crib shopping

The weekend before Thanksgiving my mom and I went crib shopping.  Good grief...what an adventure.  Who knew there were so many options?   After looking throughout the store and catalogs, I decided on a crib and dresser (with a changing table on the top) by Morigeau Lepine.  

Here's the crib:

Here's the dresser:

I think they are so pretty.  And the crib converts to a toddler bed so my baby girl can use it for a few years!  Both pieces should arrive mid-January!  I can't wait.

another contest win!

I can't believe it but I actually won another blog contest.  The funniest thing is that I won from the same blog I won the onesie from.  This time I won a toddler size Baby B'Air.  It sells for $34.95.  It's a flight safety vest for the baby to wear that attaches to your seat belt on the plane.  Could come in handy if my munchkin is fidgety. 

 

thanksgiving dinner....yummy!

Well, my mom still wasn't back to normal but we went ahead with thanksgiving dinner.  It was quite the accomplishment for me.  I usually make dessert and cranberry sauce and my mom pretty much makes the rest.  I help with the side dishes when I get to the house, but she handles the turkey and stuffing all on her own.  Well, this year, she just couldn't manage it so she seasoned the turkey and put it in the oven without the stuffing.  I did all the rest.  I made stuffing, yams, vegetable casserole and a yummy appetizer I saw Paula Deen make on tv that morning.  Everything was great!  I'm hoping we can go back to the old way of doing things next year though.  Especially since I'll likely be chasing a toddler around the house all day!

no turkey but still thankful

Unfortunately, my mom wasn't feeling well today so we decided to postpone Thanksgiving until tomorrow or Saturday. Sadly, I didn't get the call until I had already completed one of the desserts and the cranberry sauce and had cracked all the eggs for the pumpkin pie. Now I'm home with two yummy desserts trying to restrain myself from having a little taste.

My dad and I were planning to go to the L.A. Auto Show this Saturday, but now that we had nothing to do all day, we decided to go today. We hadn't been in years. There were far more people there than I expected for Thanksgiving Day. After the show we thought we'd try to find a place to eat but every single place we tried was closed. I get that it's Thanksgiving, but you'd think you could find one place open. Not us.

Despite the unorthodox Thanksgiving Day I still have much to be thankful for. #1 on that list....my beautiful daughter. I can't wait to get my hands on her!!!

blog contests....gotta love 'em

So I mentioned in a past post that I have new routine when I get home. I turn on the computer and check numerous adoption blogs, parenting blogs and shopping blogs. More and more of the blogs these days are having giveaways. Not one to shy away from giving out my email address, I have entered many. Well imagine my surprise when I received an email telling me I had won one!

I won this darling onesie from http://www.mamaspeaks.com/.

It is made of 100% pima cotton and is embellished with genuine Swarovski Crystals. It retails for $35.99. Not a bad win, huh?

It's from smittenbaby.com. They have other cute items as well. In fact, I love their bottles. I'm thinking about picking these up for my little one.

They're a little pricey at $13.99 but style doesn't come cheap, right?

a place to lay her little head

So much to do. I don't have a crib yet, but I saw this bedding a few weeks ago and decided to buy it before it is no longer available. I'm going with a pink and chocolate theme for the nursery since I already have a brown futon in the room. Plus, I've always liked the colors together. Not too girly or bright. I've seen cute crib sets for $200 and $300 which seems stupid to me since she'll likely be in the crib for just over a year. I mean, if you can afford it, go for it. But I need to be a bit more frugal. This set is from Walmart and it's very reasonably priced. I hope it's as nice in person as it looks in this pic! I want a white crib so it should look a little lighter.

letter of acceptance

So the next step is to accept the referral by signing a letter, scaning it and emailing it back to my agency. I don't have a scanner so I had to go to Kinko's. Let's just say it was an adventure but I got it done. After scanning the letter I went out to run errands. I looked for treats for my baby girl but for some strange reason had a hard time finding anything I really liked. So, I went to the bookstore and bought her a few books: First Book of Sushi, I am a Bunny and Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World. So cute!

After the mall I went to Best Buy to buy some things for my new computer. While looking at the external hard drives my cell phone rang. Again, I was quite surprised to see my agency contact's number at 5pm my time. Gail wanted to know if I had a chance to email the letter yet because it was the next day in Vietnam and they were hoping to send my signed letter to Hanoi. (I can't believe how things are moving along!!!) I told her I'd be home in less than an hour and I would get the letter to her asap. I quickly finished shopping, ran home and off went the letter.

I have no idea what happens next...

REFERRAL DAY!!!!!

Oh my gosh..... So, I'm having a lazy, boring Saturday. I didn't leave the house. I just laid around, watched the Tivo and cleaned a little. Can you imagine my surprise when at 6pm my phone rings and I see the name of my agency contact on my Caller ID. Keep in mind that she is in North Carolina where it is 9pm on Saturday night.

I answered the phone and she asked if I was home and could talk. I said yes and then she told me that she was looking at a picture of a beautiful baby girl that she thinks will be perfect for me. I started to shake and cry. She asked if I was near a computer and I told her I was running downstairs to turn it on. Of course my brand new laptop (long story for another time) wouldn't connect to the internet so I couldn't get to her email. She wanted to hear my reaction when I opened the email so she stayed on the line while I tried to figure out what was wrong. In the meantime she told me that the baby was born on May 25th. She is in Ho Chi Minh City. She told me that all of her tests have been negative and her exams have been normal. She weighed 6 pounds 7 oz at birth. She now weighs 11 pounds 9 oz and she is 23 inches long. I'm freaking out at this point because I still can't get online. All I want to do is see my little girl! When it just didn't look like it was going to happen, she offered to let me go and asked me to let her know when I receive the email.

I immediately called my mom and told her what was happening. Now both of us are freaking out. Finally, I was able to get online and find the email. It had 4 attachments: 2 pictures and 2 medical reports.

I don't know how to put into words what it felt like to see the first picture. Just writing about it now makes me cry. She is the most adorable baby girl. She has tons of dark hair that sticks straight up on top. She has big, beautiful dark eyes and gorgeous lips. I immediately start counting her fingers and toes.....all there! She looks really healthy to me.

Her medical records are in Vietnamese but between my dad and I we figured out that the blood tests were run in August and were all negative.

After my mom (who still has dial-up) was finally able to download the pictures we just sat on the phone in shock. I can't believe it. This baby is my daughter.

4 months, 3 weeks and 1 day!

That's right! I recieved my referral tonight. Details soon!