Nesting--Month 5

We have now been on the wait list for 5 months. On a conference call last week, our agency said the current average time on the wait list is 6.5 months. So we might be close... but I kinda doubt it. According to the very unofficial but highly addictive "List" kept by some amazing adoptive moms there are still 17 families ahead of us, with 5 of those families asking for children in our age range. So I think we most likely have another 2-3 months before The Call.

Which is actually pretty soon, so we are slowly trying to start getting things ready. The problem is--it's kind of hard to 'nest' when we don't really know who or how many the nest needs to hold. See, we are approved for up to two children under the age of two which means we could get a referral for twins or a sibling set or a single child. And any of those options could be any age from 3 months to two years old. So we can't really buy a crib yet...don't know how many we'll need. Can't really buy a car seat... don't know how many or what size we'll need. Same issue with strollers and high chairs. So we've been focusing our time (and consumer cravings) on the things we know we'll need no matter what age or how many child/ren we end up with: books and toys and hand-me-downs!

This is the very first toy The Esquire bought for our future child/ren...we weren't even on the wait list yet but it was marked down 75% so he HAD to have it. The little trailer opens up, just waiting to haul important things like this perhaps....

This is a little Melissa & Doug wooden tool set that I gave to my quasi-godson when he was about 3 yrs old. His mom has been saving it for me all these years. I say 'quasi' because technically he isn't MY godson but since I am his sister's godmother and I basically think he hung the moon, I feel like I can take some liberties.

This next toy was my favorite Christmas gift this year. Our friend Sue brought it back from the Philippines specially for us. The cute little plush handled sack pictured below...


Opens up into this fabulous play mat...complete w/ plush jungle animals and plants. Can you see the Elephant? SO cute!

The Esq. and I are both major book lovers and so one of the main things we collected on our trip around the world were children's books - we have One Humpy Grumpy Camel from Oman, The Runaway Peppercorn from India, Irish Fairy Tales from, well, Ireland just to name a few.
And just so we're clear--the book about the architect, Julia Morgan, the one about the Galapagos Islands and When Pigasso met Mootisse are my purchases. The Asterix comics in French and The First Book of Codes & Ciphers can be blamed on The Esquire. I suppose our children will either be well rounded or art snobs who speak in foreign code.


We're really lucky that so many friends and relatives have shared their hand-me-downs with us. This summer, just one month into gathering our paperwork, my sister-in-law and eldest nephew brought us two suitcases full of wooden puzzles, board books and cool educational toys. My cousin gave us tons of her sons' out-grown, super-cute smocked play suites (I heart smocking!) and the cutest little onesie decorated in Monster Trucks jumping over lines of jalopies (she lives in Charlotte and thought it would help us remember her :-)

Over Christmas my (both real and quasi) god children's mom gave us a suitcase full their old clothes. Here are just a few of my favorites:

I have distinct memories of my god daughter -around a year old- wearing this little knit dress as she meets her first pot-bellied pig at a hound show. And somewhere I have pictures of her wearing this little ruffled bikini (the top kept riding up) with her yellow Bono sunglasses... She's 6 yrs old now...where does the time go.




When he was 5 years old, my quasi-godson wore this green vest in our wedding with a pair of seersucker pants. Did I mention he's got curly red hair and bright blue eyes ... and he carried a dogwood branch in full bloom? Hello...can someone get Ralph Lauren on the line for us? This little brown braided belt may be my favorite of all... it's less than 24 inches long...he wore it with these tiny little jeans before he could even walk, much less need to worry about holding his pants up. I made fun of his mom for buying it and yet now, it is one of my favorite things of his. It reminds me of how tiny this funny 8 year old used to be.


So slowly, steadily, we are gathering the things we will need for our soon-to-be child/ren. Just today, at Target I purchased these three little booklets in their $1 section... I think all three will make me a better mom.


Should The Call come tomorrow I think we are prepared. Ok, so maybe we don't have a crib yet... but they can sleep with us! And who needs a stroller or a high chair when we fully intend to never let go of them once they are legally ours. We've got clothes, accessories, reading materials, tools and most importantly lots and lots of love. I think we're all set.

xoxo-Kat