Baby Earth

OK, I'm going to throw out a guess that the stimulus payments that started being distributed this week don't hold a candle to the amount of economic stimulus brought on by waiting families. After all, is there a better way to pass the time than by perusing the gadzillions of adorable online children's shops? Just when I happen upon what I think to be "the cutest children's shop ever" I turn around and surprise surprise, there's another one! Patience schmatience, waiting sucks so I'm going shopping. I do have to admit once again though, the ticker at the top clocking 2 weeks 3 days looks SO much better than when it clocked 2 weeks 4 days... Just imagine how fabulous 2 weeks 2 days is going to look!

My newest favorite is Baby Earth (environmentally-friendly baby products) where this Musical Toy Box Bench currently has me ducttaping my wallet shut. So cute, so much fun, must be responsible, must be responsible...

Airing Out The House

Our house was first a stable in the early 1900's before being renovated and turned into a residence (not exactly sure when, perhaps 1920's) so there are an unusual amount of doors on the first floor. Four to be exact, and the floor print really is not that big. This can be torture during the winter months when they're all tightly closed just taunting us knowing full well if we open them our heating bills will skyrocket, but when spring comes they're wide open as often as possible! Take today, for example. It was a perfect 70 degree sunny with just enough wind to blow the scents of spring through all four doors. Delicious.

So what do we do on a lovely spring Saturday mere weeks before assuming the titles of mom and dad? Nest. But not in the typical sense of the word as much as the "let's complete all of those projects we've been meaning to complete since we moved in" kind of sense. I've read about soon-to-be parents nesting habits before the arrival of the child, but today wasn't exactly that.

Today we sawed a hole in the door to the basement so that we could move the cat litter box downstairs. Next we moved the treadmill to a more desirable location (the garage, wish us luck...), and then we built (well not exactly "we" as much as "he") a new closet/storage area in the basement so that we could clean out the closet in the nursery. Then we happily settled in with a scrumptious grilled chicken and corn dinner and a rather tasty malbec. Not exactly true to form nesting behavior, but I must admit we're more caught up on chores than we've ever been. Feels good.

Oh, and we also canceled the vet appointment we had for Bode to have his teeth "fixed". He's happy, he cuddles up in my lap when I'm relaxing in the hammock on the front porch (it's really cute, he actually pulls himself up through a gap in the hammock strings rather than just jump from the front into my lap) and we just couldn't stand the thought of putting him through a surgery that would leave him with few (if any) teeth. More importantly I have huge doubts that he's actually in any pain or at risk of suffering infection. The area that the vet claims is causing him "severe mood-altering pain" he actually LOVES to have pet and scratched. We haven't completely written off the possibility of surgery, rather have decided to contemplate the decision for a bit longer just to make sure we're not causing any undue stress on our boy, our Bode Miller.

On another productivity-related note, I decided to create our adoption announcements in Photoshop instead of purchasing them online and must say I did a pretty good job. (Helps that hubby is a photographer and doesn't mind coming to my rescue.) The only problem is that this project requires having the adoption announcement, which includes our beautiful boy's picture, on my computer screen all day long. Let's just say I've spent more time looking at his picture than breathing this weekend. It's just such an adorable face I can't help myself - if it's in front of me forget about it, I'm useless!

Right now is pretty OK: We're airing out the house with all four doors wide open. Our cats (the boys) are nestled in our laps and we're about to light a bonfire outside and toast the season's first marshmallows. Everything smells sweet.

For A Cute Bum

We've been thinking about diapers and came across gDiapers. It's a breathable, flushable, plastic-free and biodegradable diaper solution for a cute baby bum. It's like the hybrid Prius but for your baby's bottom ~ flushable & biodegradable! Anyone out there given'em a spin?

