Time for some changes...

I started with a new look for my blog. The header image is a scan of the wallpaper border and paint colors we'll be using for Lauren's room. We'll be starting the nursery after Christmas and I thought this new blog look would get me motivated and keep me on track. ;)

Before the nursery, we'll be painting and decorating our master bedroom and bath. We have a couple of use or loose vacation days, so we're going to take them early next month to finally get our master bedroom done. We've lived in our house for three years this coming April and that's the one room we haven't done a darn thing too yet. Plus, we want to get rid of our queen size bed and upgrade to a king so there is room for us and Lauren.

Today I stopped in to TJ Maxx and I found exactly what I've been looking for...a king size quilt for our bedroom at an awesome price! I wasn't sure about the color, but I picked it up figuring I could return it. We bought drapery panels at IKEA months ago and I wasn't sure the quilt would match.

Well, check out this perfect match! The drapery panels are the solid red brick color and I think they go great together.

I love when things just click without too much effort. I couldn't have found a better match if I tried!

Christmas is right around the corner...

When Starbucks starts cranking out their yummy peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes and their Christmas merchandise is in the store, then it's the official start of the Christmas season for me! It doesn't matter that the temperature here in AZ is still in the mid 80's and we're still in short sleeves.

Check out this year's bear couple all decked out in their parkas, scarves and furry boots.

I'm a sucker for their collectible bears and the peppermint mochas.

By the way, do you realize there are only 35 days until Christmas!

Nine months down...

Tomorrow will be nine months since our February 17th LID. I think it's finally safe to say that we are more than half way there now, which feels really good!

Since we've been pretty busy lately, this past month has gone by in a flash. With the holidays right around the corner and referral excitement to come very soon for our friends, Nancy & Brian, I have a feeling it will be our 12-month anniversary before we know it.

I just read Chrisi's post "Reflections of a new Mom" about her wonderful experiences with Abbey during their first week together. It is such a very sweet post and makes me so anxious for our time to come. Sometimes I wish I could just fast forward to our referral call and be on our way to get our sweet, long awaited baby.

On their way!

One of our local FCC families, Kim and Scott, are on their way to China today! They will be meeting their twins, Jadyn and Jenna, on Sunday. I can't wait to see a gotcha day photo of them with their precious baby girls!!

We survived the weekend!

Well, my brother and sister-in-law are back from San Diego and Joe and I have a quite house once again. We survived two soccer games, two parties, bowling and golf land...actually, I can say now that you haven't truly experienced mini-golf until you've played with a four year old boy and his two sisters. It was fun and challenging all at the same time...a real test of patience. ;)

I must say, after three complete days with three kids, that I have a new respect for parents of multiple children. HOW in the heck do you do it day in and day out?? Dawn, how do you do it with four boys?? My goodness, you have your hands full!

All in all, Joe and I had a great time with the kids and we feel lucky to have them living close by enough so that we can spend time with them. They are great kids and will be amazing cousins to Lauren. By the way, they are so excited about Lauren and talk about her a lot. They have so many questions about her, and love looking through the books I have on China.

Saturday afternoon, my Mother picked up the kids for a trip to Chuck e Cheese so that I could visit with Julie, here from Minneapolis. Nancy and I met Julie for lunch, then stopped by Nancy's place so Julie could see her totally adorable nursery. After that we went scrapbook shopping...a huge store I haven't been to yet, but will definitely be back.

Here we are at Nancy & Brian's place (left to right...Julie, me and Nancy)...


and here's Max looking so cute on the top step...

Bedtime Friend...

Well it looks like Lucy found some new bedtime friends. She's very comfortable on the air mattress with Emily and Josh.

Gee, I guess the kids won't be going to sleep anytime soon!

Whirlwind Weekend Ahead...

My brother and sister-in-law are heading off to San Diego on a well deserved weekend of fun and Joe and I are taking care of our nieces and nephew. Since I have Friday off for the Veteran's Day holiday, my official call of duty starts after work tomorrow and ends Sunday night. Between the three kids, they have two soccer games, three parties, piano practice, and homework that needs to be done during the time we have them! Gee, life was SO much simpler when I was a kid! We would spend the weekend outside playing with friends each day until we were called in for dinner.

