The Vomit Factor

I am a walking time bomb of vomit right now.

So gross, ya, I know...but true.

My anxiety level has reached an all time high whereas I feel like I could spew at any and every moment of the day.

I wake up feeling nauseous and I go to bed feeling the same way.

We have been slowly working on the room.

The slowness with which we are getting the room ready....makes me want to vomit!

I would prefer to have the room ready by now. However, this is not the case and I have to deal with it. Slow is better than not at all. (Newsflash! We will be doing a weekend room blitz because I have declared it so!)

Washing of all clothes for the wee one has begun. Now, how this wee little dude ended up with 15 sleepers all size 18-24 months is beyond me. 15!!!! That is not counting the onesies we have (which I refuse to count because I am not sure he will even need to wear onesies at all.)

And so, our little dude will be wearing a lot of sleepers just so I can justify the fact I purchased so many. (I am sure this will be the basis of many future therapy sessions when he is an adult) When did I purchase 15 sleepers anyways???? Oh ya, it was the times I was at Costco and my cart would go into autopilot and guide itself over to the kids clothes. I rue the day you came into existence Costco for more than one reason but mainly because you make the cutest sleepers for $7.98 plus tax. And yes, I know I shouldn't buy these sleepers mass produced in another country, most likely by child labour but they are SO CUTE!!! The fact I have fallen into the oh-so-cleverly laid trap of this behemoth makes me feel queasy.

I digress...

While washing all the clothes and going through what we have, I get anxious again. Do we have enough socks? What about t-shirts?? Pants??? Sweaters????? It gets cold where we live. Very cold!

What about shoes? I haven't been able to buy shoes yet because we aren't sure what size his feet are! Will he be shoeless and taunted by all the other children because his parents weren't capable enough to determine shoe size!?????

Oy vey...I need to lay down before I toss my cookies from the worry of "Will we be able to handle properly clothing our child?"

In August, my momma was in town for a visit, so I enlisted her as well as my mom and sis-in-law to help me shop for the necessities of raising a toddler. So I set about creating a list of what we would need to have with us for our trip to Ethiopia and once we were back at home

46.

The number of items on my list for "toiletries" for wee one.

46 Items!!!!!!

This number is brought to me by family, friends and fellow adoptive parents who have BTDT and passed on their lists to me.

46.

We need a suitcase just for the toiletries...seriously?

Then there is the question of what to pack for clothes for him, toys to keep to him occupied, food for the trip home so he doesn't think we are inept at feeding him as well.

This all leads into - How will the first meeting go? Will he even want to come to us? What will be thinking as we whisk him away from all he knows? For certain he will be thinking "Who are these people who clearly have no experience at parenting?"

I need some of the Baby Gravol I purchased to keep the waves of nausea in my stomach at bay.

O.k. so getting ready for our little dude clearly has a huge vomit factor.

But so does the wondering! The waiting.

Has our medical left yet? How long until it gets to Nairobi? Will it get lost along the way?

When will someone look at it? How much time will take them to review it? Will it be weeks or months until the Visa is issued?

Insert commercial for Rescue Remedy here because without it I would not be able to stay sane.

Normally, when dealing with a stressful situation, I would try to empty the entire contents of the fridge and pantry into my mouth at once...but the thought of our most delicious homemade pizza or my favourite dessert (Schmoo) totally makes me want to gag as in "Like, Oh MY GAWD, gag me with a spoon".

The vomit factor.

On a scale of 1 - 10...

...I am running at an 11!

Hooray Carolyn and Adam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally!!!

After the longest wait ever!!!!

Carolyn and Adam are going to Ethiopia to bring home their son!!!!!

Carolyn and I have become very good friends through our crazy adoption journeys...and quite frankly I would be a babbling mess wondering around the streets and yelling "F#$K" out loud in middle of the grocery store (he he right Tova) if it wasn't for her.

We are so happy for them!!!!

They are days away from being united as a family of 3 and we are overjoyed!!!

