Setting up her room

Today Candace and I headed to Brandon to do some shopping. We spent some time trying to decide what kind of bed to purchase. We already have a crib...but we need to get a bed because the little one might be anywhere from 14 months to 3 years old. We hit pretty well every store in town that carried bedroom furniture. We were tempted to buy something larger but we ended up getting a little toddler bed. We also picked up some other things for the room, for the little one, and for the trip.

When we returned home, I spent some time putting together the bed and a little rocking chair. Then we set up the room with all of the other stuff. When we were done I sat on a rocking chair in the corner and just looked around in awe. It wasn’t so much what we put into the room that struck me as much as what I imagined would soon be in the room. I could see a little girl playing with the toys, rocking in her chair, and then sitting at her table having tea before falling asleep in her bed. I sure hope she likes Winnie the Pooh…because we have a definite theme going on.

I thought I would then do a couple of other things so I started opening some further items. After realizing that the gate for the stairs requires mounting, I changed my mind and decided that it would be a good time to wrap it up for the evening. The car seat can sit in its unopened box until I get some time tomorrow. Once I finish writing this, I think I will go back in sit in that rocking chair for a while.

Friday thoughts...

Well...its Friday which means one week from today and we're off. After work, one of Candace's coworkers had a get-together for her staff to celebrate our good news. It was pretty neat...she had a poster up on the wall with our names on it in Ukrainian. Thanks to Sandy M. for her thoughtfulness. Everyone has been so supportive...it makes you realize how fortunate we are to live where we do and have the friends that we have.

It is hard to believe that we just found out that we would be making this trip a little over three weeks ago. Everyone keeps asking if I am getting excited about the trip. Interestingly enough, I have been doing a good job containing my excitement. What actually has the biggest impact on my excitability level is people repeatedly asking me how I am feeling about the trip. I sort of get focused on something that I am doing and someone drops by, calls or emails for something else and then ask me about what is happening. Don't get me wrong...I really appreciate the interest. It is just that it is making me more and more anxious. My biggest hope is that I can sleep a bit in the nights leading up to our departure.

Two languages to learn?

I ordered a couple of phrase books to help use become more familiar with the languages we might encounter...one Ukrainian and one Russian. These books arrived today. Given that we don't know where we might end up once we get there, we need to be prepared for both. If we travel to the eastern side of the Ukraine, for example, most of the people are of Russian descent. Candace seems to be doing pretty well in preparing for the trip...she is spending time every day trying to learn the basic words and phrases. For myself, it has been pretty busy with work and in preparing for the trip, so I have had little time to learn much of the language. I have some things on my iPod that I have been listening to...but I expect I will do the crash-course method and read the phrase books during our flight. Hopefully, being immersed in the language while we are there will help.

Eight more sleeps

I just got back from a two-day retreat for the Board and administrators of my school division. It was neat because there were several people that asked me about the trip and the upcoming adoption. Interestingly enough, it is not one of those things that loses its interest in the retelling. It feels so good to have plans finalized and to be able to share our news with others. Thinking about what's happening next week has become somewhat pervasive. I find that it is always just below the surface and that I am referencing what is happening in all kinds of contexts.

At supper, Candace and I were talking about how supportive everyone has been and all of the nice things that people have said in done for us in the last week. Even some of Candace's students have been among the well-wishers. As we were talking, we started imagining some of the wonderful things that lay in store for us. For example, I mentioned how Candace would now be getting gifts on Mother's Day from two of us.

I find myself thinking alot about the little one that is waiting so far away for Candace and I to come to her. I wonder what she looks like. I wonder what colour are her eyes. I wonder what makes her smile and I wonder what things her cry. I wonder if she knows that we're coming...in eight more sleeps.

Monday...and trying to stay focused

Well...another day closer to December 12th. It has becoming more of a challenge to stay focused on anything other than what is happening next week. Fortunately, I am busy preparing for a meeting that is taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. While I don't have anything major left to complete, there is enough to do to keep my mind occupied.

Someone asked in an email how all of this was making me feel. I was not sure how to characterize how I am feeling because it is a complicated mixture of emotions. Certainly, the news is having an effect...such as problems thinking about anything else other than our trip, feelings of intense euphoria and excitement, and intermittent, but relatively small, bouts of anxiety regarding plans for the trip and plans for the future. That being said, I certainly cannot complain because the root of these effects is extremely positive.

A room for baby

Today we started preparing the room for our new addition. Essentially, all that was required was moving some furniture out and moving some other stuff in. We had always planned on using this particular room for our little one. It was just that we were reluctant to make any big changes until we had confirmation of our appointment. The best we did was to ensure any recent modifications (painting, etc) were flexible enough to be used for a guest room or a child’s room. So here we are this morning in a room that had been used for one purpose but was now to take on a new role. The significance of those small furnishing changes is striking me now as I make my blog entry. Wow...

Later in the morning, Candace and I then tried to order some things that we needed from Sears. Like the bedroom conversion, this was something else that we wanted to wait until we had confirmation. It is a bit challenging planning for things given the age range for our adoption...14 months to 3 years. (For anyone unfamiliar with adoption from the Ukraine, the youngest child you can get is 14 months old). We already have a crib (from friends) so we decided to get a bedroom set for a toddler, which she could grow into. Candace's sister gave us some stuff as well but we decided we wanted to get a new stroller, car seat, potty, change table, etc. There are some neat car seats that can convert as the child grows, from 0 - 22, 22 -40 then 40-80 lbs. Another friend sent a video regarding the importance of five-point harness systems for not just infants and small children...but for kids up to 8 - 9 years old. Anyone interested may check out the video at the link below.

Unfortunately, all the neat things we were going to get from Sears would not be ready for pick-up until December 15th which does not work given our departure one week earlier. So that order was quickly cancelled. Now we will be heading back to Brandon on the weekend...which is fine with me.

I realize that it is sort of tough to reference our daughter-to-be in these posts. I wonder what’s appropriate…using safe pronouns like “she” and “her” or addressing her as I have as the “new addition” or the “little one”. As far as I am concerned, they are all reasonable…because I am no longer talking about something abstract that might happen in the future. Now I am talking about something much more concrete…a special little person that Candace and I will be meeting in just over two weeks. As I said earlier…wow!

If you don't mind feeling really sad for about four-minutes...the car seat video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ&NR