CRIB & BEDDING

Wow, what a whirlwind week this has been - so busy!  Here is a quick update for everyone...

Mom and I picked up the crib & mattress after work on Tuesday night.  I couldn't resist, and opened the box on Wednesday night to see how everything looked (and make sure there was no damage) - and now I can't wait to be able to put it all together!

And tonight mom and I looked over the sewing patterns she had for crib bedding and made a final decision on the style and patterns/colors of fabric.  We decided on the chevron pattern in gray & white for the main pattern, it will be on the crib skirt, one side of the quilt, and the rocking chair seat & back pads.  We then went with gray and white stripe for the window valance.  Dark gray/black for 3-4" of bottom on the crib skirt.  And yellow for the crib sheet(s) and the reverse side of the quilt.  So, after we figured out the patterns/colors and amounts of fabric, I came straight home and placed the order!!  From what the Carousel Bedding website says, I should expect to receive the shipment next week!  Woot!!

MOVING FORWARD? OR STANDING STILL?

Lately I've felt like we slowed down...a little bit is fine, but I've been feeling like we've slowed down too much. Ack!  I don't want to be like that!  So, right here, right now I'm going over what we've accomplished so far, which includes things that directly link to the adoption as well as things that indirectly link to it.

What we have ACCOMPLISHED:

1. Orientation classes
2. Home Study classes
3. Turned in MOST of our paperwork
4. Profile books - created, ordered and in our hot little hands
5. Finger printing
6. Background checks
7. Prepare & Enrich online marriage assessment
8. Not necessary, but still important (and fun) purchased the crib & mattress - which is in and waiting to be picked up at the store!
9. Organizing/cleaning (still some to go)
10. Porch power washed and stained (looks fab!)
11. Nursery design has been decided (gray, white & yellow with black furniture --- chevron pattern is the main look).  I will be ordering the fabric for our homemade by grandma (my mom) bedding THIS week before my coupon expires! Yay!

What we need TO DO:

1. Minimal paperwork - 3 pages that need to be done as a couple, 4 pages that are for Rob to complete, 1 page that needs to be signed & notarized (which we'll have our sister-in-law notarize)
2. Physicals for both of us
3. Profile video
4. Home study

This weekend we've done a little more organizing/cleaning and I finished up any paperwork that I was able to do on my own.

As I mentioned above, we ordered our crib & mattress a couple weeks ago and I received notice that it is in and ready to be picked up! We will be doing that this week.  We'll also be setting up appointments for physicals (which I'm dreading).

(sigh) Ok, I guess we're not doing soooo bad after all.....

CRIB

Today, we ordered the crib - well my mom ordered the crib anyway!  (Thank you, mom!)  Such a weird feeling!  It will be in either end of next week or beginning of the following.  And very soon we're going to start tearing into the spare bedroom that will eventually become the nursery.  With the crib on it's way, we can no longer put off preparing the room!  So exciting!

Here it is, we got the crib & mattress combo set.  The next purchase will be the fabric for the crib bedding for my mom to make the quilt, sheets, and skirt - we're not planning to use a crib bumper.

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