Spurt Of Energy

Working on the nursery had taken a bit of a hiatus until today when we finally began putting together/making the window treatments, changing table, and got to organizing (or at least thinking about organizing) where everything will eventually go. We'd been stuck not knowing the age, gender, time line, etc...so just didn't have the muster to continue prepping the nursery till a spurt of energy hit us this weekend. Maybe it was the 8 referrals that CHI received last week, perhaps it was an internal click, or maybe even just when this part of the process was meant to be taken care of. In any case the nursery looks a thousand times better with things finally put together and we're so excited to make the finishing touches. Here are a few picks to give you an idea!

And Bridger just wanted to say hello

Crib Mattress

We spent yesterday morning educating ourselves on the virtues of crib mattresses and then ventured out to the shops to purchase ours. The literature on the web recommends finding the heaviest one if you're going with foam because that means it's the most dense and wont conform to your baby's shape which could result in suffocation and increased risk of SIDS. For inner-spring mattresses (most common) we were recommended to find one with a coil count above 130 and a steel gauge below 15, as well as some form of border wire or rods in the corners and sides for perimeter support. Bottom line, the firmer the better. One of the consumer review sites we read also said that a quality mattress will cost somewhere between $90-200, anything less than $90 likely being too soft and anything more than $200 likely having unnecessary bells and whistles.

We took this information and made our first stop at Target where we were very disappointed to find only two options, neither of which met the specs we were looking for. I know that their online store has quite a few additional options however without knowing exactly which mattress we wanted we felt uncomfortable making the purchase online, site unseen. So we headed to JCPenney and then SEARS and again found little to no selection, but on the advice of a saleswoman at SEARS made our next stop at Babies "R" Us. There we found an entire wall of crib mattresses, complete with lengthy descriptions and the ability to feel each of them prior to purchase. We settled on the Serta Perfect Balance Organic Crib Mattress and called it a day. Be warned, there are ALOT of bad crib mattresses out there!

Babywait status:
- Babywait (referral) = 5 weeks and 5 days.
- Babywait (treadmill) = 9 consecutive days, at least 30 minutes per day!

Another Very Important Birthday Gift

My sister's children have grown out of these items (absolutely vital to the wardrobe in our family) so they've now been passed down to Bean. Bean may not know it yet but he/she is definitely a Vikings fan!

4 Thoughts, 1 Post

We have an exciting post, a still waiting post, an Amharic update post, and an odd question post all of which surfaced today. Each of these thoughts likely warrant their own posting, but it's a short work week and I'm very much so looking forward to the long holiday weekend so I'm going to keep this short and sweet!

Exciting
* We received our first clothing purchase for Bean in the mail today. It's a onsie (6-12 months, hopefully will fit!) produced by American Apparel as part of their Bella {Muse} series and has a scribbled line that says "Artist" underneath. Adorable.



Waiting
* We're still waiting for the I-171H. It is the last form we need before our dossier can be sent to Ethiopia and we can begin officially waiting for a referral. We were fingerprinted 18 days ago and were hoping that this form would arrive before Thanksgiving. One more mail day... come on Postman!

Amharic
* Our adoption consultant notified us today that CHI may be offering Amharic classes in our area in the near future! YEAH!!! This is definitely something we would participate in and have recently begun the search for an Amharic tutor so this is great timing. No number of books, DVD's, or colorful beanbags could possibly be as affective as an actual agency sponsored/recommended language tutor and/or class. Very exciting, CHI is amazing!

Odd Question
* I was randomly asked this question by a close-to-complete stranger today who happened to know about our adoption via having worked with my husband recently:

"Are you planning on having your own kids after adopting?"

Are you kidding me? Not only was this my first time exchanging anything other than a quaint "hello" with this person (which was evidently enough for him to feel justified inquiring about our personal family matters including reproductive habits) but what exactly did he mean by "my own" children? My response didn't even come close to the thoughts that were bubbling inside my head at the time, but the moment he asked the question has been haunting my thoughts ever since. I know we're going to encounter far more disturbing situations and we're doing our best to educate ourselves on the best way to handle them, however we'll never cease to find them disturbing nor would we ever want to. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by asking what I'm sure he thought was a simple question, however not only was it not simple but completely ill-stated and very personal as well. I definitely need to better prepare myself for similar future encounters.

