I'm leaaaavin on a jet plane...

We got the call. It is now confirmed that very soon, Eric and I will be headed to Ethiopia to meet our sweet M+Ms!!

nada

Still no word on a travel date ....maybe next week?

I have made a little progress on the nursery, so I'll try and post some pictures soon!

whoa, someone else has this much time on their hands too?

No news on a travel date yet. Though we did get an updated health report on M+M... they're both laughing out loud and rolling over from back to front! Gees. I wish they'd pause and wait til I get there before they change anymore!

So, I've had to find more projects. Or just ways to (ahem) be productive. For instance, this website I learned about today: Sketchswap

You draw a picture. Any picture you want, but no erasing allowed. When finished, you submit your drawing, and the website sends it to another artist. And...voila! You get to see someone else's drawing!

For example, say you drew something called "Juicy Lips Inc." (Just an example, drawn by a totally random artist you don't know. Really!) A bit scary, but lets say this is your style:

Is it a man? Is it a woman? Where'd he/she get those lips, anyway? How mysterious this sheman is! When finished drawing, admire it for a moment (cause this is the last time you'll see it) click submit, and this stunning piece of artwork will be exchanged for something in return.

Say, "Lamp+Man+Rabbit=Peace"Somewhat abstract, and I'm still working on an interpretation... though it does appear the man has shocked himself with a spoon-shaped lamp, and somehow achieved peace through this. And I don't know what's up with the worried rabbit. Shouldn't he be happy for the man? (Thank goodness the artist included labels.) Excellent swap!

Go ahead, try it. You'll be surprised where drawing with a mouse will take you, and maybe if you're lucky, "Juicy Lips Inc." will come your way too. The artist is only doing a limited number of these sketches (I heard), so hurry on over while supplies last!

2 for 2

Them's OUR little babies!

That's right, WE PASSED COURT TODAY!! 2 tries for 2 babies. Not bad!

Hold on, my little chitlins. Soon we'll be bringing you home to the land of the free, home of the brave!

distraction of the day

Tomorrow is court date #2. In order to distract myself a little, today I finally tackled a project I have been working on/postponing for months. The bassinet! I was blessed wth this lovely bassinet that has been in my family for years. In fact, it is the very bassinet my grandpa slept in as a baby!

Through the years, this bassinet has endured more than its fair share of abuse, making a cover necessary. Paint just doesn't cut it anymore! It came with a skirt that the last member of my family made for it, but it was a little outdated (it hasn't been used in 15 years or so). So, I decided I would make a new skirt for it. No patterns here, just guesswork—which has turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated. Beyond my capabilities, really. If I learned anything during this, it's...don't try this at home. Especially if you don't like ripping seams for hours... and hours. (My sewing machine and I have this love/hate relationship. I love using him to create things. But I hate when he doesn't sew what I had in mind. Totally his fault. Not mine. And when are they going to come up with an automatic ripping feature on these things, anyway??)

BUT. I finished it. 3 months and 6 yards of fabric later (6 yards!! can you believe that?), here's what I came up with.

I'm happy with the results. But would I do it again? As with anything sewing related: Aw, hell no.

Biggest. Baby. Ever.

I post these pictures, not to show off my awesome guns (thank you for noticing), but to prove that we are officially vaccinated. That's right, no yellow fever/typhoid/meningitis/polio/hepA/tetanus-diphtheria for us, thank you! The shots themselves weren't bad. It's the 200 lb weights I feel like I have on each of my shoulders right now. OW! I don't think I've ever had that many shots at once. Well, I take that back. Maybe in kindergarten. Which I've been having flashbacks of all day.

These flashbacks are no coincidence. You remember how you have to have like 5 hundred shots before you start school? No? Well, I do. At least that's what it seemed like. Cause I was the possibly the biggest baby ever about it. I mean, more than the average kid. To start off, I was terrified I would be given shots in the knees.

Why would a 5 year old child think this? Because her whole life to this point, she's been calling her knees her "kneesles". (One of those baby words that her mom & pop probably should have nipped in the bud before then, right along with "bo-bos". You know, elbows.) So, when they told me that I had to get a measles shot, I thought they were saying kneesles. Terrifying, right? I mean, who wants a shot in their knees?

To add to the agony, because I had a rather twiggish figure, they gave me all these shots in the booty. My thoughts: You want me to pull my pants down so you can stick a needle in my WHAT? After getting over the embarrassment of showing my booty not only to the doctor, but also my {gasp!} mother, it wasn't so bad. Except for the soreness. Oh, how vividly I remember it. Whining and limping around my parents house. Oh, who am I kidding? I actually remember crawling and dragging one leg behind me. Someone called on the phone for me, and I refused it because my booty was in too much pain to answer. I was absolutely pathetic.

And so today, as I write this, I sort of see why I was such a baby. Sort of. Here I am turning down calls as I type, because my arms are too sore to lift the receiver. just kiddin. I've got the speaker phone handy, just in case. Thank God I got the shots in my arms this time. I really don't see myself being able to drag both legs around the house AND whining at the same time. One thing at a time! And frankly, whining is much easier.

To top off this whole story, you may notice the lovely bandaids the doctor put on me. Yep, those are tiny ads for Gardisil. That vaccination they give girls to prevent a certain STD. (And one of the few we didn't get today.) 6 of those puppies... On me. And Eric. And he had to go back to the office like that.

new day, new attitude

Though we're a little set back by the delayed court date, Eric and I realize this is only a small bump in the road. Getting upset about it doesn't change anything, and I think we both realized that by the end of the day on Friday. So, we're over it. Life goes on! 10 days until our next court date, and we'll be praying that it goes smoothly until then.

These babies keep growing and getting cuter and cuter! I want them to stop changing until we have them! It's so unfair. :)