It's Finished!

Several  months ago I mentioned two referral projects that I would finally be able to tackle. You can read more about that here.   Well...I finally finished it...TODAY!!

It's actually not as big as I wanted it to be, but as I said in the last post, I couldn't find any more yarn. I'm so excited to be able to give this to Baby E. I know she won't know what it is because she's too young, but I know that when we leave it with her and return to finally bring her home, she will have it. I'm hoping this will be a comfort to her on the plane ride home :-) 

Pampered!

Last week was a fabulous week of pampering. My beautiful mother flew into town so that we could get pampered. It was such a great girls' week. We shopped, talked, laughed...just enjoyed each other & each other's company! The first day started with a manicure and pedicure. The last time I got a mani-pedi was around the time of my wedding (7 1/2 years ago)! I'd forgotten how relaxing they were. It was great!

After the mani-pedi, we got home just in time for John & I to receive our "Travel Phone Call" from AGCI. That lasted for about 30 minutes and when we finished, Mom and I went out shopping.....shopping for Ethiopia, shopping for my baby shower (in February). We finished the evening off with a wonderful dinner and a yummy glass of wine!

The next day I got my scruffy eyebrows taken care of. My Eyebrow Girl is so good. What she does with my eyebrows is like magic!

After, we went and had lunch. Later that afternoon I had a hair appointment....no pics though!! That was the evening when we got about 4 inches of snow. I was driving home in it during rush hour...EEEKK!

The last day of pampering was the best.....MASSAGES! Mom didn't tell me what kind of massages we were getting. She just said that it was her favorite kind of massage. I knew which kind I wanted to get, but I'm always willing to be surprised...in a good way :-)

The masseuse called my name and off I went. As we were walking into the room she asks me "Have you ever had a hot stone massage before?" I started giggling "No. Is that what I'm getting? I didn't know. My mom wanted to surprise me. Yay! I'm so excited!"

I don't remember the last time I felt more relaxed. A couple of times while I was on my belly I caught myself in mid-snore and I think I actually fell asleep with my mouth open. Thank goodness I didn't drool. That would have been embarassing!

Needless to say it was a heavenly 50 minutes of pure relaxation.

After our massages, I took Mom to my G-School  and saw my Girls. We spent a good deal of time there and then it was off to do more shopping...shopping for my baby shower outfit, which I found and I love :-)

Saturday turned out be another day of running errands and getting more stuff for the Ethiopia trip. We stopped at the bookstore and got some reading for the LLLOONNGGG flight. Then we went to Jo-Ann to try to find more yarn so I could finish Baby E's blanket (no success but I did finish the blanket....that's the next post). Next was lunch, the grocery store, one more errand and then home.

Sunday we spent all day cooking. My mom helped me cook recipes that I remember as a little girl. Such great smells! Comfort food is the best!

What a great week with my Mom! It was just what I needed right before our trip to Ethiopia. I am all the more ready to meet our little girl. It won't be long now!!

Cleaning? Nesting?

Two weeks ago I started cleaning the house, just like I always do. The superficial things: laundry, dishes, dusting, vaccuuming. It usually takes me about 2 days to clean the entire house. Not this time. This time it took me 4 days. I used every hand tool that comes with the vacuum. I rearranged furniture in just about every room. I even had my hubby moving furniture from one room to another for me. I was even in the basement for 4 hours rearranging STUFF, cleaning, sucking up cobwebs.

I felt like a cleaning machine. I don't know if there was ever a time when I cleaned my house like that. Every time I thought I cleaned every possible area of a room, I found one more nook and cranny that I missed. And intermittently I would think "I can't bring my baby into this house with all this dust and stuff. I gotta get it clean." Well.....it's clean now!

So what do you think.....cleaning or nesting?

Bermuda!

One of my favorite places to be in the world. I haven't been to that many places in the world (Ethiopia will be the farthest to date) but even so, still one of my favorite places. Not just because of the beauty, peace and serenity that it embodies, but because that is where my family is. My mom was born and raised in Bermuda (aka Bermie, aka The Rock). She left at 17 years old to attend University and has been here in America since.

Every year since I was about 4 or 5 years old, I have been going to Bermuda to see my family: aunts, uncles & tons of cousins. Unfortunately I never got to know my grandfather or grandmother. I only get to go once a year though. It wasn't long after John and I met before I started prepping him to go to Bermuda, enticing him, luring him. Now, after almost 10 years, he doesn't feel right if we haven't gone to Bermuda to see our peoples. It is truly our second home.

Years ago, when we thought we could have biological children, we took a trip to Babies R Us to see what was new & hip. We came across the Bermuda Collection. We were both so excited that we got the Travel System, Pack-N-Play, and Swing!

For the last almost 4 years, this baby stuff has been in the boxes, sitting in the basement....until.....LAST NIGHT!! I brought the boxes upstairs and my wonderful husband spent the rest of the evening putting everything together...except the swing. Baby E will be too big for it, so it's still in the box in the basement. Here's how it all looks:

Now we just need Baby E and everything will be ALL good :-)

11 months....24 days

Yesterday I realized what today was and I made a mental note of it. This morning, hubby & I had a couple pieces of business to attend to. Right before we left, I asked John "Do you know what today is...I mean what this day really means?" And he said "Oh, you mean that our little girl is 11 months old today?"

These 2 months have gone by so quickly since the referral. We are so grateful to Amber & Jenn who have been able to snap some shots of our little one while they were in Ethiopia. Just 24 more days before we get to meet Baby E!

Each day brings a little more excitement and just a tad more anxiety for all the things that have to get completed before we get on that plane. But I know that everything will fall into place. Happy 11-months My Precious Girl! 

Gifts...Gifts....Gifts for Baby E!

My last day at work (a couple of weeks ago) was such a fun day, a relaxing day. I had spent that week giving my kiddos a goody bag of treats and on that Friday a lot of kiddos gave both me and Baby E gifts. The gifts were so thoughtful. Here's what Baby E received:

This was given to me by the entire class. They all signed their names to it!

Here's what it reads:

All I Really Needed To Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum

Most of what I really need to know about how to live

And what to do and how to be

I learned in Kindergarten.

Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain,

But there in the sandpile of Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything, play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat. Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some.

Draw and paint and sing and dance

And play and work everyday some. Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic.

Hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

A few days later my husband brings home a cute little gift bag and says that it's from our next-door neighbors...the neighbors that have been so kind  to us by notarizing all of our paperwork. This is what was inside the gift bag:

The cutest little HuggyBuddy and travel pillow I've ever seen. John and I have been taking turns sleeping with the HuggyBuddy so we can get our scent on it. We plan on taking it to Ethiopia and leaving it with Baby E until we can go back for the Embassy appointment.

Then on Christmas Eve, my stepdaughter came over bearing a huge wrapped box (gift). John & I had just seen her and our granddaughter K the day before, so we were very surprised to be receiving anything. I asked her if what was inside the box was going to make me cry and she replied "No, I don't think so." I had been very emotional those last several days and I just wanted to prepare myself (no haps!) I sat down and opened this box and this is what was inside:

A picture frame and the cutest, softest Pillow Pet!

The Pillow Pet is a dolphin and goes with everything in the baby's nursery. The theme of her room is Sea Life. The frame says "Sweet Baby - The moment we saw you, we fell in love." Needless to say, I was a pile of goo. The only thing going through my brain was how we felt that first time when we saw the referral pictures. It was a good day!

It is so wonderful to see how friends and family have started loving and welcoming Baby E before she even gets here. I pray that she always knows just how much she's loved here and in Ethiopia.

It's Definitely a Happy New Year!

John and I made plans to do nothing New Year's Eve and that's just what we did! We actually stayed awake long enough to see the ball drop, celebrated with a glass of wine and then went to sleep shortly thereafter.

As of the 1st day of this new year, there are exactly 27 days until we get on a plane to Ethiopia and 28 days until we meet our precious Baby E!

We are getting  more excited as each day passes but there is still so much that we have to do before it's time to go. Every day I add just a few more things to my to-do list, but fortunately I'm crossing off a couple of things.

Happy New Year Everyone!!