In the middle of certain chaos this weekend, I get to take a break and visit with Julie who will be in town on a family visit. Nancy, Heather and I will get to meet up with her for lunch and some scrapbook shopping. I met Julie on my Utah Waiting Momma's Summit and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

All in all, in should be a fun, but very busy, weekend with the kids. I almost wish I would have taken Monday off though, because I have a feeling I'm REALLY going to need it! I'm sure I'll be ready to drop by then!

New Momma!

Christi finally has Abbey!!! Click here to see a photo of the proud momma and Abbey's beautiful little face! What a great day!

Fun Costco Find...

Yesterday Joe and I were in the Costco Christmas toy aisles and look what they had.

Isn't she pretty? She's made of porcelain and comes with a little snow globe with a panda bear. We just had to get her to put away for Lauren. Someday when she can appreciate collectable dolls we'll give it to her as a Christmas or birthday gift.

They had them themed for several other countries too...Russia, Germany, Ireland, Africa.

Referrals & Halloween Fun...

Referrals are on their way and the CCAA actually made it through August 25th!! Can this be an indication of a slight speed up??? I sure hope so. Congrats to my bloggy friends Julie and Lisa who made the cut-off this month. It was nice to move them on my sidebar from Patiently Waiting to Waiting to Travel...soooo cool! I can't wait to see what Tess and Baby S look like!

On the flip side, my heart goes out to my friends Nancy and Brian, who missed the cut off by one darn day! Nancy was so hoping that this would be the month, but was also trying not to get her hopes up too much. But, how can you help it?? This wait is so dang long, that it much be just torture towards the end. Nancy, I know you are going to get totally sick and tired of hearing this one, but at least you KNOW you are next and I can't wait to see Lily's face next month!

My friend, Jennifer, had her annual Halloween pumpkin carving party again this year and it's tradition that the night before we get together and make caramel apples and treats for the party. This year we got together at my place. The first task was unwrapping bags and bags of caramel. As you can imagine, not all the caramels made it into the bowl!


Here's my niece, Katie, and nephew, Joshua, dipping the apples...


The best part is eating the left over caramel after all the apples are dipped!!


Next we made these adorable little marshmallow witches made with chocolate wafer cookies, mini peanut putter cups, and Hershey kisses as the hats. We had an assembly line going...


On Sunday, it was off to the park for the pumpkin carving party. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time. Here's some of my favorite pumpkins...


One of the party guests happened to be a balloon artist and he created this monkey in a tree hat for my niece, Emily. That's one talent you need to keep to yourself unless you want a long line of kids by your side!

Eight easy steps...

and you can have your own comfy fleece blanket! Several of you asked for the instructions on how to make this blanket, so here is goes...

I used one yard each of the printed fleece and the contrasting solid fleece. This made a blanket that's a nice size for a stroller or crib. Lay the printed fleece right side up on the solid fleece and trim all the edges so they are straight and even. Cut a square through both fabrics from each corner the same size as you would like the trim. I made a 6" square from cardstock and used that as a guide for each corner. Once you have the corners cut out, cut the edges into even strips (I did mine 1.5" wide). Now your blanket should look like the diagram below.




To "tie" the strips, make a small slit (about 1/4") with a seam ripper through both fabric layers ending slightly above end of strip cut.
Lift the top layer up...

and feed it through the bottom layer through the slit you just cut.

Once you feed the top layer all the way through, pull the bottom layer up so you can find the slit... and then feed the bottom layer through the slit...

pulling it tight to make the edge border.That's all there is to it. Although it's a lot of steps to show with photos, it's actually super easy to do. If you try it and get stuck or if you have any question, just e-mail me.

Secret Pal Revealed!!

After nine months of receiving the most wonderful Secret Pal gifts ever, I finally know who my pal is!!! Drumroll, please.........it's STEPHE, our Philly trip hostess extraordinare and a fellow China travel group mate!!!

This adorable Panda Bear was the first item I opened from the box. When I pressed his left paw he said "It's me, Stephe, your Secret Pal." Leave it to Stephe to come up with such a creative way to reveal herself. I was laughing so hard...it's the cutest thing!

