neutral nursery

today's the day.

we're at the one year mark on waiting.

we were prepared to wait, but honestly never thought we'd be waiting more than one year.  as noted, we finally got the new crib sheet and redecorated the nursery to a more gender neutral theme.  our profile book has been updated and four copies are supposed to come into us late next week so they can be sent out to each of the bethany offices in the state.  we're glad we've got this all updated and can kind of start fresh.

dax says the baby will like the new room.

we're trying to explain to dax that we're still waiting for a baby, but it might not be a baby sister.  he's grown quite attached to the name we'd given this illusive baby girl - so we now keep having to redirect him to say that maybe it will be a sister - but it could be a brother.  he asks almost every day if she's coming today.  either way he's excited and just hopes that his sibling can play baseball with him soon.

join us in praying that our hearts can hold out while we continue to wait for God's perfect match for our family! 

we've chosen a more gender neutral color scheme.

we're still in love with the birds and tied that into the new colors.  the quote over the bed is Psalm 30:5 to remind us that joy comes in the morning.

will's great at making origami!  one time i had an art show and he made hundreds of birds to hang from the ceiling!

i painted the new painting to go above the crib.

 

where we're at in process

we had our homestudy visit mid-april and our social worker told us it would take about a month to get it written up.  she also needed to meet with a pastor from our church to include in the write up.  while we waited on that to be completed we worked to finalize most of the nursery so we could get a picture included in our profile book.  

this past saturday husband finished folding all of the origami doves to be included in the baby's mobile that hangs over her crib.  it was a labor of love and one that i have not patience for.  thankfully husband is great at origami and once again reignited the fuel that helps those fingertips fold, crease, fold and repeat.  after the doves were completed i threaded them with fishing line and then strung a series of gold or silver beads on each one before hanging them on a branch from the trimming of our crepe myrtle trees.

 

 we're really happy with how it came out and dax thinks its swell!  he tries to jump and reach the birds every day.  he told us he thinks the baby will like it.  so glad he approves.

we still have to find an old dresser to re-purpose into a changing table, but i'm kind of picky with what i am looking for - so it may be a while until we find just the right thing.  once that's in place we're going to hang about 20 paintings and pictures on that wall and then we'll get this wrapped up.

aside from that we've got some continuing education credits to complete as well as working on a profile slide show to go online.  once we're given the green light on our profile book we'll work on the slide show so as to not overlap the photos we select.  almost there!

building a profile book and a nursery

things are moving in the phases of our next adoption, but they are moving slowly.  we're happy with where we're at right now, but it's definitely a slower pace than we experienced last time.  last time we spent every waking moment pushing things along, and this time we're just letting them happen as they do with no added pressure.  we submitted our last round of paperwork mid-november and got a letter last week confirming it was all processed and verifying that we accept the fee terms. 

while we wait for our homestudy appointments to be scheduled we're working on the nursery so that we can complete our profile book.  today we had the nursery painted cathedral gray (i love gray) and this weekend we'll be working on rebuilding the crib and setting it up.  we've still got to order curtains, but a crib bumper is on the way, and the crib skirt is already here.  i'll be painting a large painting for one wall and then will is going to create some origami doves to hang for a mobile.  i love decorating, so this is the fun part to me.  will is a good helper, but i am sure he'll be glad when this part is all over.

i love having our nursery prepared well before the baby comes home.  for starters i love being prepared and i think i'd go a little whack-a-doodle if i brought a baby home and they didn't have a room.  secondly i love to go into the nursery and just sit and and think about and pray for the baby that will one day call this their room.  however, most importantly i love to put pictures of the nursery into the profile book so that expectant parents who review our book can visualize what the baby might be coming home to.  i know i'd want to see it, so i think whomever chooses us would like to see it too.

the profile book is just about complete, save for the two pages dedicated to the nursery photos.  i love creating profile books, but i agonize over every picture, every word (and then will agonizes over every word too), every page layout, font, colors, etc.  it gets obsessive at times.  i complete a mock up and then i review it and edit it multiple times over a month or longer.  we want to be 100% happy with it before i share it with anyone and before we submit it to our agency for approval and ordering.  

we saved a copy of the profile book we created when searching for dax and now it rests in his closet with the rest of his other books.  we still love it.  we hope he'll save it as a memento of a chapter of our waiting process and search for him.  hopefully the next little one that finds their way to us will also treasure theirs too.

3, 2, 1 - blast off!

