I've decided to put the blog on private

I've decided to put the blog on private until our adoption is complete. This will start tomorrow. I don't want to take any chances or have anything jeopordize this adoption. If you are interested in receiving an invite, please post a comment to this with your email address. Thanks!

Today, B turns 14 months old

Today, B turns 14 months old. Every day we continue to miss him getting older and older. Nothing could have prepared us for this wait. Although it has only been 6 weeks since we left Russia, the wait has been so hard. It doesn't help that I walk into his nursery at least once a day. We are constantly talking about all the different things we plan to do with him and places we want to bring him. We still won't hear anything till mid-January when they open back up from the holiday closures. We keep trying to look at the positive side of having a court date in January, it will start our year off in the most amazing way. We miss our little baby and can't wait to see his face and hold him again. We hope he hasn't changed to much since we last saw him.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was very nice and relaxing. Every year we go to my parents house on Christmas morning to watch my younger siblings open their gifts. This year was bittersweet because it was the last year we planned to go to my parents. Next year, Christmas will be at our house with our little one and everyone will have to come visit us. It will be so much fun!

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Today I decided that although Bryson

Today I decided that although Bryson will not be here for Christmas, does not mean he should miss out on this holiday. We will have a little Christmas for him once he gets here. His grandparents and great grandparents have already bought him Christmas gifts. So I decided to just wrap some of the toys that we have bought for him. He might not quite understand what is going on that day, but years from now I hope he will look back and appreciate that we had our belated first Christmas with him.

My inner color

Your Inner Color is Blue

Your Personality: Your natural warmth and intuition nurtures those around you. You are accepting and always follow your heart. You in Love: Relationships are your top priority, and this includes love. You are most happy when you are serious with someone. Your Career: You need to help others in your job to feel satistifed. You would be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

What's" Your Inner Color?

No court date for December

I spoke with our agency yesterday and Russia is requesting some more documents, so we will not be receiving a court date and traveling this month. We knew we probably wouldn't be traveling this month, but that didn't stop us from hoping. We would have liked him home before the end of 2007, but does anything ever go our way during this process?!? If we get the documents requested in ASAP, it is possible that the judge will issue a court date before they close for the holidays. That would be nice because then there would be no surprises and we could prepare for it better. So I have spent most of the day making phone calls to get what they requested. Let's hope everything gets there quickly. Our little boy is getting older by the minute!

I've been tagged

I was tagged by Tanya:

1. Wrapping paper of gift bags? Christmas time is the only time I use wrapping paper. Even then I still use gift bags. They are just easier.
2. Real tree or artificial? I grew up using artificial trees, so we have continued to use the same. They are just easier.
3. When do you put up your tree? We usually put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving or the first weekend in December. This year we have opted out of putting any decorations up because we don't know where we will be at Christmas.
4. When do you take the tree down? The weekend after Christmas.
5. Favorite gift received as a child? A huge two story dollhouse that my parents built for me. It was very detailed with furniture and everything.
6. Do you have a nativity scene? Shamefully, no.
7. Hardest person to buy for? That would be my mom. She is always telling me there is nothing she needs, but yet, she is always out shopping.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Shane! Although my husband is an adult, he gives his mother and I his Christmas list (and birthday list) months before.
9. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of any.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! I can't wait till the little one is home so we can include a family picture in the cards each year.
11. Favorite Christmas movie? I can't think of one, but I normally like any of them.
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually a few months before.
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No. That's not to say I haven't considered it, but I have never re-gifted anything.
14. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? Pumpkin pie.
15. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree? We have both. I think.
16. Favorite Christmas song? I don't have one.
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? On Christmas morning, we normally go to my parents, but that will change once B is home. We will stay home and everyone will have to come to us!
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Can I google them?!?
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Right now we have a star because I can' t find the perfect angel.
20. Open the presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve we exchange gifts with my extended family. Then on Christmas morning, we open gifts to each other and from Santa. Growing up, on Christmas Eve my parents allowed us each to pick a gift from under the tree to open early.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? How packed the stores are. I have no patience for it.
22. What is the "corniest" family tradition you do, or miss doing? I can't think of any corny ones.
23. Ugliest Christmas decoration ever invented? ???
24. Which looks the best, theme trees or homey trees? Both. I have no preference, though ours is a homey one.
25. What does Christmas mean to you? It's my favorite holiday. I love to decorate, buy gifts, give gifts and spend time with family. I think Christmas will bring on a whole new meaning once B is home.

I now tag Christen and Amy (I know you are in Russia, but I figured this would give you something to do when your bored).

My shower

Yesterday my family and friends threw me a very nice baby shower and I had a wonderful time. Bryson got a lot of great things. He is one lucky little boy and is already spoiled! This will be the first grandchild on both sides, so needless to say, both of our mothers were excited for this day as well. I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts and for spending this day with me. It really meant a lot. After the shower, I brought everything home and Shane helped me go through everything again so he could see what we got. Then he said that seeing all these gifts made him miss our little one even more.

My very yummy cake with strawberries in the middle

The cutest diaper cake made by my mom

My cousin's little ones helping me open gifts

My mom & I

My MIL & I

How cute

My baby shower is Sunday and we just got our first gift in the mail for it. Naturally I couldn't wait till Sunday to open it because as soon as I saw the box, I knew exactly what it was and I wasted no time putting it together. Awhile back, I saw the cutest chair on Adrienne's blog so I asked her where she got it from. She told me it came from Pottery Barn Kids and that her son Owen loved that that chair so, I immediately added it to our registry.





Thanks Katie & Scott, Chris & Lisa!

Now all we need is our little one home so he can sit in his new chair. Come on court dates!

The Nursery

The lighting is terrible in his room, which means most of the pictures don't come out too well. Here are a few pictures of his nursery:

Letter from Bryson

Dear family & friends,

You must care deeply for me to be reading this note. I can't wait to meet you, but there are some special things you should know about me. I will soon began to learn what it means to have a mommy and daddy and how to be part of a family. For this reason, please allow my parents to do all my caretaking, including holding, comforting, feeding me and laying me down to sleep. You are welcome to play with me and smile and talk to me. My mommy and daddy have been told by experts that this will help me learn as fast as I can how to be a happy and healthy part of my new family.

Hugs & Kisses,
Bryson

It's over

We ended up making $396 at the yard sale yesterday. It's not a bad profit, but we were hoping to make much more though every little bit helps. It's amazing how people want to talk you down over everything. We did have a lot of items left over, but we just don't feel like having another one. I have called Salvation Army and they are coming this week to pick everything up. We started preparing for this yard sale at the beginning of this year by cleaning out everything around our house. The boxes of everything had took over many rooms in the house. I can't wait to have our house back in order so we can start truly getting it ready for Bryson.