Lauren is going to have so much fun with this Panda recording herself and playing back over and over.




The second gift I opened was this beautiful framed print of the red thread proverb with our Precious Panda bear personalized for Lauren from Stephe, Giorgia and her furbaby, Pirate. Double click on photo to enlarge. Seeing Lauren's name on this, brought tears to my eyes. It was one of those moments when it hit me that this is real...I've talked about those "moments" before.



I LOVE piggy banks and check out this totally adorable piggy with a pink bow, rosy cheeks and Chinese character. Soooo cute.

I also love this little Dora dressed in a Chinese outfit. Isn't she cute?
















Here's a shot of my entire box of goodies.

Stephe, you have played such a HUGE part in making this long wait so much more bearable and even fun. Between our e-mail "chatting", our DTC group, the Philly trip and all the wonderful gifts you have sent, you have really played an important part in this adoption process for me. I so appreciate all your thoughtfulness, creativity, and the generosity you have showed me.

Luv ya and can't wait for Giorgia and Lauren to be playing together soon!!

New Yahoo Group...

As a follow-up from my previous post, I've created a new Yahoo group called China Bound Weighting Mommas for any of you who would like some weight lose buddies.

If you're interested in joining, send an e-mail to this address. I'm hoping this group will be a place for support and also sharing recipes, tips, menu ideas, etc. I can use all the help I can get!

I'm finally motivated...

to start back up on Weight Watchers before it's too late to loose some weight before the China trip. This has been in the back of my mind since we started the paperchase and if I don't get my butt in gear now, the next thing I know we'll be getting our referral and I wouldn't have lost a pound.

I've been struggling with my weight since as long as I can remember and have been on and off Weight Watchers over the years. I lost 40 pounds once and 50 pounds another time, but always gain it back slowly when I get tired of following the program and start slacking off. I've been on the program long enough to know how to eat right, but my main problem is overeating to relieve stress and for comfort and God knows between this seemingly never ending wait and my job, I certainly have my share of stress.

Well, it's time to tackle my weight problem head on and see if I can loose some weight before we travel...50 lbs is my goal. That's my short-term goal, since I would have more to loose after that. I figured if I track my progress here then maybe that would give me an added boost to stay on track. I'm going to join Weight Watchers on the web and use their on-line food journal and points calculator.

If there is anyone else out there who's had this on their minds and wants to join too, let me know...I would love to have a weight lose "buddy". Heck, maybe we can start a Yahoo group to support and cheer each other on!

Eight months down...

We've been logged in for eight months today. I'm really hoping that this puts us firmly at the half way mark to referral. If things speed up at the CCAA that would be great, but I'm trying to accept that realistically we are at the half way point right now.

I know that we all complain about the wait, God knows that I've had my moments, but I have to admit that these first eight months have really flown by pretty quickly. I'm sure that those of you who are further along are going to tell me that the closer you get, the slower time goes. That's kind of what I'm expecting. Is is true?

I finished my first fleece blanket project and sent it off to my Secret Pal. It has a really cool edge finish that Nancy taught Heather and I a while back. Of course, I never actually finished my own blanket that I had started back then, but I did this blanket in one evening.


The back is done in a contrasting color...




and the way the strips are done it makes a really cool border on the front of the blanket. Pretty cute, huh?

I hope my Secret Pal likes it. This is the last month of our exchange, so it's reveal time!

*** Update: Since several of you have asked, I will be posting photos of how to do the border on this blanket very soon! ***

Thank God it's finally Saturday...

It's been a really long week, so thank goodness the weekend is finally here! For one thing, we were short staffed at the office and it was super busy. Also, Joe left for a business trip on Monday morning and just got home Thursday night.

With Joe out of town, I was on official doggie duty (no pun intended), which means waking up at the crack of dawn to feed and walk the girls and somehow still making it to work by 7am! Then, feeding them and walking them in the evening after work and then collapsing on the couch. How in the world am I going to handle a baby if taking care of my furbabies solo for the week got me exhausted?? Needless to say, I really missed my hubby!!

