This is a long week....

I went shopping again. If not there some orphanage is going to get a lot of clothes..

These are just a few of the outfits I bought to give to the orphanage this week. I made sure I got more then pink but heck those boys look so cute in pink. Ok so that did not end my shopping though. I plan ahead.....

Yes a snowman suit. It fits 0-9 months and I think just a picture in it is worth the $2.00. Yep it was a whole 2 dollars as most of the clothes you see are under $3. I bought long sleeve onsies today for $2.00. There are 2 in the pack. Now you see my problem, such a deal how can you turn it down. They keep making things lower and lower and form a Karrie pile at Babies R Us.

How early do you pack

Holiday weekend meant a good time to go through things paint rooms and tile bathrooms. All on the list and only a little done so far as Sunday approaches. It must be the beautiful weather and any excuse to go outside.
I had a change of heart on colors so the babies room is now white. Ok its the primer but its white anyway. I hope to have the final decision made today so we can get some color on the walls. My mother what's to know if the square footage on the house is less since I paint the rooms so much. Nothing like a fresh coat of paint.
Also going to tackle the kids bathroom. I am tiling he counter since I had the builder put in white tile and my husband who preped it for me did not make it level this time. This does create more work but it will get done.
More like it has to before I leave to get our baby. Speaking of which we know little and wish someone would tell us for sure we are going in September.
If your by your local Toys R Us today check out the sales on clearance clothing . I say this laughing because I just bought about 20 more outfits to take over.
Have a great day......

They better hurry or I will have 10 Suit cases

School started hurray. The kids are back in school and yet I still feel I don't have enough time each day. Maybe once Myles starts pre school in a week. My 18 year old is home to much though and requires a lot of attention so this could be a cause too. I think my husband is not talking to me again after the latest arrival. Do you need updates on on home studies when your family grows. My daughter brought a kitten to live here. DH says and who takes care of this animal? Umm :).....
They told me last year they needed shoes and I collected over 60 new pairs of shoes for the orphanage. This time we learned they do not get enough formula. Yeah you got it right but not 60 cans yet. I think closer to 30 though hurray.

Then it was clothes they always need clothes and you could not even imagine the great sales I find. So this is only a small dent on what I have purchased. My husband looked at me as though you bought all this for Rylee-ann. Nope its to leave there.

So now that I have all this stuff do you think they could send me already? I wonder how long they can tell one family they are waiting on the call to set the G&R date. I sure hope it comes soon I am running out of room for my clothes.

Ok its Monday in Vietnam

My brain is always 14 hour ahead. I even gave my agency permission to call me at 3am if that is when the notice comes that we can get our daughter. It is a bit hard when one says plan on September travel (do they know that is 4 days away) and then the other person in the office says plan on October/November travel. Yes you read this right as you can see its a guess. I never thought waiting would be so hard but it is. So today I found so many shirts/jumpers and other items on sale at Babies R Us and bought as much as I could. More tomorrow and I sure hope the orphanage likes them. I bought crayola crayon packets ok 40 of them, markers and paper to give to the older kids. My thought was if it breaks you tear the paper off but if I got pencils and they broke they would end up in the trash. I want to bring a few toys to hang from cribs as well.
So do you see my suitcase expanding already? Here I thought I would go lighter this time around haha...
Now lets get the phone ringing I cant wait forever to get my daughter :)

Where did the week go.....

Can you believe another week has passed and summer is coming to an end? School officially starts next week but the freshmen go to school this morning to get their books, schedules and buy there year books. Ok so what is with the cost of year books anyway? If you want to just buy a year book its $70 till next week that is, if you want to attend football games add to that. So the check for today is $110 without P.E. clothes thank goodness she is taking dance. I am sure they will want special shoes and outfit that will cost me more then PE clothes :).
We are headed out to the Asian Garden Mall today as I need to feel like I am getting closer to Vietnam. I will take picture and post later.
Superman has made his appearance in my house and we have had to buy several of these pj's as he will not go to his normal clothes. I did try to tell him that Clark Kent changes to regular clothes but he will have none of it. Now if he could use his super powers to clean the house for me that would be great. Myles better known as Superman will start school in September.
My purchase getting me closer to Rylee-ann this past week is her car seat.

It has the best ratings and seeing she is so small the Britax seemed to big so it is being put aside a bit. So now that I have her car seat do you think someone can call me and tell me to pick her up? I am told we should know something in the next week or so.

Have a great day.....

Movie to see

My daughter invited me out to a movie last night. I have to say since Myles joined us we do not see movies that often unless they are power hero's, animated kids who sing, or the little bear who gets in trouble (curious George). I am not so sure this was the movie to see when you are awaiting travel news but "World Trade Center" is what we saw. My daughter has offered to baby sit so I can take my husband. I am not sure anyone walked out with a dry eye but I will say it was good.
On the adoption front no more news. We are being told that things are moving along and hopefully travel will come in September. Do they know how hard it is to look at a picture know its your child and not be able to even touch her? Then I read this on the internet.
When you go to the orphanage you should be very polite to everyone you meet. The person who has been taking care of your child may want to hold him/her for most of the time you are there. Please let her do this. She has taken care of your child and this will be the last time she will see him/her. Give her a few last moments. She may also show you how to hold and feed your baby. Again, let her do this. You will soon be on your way home and you can do what ever you please. You have the rest of your life with your child; she has only a few more minutes.
This cannot be an easy job and I sure hope I find a way to thank them properly for caring for our daughter.