Organization At Last

Phew. After almost 3 weeks of our 2nd floor furniture living on the 1st floor we're now officially moved back in, clean, and organized! We hosted a dinner party last night which provided the much needed motivation to put things back in order. Ever since the 2nd floor refinishing/carpeting escapade the house has been in complete disarray and it's fantastic to finally have everything in it's place at last. We also successfully completed a 48 hour cleansing so indulging in spicy enchiladas, wine, caffeine, and a clean home last night with guests was pure joy.

Another bonus of the mass cleaning/organization is that we found the computer cord for our digital camera so can finally post some decent pictures of Mike putting up the Christmas lights last weekend and the end result of our renovation from this weekend. Still no I-171H, but the mailman is now hand delivering all of our mail directly to our doorstep. We have many things to be thankful for this week, and an attentive mailman is one of them. Hopefully one of his next deliveries will be in an envelope from USCIS!

Mike transforming our home into a Christmas gingerbread house:



Bean's room is on it's way! We now have the crib put together, the first piece of art (an outline of Ethiopia with a heart in the center that says, "There's nowhere I wouldn't go to bring you home to me"), our new Amharic beanbags for numbers and colors, and Bean's first blankets/clothing from Great Grandma Soer.



Bridger fast asleep under our new living room blinds:



Mike's office is finally organized!

My Sisters Rock

Both of my sisters rocked today. OK, they always rock, but especially today.

Older Wiser Sister: Married with three of the most adorable children on the planet. A box arrived in the mail from her today containing knit baby outfits and blankets. They found them a couple of years ago in my grandmother's house after she passed away labeled "for my great grandchildren". My sister's children have been enjoying them and now that she's passed these absolutely precious items down to me, Bean will enjoy them too. Speechless.



Younger Youthful Sister: Fabulously single and birth mother to two more of the most adorable children on the planet currently living with their adoptive family in Iowa. Today she agreed to participate in a 2-5 day cleansing with me where the only nutrition allowed is a cayenne pepper/lemon juice/maple syrup/water mixture and daily vitamins. Only a sister would agree to such a thing. We're going to text message each other through the next 2-5 days (she's in MN, I'm in NY) and look forward to the mental and physical health that a cleansing can bring.

Bean is going to have two of the greatest aunties in the world!

And The Winner Is...

The Stokke Xplory



And even better, we got it for 20% off! One of my girlfriends has access to a corporate perks program that allowed her to share a 20% discount with friends and family for the month of November - talk about timing! All of the reading, DVD's, articles, and advice we've encountered regarding adoption and attachment stress the importance of the mother and father establishing themselves as the primary caregiver. This stroller is going to be extremely helpful in that regard because it rotates 360 degrees so that the child can face mommy while out and about. Thanks Grandma Camp!

Visit to Modern Tots

Modern Tots might be my new favorite store. Ok, most of the products are crazy expensive but it's still fun to look. We first stumbled across their website when we were looking at rocking chairs on Craigslist and then realized that their showroom is right around the corner from our apartment in Brooklyn so we stopped by last night to check it out. The saleswoman was fantastic and walked us through the wide world of strollers. We are looking at three potential strollers: the Xplory by Stokke, the Orbit System, and the Quinny Zapp. One thing to keep in mind is that although we spend the vast majority of our time in our small Upstate NY village we do spend a bit of time in NYC as well, so our stroller will need to be suitable for car rides and hiking trails as much as it will need to be suitable for long city walks and subway stairs. Here are the pros and cons we found for each of the three we're looking at:

Xplory by Stokke: Everything is adjustable! The stroller seat can be moved up and down (fantastic for restaurants, simply adjust the height and it doubles as a high chair, also great for visits to the zoo when other strollers would be too low to see over the bars) and it rotates 360 degrees so that Bean can face mommy on long walks or face forward when it's time to observe the world. It also reclines for those times when a walk turns into a nap, and the wheels collapse together turning the whole thing into a dolly-like structure making it easy to "bump" up and down stairs. The main con for this stroller is that it's not easy to get in and out of cars, and is nearly impossible to do while holding a baby.