Safe travels friends!

Much love to you all!

Negatory Good Buddy

Negative - the test results were negative!

No TB!!!!!!!!!

Did you feel a huge wind gust and or get a sudden rush of water in your area?

It was just us finally breathing and then the gush of tears following because we are so happy he is healthy!!!!

O.k. now the chanting must begin!

VISA, VISA, VISA!!

Chant with us please!!!

Still Waiting...

for the medical to be done.

We thought it was done, because we were told it was, only to then be told it wasn't.

Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt......

That is the sound made when your balloon of hope slowly deflates.

We know we are lucky to be where we are and that it will happen but it just seems like the "will happen" part keeps getting pushed back.

Just when we think we will be able to reach out and finally hold him.....roadblock.

So, we wait for results from a test to come back....a doctor being thorough for his sake which we appreciate....hard nonetheless.

He is well. He is not sick. Still a delay while a question is answered.

Hence my lack of blog posts.

I find it a battle these days to write anything.

So when we know "What is the What?" we will let you know.

Until then we are taking a break, going for long walks and dreaming of our boy.

The Bed

It took a long time to decide what type of bed to buy for our wee boy.

Knowing he was getting older as the days go by, we just didn't want to spend the money on a crib he might use for a month or two or may never use at all.

We didn't want to put him right in to a big boy bed either because we know the kids in the Foster home in Ethiopia stay in crib type beds for a long time and are used to them.

So, we searched The Internets and The Googles for beds.

There were lots (actually the amount of kids stuff is redonkulous) to choose from but we really wanted a bed that would eventually be his big boy bed too.

Finally, after a recommended site from friends we found the perfect bed for our boy!

Here are the adventures of putting said perfect bed together!

1. Always read the directions first.

2. Get some help from friends

3. Make sure you are patient and don't lose any screws or you will be "screwed"!

The final product




This bed is low which we wanted in case he decides he wants to get out but still gives him the comfort of being in a crib.

You can also have both guard rails on, or just one or none.

When he has outgrown the toddler bed, we can convert it to a twin bed with the guardrails as the end of the bed and the back of the bed as the head board.

We both cried when the bed was put together...it is so teeny weeny!

Now we just need him home so we can put him to bed in it.

P.S. More room pictures to come but we are still waiting on a couple of items. Just wanted to give you a teaser!

Edit - I got the bed here Lusso Baby

Edit, Edit - O.k. I just looked online and they aren't showing the bed anymore.

This bed is called - DaVinci Elizabeth II Convertible Wood Toddler Bed in Espresso

The Friends We Meet Along The Way

We have been very privileged to meet some amazing people because of our adoption.

Near and far, we have made some very good friends over the last 3 years.

We could not have gotten to this point with out those friends.

Last weekend (August Long - I know this is very late but I was waiting to be sure it was o.k. to post their photos on my blog)

Last weekend we had the absolute pleasure of meeting Laura, Chad and Sara .

They were on their way to Cypress for a family reunion and Laura emailed and asked if they could stop in and meet us on their way down.

We have been emailing for quite sometime and read each other's blogs faithfully, so I jumped at the chance and said of course.

They stayed one night with us and it was so much fun.

It is always a bit nerve wracking meeting new people for the first time. Especially 'Internet friends' because 'Hey, you never know' they might be axe wielding murderers!

But Chad, Laura and Sara were definitely not! They are awesome!

Both Yvan and I felt extremely comfortable with them from the get go and really enjoyed their relaxed, easygoing style.

Laura is amazing to talk to - I felt like I had known her forever.

Sara is a cutie-patootie!! She loved, loved, loved the animals and they loved her too. She wants to be a vet one day and she will be fabulous at it!

We both have a friend, Laura, in common who lives where I live.

She is also in the process of adopting from Ethiopia so her and her family came over for dessert and a visit.

It is so nice to be able to connect with people who understand what you are going through.

Next year, we will all have to meet half way between where we live and you live Chad, Laura and Sara for a visit!!!