Saturday, April 21, 2012

5 Clues

I'll give you 5 clues where you can find this Mama and Papa in a little under a month:




I bet you guessed Russia. Did you guess Russia? St. Petersburg even? Gosh, you're smart!

Yep, get ready St. Pete because WE'RE COMING BACK!  27 days until we see our kids again!  We got our court date today. Thank God.

No really, thanks God.

I'm pretty sure Jay would agree that the second "big call" of adoption was even more exciting than the first. Certainly getting our referral call is, and probably will be, one of the coolest moments of my life, but this call brought instant excitement and relief. We're going back to see our three little loves, all is well with the world.

And for those also curious, we do not bring the kids home this trip. Just another visit and court. Wait, "just" another visit seems like it's NO big deal. What I really mean to say is, "WOO HOO ANOTHER VISIT AND COURT!" But people don't like to read all caps on blogs so I was playing it cool. I'm so cool.

The way things work with the court system over there right now is that trip #3 is 30 working days after trip #2. Yes, of course I immediately counted and recounted the days on my calendar to estimate when that would be.

Are you ready for the most exciting part? 

Itzy Bitzy Schmitzys estimated arrival date to the USA: first week of July! 

Best anniversary ever. Perhaps we'll have fireworks for their arrival.  As if that wouldn't completely freak them out.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Can we go back yet?

Still waiting on a court date. 

It's been a month. 

That's typical of the process. 

We were told a month, maybe two.  Then 6 more weeks to bring them home. 

We expected to wait. 

But we didn't expect to miss them this much. 

Monday, April 9, 2012

Kids' Rooms

It's been no secret that decorating has slowly become one of my most frequent coping mechanisms. Feeling a little like I have no control? Okay, let's buy a bedspread!  Wishing that time would tick by a little faster? Let's paint a wall!  Paperwork overwhelming me? I'll peruse Etsy for hours! 

In all seriousness... I have been obsessively decorating and redecorating the kids' rooms.  Jay's tired of painting, my mom's tired of looking at bedding in every store, and the lady at the return counter at Target thinks I've lost my damn mind. And I probably have.

Oh well. Let's start with the big boy bedroom.  He's 4 1/2...so I wanted to make it something he could grow in to. Don't you love the sign? (Thanks, Nancy! : )
Here's his bed with Jay's favorite wall he's ever painted.  The teddy on the bed is one exactly like my favorite teddy bear I was given when I was a baby. 

The prints are from a cute shop on Etsy. I wanted to do something with superheros but not too gaudy. These did just the trick.  We'll need to find the boy a cape. Every boy should have a cape.  
Grandma Vick found this at an antique store. Looks kinda neat sitting on his nightstand. 
 Stuffed animal shelf mounted over his dresser.  The husband doubted me on this one, but I think it's my favorite little element in the room. 
Finally the globe from Uncle Dallas and Aunt Jamie's wedding is sitting on top of his bookshelf.  See that plane flying across the Atlantic Ocean? That's us! We'll be there soon, buddy! 

The girls will share a room.  They are bonded very closely, so we were told they'd probably prefer it. Good thing, because we really didn't have any other options! Their room slowly evolved into a "Pinkalicious" creation. I didn't intend it to be that way, I guess that's just what happens when you find out you're going to have two daughters to spoil. : )

Big sister's bed, I couldn't resist the polka dotted dog, and the doll is like the one we brought her on her first visit. Hopefully she'll be allowed to keep the original one we brought her, but we have this backup waiting here at home, just in case. 
 
Little sister's bed looks pretty much the same.  We are told she's still in a crib, but we're not sure if it looks like what we consider a crib, or more like a toddler bed.  With this setup, we're safe for a quick change either way.
  
Their dresser I refinished along with a few Russian touches. The matryoshkas we got on our vacation in Colorado this summer, the week we decided to adopt.  The necklace on their bow board is from a new friend of mine who is also adopting right now. It's got a little map in the background of the region they live in. It's so sweet.  I keep it on their board when I'm not wearing it. 

 Close up of the bow board and basket of "Stella" and "Olivia" books. : )
 
Cuddle chair to read books in.

And finally, a little DIY artwork. 


After our first trip to meet the kids, I came home with a renewed inspiration and was able to put some of these (cringe) "finishing" touches on them. Gosh, that sounds so...final.  Let's just say,
"Here's what their rooms look like....for now!" : )

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Red crayons...

This shouldn't need an explanation.  But obviously this is a sun. : ) Big brother's quite the artist.
Middle sister is what Jay refers to as a "crayon murderer".  I say we just need a little practice. 

And the bitty baby? She just wants to do what her older siblings do, too!  Do we have a lefty on our hands?