Back from Sedona...

Joe and I spent the weekend up north in Sedona for a little birthday relaxation (actually, today is my b-day). We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Las Posadas of Sedona. For the locals, it's actually just outside of Sedona in the Village of Oak Creek. We had a two room suite decorated very nicely in warm southwest colors...






Each afternoon, they would have a nice little snack waiting in the room for us...


They had a very nice kitchen and breakfast room and served a hot entree plus a pretty spread of fruits, home-made granola, breads, juices, and coffee. Our first morning they made french toast and sausage and the second day we had scrambled eggs and bacon. We have never stayed at a bed and breakfast before and we felt very spoiled...it was great!

The red rocks of Sedona are so beautiful. If you live in AZ and have never been there, you should plan a trip in the early fall. The red rock mountains are breathtaking and it's only two hours north of Phoenix.






On Saturday after shopping in Sedona, we took the back drive, past slide rock, up to Flagstaff to check out their downtown area. We found a cute little toy store that carries lots of Melissa & Doug old fashioned wooden toys. We got this adorable little pull alligator that dances as it's pulled...


Joe spotted this old style building block set. We have been looking for these for a while now. One side has the capital letter and one side has the small letter. The other sides have pictures of things that start with that letter. Don't these bring back memories of playing as a child?



There was also a Life is Good shop up in Flagstaff and check out what Joe found on the sale rack...



We also found a Naartjie outlet store and picked up these adorable outfits on the clearance rack...




On Saturday evening back in Sedona, we spotted a double rainbow...


All in all, we had a fabulous trip and would highly recommend the Las Posada bed and breakfast to any locals heading up there. Since it's just outside Sedona, there is a 15 min or so drive into the Sedona shopping area, but it's worth the short drive to stay there.

Nursery pics!

I have my new camera, so I finally got some pictures of Lauren's room.

This shot is taken from the doorway...



These are the sheers I got at Pottery Barn Kids. If you enlarge the photo you can see the detail much better...








I guess I need to stop clothes shopping now! ;)



Now that the room is done, I find myself wandering in there a lot to look around or just sit in the rocker. I also find myself going through the closet and picturing Lauren is all those cute outfits. I'm really glad we waited to get the room set up because I don't think I could have handled endless months and years of having it done. As it is now, we still have months ahead of us...but hopefully not too many!

Shopping cart cover...

I've had my eye on these KozyPal shopping cart covers for a long time. I found the site over a year ago and had it bookmarked since then. I think it's finally time to go ahead and order one. These covers also work on those wooden restaurant high chairs. Since you all know that I LOVE shopping, Lauren needs a way to look fashionable while in the cart. With the fun fabrics they offer, I think she'll be the fashionista of Tarjay!

I'm torn between a few different fabric prints...

Disco Dots Flamingo...


Disco Dots Sorbet...


Boho Blossom Clementine...


Carnival Bloom...


These covers have different options so you can customize it just the way you want. I'm going to add the sewn in bottle/sippy cup holder. Does anyone already have a Kozypal? If so, I'd love to hear how you like it.

29 month LIDversary...

Yup, this past Thursday marks 29 months of waiting, hoping and praying.

I think that just about speaks for itself...not much else to say about that.

Well, after years of faithful service our old 3 megapixel Canon Powershot camera has bitten the dust. Joe and I have finally decided on a replacement and went out in search of one today. After we came up dry at several electronics stores, we ended up ordering it at a camera store and having it shipped. We are getting the Canon TX1...it's a hybrid digital camera and camcorder in one. It's 7.1 megapixel with a 10x optical zoom and image stabilization, which should greatly reduce the number of blurry photos.

Once we get it and have a chance to check it out, I'll let you all know how we like it. For those of you still looking for a new camera and camcorder for the China trip, I'll post sample photos and video. By the way, the TX1 is $499, which is basically the same price as a standard point and shoot digital camera and a standard definition camcorder combined.

Surprise shower...

We have known a small group of local waiting families for over two years now. Since three of the families now have their children, we haven't been getting together monthly like we used to. Well this past Saturday we got together at Kim and Scott's place. They have twin girls from China and Kim is due to have a baby boy in September! Here she is with the girls, Jenna & Jadyn.


We decided to make the get together a surprise baby shower for Kim, and brought gifts, cupcakes and favors. She was quite surprised!