Sunday is a new week?

I am so ready to start a new week. Our family seems to have had a tough week. My ex sister in law and Aunt to my kids lost her battle to breast caner and my children had to try again to understand losing a family member. Than my father decided to scare us and ended up in the emergency room and then the hospital. Though he was released the next day it was only to have him return Tuesday for a pace maker. So as you see I needed a new week.
When the going gets tough take out your referral pictures. Do not go in the baby's room and realize you have nothing ready though :). I have bought toys and clothes but have not gotten the necessary items. Why wait? I still think I is this real?
Ok my favorite thing is the zoo which I have not been to in a few weeks but this is a picture of the elephant at my last visit. I did not know that they played in water but this elephant had the best time. Have you ever seen an elephant take a bath?

And my purchases today is a new doll for Rylee-ann. I wonder if I will be able to take any of these things with me? I am going to buy a few like it to give to the orphanage to hang on the cribs for the babies though.

Over and over I go back to the same picture. Is she real or a doll? I have asked our agency about getting formula to the orphanage as it seems they are all small and do not get enough food. All that were checked were low on weight which is a concern.
So does this look like a doll? I am also enquiring about the girl holding her. Is she in the orphanage is she available? Hopefully we will learn this soon.

Ok so I get pictures of our daughter and a few extras and first I say what in heavens name is that? I guess I deserve a trip to Hawaii or at least somewhere that has coconuts. What ever happened to that brown fuzzy thing I see in the market. So I ask my husband what is it and he says the outside of a coconut. Has he been to Hawaii without me?

I do like the green on it though and wonder how that would look with pink on the walls in the baby's room. I better start this week as time is flying and I really need to have more then clothes for her. I have bought way to many outfits and way to many toys. My husband wants to know if they allow full size carry on because I keep telling him this is a toy for the long flight home.

Referrals

I think today has been one of the better days. When you read other families posting their referrals it just makes it more real. From the beginning I have watched one families blog and you would think it was my child. She talked about her baby then all of a sudden nothing. How do you write someone asking what happened. Well today she posted pictures and I feel like I got my referral all over again. Congratulations I am so happy you got your beautiful daughter. I am sure from reading your blog you both will make wonderful parents.

I hesitated putting much on our referral scared you can say but now reading a few others we are happy to announce Rylee-ann Mai who is in Can Tho. We got so many pictures the other day and some of her medical. Now if only we could get more. Can you imagine I got on the phone and insisted (ok asked nice... begged) to get my daughter formula. It seems she is anemic and in need of good formula. The orphanage does all they can I am sure but can we not do more? I await news that they can do this for me and all the babies there that need this.

Wow how the weeks fly but we are not closer to Vietnam. I keep reading others pages and get so excited. We decided to finally do the baby's room this weekend now to choose a color. My daughter is moving down stairs and chose green for her room. I want to know when normal colors will appear in my home though.
Can you believe Halloween costumes are out and I found the cutest lady bug. Hope it brings good luck and that we have her by then.

As of July 10, 2006 we have our official referral of our daughter Rylee-ann Faith Mai Mikulus. We have had her picture for a month but until this week we were unsure if we would really get her.
Does this mean we can officially buy clothes? Paint her room and get ready for an infant again. I sure hope so because Monday night I bought an outfit.


Our daughter resides in Vietnam being well taken care of in an orphanage. She is now 4 months old and our last weight was at 3 months and she was 9 pounds. Can I send some formula? She is beautiful and we cannot wait to actually touch her. We are told a total of 4 months to travel and without knowing we have passed the first month.

I sat here last night thinking wow a mom again and the quilt squares meant something. They now are for someone how exciting. I cannot wait to get all my squares and make her quilt.

More waiting

So the weeks go by as we still have little on our adoption. We thought we were going to have to start over when our dossier was pulled. Wait was it really? I guess it depends on who you speak to at the agency. Last we heard it was not then we got an email asking if we were interested in a girl. Of course we are, didn't we sign on with you and pay you to find her.
I took on a part time job nights to help with the added expenses and make a few dollars to spend in Vietnam for gifts but I spend what I make on baby stuff. Ok so choosing a baby store to work in may not have been that wise.
Congratulations Doug and thanks for making me an Aunt, cant wait to find out if its a boy or girl.
Hoping to hear more about the girl so CALL ME...

Ok its been a long two weeks and lots going on. We first had major miscommunication with our agency. Teach me to not go to the top. We got many things worked out but also learned a lot about the process in the mean time. Nothing good comes easy right? So I guess fear made me take all the baby clothes back to costs that were under 12 months size. They will offer me a boy right? No I told them not to call me with a boy that we really wanted a girl and if they offered a boy we would take it. So the pink dresses went back and I moved up to 12 months. Seems you cannot get young referrals anymore if you talk to some agencies.
Now on to my fun new job. I wanted to make a few extra dollars to help dh support this adoption process. We considered two and I really thought nights would help. And what do you think I chose yeah Baby's R US.
This customer comes in one is 2 months pregnant one is 4 months pregnant to register. Ok am I losing it?
Ok enough ranting its time to get things in order around here. We are waiting on a girl so lets get to the rooms.
Have a great night.

Journey to Rylee-ann