Mhyia's Nursery!

Well I have been working on Mhyia's room and it is about 98% done!! I have a few more little things to do and of course I need to organize her closet! It has everything we have in there right now and I need to organize the sizes and the seasons etc... and really see what I have and what we will still need!

As for the nursery - we cut her closet door and made it larger which turned out great - you can see it here! Then I found a small night stand that someone was throwing out and I re-finished it as well as I re-finished my old dresser from when I was little and painted it a soft pink - they both turned out great - you can see them here!! My Mom and Dad bought us the crib which is absolutely beautiful and will turn into her bed afterwards!

I painted two very light green stripes on the walls, put up the crown moulding, we built a window valance and I covered it in the co-ordinating material we purchased approx 5 years ago! I painted a pink scroll design above the bed and put the words "such a big miracle in such a little girl" I love this saying! I also covered a little footstool and made a cushion cover etc.. in the co-ordinating material - I have to make a couple of armrests as well - not done yet!

All in all it has come together very nicely and we are very happy with it - now all we need in there is Mhyia!!

Her Royal Highness

I re-finished an old kitchen light

Without the pink scroll design

tracing out the design

done!

We also hung some large white frames with "mommy", "daddy" and "baby" in english and chinese and then put our handprints in them! I will try to post a pic of them tomorrow!

WE ARE IN!!!!!!!! IT IS ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE!!

Where do I even start??? Today has been the most amazing day since this whole journey started over 6 years ago (Jan 21^st, 2006)

This is what we read/saw on RQ Monday and then more recently Tuesday morning!!!

We have been expecting referrals since approx. th 16^th of this month since the last two months have both been the 17^th. As you know they did not come on the 16^th and the entire week after also produced NO referrals. Every night for the last 2 weeks or so I wake up through the night and check Spanish RQ, regular RQ, facebook etc.. to see if anyone has posted rumors and ….nothing. Monday I came to work a little down because I was actually staring to worry – what if the CCAA has stopped sending referals, what if they are skipping a month etc… and then voilà!!! A rumor that they had been mailed – THANK GOD!!

Fast forward to Monday night and I think I had refreshed my pages a hundred times that day so I went to bed early because the earlier I go to bed the quicker I can wake up and hopefully hear some news as to a cut-off date.

I woke up around 3am and checked – nothing, then as I laid there trying to get back to sleep I was thinking what if they only do to the 27^th or 28^th?? I will be happy that I would be next month but disappointed that I wasn't in this month L

Now 6:15 in the morning and once again I turned on the ipod to check the Spanish RQ site –OMG OMG she had posted something about August and then I saw the number 31!!! What does this mean, I can’t read Spanish and I couldn't get it to translate AAAHHHHH!! I was clicking things and things were coming up that shouldn't it was crazy! I told Mike “OMG I think we might be in” I immediately went to facebook because I knew all my August group and my September group would also be checking and sure enough I saw the most exciting words “Spanish RQ says they have referred upto August 31^st” AAAAHHHHHHHH

I then noticed that people had already sent me messages and people had posted around 4am asking why I was still sleeping etc… hilarious and soooo exciting!!!

I immediately called my mom and considering it was approx. 6:30am I think she knew exactly why that phone was ringing!!! That call turned into a series of many calls to many people! I stillcouldn't believe we were actually in!!!!

Today has just been amazing – I accomplished very little work but it has been amazing!! I had so many people at work welcoming me at the door with hugs and tears and soooooo many congratulations on our facebook etc… What a wonderful day!!! Hopefully I can survive the next week until we actually get “THE” call – I can’t even imagine how amazing I will feel that day (as long as everything is fine with our file – fingers crossed)

Here are a couple of shots of me marking those last few days off my calendar and also a surprise delivery on my desk – I had ordered some products and they came in that morning – how perfect!!!

We have CARSEATS!!!

Last Friday Mike picked up both our carseats which was very exciting!! Especially since the CCAA didn't send any referrals out - it helped to keep us in a good mood LOL.

