Our Baby's Room

The room was painted with help from Dad, Dan and Amber. Also, we changed the blinds to cellular/cordless, and my mom and I cleared all the old furniture out and organized the closet. That was a fun week, our house was a disaster! I also painted a little chair and shelf to match the room and bought an area rug. Each week it's looking more like a baby's room.

We need curtains and other baby things, but we still have time. We should be getting a crib this month! The dressers are from my grandmother, they no longer needed them so they gave it to us. We also were given a glider/rocking chair! Everyone has been so generous! We're not sure if we're getting a boy or girl so this color scheme should accommodate both.

Uncle Dan, putting together the crib for us. He wouldn't let me see it until it was done :) but his wife took some pictures for me.

~~~ UPDATE 6/18/07: ~~~

Grandma decided that the baby needed a new crib ~and she bought us one! It is beautiful! It converts to a toddler bed, then full size bed. It is solid, doesn't move at all and is very safe and pretty! Here is a picture of it, with the beautiful quilt made by my best friend and her mom-in-law!

Grandpa and Daddy setting up the crib!

The crib is full of stuffed animals and blankets, we need to make room for the baby soon! We have a breathable bumper on the crib too~can you tell I like green??

A little bit of paperwork

So what's in our dossier? We are sending to the agency the paperwork you see below. In these stacks are 35 original documents signed by both of us or someone else (bank, employer, Realtor), with the signatures notarized. We have another 35 original documents with the same bunch of signatures which have also been "apostilled". This means that each document has a little paper stapled to them from the county of the notary (we ended up going to 3 counties) saying 'yes this person is a notary' with an officials signature; and then another large paper from NY State saying 'yes these people who signed the paper for the county are legitimate' complete with the Secretary of the States signature and seal on it. So far 70 documents.
We also have to send 5 copies of each of these to the agency, which is another 175 documents. Most of these are single pages, but the home study for instance is something like 7 pages long, so that's a lot of paper. The grand total is something like 245 documents, totaling about 375+ individual pieces of paper. On top of all this is about 25 pictures of us, our house, our families and the area. Amber has been running around a lot and putting a ton of work into getting this done. All I can say is I hope that we got everything right!!!!

Books

Here are some books I have read and recommend. If any friends want to borrow these I would be happy to lend them to you.

For Everyone:

The Russian Word for Snow
Janis Newman

This is a true story of a couple who adopted from Russia. You will definitely cry reading this one. It may help some to understand the emotion and drive adoptive parents have to get to their children despite difficulties.

For Couples:

Adopting after Infertility
Patricia Irwin Johnston

Great book to work though emotions and issues facing you as a result of infertility. Also, to help couples with the choice of child-free life or adoption.

International Adoption handbook
Myra Alperson

Great book for those just starting an adoption. It gives detailed information on different types of international adoption.

Dear Bithmother by Kathleen Silber
Phylis Speedlin

Wow, this book is powerful! You will read myths people have about birth-parents and then the truth from birth-parents themselves. It features letters from adoptive parents and birth-parents to each other, and more excellent information.

For Children:

Why Was I Adopted?

This had rave reviews on Amazon.com. This is an adorable book that talks about adoption as something special but that adopted kids are still like every other kid and still need to brush their teeth and go to bed early. Too cute!


Adoption is for Always
Linda Walvoord Girard

Book about a little girl who realizes she is adopted and what it means. The end is sweet as she understands even though she has a birth-mother/father her adoptive mommy is her real mom and daddy, real dad "for always".

The Pretty House That Found Happiness

I love this cute little vintage book! I hope our kids like it as much as I do!