Orbit: The big pro for this stroller is that it doubles as a car seat. This may be inconsequential for us depending on how big Bean is when we get home, but if Bean is under 6 months this may be a good option. It also has the 360 degree rotation but is also a bit of a pain to collapse and get in and out of cars.



Quinny Zapp: CHEAP!!! We're going with this stroller no matter what. It's lightweight and collapses to almost nothing with one quick & easy motion. Literally, nothing. I watched the sales woman press down on the handle and it was like the whole thing just disappeared and all that was left was this small folded piece of metal on the floor that I could have practically put in my purse! This will be a great around town stroller and perfect for those times when we need to run a quick errand or are going out and planning on having Bean out of the stroller most of the time when having a compact stroller that doesn't take up any space is great.



The saleswoman told us that she went through four strollers with her daughter - yikes.

Renovating The Renovation Plans

The plan was for the sandless hardwood floor refinishers to arrive at 9AM this morning and begin refinishing the floors upstairs. They arrived, looked at the floors, and regardless of the fact that we had sent them pictures of the paint on the floors and they had confirmed that "we've dealt with worse" they quickly informed us that they would not be able to complete the job. So, with all of our upstairs furniture temporarily relocated to the lower level we began investigating other options. My husband and I have never been the type to require much time for decision making, which is interesting seeing as we're two very indecisive people...which may be why we both need to "make the final call" quickly just to get out of the indecision. Anyhow, sometime between 9AM and 2PM today did a complete 180 and decided to go with Carpet.

Carpet? Are you kidding me? We've lived in NYC (and for the past year the surrounding countryside) for over six years, and THE rule of thumb is HARDWOOD. And now all of a sudden we're willing to have carpeted bedrooms? Odd. Even more odd is that it actually feels like the right thing to do. Quieter. Warmer. Softer. Sold. So, we woke up expecting to have the entire upstairs hardwood floors refinished and furniture back in place. We're going to go to sleep looking forward to our carpet install appointment later this week with our upstairs furniture taking temporary residence downstairs. Who knew.

The really exciting part is that as of next weekend the only other room that still requires significant "help" will be the downstairs bathroom. Don't get me wrong, there will always be projects, but it will be nice to have most of the necessaries out of the way.

Bean is going to love his/her soft, padded, stain-resistant carpet. Oh my goodness I feel the need to reaffirm myself with a DWR purchase...

Too Soon

We discovered yesterday that this weekend was just a tad too soon to be shopping for Bean's first outfit. Two main reasons:

1) Bean's room isn't ready yet (we haven't bought a changing table and the floors need to be refinished and carpet purchased) so there isn't currently anywhere to put clothing, decorations etc... meaning items would just sit in bags until the above mentioned are taken care of.

2) Bean could be a boy, or a girl, 3 months old, 6 months old, 10 months old, small for his/her age or large for his/her age...who knows! Requesting an infant (0-12 months) of either gender leaves things pretty wide open to possibilities making the purchase of clothing a little tricky. That said there are some adorable items out there that would likely suit a boy or a girl in the 6-12 month age range so as soon as Bean's room is ready we'll revisit the project of purchasing the first outfit.

In the meantime we're hoping we're not getting too far ahead of ourselves. Our fingerprinting appointment is this Friday which is the last step we need to take to get our CIS approval which is the last document we need to complete our dossier. At that point it will be pretty much out of our hands. The wait times, however, seem to be increasing lately with 3-5 months being more realistic than our originally hoped for 1-3 months. Still, we can't help but think that if we receive a referral in 5 months (which is still realistic) - Bean could very likely already be born! It's amazing how it's possible to love someone so much before ever even meeting them.