We tried them both out in our vehicles and loved them - I got the Britax Marathon 65 - Onyx which I love and it fits very nicely rear and forward facing. I had tried others like the Diono etc... but they were way too long and the passenger seat had to be pushed too far to the front. My vehicle is the pone we dive at night and on the weekends so we needed something that allowed us to be comfortable in the front too!!

Mike got the Safety First Complete Air 65 LX Mike really liked this one!! Although rear facing in his car does push the passenger seat right to the front it isn't really a big deal - Mike would only be using his car for daycare pickups, Daddy/Daughter days etc.. and once it is forward facing it is fine!!

It was so exciting to actually put the seats in our cars and try them out - I can't believe it is almost here. We are both getting VERY impatient now and of course China is taking their sweet time.

Registered this weekend...soooo much fun!!

Well this weekend we registered for some baby items! We registered at Babies R us and at Springys Totte Shoppe - it was so much fun!!

Mike wasn't big on going, he said it doesn't matter what I pick or what cups I like and I understand that - to be honest I knew it would be better to go without him. So my sister-in-law Tiffany and my cousin Darlene and Lexi came. Saturday we headed to London to the big new Babies R us, to be honest there isn't alot of stuff we need, we have alot of blankets, sheets, clothes etc... but it is amazing how after looking around there are so many things you realize you need or will need soon!

On Sunday Mike and I went to Springy's, it is a store in Hamilton that has been in business for over 50 years and the people are sooooo nice that own it. It has some stuff that we really like that you can't get elsewhere and we love to support them! It was fun and Mike had a good time. The small store kept his attention for long enough LOL!!

I can't believe we are actually registered for baby items - it is so strange. I feel sometimes like I am not as excited as I think I should be? I don't know if it is just that I am guarded still and am not allowing myself to get too excited yet or that it has just been too long that we have been thinking/preparing for this and it has lost the excitement factor?? I find it kind of sad at times - I feel like I should be more excited?? I think what we/I need is a referral!!! I think once that referral comes it will be different - then the panic will set in LOL!!

Love this little funky brown dog - I had ever seen it before...sooooo cute!!!

Tiff loves this ball popper! I do to for the memories it brings but not for the noise it makes LOL

The crib is up, the stroller is assembled and the diaper bag is ready!!

Well the last couple of weeks we have got quite a few things done. I am not completely don the nursery but as soon as I am I will post some pics. It was very exciting to get the crib up and now we also have our stroller and the diaper bag!!

I am feeling like even though we have so much done we have SOOOOOO much to do. I just really want to try to get so many things done around here before we go to China. I don't want to come home to a list of things we need to finish or get. When we get home I just want to concentrate on us for the first little while!!

Our next purchase/must have is a carseat - as soon as we have our referral we will have to make a decision as to which one we want so stay tuned!!

here is one quick pic from the ipod of the stroller!!

Diaper Bag and a Stroller all in one day!!

A local baby store was having their once a year Anniversary sale which was 20% off everything in the store. I had been in earlier in the week and decided that I was going to order my diaper bag on Saturday - they said I could get the 20% off online as well. I thought I heard a salesperson say everything was on sale except strollers and car seats?

I had every intention of ordering my diaper bag on line and leaving it at that - I woke up at 6:30am and was too excited and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to go online. I found my diaper bag and was about to place the order until I started reading their return policy etc... and I just decided for some reason it might be easier for me to go to the store and order it there with the help of the salespeople. I called my mom and of course she said she would go which was so great (I hate shopping by myself).

When we got to the store OMG there was a line up completely down one side and half way up the other - I wasn't too concerned because I was most concern with getting some questions answered and then potentially just ordering online. As I looked around I came across the stroller we like (Baby Jogger City Select) and I was showing my mom - I asked the lady if these were on sale (I didn't think they were) and she said "yes" but in store only - I asked how much they were as I was pretty sure they were already on sale for $50 off - the lady said they were that price plus and extra 20%!!!! That equals almost $160 off and I have NEVER seen it that low anywhere. I was a little nervous but I went for it! After waiting approx 1hr and 30min my diaper bag was ordered and so was the stroller - sooooo excited to get them both - they said hopefully they will both be in this week!

All in all it was a very successful day with some good sales!!

