Sunday, October 23, 2011

Finito!!



Hooray, Hooray!!  The Mural is done, the mural is done!!

Words cannot describe how much I love this piece of art.  And I can't wait until my boys are old enough to tell me which animal is their favorite.  Its so, so perfect.

I love to hang out in this room.  And I'm going to be spending a LOT of time there once the boys are home, so its a good thing I love it.  :)  So here  you go - pictures of the masterpiece.  Let me know what your favorite part is!  I'd love to hear it!




Look at me!  I'm so fast!

Do you like my curly horns?  

My Fave  Or  It.

King and Queen of the jungle.

Monkey. Baboon. Shadow Lion.

Water Stampede and birds on Hippo.  LOVE birds on Hippo!

My Zebra friends and the very beautiful water that I love.


The elephant! The elephant!  The long awaited elephant!!  I LOVE the purple in this guy!





The Whole Sha-Bang.  LOVE this wall.  Absolutely LOVE it.  SO SO much I love this wall! 
Have I mentioned that I really love this wall?  Because I do :)

Friday, October 21, 2011

One Week

 I haven't been posting.

Mostly its because I've been doing EVERYTHING I could think of to keep myself busy so our court date would be here soon.  Also - I've been teaching, and taking a grad class and thinking about my boys 24 hours a day.

I'm beYOND excited about holding those sweet little bundles for the first time.  Its all I think about ever.  How soft and squishy and lovey they will be the second I hold them.  Breathing in their sweet baby smells, and feeling their little bodies breathing while they sleep in my arms.

I'm trying to decide which toys they might like to play with.  We've been sleeping with baby blankets for each of them.  That way the blankets will smell like us, and our house.  When we go see the boys, we'll wrap them in the blankets each day we're there, in hopes that they'll start to associate those blankets with us.  Then when we have to leave, we'll leave those blankets behind.  We're hoping this little step will help ease their anxiety once we are gone, and when we come back again.  And when they take those blankets home, they will smell like their Ethiopian home, so hopefully it will comfort them in that way as well.

Oh, and donations.  David and I have each received RIDICULOUS amounts of donations from our schools for the orphanage.  Its insane.  I am so humbled by what all these families have given for the benefit of others.  We have been sorting and packing donations all night, and aren't even half done.  Plus, David piled LOADS of things in a bin to travel with.  It should have weighed 500 pounds based on all the wipes, diapers, lotions, soaps, medicine, clothes, diaper rash cream, bottles and other great stuff.  But no.  It weighs 45 pounds.  A safe amount below the 50 pound weight limit.

So perfect.

This weekend we're packing our bags.  We're trying to put all of our personal items and things for the boys in our carry on items, and save our checked bags for donation bins.  I'm going to really have to organize my bag well because I ALWAYS over pack.

I have all my lesson plans done for when I'm gone, and done for the week I am back.  Copies are made.  Things are sorted.  So I'm set there.  I have report cards due the week I'm gone, and I'm just about done with those.  And I'm getting all my parent teacher conference things done this week too because conferences are the very day I'm back at work.  Oh - and on Tuesday I am being observed by my grad class professor.  Because why not pack it all into the last week before my trip?

And yes, I know this post is about nothing and everything at the same time.  But that is pretty much what is going on in my head right now.  I have SO much to do.  But its kind of perfect because its making the time go fast before our trip.  So thanks for bearing with me.

Oh - And the MURAL IS DONE!!!  Its finally done.   And its so amazing I could cry.  I'll take pictures before we leave. (Maybe.)  If I have time.  But I probably will.  So check back.

And I had another shower - so pictures of that are coming too :)

And now I'm going to bed.  If I can shut my mind off….

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Our friends Ben and Trisha have two beautiful twin girls.  David and I had the pleasure of watching these precious girls for a few hours one Saturday.  It was SUCH great practice for taking care of twins.

I felt really bad for Ben and Trisha because I felt like I didn't know anything when they dropped the girls off.

"How do you put the car seats in the stroller?"
"How do you know when they are hungry?"
"Do they nap after every time they eat?"
"Do I heat up their bottle?"
"You want them to nap on their tummies?"
"How often do they eat?"

They answered all the questions patiently, and then went on their way.

The only problem was that those girls spoiled us.  They were so easy!  They had a schedule, and they stuck to it like clockwork.  They were happy and sweet and wonderful.  The only time it got tough was when David left to pick us some pizza for our dinner and they both wanted a bottle.  But I managed to get 2 bottles ready and feed them while they laid on the floor.

I'm a pro.

Here are some highlights from our day :)

















Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers