My day off wasn't exactly a day off...

I took the day off work to finish up / stress over / work on adoption paperwork. Here's a little snapshot of my day. I'm so much happier inside my house... I wouldn't mind staying home, inside these walls, doing "home" things, for a long time. Being home makes me happy...

The. Paper. Work. Never. Ends. really... it never ends. 

Okay... So, I had an epiphany.  This chair was my Dads.. he got it in the late 70's. It originally had black/gold/cream stripes.  Mom recovered it in the 80's with this blue/white stripe.  Since I'm a hoarder I couldn't let them throw this chair out.  While sitting in the soon to be nursery today (side note: I love to sit in Baby P's room...makes me feel calm and at peace) it dawned on me.... WHY NOT TURN THIS CHAIR INTO A GLIDER! why not? Its a little low... but once I add the glider attachment it will raise it up several inches, plus with new stuffing and upholstery it might work out.  Did I mention it had an ottoman too?? 

Now on to the pups... just because.  You have to admit... they're some good looking puppies...

Sweet Molly... crossing her legs and watching the cars go by.  Ignore the baby clothes, blankets and Moses basket on the soon to be gone mattress

Last... I rearranged furniture.  We use our dinning room or at least want to use our dinning room, but its so small... but we have a huge formal living room we NEVER use.  So, we switched them. 

Above is the old FL and new DR.... New dinning room table, eventually :)

New office space.  I need to hang the butterfly prints and get the chair recovered... and a rug... the list goes on and on... best decision i made this week, next to not working today, was moving this furniture.  Do you like the mess in this picture?? you can see a little bit of our "about us" book on the floor by the butterfly prints.  Hopefully this new setup will lead to me actually giving piano lessons...one adventure at a time, one at a time...  

Just waiting on our Garganos to arrive... it seems to be the only thing arriving on time (hint hint spring!!)

~Betsy 

A birthday and a check on my to do list...

Happy Birthday, MOM! I hated that I couldn't get home, but will be their this weekend to celebrate with everyone.  I can honestly say that I am BEYOND blessed to have the mom that I do.  She never lets me down and has always encouraged me... without her we wouldn't of found Kim and Andrew, who led us to AIS who are now leading us to Baby P.  All those years of campaigning and networking paid off! Here are a few shots from the last couple of years :)

One of my personal favorites!

A little too much PDA

I don't deserve such a sweet and caring mother.... we talk at least 5 (sometimes 20, honest) a day.  I wish she lived next door... especially now that Baby P (whose name might just be Baby) should be here before the fall (we pray!).

Adoption Update...

Home study home visit is D.O.N.E.!!! WOOT! WOOT!!

After cleaning my house, which desperately needed it... and locking the dogs away for 2 hours, which they hated, our home study came and went without a hitch.  I finally gave up on laundry and just hid some in the closet and the rest in the attic.

Yes, that's TWO laundry baskets... and when I got done taking the picture, I didn't bring the baskets down... too much cleaning for my blood has taken place this week and I like how my "clean" house looks.  Why clutter it up with a laundry basket??

Anywho~ Home study went great... Ms. Joan, our caseworker, is wonderful... one the sweetest ladies and God real has his hand on this adoption... we couldn't of been matched with a better home study agency.  Both fire alarms worked and we remembered to buy a fire extinguisher.. so we're a go for adoption! 

Baby in Washington St... we didn't get picked, but looking back... I don't know if I sent off everything like I should have... the cover letter could of been better.  I also never had an "exciting" feeling about that baby... God was telling me he had someone else in mind... which brought me peace.  Jacob and I prayed last night over a new situation we found out about yesterday (I'll blog about that later)... and we both stated our desire to pray for the babies, not ourselves.  God has a baby for us, and we fully trust him... there are more babies out there then we could ever take into our homes... some that end up in social services, some who end up in worse situations... all of these babies need our prayers.  

We've started a little bit on the nursery... but have SO MUCH more to do. I think I've almost got Jacob okay with the idea of going all out in the nursery.... almost. 

 

 Between both grandparents and Aunt Jane.... we've already started a collection.  

Now to just get the bed moved and move the chair to another room... but its coming along!

Le Bebe Boy

I felt guilty for not designing anything for Baby Boy.  Same concept as earlier, just a bit more "boy".  I can't stand camouflage on babies... or anything meant for someone over the age of 10 on a baby... baby tuxcedos or suits, baby flip flops (these drive me crazy!! Your kid can't walk! How is a thong flipflop comfortable for a 9 month old?), anything animal print, anything with a logo on it (Bulldog, Falcon, etc.... be honest with yourself, your kid has NO clue what team you support), headbands on baby girls (its okay if your baby doesn't have hair... no need to put on a headband and bow/feather larger then their head, its tacky and probably not comfortable).. oh, and last... "tutus" are not okay.  Unless its pink and attached to a pink leotard and worn only with pink tights because your child is currently taking a dance class... then a tutu is okay.  Otherwise, no...
 I need to stop listing my aggravation with other adults and stick to the subject.  If I have to include "hunting" and "wildlife" into my sons life... why not let it be with beautiful art... sweet and whimsical (which is what babies should be!... sweet and innocent!, not little adults!).

