Love American Style

Love American Style...

Today's project was zooming off a letter to our agency for translation for the judge and putting the finishing touches on the photo album for the judge.

The letter is our opportunity to express ourselves. Explain ourselves. Yes I know what you're thinking there is no explanation for us ;o) lol

4 type written pages later we got a thumbs up from our agency.

The album is to show that we are a normal happily married couple and fit to adopt Tamara.

Not too much of a stretch ... right? lol

Anyway.. while digging through my computer photo files I found our wedding photos.

And so I thought I'd share a few.

Enjoy!

We haven't changed too much have we?

Our bridal party at Cave Pt. Door County WI.

A Beautiful Day and a party that went on for 3 days.

Almost 14 years ago.. Wow time sure does fly when you're having fun.

And this was Cave Point last year on our Anniversary.

Where we're standing was all under water 14 years ago.

Global warming perhaps?

Pretty No? For those who have never been. This is Lake Michigan on the Wisconsin side.

OK... better get back to it. Clock is ticking away.

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Decorating Finished?

The last few days I've had several requests to see Tamara's new room.

As you know from previous posts we bought her a Young America Isabella set.

I still liked the Waverly Sweet Violets better then anything I could find out there for her.

Unless you go with "character" spreads, curtains and linens your choices are very limited these days. And since Tamara doesn't know who Tinkerbell, Barbie or Dora are yet I thought having a pillow size Tinkerbell face staring at her might be too traumatic.

So we decided to stay with flowers.

I certainly hope she likes violet?

~~~

This first picture is my inspiration picture.

Next we have our transition picture before the new furniture.

This one has the furniture with white tab curtains as I then realized Waverly Sweet Violets was discontinued. So finding enough in time was a challenge.. but you know me I love a challenge.

Her new bedroom
The bed is toddler height for now.. using the bed rails. As she grows the bed will be lifted. Eventually bed rails removed. And the trundle will be added for sleep overs.

The Waverly curtains for bed and windows as well as a new twin size comforter just arrived this week. In my search for Waverly I found a woman that makes custom teddy bears so I had her make Tamara a matching violets Teddy. He's seated at the foot of her bed on the toy chest.

FYI.. if you ever get this type of bed you need a full size bed skirt when you do a toddler height.

I thinned out the dolls. Packed away all the porcelains as well as all the dolls that are not age appropriate yet.

Found this wonderful porcelain frame for her room.

We've scattered photos of her all around the house so she feels at home. After our trip I will also frame photos of us 3 and her friends in Georgia so she makes the connection. Should also help her with home sickness.

So glad she likes dolls. The doll below (blue dress) is a reborn Lissi doll. No not the religious reborn. A reborn doll is when a an artist takes a vinyl doll and hand paints details to make them life like. The effect is pretty amazing. This little darling is actually Tamara's size.. although about 10 inches shorter. Since she has the same body measurements as Tamara we were able to use her to test out safety equipment. Try our safety harnesses and such. It was very helpful to have Lissi around. ;o) especially when doing baby gates.

When I saw this mint condition vintage pram on eBay I had to get it for Tamara. It reminded me of the one I had when I was little.

Lily what are you doing here?

Lily found My Twinn Cuddly Madeline's bed. For about a week I've been wondering why Madeline kept falling out of bed? Mystery solved. Like I said before... Lily will most likely be Tamara's cat. Always ready to play

What do you think?

Are we finished decorating? Please say yes.. I'm out of time.

~~~

I'm Leaving on a JET Plane...

We're leaving on a jet plane... don't know when we'll be back again.

Yup... we're leaving

and it's been so hard keeping my mouth shut for the past few days while we make our final arrangements.

On my Birthday I received an email from our agency. It started out this way...

"Happy Birthday! We have a present for you ... A court date on May 22nd. "

Absolutely made my day!!!

they then went on to say...

"Tamara is doing well - still shy and all that. She is a nice girl and a girly girl, into babies and household stuff."

Woo Hoo I got my "Girly Girl" lol

Can you tell we're excited?

Aren't you excited too?

~~~

OK our flights are booked and our apartment is reserved.

We'll be staying in the heart of the city. In their super duper luxury apartment.

Yes we will have Internet access in our apartment so we should be able to stay in touch and update our blog accordingly. But remember they do have power grid issues so let's not freak if we miss a day or two. OK?

~~~

Today we finalized our flying and living accommodations and purchased medical / air evacuation coverage... just in case. This is the insurance plan that will basically send a floating ICU unit to come and pick us up in case something horrific should happen.

Just like ALL insurance policies you hope you never have to cash in on it but we'll sleep better knowing it's in place.

~~~

Time to put the finishing touches on packing, check our lists and check them twice.

OK now for the freaky part...lol...

it's a mental list..lol...

even freakier... my brain. ;o)

OK..ok.. stop laughing... I can do this... honestly I don't do lists on paper.. never have.

So if I forget something I'll have no one to blame but myself... so of course we're taking "everything" So glad the apartment comes with a kitchen sink.

That was a packing issue for me. lol ;o)

~~~

OK.. better get back to it ... more later!

So excited!

I'm gonna be a Mommy.... I'm gonna be a Mommy

OH.. No I just remembered Bruce is the Mommy :o(

I'm going to be a Dada... I'm gonna be a Dada

You gotta admit the language Mama / Dada thing is funny.

No no ...I don't hear you.

We just told the girls Mommy & Daddy are going away for a while

to pick up their new human sister. And we told them who their babysitters were.

Thought I'd share their reaction.

No..no.. I don't hear you.

I'd say things are going fairly well on the home front... wouldn't you?

~~~

I'm still here...

I'm still here but not for long. ;o)

Major update coming your way shortly.

Stay tuned as we finalize a few major details.

~~~

Splish Splash

Splish Splash

Ever feel like filling up the tub with bubbles?

Today we received a letter from the State Department informing us that they have forwarded our VISA approval for Tamara to the US Embassy in Tbilisi.

Wahoo!!! Where's the bubbly?

Now we just need confirmation from our Ambassador in Tbilisi and we're "still" waiting for confirmation of our court date.

We're getting close here

so exciting!

~~~

As we wait we're still baby proofing and packing.

I never realized how many draws and cabinets we have until now.

And the packing? Wow! And I haven't even started with our personal stuff yet.

Amazing!

~~~

Today is also my 29 th Birthday.. AGAIN ;o)

May 13th not 12th as post...

A friend of mine told me I needed to set my clock back before Tamara learns how to count.

So it's official... I'm 29 today.

For my Real Age

LOL .. yeah like that's gonna work? lol

~~~

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day...

to all the Moms out there including my own.

~~~

Happy Mother's Day...

to all my friends who are in the process of adopting.

~~~

Happy Mother's Day...

to all those who may not be a Mom but someone thinks they act like one or should be one.

~~~

This Mother's Day is bitter sweet for me.

A bit bitter as it should have been my first with Tamara.

A bit sweet as I know this will be my last Mother's Day without her.