Most importantly, we are still getting updates from Ryan about Heather. She is doing great and probably only has one more surgery to go before she is released to rehab. Her boss and friends have started a non-profit organization for her and will start selling wrist bands. When there is information about that, I will certainly pass it along. We sent some flowers and balloons that should have been delivered yesterday and hopefully Heather had some room for them. If not, I hope someone was able to take them home and enjoy them!
As far as what we have been doing.... our family profile (writing, pictures, and Dear Birthmother letter) is almost complete and we hope to have that mailed off to the graphic design company before we leave for our cruise this weekend. Once they give that back for our approval, we will be activated with the agency and officially waiting. I think we will be ahead of our goal activation date of March 1st.
Karen surprised me with a huge bag of baby stuff, some new, some used. So sweet!! I could care less if it was used - it was used with love right?? Hats, socks, toys, etc. She gave me all her Dr. Brown's bottles and I just need to buy new nipples and vents for those. We were in Target on Saturday and they had tons of Carter's clothes on clearance so we stocked up in a bunch of different sizes. Our baby is going to be dressed up like a yellow duck for a few months!! Even if we were pregnant on our own, we probably wouldn't have found out the sex anyway, so the baby would have been dressed in yellow and green regardless.
We finally decided on our travel system - or stroller and matching "baby bucket". I am going to order that when we are back from vacation. Worst case, the baby can sleep in the stroller if we don't have a crib ready if we get a last minute call.
I'm having a hard time finding a crib that doesn't turn into a million things later down the road. I don't need one that converts to a full size bed - we already have one!! I think this just makes it more expensive? Do people really use it that way? I guess if you don't have furniture already that maybe it is good idea, but we have my antique bed that my parents gave to me when I just a wee one. Our social worker commented on it, that it was beautiful. We are going to leave it in the room with the crib so either our guests are going to be sharing a room with baby on visits or one of us will be sleeping in that bed if the nights get really bad!! We picked out a crib set from Target that matches what we already have in the room and it is adorable - well we think so anyway!
Everyone is asking if we are going to set up a registry and I guess that would be a good idea. It seems kind of funny but maybe it's odd to some people that I'm buying stuff already. If we get a call and we have to travel within 24 hours to our child, we will be prepared to do so and we will have the basics on hand to get us through. The car seat is a big one for us since we want something specific after doing all the research - it would be our luck that it would not be available on the way to the airport when we really needed it. If we really get in a pinch, friends would loan us their old car seat until we were able to work something out.
I'm looking forward to our cruise this weekend! Especially if we can get our profile out of the way, it will be a celebration to how far we have come so quickly. Everyone keeps asking me how we have done this as it seems that most adoptions take years. Well, the best answer I have is our agency is great! They are highly motivated to keep people coming into the system as quickly as they are leaving with children. Last year, they placed more babies than ever before and they are on track to pass that number this year as well. Our agency contacted the social worker in our area as soon as they received our application and sent us the list of everything we would need to get started. They really broke everything down into logical steps and we did one step at a time. We were lucky that we did not have to wait months to get a social worker to our house - she was ready to come before we were ready!!
We decided what we are doing at the ports for our cruise. First stop is Grand Cayman and we are going to have this as a shopping day (oh help me!) and play most of it by ear. Last year, we got maybe an hour in of wandering by the shops before we had to get back on the ship. The port is very close and there is no extra transportation required to get to the shopping, so this is a good choice for us. Bill can get a real Guiness there too!!
Second stop is Cozumel and we are snorkeling here. Watch out for me all in pink gear! We hope to get to some of the off-shore wrecks and the reef, of course!
Third port is Belize and we are going tubing in the caves. This will be a new one for us. The other choice was the zip lines in the rain forest and I just don't see myself doing that. My boss was just in Belize for a week and did the zip lines and a lady in the group ahead broke her arm when they didn't catch her coming in. Yikes!! And Bill has a "heights" issue, so I really don't see that as being a good choice anyway!
Last port is Costa Maya. This is another snorkel day and we are going sailing out on a catamaran. I can't wait - this is going to be fun! Speaking of catamarans, I need to find our sea bands.... can't forget those! They work like acupressure and last year, we wore them for about a day and then didn't need them at all. Maybe we never needed them, but I'll bring them just in case! Tif and I are doing the ship spa for the rest of the day to wrap up our busy week. We also said we were getting in the hot tub every night. Last year, I didn't go in once.... I'm making up for lost time. AND... I'll be enjoying the drink of the day!!
