Good News in the Mail

Some of my fellow waiting momma's and I are doing a monthly gift swap to help with all of the waiting. It is so nice to have good news come in the mail. It has the added bonus of giving me something creative and fun to do. This month's theme was bedtime. My secret buddy, Beth, sent me this great package. It arrived yesterday and it was so fun for the boys and I to open up the gifts for Lauren. Look at all that pink wrapping. Ooohhh...




Here is what was inside. Adorable pink and grean pj's for Lauren to be cozy in, a super soft blanket that matches the crib bedding( wow), and a great bed time story ( Pajama Time). Beth, I love the pink and green jammies.

Look how great the blanket goes with the bedding:) It has both the light pink, dark pink and grean that I am going for. Thank you so much Beth!!!!!!

The next picture is the latest addition to the nursery decor. I picked out this pink farbric that I just love and had a slip cover made to cover my hope chest. It looks more like the window seat we ( and the cats) use it as.

Here is the latest picture of the nursery in progress. We are painting the room next week. The green nook is going to be a dark pink and the other 3 walls will be a pale/neutral pink. The last big project for the room is the rocker. We have a great rocker that was my mother's grandfathers. It has been recovered a few times and has been a light blue color that has worked for all three of my boys . The shade of blue does not go with the nursery at all. I love that all three of my boys were rocked in this chair and look forward to rocking Lauren when she is home. I just need to find the right fabric to recover the chair. Given our court schedule or lack there of I have plenty of time to look into this this summer.

It finally stopped raining so we are headed outdoors.

Working on the Nursery

We have started work on the nursery. Things are coming together but a little slower than I originally had planned. Here are the inspiration fabrics for the room. The top swatch is a fabric that I am using to make a cover for a chest that is in front of the big window. We tend to use it as a window seat so now it will match. The second fabric we are using for the drapes. The window in the nursery is very big. My mom made the drapes for me and now we will be able to open and close them for nap time. This is the big window. It really is beautiful but can be a challenge to dress. I love how the drapes came out, but I don't think they are showing as well in the picture. The window is in a little nook in the room. The nook is painted a really pretty green that worked great in Jake's room. I thought it might work again as the green is similar to the green stripe in the curtain. Once I put the drapes up I realized we were going to need more pink.

For the bedding I kind of but it together myself instead of buying a whole packaged set. I am going for the pink and green color scheme. I found this super soft pink bumper made by Cart*rs. It is very pale but once we paint the nook a dark pink and the rest of the walls a lighter pink I think it will pop better. For a skirt I really wanted the Pott*ry B&rn crib skirt with with ric rac ribbon. I actually found this once on e-bay. I love the colors and the embroidered butterfly. I was very surprised to find a crib skirt with a flamingo! I definitely did not go looking for it but Flamingos are such a fun symbol for all my friends that I could not pass it up.

Here is a little butterfly decoration that I found at Christmas time. I thought it was so fitting for our butterfly girl.

Now that baseball is over I will be home long enough to finish cleaning out the room and girling it up...and paint.

End of School Activities

Well, we survived a very busy spring season! Josh and Matt had their last day of school yesterday. We celebrated with a very fun pool party at my friend M's house. Here are some pictures of our end of year wrap up.

Matt's class had a Hawaiian theme party and did a private concert for the parents as a kick off. Matt has the orange shirt and big smile in the 2nd row.

After singing, playing games and eating it was time to release the butterflies the class had been raising in their classroom. It was very interesting to see the release. I think the butterflies got used to all the hustle and bustle of the classroom and the kids voices. They took their time flying away. Here is Matt's friend A with one of the butterflies.

Josh moved up a rank in Karate this last week. He is very proud to move on to his yellow belt.

Here is a shot of Matt getting a hit in baseball.

Jake practicing his baseball moves.

It is so nice to not have to run around today. All the teacher gifts have been assembled and given out, baseball ends tonight, there is no more homework, no more packing lunches or running for the bus. Ahh....Summertime!

Sigh...still no news

I have been super busy lately with all of the end of the school year stuff and the boys crazy baseball schedule. It has been great for keeping my mind busy during this wait. Unfortunately all this waiting has not brought us any closer to bringing Lauren home. I e-mailed my agency today and they still have no info on a hearing date. A typical hearing occurs 1-3 months after your paperwork reaches Taiwan. We did have a small snafu with our translation that slowed us down for 3 weeks, but still it has been 3 1/2 months since we have seen Lauren's face and still no hearing. It is so disheartening to know that we are not getting any closer to travel. I think I will call our case worker tomorrow to see if I can learn something new or at the least get a pep talk.

Update Day!!!!

I just love update day. Here is Miss Lauren getting some tummy time. I love the little hair clip in her hair. It is not from me. I love that someone caring for her cared enough to add a pretty little clip. The butterfly rattle in the video is from our first care package. It was so good to see her with it. When I saw her picture she just took my breathe away. I cannot wait to hold her in my arms. Enjoy the pictures and video:)

Lauren playing and getting some tummy time.

5 Months Today

Happy 5 Months old Miss Lauren! Wow, she is growing up so fast. We should be getting new updates in the next week or 2. Hopefully we will get some good court news too.

On Lauren's 5 month birthday we had 3 baseball games. Josh pitched for the 2nd time and did a great job. His coach called him Pappelban. Josh was SO PROUD and so were we. He has such a passion for baseball so it is so special for him when he does well. Matt is really enjoying baseball as well. He is doing really well when he isn't too busy chatting up the other players (his team and the other team :).

Congratulations to Beth and Alan on the referral of thier sweet baby girl! If you would like to view this precious baby girl, follow the link on the right to A Love Like No Other.

Status Update

Let's see what is new on the adoption front and elsewhere:

We still have not had our hearing or had a hearing date scheduled as of yet. We did receive confirmation that our Birth Mother Interview is complete so that is great news. The next step should be the hearing. It is looking like our court process is moving on the slower side. I had originally hoped to travel in July or August. It could be August, September or....( I can't write anything further for fear that it will push out our travel even longer. We did receive our updated immigration approval last week so we are good to go as soon as we are invited.

We did get updated measurements on Lauren. She is/was 13 1/4 lbs and 22 1/2 inches on April 25th. The clothes that we sent in the care package should fit and hopefully when we get our next update she will be wearing one of her cute dresses.

I am starting to work on the nursery. I have the fabric ready for curtains. My mom has generously offered to make, with the helpful input of her great friends. I have the bumper and crib skirt. My plan was to have everything done by the end of June. I will take pictures and post ASAP.

The boys are also getting ready to share a room. I have all the big boy bedding bought and ready to go. Jake is very excited to share with the older boys. The older boys seem to be okay too. We are keeping the guest room for at least another year until Lauren is fully settled. Although, Matt has been given first dips to use the guest room if his room get to be "too much".

Tomorrow the boys find out who their teacher will be for next year. Everyone is a little nervous ( including me!). Hopefully everyone will have a friend or 2 in class next year and the right teacher for their personality.