I had SO much fun playing with the kids. In this photo we are in the "lion's den" at the top of the stairs and the "daddy lion" aka Scott kept sneaking around the corner and roaring at the girls. They would scream and hide behind me when Scott came crawling up the stairs. They were having a ball...


Here's a couple of pics of all the girls. I love how Ava is playing peek-a-boo...hiding in the first pic and peeking in the next.




After a whole evening of playing with the kids, I am even more ready to go and get Lauren. We can't wait to have our own little one at home!

I've been tagged...

by Karen (my China travel buddy) and Dana to write 6 words that describe how I am feeling right now, and then tag 5 others. Well, here it goes...

1. Anticipation of being a momma for the first time. I don't think I could ever describe to those not waiting for their first child just how it feels. It's a very strange feeling living this long of a time (fast approaching 29 months) in sort of a holding pattern, not really knowing when your life is about to be changed forever.
   
   
2. Anxiety about if we will be good parents and if we are getting too old to truly give Lauren the life she deserves. We never wanted to be the "older" parents and that's exactly the way it turned out. I think about how old we will be when she graduates high school and hope Joe isn't walking her down the wedding aisle with a walker! ;)
   
   
3. Accomplished because we worked on the nursery over the weekend and it's pretty much done except for a couple of little things. I'll post some photos soon. It turned out really pretty and I find myself walking in there almost every time I pass the room just to look around.
   
   
4. Happy about the possibility of having our referral and laying eyes on our daughter for the first time. I SO hope this will happen before the end of the year!
   
   
5. Lazy about getting non-baby related projects done around the house. Also lazy about getting out of bed in the morning. I've had a HARD time getting to work by 7am this week! The Starbucks drive thru has been my best friend.
   
   
6. Grateful for all I have...a great hubby (aka Mr. Wonderful or Cabana Joe), a great family, awesome friends, and all my Blogville buddies. I am so grateful for the on-line adoption community...I don't think I'd have my sanity (or what's left of it) at this point without everyone!

A measly 22 calendar days...

is all that separates us from our referral at this point. It seems oh so close when you look at the calendar on my sidebar, but in reality it's still not soon enough for me!

China Adoption forecast has just updated their site and now they are estimating a referral date in November for us. They had been estimating October for the past couple of months.

I hate to say that I'm quickly losing...

of traveling this year.

I'm so NOT ready to face Christmas #3 (#4 if you count paperchasing) without our daughter! Can you tell I'm in one of those "this just sucks" kind of moods this evening?

It was an itsy bitsy teenie weinie...

yellow polka dot bikini, that she wore for the first time today...
I know that poor Ruby looks pretty silly in that bikini! We were at our friend, Linda Marie's place on the 4th hanging out and relaxing at the pool and we were also doggie sitting for Christine who was on the beach in San Diego. She laughs at me since I like to buy cute little outfits for Ruby, so I couldn't help but dress her up and e-mail her a photo of what's going on while she's not here. Christine, I promise that when we get Lauren, I'll quit dressing Ruby! ;)

We had a really nice and relaxing day lounging by the pool and eating great food. We had two bar-b-que smokers cranked up. Joe smoked some pork ribs...

and Linda made some bacon wrapped shrimp...

we also had sweet corn...

and potato salad with sour cream and bacon...

Oh, and don't forget the sangria with fresh strawberries, raspberries and peaches...

After dinner, Linda surprised us with these...

We released ladybugs in honor of Lauren. How sweet is that? I loved it.

The little ladies quickly made themselves at home in Linda's garden.

Linda, thank you SO much for this sweet gesture. It's really nice to know that our friends are also thinking of Lauren and looking forward to us bringing her home.

The 3rd time's a charm...

or so they say. Well it was true for me today. I went in for my 3rd, and hopefully last, fingerprinting today.

The first time we went it took 4-5 hours, the 2nd time was about an hour and this time only 15 minutes!!! I was in and out in a flash...a banner day for the USCIS.

It's that time again...

...so let the roller coaster ride begin!

There were rumors late last week of packages on the way from China to US agencies, but it seems these packages contained travel approvals for families with referrals waiting to travel.

Now the rumors are that matching is still in progress, which means that we probably won't know the next cut off until next week. With the holiday on Friday, I can't imagine the agencies will have time to receive packages this week and make calls.

So, here we are again on the monthly coaster ride. How far will they get this month? It's any one's guess right now. With about 27 days from our LID, we sure are hoping for a big batch. It would be fabulous if they can get through the rest of January! Come on CCAA, we know you have it in you since it's been done before!