This is my favorite.  I love the combo of green and blue

Quail

Fawn

I personally love this painting.... perfect for a big kids room.  

Pheasant

~Betsy

Le Bebe...

Baby Paschal.... who in my mind is a girl and in Paschal's a boy... would like to have, and probably needs, a nursery.  Here are a few things I'm currently obsessed with.

Rocker 

Art

Pinterest

Wall Color 

Benjamin Moore: Rock Harbor Violet

or 

Benjamin Moore /Easter Ribbon

Mirrored Chest: 

Luckily we already have one :) 

Curtains: 

Sheron and Lewis Fabrics

Rug

Target: Ivory (I know I'll end up hating myself for putting a white rug in a kids room, but its just so sweet)

Tall chest of drawers... I had creative brain freeze and couldn't find any drawers I liked... Ikea use to have the cutest greyish/purple armoire, but I couldn't find it on their website.  Maybe a tall chest of drawers painted a deep purple based off the painting? or a deep gold? 

Lamp by Johnathan Adler / LaylaGrace.com 

Crib

White.  This one is a Jenny Lind from JCPenny. 

Bedding: 

nice and white / Restoration Hardware

Ms. June bought this sweet doll for Baby Paschal a few weeks ago at a local event/silent auction.  A friend of hers, who knows of our adoption story, asked if she could pray over the doll.  I started crying again as I typed that last sentence!!  So many sweet people, so many prayers.  This baby might just be the next Billy Graham! 

Blabla Dolls

I know... you're probably going to tell me I don't need one, they only sleep in one for a few weeks, yada yada yada... I WANT ONE! I might have only one baby... you might only have one baby.... which means we might get only one shot at EVER having a bassinet.  You can't get much sweeter.... oh, I want one!!! 

I have nothing picked out for Baby Paschal if he's a boy....  Here's to hoping for a sweet bundle of pink! 

~Betsy

Oh how I love Presidents Day

Not because of the presidents.... But the fact I can have an extra "Saturday" night. Not worrying about work, my house (which i should worry about), my hair.... I could go on and on.

Here are a few updates on Baby Paschal. We found out on the 7th about a baby boy due on April 3rd in Jacksonville, Fl. Now, you have a small window of time to reply back yes or no on whether your gonna pursue the situation. After talking to friends in the medical field and our families we decided to apply. If your not familiar with adoption, here's a crash course: we have a "About Us Book". Our consultant emails us about a possible baby, then we over night our "book" to the said representative (lawyer, caseworker, etc). Once we send off the packet, it's considered an "invisible contract".... In other words, if we get picked, it would be considered a HUGE no no to back out. Before we ever send off our packet, we are given everything there is to know about the BM and baby. The birth mom then looks at the packet and chooses the family she wants.

We made the leap of faith and sent a packet off to Florida. After waiting over a week, we found out we didn't get picked. Oddly, I'm fine.... even though I had gotten WAY to emotionally invested in a situation I had no control over. The couple that was picked had a 3 year old adopted daughter... Knowing this made me really happy... that baby boy was going to get a big sister. Everyone needs a big sister :)

Around the same time we applied for the baby in Florida, we got an email about a baby (gender unknown) in Washington state near Seattle. We again applied... We won't hear anything back till next week... The exciting, crazy part is that the baby is due March 7th. Exactly 2 months after we had our first official adoption meeting with our consultant. Again, we're excited, but realize everything is part of God's plan. He already knows our sweet baby by name... And when he sees it's time, he'll lead us to him/her.

I think I've caught everyone up... It's just been such a busy last month and a half. I've only lost it a few times.. Which is record breaking. I think I had more "crazy" moments over the toilet seat then I've had over this home study/ adoption / possible baby, etc. Paschal on the other hand is completely calm... His only question "Is the baby a boy". Ha!!

We celebrated Mr Glenn's birthday Saturday night. Too. Much. Rich. Food!!! Lobster, steak, shrimp... A good time was had by all. Next weekend we head to mom and dads for mom's birthday. I haven't been up in a while and I miss them so much!

Here a few embroidery/appliqué things I have been working on this weekend.

I'm gonna try and keep this thing updated. Promise!!