The Baby's Room: Post #1 of Many

It's so hard to know when it's "time" to start doing things like decorating the baby's room, buying clothes, and organizing your home so that it's fit for a child when you're paper preggers. When we start the home study? Complete the home study? Apply to CIS? Complete the dossier? Or do we wait until the dossier is officially in Ethiopia? Well, we've decided this weekend is the time for us, which just happens to be in none of the stages listed above rather the "our fingerprinting appointment is next week and it's time to get the baby's room ready!" stage. Never question the logistics of a waiting mommy... it's just time.

The first step was to schedule an appointment to have the hard wood floors refinished on the second floor of our house where the bedrooms are. The genius who owned our home prior to us decided to paint the walls with bright colors without protecting the floors, and then just covered them up with bright colored carpeting which we promptly removed when we moved in. Needless to say the floors are gorgeous but look a bit like a Jackson Pollock painting only 50% complete. Our appointment to have them refinished is next Saturday! In the meantime we plan on finalizing the room decor and maybe even purchasing our very first outfit for Bean. This will need to be a special purchase, but we may have something in mind...pictures to follow!

Weekend With Family

We returned to NYC this morning after a fantastic four days with our family in Minnesota. It was so wonderful, in fact, that both of us spent several serious moments this morning contemplating reasons to stay for another day or two that wouldn't conflict with work. Unfortunately duty called and our weekend had to come to an end bright and early Monday morning with our MSP to JFK flight.

This was the first time that both Mike and I were in MN at the same time since we began the adoption process so as you can imagine there was much to discuss. The questions ranged from "We were hoping you would arrive with your child this weekend!" to "What names are you considering?" to "What is a dossier?" Of course we would have loved to have been able to reply to comment #1 with a solid "We did, he/she is right here!" but alas the reality of the adoption process is that of patience and waiting. As for the other questions, answering them out loud to family for the first time only lengthened the discussion and brought on other questions! It's amazing how different the most logical thoughts sound when you're saying them out loud to your mother instead of just thinking about them quietly to yourself.

Specific things that came up had to do with the color/design scheme of Baby Bean's room, his/her name, where we're at in the adoption process, and finally general Ethiopia related questions having to do with history and geography. In general our responses were as follows:
1) We have an amazing crib thanks to an amazing community of artists always willing to exchange one art form for another. In this case this meant amazing portraits of a father and his children in exchange for a crib custom designed by the father.
2) We like Lyric, Hattie, William, and Wylie.
3) We just finished the home study and will be sending in our form I-600A to CIS this week. Once we receive this approval (6-8 weeks) we will be in the final certification stage and then onto sending our dossier to Ethiopia. The current wait time for a referral at that point is 3-9 months.
4) Ethiopia is an amazing country rich with history and culture and there are so many books that detail the trials and successes of both Ethiopia the country as well as Africa the continent. Google Ethiopia - I promise you'll come up with something interesting!

I'll end on a quick summary of our mini-vacation in MN with family this past weekend. We started by having dinner with the moms (my husband and I are fortunate to have mothers who have developed a strong friendship) and enjoyed a night out with just the four of us. This was followed by breakfast with our child's Godmother, Phoenix, who sheds amazing amounts of enthusiasm, hope, knowledge, and love on the adoption process. I then took off for a ride with my dad on his Harley, simply put - priceless. The weekend continued with multiple family meals and gatherings and was topped off with tickets to the Vikings vs Packers game where my sisters and I, our husbands, and my dad, witnessed Favre history. It actually did hurt a little to type that, I'm a tried and true Vikings fan. Nothing can top an afternoon with dad and his two favorite teams battling it out on the field though, even if my team did lose. Baby Bean will eventually have to select an NFL team to support and I'll support little Bean no matter what - as long as he/she is a Vikings fan.