Baby Update

Since I'm the only one obsessively checking our stats on parentprofiles.com, I thought I'd give an update here.  Our profile has been up since the middle of September 2011.  As of this moment, our birthmother letter has been viewed 1,227 times, and our contact us page has been viewed 291 times.  (The stats include views by anyone, not just expectant women considering adoption.)  Those 290 views have yielded five contacts: one obviously a scam, and the others apparently not the right match.

Aside from having an active online profile, we've been sharing our pass-along cards with friends and family.  I leave one with the bill when we go out to eat.  I've also given them to cashiers and stuck some in library books before returning them to the library.  I talk about our hope to adopt with just about everyone with whom I come in contact.

We don't know when our baby will join our family, but we're getting ready now.   I wouldn't change a thing about how Olivia came to us, but do feel a little sad that I didn't plan and prepare a nursery in advance.  I didn't want to have a baby's room ready for who knows how long, a daily reminder of the hole in our family.  I feel differently this time around and want to have a place prepared for our baby.

With the help of my brother Brent, I've got a wall painted in what used to be the guest room and is slowly turning into the baby's room.  It's a good thing that I only planned to paint one wall.  Brent helped me tape and get the first coat on.  I did the second coat myself.  I shouldn't have.  Without my contacts, and in semi-darkness, it looks fantastic!  Otherwise, it's quite apparent that painting is not one of my talents.  I got paint on both of the adjacent walls and dripped it all over the floor (yes, I used a drop cloth) and then walked in it.  I have a lot of touch-up work to do.

And then I took the tape off.  Mom, you might want to skip this part.  I tried scoring the tape with an exacto knife first.  That was pretty easy, in the places I could reach.  But then I was up and down the ladder (10-ft. ceiling, 6-ft. ladder) in my pj pants, which are too long and kept getting caught under the heel of my slippers, with an exacto knife in one hand.  To reach the ceiling and the uppermost portion of the walls, I stood on the top rung in an arabesque (one leg out behind me) for balance while reaching, often with a hand on the ceiling for stability.  It wasn't pretty (well, I don't know--I couldn't see myself) and it wasn't safe, but I got it done...mostly.  There are still a few places where there is just a sliver of tape left.  And more places to touch up.

Next, my sister-in-law Cadi is going to help me stencil this on the wall.  I'm hoping this project will be less stressful to me than painting the wall was.  I'll post pictures when we're done.

I also bought a new crib and changing table for the nursery.  I have the crib out of the box, but not put together.  As soon as I grow two or three more arms (or get some help), I'll get that done.  Here's what it looks line online.  I don't think it's as dark as it looks in the picture.

It's taken me two days to write this, so I'm going to stop here.