It's Getting There

It was our hope to sell our house, move, and be in a new home before Maddie arrived. Though we've had slow but continual traffic through the house, we have not had any offers, so we made the decision to take the house off the market for now and make it work for us, a soon to be family of four.

We love this house, so we aren't disappointed to have to stay. It's just that we weren't thinking "family" when we moved in seven years ago. The main issue with the house is that we have two bedrooms upstairs (on the main level) and two bedrooms downstairs. It would be our wish to be in a traditional two story with all bedrooms on the same floor, but that's not what we've got, so we have to make a go of it here.

Currently, we have a very large master suite and dressing room (which was originally two full bedrooms) and Isabel's smaller bedroom on the main floor. Downstairs, one bedroom has been converted into our office, and we've been using the other as our tv/amusement room. Since we did not want to remove all the built-ins from the office, that left the large tv room to be converted into a child's bedroom. It's a huge room (17.5' x 17.5') and has an attached bath, so it will actually work quite nicely especially when we are able to house both girls in there (which is our goal once Maddie gets settled in and Isabel graduates from her crib).

So last week, we cleared out the whole room and had it and the adjoining bath painted pink. This weekend, we began loading in the kid stuff. It's close to being complete except for an egress window which will be installed the week after next. We are also waiting for a second twin bed to be delivered. That will be arriving the week of April 7. Oh, and I have to have a chair reupholstered in a different fabric to fit the new decor. Isabel's bedding is the same style as Maddie's except it's in green. The egress window, currently just a small window, will be above the bedstand in between the two beds. It will bring in lots more light and provide an emergency way out if ever (God forbid) necessary.

At first I was shocked by the pink, but after we started getting some furniture in the room, it really began to grow on me. I don't have everything up on the walls yet either, except for one big picture, so the wall art will break things up a bit, too. The only real glitch in the room is that it contains a stone fireplace. That is not an ideal feature for a little kids' room, but it will be nice once they're older. For now, we'll turn off the gas and probably pad the edges of the hearth so no one bonks their head.

Here is a sneak peek at Maddie's new and Isabel's eventual digs:

Our Little Monkey...

is very much into climbing these days. I was out of the kitchen for about fifteen seconds the other day, and when I returned, Isabel was sitting on top of the island. She was very proud of herself but refused to look at me because she knew she wasn't supposed to be up there.

Mommy's Little Helper

There is going to come a day when I will ask Isabel to swiffer the floor, and she will not be so happy to do it. As for now, she loves it, and she's actually quite thorough, too!

New Picture of Maddie

I was so surprised today by an email from our agency with an updated photo of Madeleine. The CCAA sent the photo to our agency for submission with Maddie's visa application. They were nice enough to pass it along to us. She looks so sober and somewhat like a boy, but I am even more in love with her little face than I was before. Her features are so delicate...just love that little rosebud mouth and button nose. And her hair has really grown. It makes me a little sad to see her getting older, but hopefully, it won't be much longer before we can go get her and bring her home where she belongs. Here she is...

Good Morning!

Our girl has crazy hair in the morning!

I-800A Approved!

Our agency received email notification today from US Immigration that our I-800A, officially called the Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, has been APPROVED! There are now three more forms that we need to file before we can receive travel approval. Let's hope the processing of these forms moves quickly...two to three weeks is what we are hoping for. If things continue to move at a good clip, May still looks quite reasonable for travel. Hang on, Maddie. We're coming!

Play Time

Reading to Bitty Baby




Finally...Some Time Outside


Riding the Four Wheeler

Phoenix Pictures

Petting Zoo at the World Wildlife Zoo


Isabel's Favorite Attraction at the Zoo: The Slide


Glass Sculptures at the Desert Botanical Garden


She Really Was Having Fun


Wasn't This a Scene in "Poltergeist"?


Taliesin West


Gabby Loves Isabel