As far as what we have been doing.... our family profile (writing, pictures, and Dear Birthmother letter) is almost complete and we hope to have that mailed off to the graphic design company before we leave for our cruise this weekend. Once they give that back for our approval, we will be activated with the agency and officially waiting. I think we will be ahead of our goal activation date of March 1st.
Karen surprised me with a huge bag of baby stuff, some new, some used. So sweet!! I could care less if it was used - it was used with love right?? Hats, socks, toys, etc. She gave me all her Dr. Brown's bottles and I just need to buy new nipples and vents for those. We were in Target on Saturday and they had tons of Carter's clothes on clearance so we stocked up in a bunch of different sizes. Our baby is going to be dressed up like a yellow duck for a few months!! Even if we were pregnant on our own, we probably wouldn't have found out the sex anyway, so the baby would have been dressed in yellow and green regardless.We finally decided on our travel system - or stroller and matching "baby bucket". I am going to order that when we are back from vacation. Worst case, the baby can sleep in the stroller if we don't have a crib ready if we get a last minute call.
I'm having a hard time finding a crib that doesn't turn into a million things later down the road. I don't need one that converts to a full size bed - we already have one!! I think this just makes it more expensive? Do people really use it that way? I guess if you don't have furniture already that maybe it is good idea, but we have my antique bed that my parents gave to me when I just a wee one. Our social worker commented on it, that it was beautiful. We are going to leave it in the room with the crib so either our guests are going to be sharing a room with baby on visits or one of us will be sleeping in that bed if the nights get really bad!! We picked out a crib set from Target that matches what we already have in the room and it is adorable - well we think so anyway!
Everyone is asking if we are going to set up a registry and I guess that would be a good idea. It seems kind of funny but maybe it's odd to some people that I'm buying stuff already. If we get a call and we have to travel within 24 hours to our child, we will be prepared to do so and we will have the basics on hand to get us through. The car seat is a big one for us since we want something specific after doing all the research - it would be our luck that it would not be available on the way to the airport when we really needed it. If we really get in a pinch, friends would loan us their old car seat until we were able to work something out.
I'm looking forward to our cruise this weekend! Especially if we can get our profile out of the way, it will be a celebration to how far we have come so quickly. Everyone keeps asking me how we have done this as it seems that most adoptions take years. Well, the best answer I have is our agency is great! They are highly motivated to keep people coming into the system as quickly as they are leaving with children. Last year, they placed more babies than ever before and they are on track to pass that number this year as well. Our agency contacted the social worker in our area as soon as they received our application and sent us the list of everything we would need to get started. They really broke everything down into logical steps and we did one step at a time. We were lucky that we did not have to wait months to get a social worker to our house - she was ready to come before we were ready!!
We decided what we are doing at the ports for our cruise. First stop is Grand Cayman and we are going to have this as a shopping day (oh help me!) and play most of it by ear. Last year, we got maybe an hour in of wandering by the shops before we had to get back on the ship. The port is very close and there is no extra transportation required to get to the shopping, so this is a good choice for us. Bill can get a real Guiness there too!!
Second stop is Cozumel and we are snorkeling here. Watch out for me all in pink gear! We hope to get to some of the off-shore wrecks and the reef, of course!
Third port is Belize and we are going tubing in the caves. This will be a new one for us. The other choice was the zip lines in the rain forest and I just don't see myself doing that. My boss was just in Belize for a week and did the zip lines and a lady in the group ahead broke her arm when they didn't catch her coming in. Yikes!! And Bill has a "heights" issue, so I really don't see that as being a good choice anyway!
Last port is Costa Maya. This is another snorkel day and we are going sailing out on a catamaran. I can't wait - this is going to be fun! Speaking of catamarans, I need to find our sea bands.... can't forget those! They work like acupressure and last year, we wore them for about a day and then didn't need them at all. Maybe we never needed them, but I'll bring them just in case! Tif and I are doing the ship spa for the rest of the day to wrap up our busy week. We also said we were getting in the hot tub every night. Last year, I didn't go in once.... I'm making up for lost time. AND... I'll be enjoying the drink of the day!!
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