Trying To Re-purpose

Doesn't that just say it all? Trying to re-purpose. Yes. It fits our position quite well.

We are trying to re-purpose.

We are trying to re-purpose our efforts. Although we aren't quite sure what that means.

We are trying to re-purpose our emotions. No, not re-purpose; re-direct. In this case we are trying to heal our wounds, and care for one another. We are trying to accept our new reality.

While we're dealing with our new reality, we're busy feeling a lot of emotions. Anger, despair, vulnerability. It's hard not to feel like a victim of circumstance. We feel sad. We cry. We hug. We stay quiet. We stay home.

It is hard. So hard. And it's something that no one else can understand. If you haven't been down the adoption road, you don't - or won't - get it.

Losing this adoption has been a lot like losing a pregnancy. Trust me on this - I have experience. While a miscarriage is physically painful, this adoption is painful in another way: it was the first time we've every truly been expectant parents.

The room was ready, the travel items bought, and the names chosen (1 for a boy, 1 for a girl). We were ready.

We've been ready. For a long time.

So now we need to re-purpose some other things.

We need to re-purpose some of the wonderful things we've bought.

We can't return them. The return time has long since passed. I'm not sure what we'll do with everything. We certainly can't afford to give it all away.  We're waiting. Waiting for inspiration.

But there is something we need help with.

Some really great people donated some great things for the orphange. And we don't know what to do with them.

We would love to send it over, but we can't afford to just ship a heavy box to the other side of the world.

So, we could use some recommendations. Please.

The Book

One thing that families do, when adopting from Russia, is make a photo book so the child can see pictures of the new Mama and Papa in between visits. We're told that the wonderful Nannies often read these to the children, so we certainly wanted to do it!

Some people use a small photo album, and some use a fabric photo album. There is no limit to the imagination that can go into them.

We took some time making them, and decided to use a printing service. With the help of a a Russian friend, E, we managed to get he book properly translated. Once we receive it in the male we will use a few stickers to add some texture to it (maybe on kitty pages).

We're thrilled with how it turned out, and decided we would share.

Warning: Many pics to follow!

 

Shopping, Shopping, Me-Oh-My!

It's a long weekend here in Canada, and it's the first one Adam and I have had off together in a long while. So, with that said, I took today to go shopping with another woman who is an expectant parent.

Prior to going, I was naive enough to think that there wasn't much left to buy until we knew the gender and age of our child. Boy, was I wrong. I bought a lot of great stuff and feel all the more prepared for our Little One.

Enjoy the photos!

Now let's take a closer look at all the awesome finds!

This is our new owl set (each sold separately ofcourse). 

The biggest one is a wheeled child-sized suitcase.

The smaller one on the left is an insulated lunch bag, which will come in handy for all the delicious and nutritious things we'll be keeping on hand for our little sweetheart.

The one on the right is a small knapsack with a harness/tether so the Little One can keep their prized possessions close and so can we.

These are 2 little gel packs that you keep in the fridge or freezer and use to keep things cold in a lunch bag. So cute!

Might I add that it's fun to buy child-sized versions of things?

These are bibs with sleeves. While they are cute they are also easy to clean, practical and will fold up to a very small size.

Some great, and matching, eating utensils from Skip-Hop. I'm learning that I love Skip-Hop - they seem to have great stuff.

Some Snack-Traps. I've been told by many mothers that these are great and a must-have for toddlers. The covers control how much food can be taken out at one time, and if they tip over it doesn't spill all the contents.

See?

This is actually blue, so I'm not sure what my camera did to it.

It goes on the tub water fixture. It causes the flowing water to flow out away from the faucet in a softer stream. (Pictured below)
 

The little button that the girl is pressing releases bubble bath into the stream. How fun!

More bath toys!

You can never have too many washcloths. We're getting the infant ones as they are generally softer.

Another crib sheet. Nothing to make a fuss about until you look at the wording:

You may recognize this owl from pictures in previous posts. We now have 3. Yes, 3.

We will leave one with our child on our first trip. On the second we will take another one with us in case something happened to the first (misplaced, taken by a more dominant child, lost, damaged). And finally we will have an all-out spare. 

I have been looking for this Doll Carrier for months.

I am a huge proponent of baby/child wearing. I fully believe it helps the attachment and bonding of a parent and child. 

We are planning to wear our child in a carrier, and as a way for Little One to emulate us.

Just big enough for a stuffie.

Also, it's gender neutral, which is hard to find. You can find them for either gender, but to get a neutral one is difficult. There is also an adult version of this same one that we may get, depending on how it fits, it's safety rating, and it's weight and size limit.

And it had lots of straps.

Decals for the walls :)

More decals!

And ofcourse, something for Mommy.

Our Furniture Has Finally Arrived

It's been 1 month and 2 days since we ordered our furniture. We were lucky enough to have our crib available right away (and delivered 2 days later) but we had to wait for the rest of it.

So now everything else has arrived, which includes: the dresser, the toddler rail, the conversion kit (which turns the crib into a double bed) and the nightstand.

Today we picked up both rail sets and put them directly in our storage locker. Tomorrow we'll pick up the dresser and the nightstand (we are borrowing a truck).

We've been slowly cleaning out our spare bedroom and transforming it for our LO. Whatever we can't get rid of goes into our storage locker.

I just can't wait . . . . Decorating will be so much fun!

Education Has Begun!

Skype, Skype, what a wonderful thing!

Skype has kept us from having to travel to another province for our mandated, Russia-specific education. It's glorious! And Skype is free. Free is good. We like free.

Our education sessions started on Tuesday. So far we have had two things to do, and tomorrow is our first of 3 video conferences.

The first day our big assignment was . . . to read a single page introduction/welcome letter, and a 2 page glossary.

It didn't take long.

The second day our assignment was to answer some straight forward questions about why we chose Russia, what we knew about it and the adoption process, and what our expectations were/are.

Questions like these have been asked frequently in our journey so far; both in professional/official capacities and in social situations. The questions are important so that you (and everyone else) know where you stand and how much you have to learn. Our home study included them, our psychological assessment included them, and our provincial education training included them (you can read about those days: Day 1 here and Day 2 here).

Tomorrow we have our first of 3 Skype sessions. There will be a total of 5 hours, made up of a 2 hour, a 1 hour, and another 2 hour.

♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥ ♥♥

Remember the other day when I mentioned that we'd been shopping? Check out the awesome bedding we found! Perfect for a LO to curl up in bed in!

 

Notice the adorable parent-baby animals? It grabbed us right away.

We Waited A Long Time For One Of These!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I say that's an understatement.

Adam and I have waited a very long time to be able to buy a crib. Well this weekend we finally did, and it felt glorious!

On our shopping excursion we bought and/or ordered everything in our last post. The crib was in stock in the back of the warehouse so we had someone pick it up and deliver it to us today. We'll be including the crib while taking some more photos of the room to submit for Russia. The rest of the order will be in in 6-8 weeks.

So, as when waiting for anything to be delivered, there was hours of waiting! As you can see, we were growing impatient.

But eventually it came! And because the delivery company didn't actually bring their debit machine, and didn't want to take a cheque or wait, we got a discount for the cash we had on hand (about $10 off the cost).

And then came time to work. And by work I  mean Adam putting it together and me taking pictures. It's a big occasion after all!

And since we already have a general layout in mind for LO's room, we had it all cleared out and ready to go.

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work he goes . . .

It's a divine colour and quality! Eek so exciting!

Back to work!

Ahhhhhhh!

It's coming together!

The Finished Product