Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Counting down the days

It's hard to believe that in 3 days I'll be heading to China again! Two adoptions in 18months...call us crazy!
This week has been a whirlwind with a ton of laundry, packing, gathering documents & preparing myself emotionally for the trip.  My brain has turned into mush.
I'm still working until Friday & will be able to take off 12 weeks, returning the week of Memorial Day.  Harper's daycare will allow her to be part time while I'm off work, attending 3 full days a week.  
Part time=part time tuition= a little financial break :)

To help count down my time in China, I made this calender for Harper, with the help of my dear friend/coworker, Brenda.
We glued the pictures on the poster board.

Brenda sewed little pouches & we filled them with candy & stickers.
A little surprise each day for my girl while I'm gone.

I think me being gone for 2 weeks will be harder on me than her.   I have 100% confidence that  Neil will run the ship while I'm gone.  Sure, he'll be exhausted from a long day at work, but at the end of the day, he's an excellent father & Harper LOVES her daddy.
Luckily, we have an overabundance of clothes (Thanks Christa!) for Harper, so I've laid out 2 weeks of outfits for her to make it easier on dad.  Now, the hair situation may be a bit stressful for him.  She like her "ponies" & bows, hopefully Bria can assist him with that.

Overall, I'm extremely excited & super duper nervous. I'm so lucky that mom is going with me. She's the most laid back, nurturing person. Next to Neil, she's the only other person I need by my side with an experience like this.

I plan to blog while in China, so please follow along.



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tubes again...

Over the last few weeks, we've noticed that Harper's hearing has decreased significantly.  At first we thought it was selective hearing, but it seems to have gotten worse.
We finally got in to the ENT doctor & her tubes are blocked. 
We're thankful that's the problem & nothing more severe.
So, on Friday, Harper will have her tubes replaced.

Please pray for a speedy recovery!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Here we come....




I booked our flights to China yesterday...I can't believe it.
We depart from St Louis on Sat March 3.
St Louis-Chicago-Beijing-Chengdu
We arrive in Chengdu on Sun March 4 & meet Melaina on Mon March 5!
We'll be staying at the Crowne Plaza in Chengdu.

Friday March 9, we'll fly to Guangzhou to finish up the paperwork part of the adoption & will be staying at the China Hotel Marriott.

We come back to the states on Sat March 17
Hong Kong-Chicago-St Louis

My mom is my traveling companion for this trip. As much as I need Neil with me, Harper needs him more. He'll be staying home & keeping Harper on her routine.
Keep us in your prayers as we prepare for another journey of a lifetime.

Friday, February 10, 2012

DIY

I finally finished my first DIY project!
I refinished 2 dressers & a night stand with much delight.
Being the amateur that I am, I forgot to take a before picture with the drawers...oops!

 Very poor lighting, bad picture

We had this dresser in Bria's old room & she had spilled a scented oil freshner on the top that ate through the wood.

This is Harper's "new" dresser!


I found this night stand & dresser on craigslist for $100.

Before

After



Before
This is Melaina's "new" dresser.
We moved it up into her room last night & I started putting her clothes in it.
This feels real, especially since I got my TA today :)