Here is my diaper bag - I think I have seen 100's of diaper bags and this is the onle I like best! It is the Oioi Black Floral Messenger;

And here is our stroller - I just can't wait to put her in it!!

Six years ago today!

Six years ago today Mike and I headed to London for our agencies information session on adoption – it was the start of what has turned into this incredibly long journey. Although we have hated the wait I kind of feel like now is the perfect time for Mhyia to come into our lives – I am in a job I love, we have completed things we wanted to get done around the house, we are more mature, we have met so many amazing friends along the way etc… the timing is Great!!

Today we will mark this special day by assembling her crib, I/we have been slowly working away at her room (pics to come soon) and we thought that this would be a special day to assemble her crib!! I am soooo excited!! Even though we have had the crib in the house for a month or so it hasn’t hit me like I think it will when it is set up.

Thanks soooo much to my Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa) for buying the most beautiful crib for Mhyia – we love it and we love you – Thank You!!!

This was an exciting purchase - the mattress - I didn't want to put the crib up unitl I could put it all together




This is her crib before and after assembly!!

Olivia oh how I love Olivia

I LOVE pigs I have always loved pigs and I just LOVE Olivia the pig she is just soooo freaking cute! I have collected a few things for Mhyia over the last year or so that are Olivia related and I really just can't stop myself when I see them.

I hope Mhyia loves Olivia as much as I do - probably not - but I can try LOL

Mike and I found a little old style "Olivia" jack in the box in Toronto one day and of course had to buy it and then had to get the Match game that I saw a Toys r us and then last night we were at Costco and I came across these two hard cover books - yes you guessed it - I got them! They are just so cute and the Goodnight one has glow in the dark stars!!

I can't wait to get these on a bookshelf and start reading them to Mhyia!! hopefully not too long now!

As I was looking for pictures of the books etc on Google I typed in "Olivia the Pig" and look at the picture that came up - OMG she is sooo cute - a little Asian Olivia the Pig - it was so cute I had to post it here!!!

Started painting the Nursery!

Well today I finally decided to start painting the nursery - I know we still have a good 4 or 5 months before referral but to be honest I feel like we have soooo much to do around the house etc... and I feel like I am running out of time. I was leary about painting the nursery already but I figure what am I waiting for? It is driving me more crazy to not just get it done than to walk by a finished room for the next 5 months. I think once I finish it I will feel less anxiety!

I only did the first coat today - we plan on doing stripes so once I get them done I will post pics - stay tuned!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!!

Soooooo much to be Thankful for this last year, we have had family members come through some scary health issues, we have had good health with the rest of our families and friends, I am back working full time at the place I have always wanted to work (and loving it), we have been able to start getting excited about China as it inches closer to us everyday, all in all it has been a great year and we are so Thankful to be here happy and healthy.

This year we wet to Amy's for dinner on Saturday (also celebrated Meghan's 3rd birthday) and we went to my Mom and Dads on Sunday. As we were in the kitchen at my Moms I actually stopped and thought (and said out loud) next year there will be a highchair at the table!!!! OMG can you believe it?? It is so unreal LOL - can't wait!!

We also rec'd a call on Sunday telling us our crib was in!! My parents bought our crib for Mhyia and it is sooooo beautiful!!!! Mike and John headed over to pick it up and returned with it - we realized it may be easier to get it up the stairs if we take it out of the large box - well as luck would have it it was damaged :( Back to the store it went and another one has been special ordered. That was not so great but either way we have another one on order and hopefully the next one will be fine!!

One person's trash....

Mhyia's closet

I am not exactly sure when I will do Mhyias room but I knew that before anything I wanted to cut the closet opening to make it wider. The closet itself isn't a bad size but the 1 door opening was ridiculous.

I am surprised by the amount of people with August lid's that have their nurseries started and even finished - I was planning on maybe starting it in the Fall/Winter but I thought I would do the closet while on vacation this summer. To be honest now that we have done the closet I just want to keep going and do it all!!! I need to start by cleaning out the room, up to this point we have used this room as kind of an extra large closet. After that is done I can start painting - hopefully this Fall.

So far this is what we have done with the closet!!

Before:

Mid Construction:After: