day of celebration for our independence and of our freedom. Lots of people take our freedoms for granted, not realizing what plenty of men and women had to endure so we could (and continue) to enjoy the freedoms we have.

We thank all the military men and women for their sacrifices.

Our baby girl will be able to enjoy these freedoms, and for that we are thankful. Although someday we will probably forget to remember to be thankful, when she is in her teens just being a teen, requesting some "freedom" from the house rules, wanting to be more "grown up" than she really is, rushing the time to become an adult and not have "report in" to her mom and dad. But for now, we will just think about getting our baby, bringing her home, and fulfilling her needs and wants, gaining her trust and love, enjoying the time of her needing and wanting us, her parents, to hold her, pick her up when she falls, provide for her the best we can, and to just be her parents, for now and always.

Today, my whole family is coming over for a cookout. I had a cleaning party yesterday on my day off, having to attack the dust bunnies that were mating uncontrollably under the beds before they tried to attack us, and I apparently won that battle (which is never ending thanks to our Freckles, our cocker spaniel who sheds immensely). My mom used to tell us that when my late grandmother would come over was I was growing up, the white glove test would ensue. Well, now I think my mom and my sister have taken over my grandmother's job. I know I can pass that test (wonder if I can say that after our daughter comes home).

Well, hopefully you all will have a sunshiny beautiful day and enjoy your 4th, wherever you are.

Monday, July 3, 2006

The loss of a close friend

Well here it is another day closer to getting our baby girl. I worked some on her room yesterday adding decals to her wall, fairies and differents types of bugs. Really makes a difference and was lots of fun.

After being able to sleep in and enjoy the quiet of the house, I got a very disturbing phone call from my family telling me I should read the paper today. A dear close friend passed away on Saturday. He was such a great guy, so upbeat, and always would spread happiness to all. He and his wife were married for 57 years. He was a WWII vet (from the Navy) and would tell the funniest stories from his time he served (again always finding happiness in even difficult situations). He really will be missed.

Sunday, July 2, 2006

We are officially paper pregnant

I first wonder if there really is anyone out there that is listening to my thoughts and concerns, but I figure if not, then it will be like I am talking to myself (so then only my dog and probably my computer will think I am crazy) but apparently this will help me to pass the time while we wait for the "call" from our agency announcing "it's a girl".

Our "forever" wait should be starting for our long awaited daughter this Friday when our dossier should be forwarded to China. We are now officially "paper pregnant" and hope this pregnancy is an easy one with wonderful results, our baby girl.

As you can probably tell, we can't wait to finally become first time parents. But it is quite hard to keep from buying all the cute baby clothes and accessories while we wait. However my husband keeps me in line (although I am secretly keeping notes of all the stores and the purchases I will be making once I wear him down). There are just so many things we will need to get and being first time parents brings with it the anxiety of not knowing what we will really need as opposed to just having to have.

And then there is the not knowing how old she will be (is she born yet), how big will she be, is she being taken care of properly in China, will she bond to both of us right away, etc. And then there is the sadness of the difficult decision her mother had to make to abandon her where she would be found even though she wanted to raise her daughter herself. If I could just reassure that mother that we promise to give her everything we possibly can, to fulfill her hopes and dreams to the best of our abilities, to love her unconditionally, and to thank that mother for giving us the greatest gift ever.

We're coming to get you baby girl, as quick as China and the U.S. will allow us. Just know we love you and think about you all the time.