 

we just celebrated dax's 2nd birthday this weekend.  we had loads of family and friends pop in and join us for this big day.  one sister drove in from virginia and even my little sister surprised us with a trip all the way in from chi town!  will's folks traveled all the way from mississippi!  it was great to have so many people here loving on our big boy!  we all had a great time and cherished every second.

dax has been in love with a little rocket his gran-gran gave him last Christmas.  ever since that time you'll find him (several times daily) shouting out "free, tew, one - blah blah" - which means 3, 2, 1 - blast off.  he does it with such energy and vigor - it's pretty adorable.  so, for dax's love of the rocket - we gave him a rocket party.

will downloaded tons of rocket ship and space themed music and i worked on setting the mood with the decor.  we decked the place out with red, teal, and silver.  the rocket motif was spread throughout the main floor.  24 balloons covered the ceiling in the keeping room where the mantle was lined with asteroids, a wooden rocket, and a giant number 2!  all of the food was marked with space themed wooden name tags, and everything we served was something dax loves. 
 

party favor room

rocket ship cookies

asteroids for party favors

spinning glitter paper banners

paper towel tube rockets

 

 

a giant number 2 and a wooden rocket ship sat on the mantle

a cosmic cake shaped like a rocket filled everyone's bellies!

we served all of dax's favorite foods including popcorn (aka - meteors)

dax's all time favorite food - cherry tomatoes

dax does not care for chipotle cheese balls, but he does love crackers

having his party lunch

hearing the "happy birthday" song while the #2 sparkler was fired up

a game of "pin the flame on the rocket" was fun for everyone!

adults and children played!

there were lots of winners!

after a while we headed out side to set off some rockets in the front yard.

preparing for launch

and off it goes!

wow!  straight into orbit!

dax jetted around the yard with his jet pack

running all around!

here he comes!

birthday boy!

dax loved all of the attention he got at his party on saturday.  he certainly hammed it up for the crowd.  everyone was so amazed at how fast he's growing and participated in pouring out the love.  this party was definitely out of this world!

will and i both have off this friday for dax's actual birthday.  we're excited to celebrate a fun filled day at a kid's museum with him.  it will be another one-on-one day of focusing only on our sweet boy and the joy that he brings to our lives!

craftiness

i bit the bullet and finally got back into the groove of being crafty.  it's a title i've always gone by, and one i actually like to be called.  when dax joined our family the craftiness kind of went out the window with the lack of sleep and order around here, but under pressure of his first birthday quickly approaching, i am finally getting back into the swing of things.

on pinterest (God help us all with pinterest - i mean it has great ideas and all but does it make anyone else just feel totally inadequate?  i mean, i am really good at pinning things, but i never actually do them - so what does that say about me?  am i just really building a pin board of things i wish i would actually sit down and do instead of constantly pinning stuff?), i saw a party decor idea for dax's big numero uno party.  on this example they'd taken the number 5 and tissue papered it up old elementary school paper wreath style with twisted tissue paper to make a cute party decor backdrop.  i saw another example on etsy for about $40, and i thought i really needed to construct this myself.  after all, i am crafty - right?

so, i told will i needed to get some foam core board for my big project and we headed to target.  i also had to pick up one more shade of green tissue paper, since i already had two in my closet - but three were needed for the shading effect.  once we had the foam core and tissue, i was all set.  everything else i needed was in the craft closet.  i started by making the shape of the "1".  i really liked the number that was on some stickers i had, so i used that as my model.  then, i free handed the number one on to the foam core board and cut it out with an exacto knife.  once that was cut out i sliced up all of my tissue paper into tiny squares.  (it really makes no difference at all if these are the same shape, so just freely cut away.)  then the fun begins.  this is where you find an old school ink pen - like one you lifted from a hotel or something - and begin to twist each piece of paper around the base of the pen and smash it onto your glue stick covered cut out.  i had to do this over several days with many breaks because my hand got tired of the twisting.  however, it was fairly painless and something you can do while you watch your favorite tv show.

tips:
- don't use shiny tissue paper.  the glue does not hold as well with any glossy type of paper, so if you have a choice - opt for the matte finish.
- buy a good glue stick.  when mine ran out i got a "washable" glue stick from target (it was all they had) and i ended up throwing that pack away and going to the scrapbook store to get a "scotch" brand glue stick.  much better product.

i really like how it turned out and will be using this on our front door for dax's big party coming up in 11 days!  stay tuned for other crafty things going on at this event!

craft project number 2 - part 2 - cradle

cradle time.

i know the baby only sleeps in the cradle for a short period of time and that it will find its way to the attic shortly after the baby finds their way to the nursery.  i logically know all of this.  however, i cannot pull myself away from the cradle obsession.

i was on the mission to find the perfect cradle, and then to get said cradle assembled.  i did not want to spend a lot of money on this cradle, knowing what i stated above.  daddy visited with mommy and spent the entire 4th of july building this cradle.  we took all of the parts we had, measured the openings, evaluated what we needed to make this work (safely), and then made two trips to lowe's to get everything we needed.  we gathered the drill, the newly purchased "missing parts", our patience, and sat down for an afternoon of getting this all together.

i am in love with the sanding that i did on that early saturday morning a few weeks back, but i am not in love with the mis-matched silver and gold screws/bolts etc.  i have been contemplating spray painting those screws and bolts to better blend in with the cradle itself.  not sure which way we'll go on that.

