ADOPTION SUPPORT GROUP - MTG. 1

Monday night I attended an adoption support group meeting.  I wasn't entirely sure about going, especially since Rob wasn't going to be able to attend since he works 2nd shift right now.  But Sarah and I decided to attend together, so that made it all better! (you hear that Sarah?!)

The meeting was fairly interesting.  The guest speakers were a couple who recently adopted (baby is 3 months old).  They told about their adoption story, which took about 2 1/2 years and one failed adoption before they finally had a successful adoption.  They told about the ups and downs of the waiting game and answered many questions.  I'm glad I went and I look forward to more meetings, if the topics are all just as interesting.

CONTEST UPDATE

Well the crib bedding contest ended on Wednesday night.  Then bright and early on Thursday morning I received an email from the folks at Carousel Bedding saying that I did NOT win. Boo, hiss!!  So it's back to the drawing board, sort of.

For the losers, that's me, we got a discount code for $10 off of a future purchase (that must be used by the beginning of June!) and we're guaranteed free shipping.  I WILL be taking advantage of the discount, but not to order custom made bedding.  It's too expensive from them.  Or maybe I'm just cheap?  They do have really nice stuff, and you are paying for someone to custom make what you design - but my own mother is very talented in the sewing arena, so why not utilize her skills to make something that will be even more fabulous because it will be made with love by GRANDMA?!

You may remember that I ordered fabric swatches a couple weeks ago, and the fabric seems to be of great quality and is a very reasonable price.  So, we'll use the discount codes to purchase the fabric that we need and we'll have our custom made bedding and we'll be proud!!  And I will post updates along the way...

SHRINKING THE TO-DO LIST & OTHER FUN STUFF

Rob and I went together to get our fingerprinting/background checks done. It sure feels good to cross one more thing off the to-do list!

I've also done some additional cleaning and organizing, so the household to-do list is shrinking too, just not quite as quickly as I'd hoped. But I'm feeling totally good about the progress we are making. I've set a personal deadline as to when I'd like to have all this hoopla accomplished, and it's getting closer every day, but I'm confident we won't have any problems.

Part of the prep has been searching for ideas on the nursery. As I posted on here recently, I had designed some virtual bedding ensembles that we're really considering. Well, I entered one of those designs in Carousel Designs "Design Your Dream Baby Bedding" contest and I was notified earlier this week that I was selected in the top 10 designs! I have a chance to win a $500 gift card from Carousel Designs! That would be so awesome! So please go to the contest page and vote for my design! You can vote once per day until May 2nd!

Here is the direct link to my entry!  Yellow & Gray Love by Kendra

Thanks!!

Kendra

PROFILE BOOK

Our profile books arrived in the mail today and I must say that I am very pleased with my creation!  I had my doubts, my moment of panic, just before hitting the "submit" button when it was time to order.  I wondered if I did it "right", if it looked okay, if I said the right things.  But then I thought for a minute and realized that there isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to do this - it's a short story about us, a window into our lives!

Click here to view this photo book larger

BEDDING SAMPLES

Something fun arrived in the mail today! The bedding fabric samples I ordered!  I put them on my small bulletin board, along with my "To-Do List".  More things will be added to the board as time goes on, most likely.

PROGRESS...I'm making progress!!!

So, I bit the bullet and just (5 minutes ago) ordered our profile books from Shutterfly!  I waited, and waited, and waited (ha!) until they had another 50% off coupon...and finally, last week I got one.  So, I made a couple small edits to the book I'd already created/saved, adding a new photo of me and Rob from this past weekend as the new cover photo and one of the newborn photos I did of my newest niece (born on Valentine's Day) to the family photo section.  And then I checked and double checked for spelling/grammar errors (oh will I be mad if I missed something!!!), called my mom for a pep talk "am I really ready to order these 5 books?!" - then I hit the "submit" button and the order is placed!!!

Total savings with the 50% off coupon plus a free shipping coupon = $119.47.  Wowzers!!!

It sure feels good to have one seemingly huge thing off my plate.  Now I'll be biting my nails until the books arrive!!!

KEEP ROLLING ON...

Not trying to get ahead of myself, but not wanting to drag my feet too much.  I know we have quite a bit still left to do before we're considered "active" in the adoption world, and a wait that could span a couple years,  but we have to get things ready...you can't put off planning forever!  A girl needs to do a little shopping, right?!

So, I'm still pinning baby ideas to my "Baby" board on Pinterest and entering giveaways trying to win baby gear.  So tonight, while entering a Pottery Barn Kids giveaway on Project Nursery, I came across a website that sells crib bedding (among other things) where you can browse/buy already put together designs or use their nifty nursery designer to create a virtual picture of custom bedding you create.  The site is Carousel Designs and I can't even tell you how long I stayed on that site!

I'm still really leaning towards the gray/yellow/white color scheme, with black furniture thrown in the mix.  But, recently (on Project Nursery) I found another nursery design that still involves gray, but instead of yellows and whites, it had bright aqua blue, orange, and green with the chevron pattern that I so love.  It was adorable, and different.  But tonight while playing around on Carousel Designs, I created and saved several gray, yellow and white bedding options.  So, I bit the bullet and ordered fabric swatches, seven to be exact.  At only $.50 a swatch, how could you go wrong?!

Here are a couple of the designs I created:

Just a little fun to throw in the mix....wouldn't want this blog to get boring now, would we?! ;)