When Joe's flight landed and he called me on the way home one of the first things out of his mouth was "guess who was on my flight, sitting right in front of me?" So, I'm thinking celebrity and trying to guess who would be on a flight from Ohio to Phx. It turned out to be a women with her adopted daughter from China. I think it was so sweet that Joe was excited about that. The little girl was 4 years old (adopted 3 yrs ago) and from the Hunan province. Joe said she was happy, very bright and beautiful.

Well, tonight Nancy & Brian are throwing a referral party for Kim & Scott. They just got referred twin girls with this last batch. I can't wait to see their actual referral packet and photos.

I know a couple of my Blogville buddies live in Ohio. Joe was in Columbus and said the changing of the leaves was just beautiful. We don't get to enjoy that kind of thing here in Phoenix. He also said it's a total college town and Ohio State rules...I guess people go as far as to have huge, blow-up mascots on their lawns. Ok, Robin, fess up...do you have a mascot on your lawn?? ;)

New York, New York...

My brother and his family are in New York visiting my Dad and sent some photos. I thought I'd share a few with you...

World Trade Center site...

Cross at the site...
Sculpture that was originally in the plaza at the Trade Center...



When I was back in New York a couple of years ago, I got to see the site in person and it truly is heart wrenching. I've been up in the towers several times over the years and to be at the spot where they used to stand is just surreal. I can't imagine how New Yorkers who pass the site on a daily basis must feel.

Something to pack for the trip....

This was the theme for my September Secret Pal gift and my Pal didn't forget a thing! Did I mention already in a previous post that I have the best SP ever? Hmmm...I'm pretty sure I did, but I must say it again...SP, you're the BEST!

This month's box was decorated with adorable Asian cherubs (double click any photo to enlarge)...

aren't they too cute??

I had so much fun opening up all these little packages...

Check out all the items we have now to put away for the trip...

The items include:

• Chopsticks
• Luggage strap
• Bibs
• Chinese Dictionary
• Travel clock
• Drink mixes for bottled water
• Rolaids for after a dinner of stuff we don't recognize
• Purell
• Clip-on calculator
• Scented diaper disposal bags
• Air freshener
• Baby wipes in portable container
• Oxyclean for stains
• Travel toothbrushes & paste
• Little stuffed ladybug bear for Lauren to play with
• Charmin to go....very important item ;)
• Jet-alert caffeine pills for dealing with the time change
• Plastic loops for hooks things to diaper bag/stroller

Even with all these things, my VERY favorite item is this quick reference book chock full of all kinds of information we'll need in China.

When I first opened this I saw our address info, photo and an adorable little card that says "On our Way to Lauren Elizabeth." At that moment, it hit me...we ARE actually going to China and I got teary eyed. Sometimes I have those moments were it feels more real than other times and it just hits me. I think all you waiting mommas totally understand this and have your own "moments."

Inside this book, there is tons of information that we might need while in China like our pet-sitter, passport and agency info; symptoms and treatments for all sorts of conditions that we could encounter; medicine info, info on how to get medical treatment while there; info about the food, water, and making phone calls to the U.S., info on American friendly restaurants and shopping in Guangzhou, and more!

This reference book is SO thoughtful and SO very appreciated. It's just the right size to slip into our backback while in China so we have everything we need with us while we're on the go.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Secret Pal!! Next month we find out who our Secret Pals are, but this organized little book is a GIANT hint to who my pal is.

For those waiting to travel...

This poem is dedicated to all the waiting mommas who have their referral and are waiting to travel, including Christi, Tiffany, Mary-Mia, and Kim...

A Baby Asks God

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth
tomorrow,but how am I going to live there being so small and
helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take
care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I
don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."
God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile
for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to
understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"
God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet
words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel
will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"
God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach
you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"
God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will
teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next
to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from
Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to
leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

"You will simply call her, "Mom."

Thanks & Wishes....

Thank you to all my Blogville friends for your kind words on my previous post about our 7th month anniversary. You all always know the right thing to say, and I can always count on you all to lift my spirits. :)

I just posted a couple of new wish pages you can check out here.