Emily's Room and Garden

Amidst much request for photos, here is Emily's room, and her garden!!



Nursery Wall 

The flower border flows around the entire room--it's from one stencil, but consists of three individually painted layers--what was I thinking!! Although the whole process took 3 weeks straight from start to finish, we just love it. Thanks to Kevin and my dad for helping paint on the days I just couldn't go on, and to friends and family for their encouragement, and swift removal of excess paint from my hair when I was in public.


The corner wall 

The clouds are painted free hand. That was the easiest part!


Emily's garden 

Here's Emily's garden, which is butterfly and hummingbird friendly. Some of the plants have yet to bloom, but consist of Scarlet Milkweed, Yellow Lantana, Firespike (will be red, spikey flowers), Blue Porterweed (still growing), and Blue Sage (spikes). Thanks to Uncle Johnny for Emily's Chinese pagoda!


Peekaboo plant 

These plants are just to the left of the garden, and look like eyeballs staring at you! (Kevin's idea, of course.)


Brammie's garden 

Kevin planted this special garden in memory of his grandmother, Brammie, who passed away this year. Brammie loved pink, and loved flowers, so the Hibiscus are light pink, dark pink, and soft yellow with pink centers. Kevin will add a bench amidst the stones.

Hope you liked it!

--Caroline

We're getting closer!!

Evening Update: The referrals are in, and parents are proudly announcing their Chinese daughters, who range in age from 6-24 months, including a set of girl twins! The babies are spread across China, with several being from Inner Mongolia. Now the countdown begins for us...we wonder how old Emily will be, and where she'll be from???!!!
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Hi all! The next set of referrals from our adoption agency are being announced today!!! (Tuesday). This means families whose paperwork was received by the Chinese government in September and part of October are already matched with a child!! Our paperwork was received on 11/12/04. This is called a DTC date, or Dossier to China.

We're excitedly scanning the adoption email lists, as parents will immediately announce their baby referrals. The DTC dates for these parents are critical, because if most of October parents are matched, say, up to October 21st--as they agency believes they will be--then we're sure to be matched to Emily in May! However, nothing is 100%. we hear that there are over 280 November families. Hopefully they'll split the month down the middle, and we'll squeeze in next month.

The families receiving their referrals today are incredibly excited. A group of them that live in or near Colorado Springs (where our agency is located) are camping out in the parking lot as of 9am this morning, waiting for the agency folks to bring them inside to see the first photos of their soon-to-be-adopted children. As soon as I hear something, I'll update this message.

:D

P.S. Emily's garden is finished, and her room is just about done. Watch for photos soon!

Caroline

My Second Baby Shower!!

Oh what fun--here's me enjoying my second (and last) baby shower! Friends Wanda and Karen, and my mom threw this for me at Wanda's house on Sunday, April 11th. It was lovely. The decorations were everything Asian, which included paper dragons and lanterns, red carnations, Chinese napkins and plates, sweet-and-sour Pork, fried rice, veggies, Chinese plum candies, fortune cookies, and almond cookies.


Guests were asked to dress in red and gold. What a nice surprise that was! My friend Heather kindly loaned me an authentic Chinese robe her husband Dave brought back from one of his business trips to China. Her mother also knitted me a lovely, soft black and gold scarf/sash. Each item matched what I was wearing perfectly!


It was so wonderful to see all my friends in one place at the same time...that was the best part. And the gifts were great, too! Lots of baby clothes (very much needed), everything Pooh (very much loved), and great safety items such as a baby gate and baby bedrails, and more.



Here the girls and I play shower games. I failed miserably.


Who goosed Betty?



Here are Jackie, my brother Dave's beautiful girlfriend, Wander (our petname for her), and my friend and neighbor Margo. That's Betty's hair on the left...pretty color.



My stash!



Another shot of the shower. Note the pretty clothes hanger decoration.



The clothes on this hanger turned out to be a gift from Wander!!



Hey, this bonnet's a little tight!! Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day for Kevin and me... and a special thanks to Wander, Karen and Mom for taking the time to make it all a beautiful memory I'll always treasure.

--Caroline

33 days to go!!

As of Friday, April 8th, we're at approximately 33 days until we receive Emily!!

This estimate is based on watching other referrals come in. A referral is when our adoption agency receives the child match from the Chinese government. The agency translates the information, which includes the baby's weight, height, general characteristics and health...plus a photo! Once they translate the information from Mandarin to English, they contact us!! That's our referral day.