that all being said, once i determined that we were going to have to spend $16 on missing screws, i knew that we were not going to attempt making cradle bedding for this cradle and would be ordering the bedding.  i think i finally decided to order the following combo to match with our bedroom:

we're thinking that the cream matelesse will be the exterior fabric, the zig zag stripe will be on the interior of the bumper, and the robins egg fabric would be on the piping and ties.  we know it's blue and blue is typically for "boys", but it matches our bedroom and we think that is the direction we should go.

craft project number 1 - part 2 - burp cloths

the mommy was here for several days to help me figure out the sewing machine and the remaining work that needed to be done on the burp cloths.  bless her sweet heart, she had bronchitis and just did not feel well, but she worked diligently to get me set up and teach me how to use the machine. 

we had numerous trials with the bobbin thread running out, the needle breaking, the fabric getting jammed, and the stitch skipping.  mom kept her patience and worked with the machine to get everything properly working.  after many hours of effort mommy and i had come up with a dozen uniquely crafted burp cloths. 

some of the stitches are crooked, some have stitches that are skipped, some of the fabric is off center, and we have no idea how they will hold up in the washing machine.  they may not be exactly perfect, but they were hand made with love and i would not trade them for anything.

craft project number 2 - part 1 - cradle

i know - you are thinking what happened to the burp cloths part 2? 

well - you see - the sewing machine and i got off to a rocky start and i called my mom one night a couple weeks back, at about 11pm when i needed some assistance.  i begged her to come and help me right then!  she thought it was hysterical, but did agree to come help me when she could.  turns out tomorrow is the day.

projects and i have had a rough time here lately.  i thought it would be a great idea to purchase a cradle off craig's list and make the cradle bumper and we'd have our own unique hand assembled piece.  we found a great deal (or so i thought) on this cradle and went to pick it up about a month ago.  it sat, unattended in our garage, for almost a month until the dog woke me up last saturday morning at 6:30am and i could not go back to sleep.  i cruised on out to the garage and began scrubbing, sanding, and inspecting the cradle.  after some thought about how all of the parts would fit together, i realized that we were missing quite a few screws. 

this part, above, is the only thing that was preassembled and the rest of it is missing bits and pieces.  will decided there would be no more purchasing from craig's list and we really should not be doing any more projects.

before i resorted to agreeing with no more projects i decided i would go and price out the fabric and all of the pieces to create our own custom bumper.  i found the inserts online for $20 and then went to the fabric store and found out the fabric i wanted was about $30 a yard.  after doing all of the math i determined that it would just be cheaper (and easier) to purchase our cradle bumper online.  will was right.

so on july 4th my mom will be helping me learn how to sew and my dad will be helping me find the missing pieces for the cradle.  hopefully we will wrap up all of these unfinished projects and i can find something else to occupy my time and my project oriented brain.

craft project number 1 - part 1 - burp cloths

thinking to myself that i would save money by replicating something adorable i found on etsy.com, i decided i was going to set out to create my own colorful burp cloths.  it took me weeks, but i ordered all of the supplies and got everything assembled for the craft extravaganza.

i ordered burp cloths (gerber old fashioned cloth diapers) back in april, just knowing i was going to end up working on this task.  i set out then to try and find a selection of colorful dyes, but was unsuccessful at locating these at a local store and ended up having to order these off the internet.  while i waited for that i selected some fabrics for the insets, and even ordered some bias tape to help me finish off the edges.  after a follow up trip to michael's craft store, and the dollar store, i thought i had all of my parts assembled and set out to begin the process yesterday evening.

i got all of my things together and re-read the instructions and found that the dye package was calling for 1 cup of salt.  with 5 colors being prepared here, there was no way i had enough salt on hand, and as a matter of fact  -  i had no salt at all, besides Himalayan sea salt.  blah.  back to the store i went.

after returning home will helped me by filling up all of the buckets and creating an assembly line with buckets full of colorful water, wooden stir sticks for the 30 minutes of agitation each dye bucket needed, black contractor bags to ensure the grass did not end up looking like a rainbow, and 6 pairs of rubber gloves.  i had washed all of the items prior to dunking in the color buckets so they would be free of any color blocking chemicals and would be wet to accept the dye.  i lugged them all outside in yet another black contractor bag and started counting them out and submerging the cloth in the buckets.  it was hot, i was sweating, but i kept with it and in half an hour i had a rainbow of colorful cloths and shirts.

this is where the fun began.  it seems that i forgot that our exterior hose bibs need to be replaced, which left me with no way to rinse the dye from the fabrics once i was outside.  my next bright idea was to put everything back into the contractor bags and carry them all (very carefully) through the house and into the master bathroom shower.  here - i proceeded to rinse fabrics for over an hour.  the directions that say rinse until the water runs clear must be some cruel joke, because no matter what i did, this was not going to happen.  after coming to this realization i then put the fabrics back into their respective bags and carried them to the washer.  starting with the lightest color to the darkest color i washed each of five batches between 9pm and 2am.

holy cannoli!  so much work and this project is not yet complete!  however, i had to share where we stand at this point.  stay tuned for project number 1 - part 2 - burp cloths.