New Bedding

Twin Bedding






Crib Bedding

I have broken down and ordered the bedding that I have had my eye for the past 4 or 5 months. I plan of keeping a twin bed and a crib in the baby's room for the time being. I had gotten the crib set a couple of months back. I think the colors are similar but not exactly what I wanted.

I have a very large master bedroom and I am still thinking that it might be better to just put the crib in there at least in the beginning. We have such weird sleep schedules I think this is going to be the worst part of the adjustment for us. I know that getting a schedule down for the little one is the most important thing. I just do not know how this will work out the best. I know that things just seem to work out but that does not stop me from worrying about it.

Vacation Time is Here!

I have tried my best to save as much vacation time as possible in the past 2 years. I have completely driven my friends at work crazy and this week is no different. I just worked four days in a row so that I could have a week off without having to use any vacation time.

Today is the first day of my vacation. I am hoping to get as much done today as possible so that I can relax and just enjoy the last week of summer here at the shore. I have been waiting for this week for the last month. The weather is suppose to be beautiful but maybe a bit cold for the beach. The weather should be about 70-75 degrees. Who knows I might even take a little road trip.

Gerard laughs at me and says you would need to have 4 weeks off to do all the things that you have on your list. I laugh because he is right.

1. Clean and organize the whole house
2. Weed the garden to start to get ready for the Fall
3. Finish a quilt for the baby that I started oh say 10 years ago
4. Make Christmas gifts for my family (My attempt to save money
5. Take a road trip
6. Go to the beach
7. Put the closet organizer together for the baby's room
8. Paint my bathroom
9. Go to the spa for a facial

I think I might be able to get this all done in a week!

One thing that I do have to start to think about is having my home study updated. It expires in Mid October and I would hate for that to hold me up because you know September is around the corner.

We Have a Baby!

Made you look! No not a referral just a new stuffed baby. I have been thinking about the things that I should start to buy and put aside for when I do get a referral. I know that some of the things that others have packed are small blankets that they have slept with for a week or two. Other things have been a small doll or stuffed animal.

This past week I found a Dalmatian beanie baby and thought that was a great idea to bring to Russia with me for the little guy. So I purchased the baby and put the bag in the baby's room. Some how she just knows when there is a stuffed animal in the house. She gets so excited wagging her tail and nosing through the bags.

I thought I had put the stuffed baby up off the floor but I guess it was not up high enough. I keep trying to hide it but she keeps finding it. Look really close and under her face and you will see the new baby. I guess I must employ a different parenting technique!

My First Apostilled Document

Today I received my very first apostilled document. What a wonderful feeling knowing that I am well on way to getting through the paperwork. I had stressed so much over having the Psychological evaluation completed and now not only is it done but I can hold the proof in my hands. I have waited so long to be able to post one of these pictures.



When I look at other blogs I have noticed that wow I really have gotten nothing done for the baby's room. Yes I have a plan in my mind but I have not really taken any action to put that plan together. We do not have a crib or one picked out. I do not have a dresser or one picked out. I have not registered anywhere. I have picked out the bedding that I want to buy. I have looked around and I keep going back to the one that I picked.

So after listening to all my complaints about all the things that need to be done Gerard took matters into his own hands. He insisted that I pick things out for the office slash bedroom for my Mom. After that room is done then I will be able to get started on the Baby’s room. See Gerard is one of those people that will work on only one thing at a time. Gerard spent time this weekend in the attic putting down plywood and moving things up that I just can not part with yet. The running joke between us is go find a nice friend one with a strong back.

See we are in a weird position compared to other couples because we both work nights. I work 3-12 hour shifts 7 PM to 7:30 AM and he works 12 AM to 8 AM. We need to find child care but for the overnights. Regular child care is out because they just will not stay open all night. I bet that would be a great business.

So anyway my Mother is planning on staying overnight when we are not home. The funny thing is this will not be a temporary thing so we need to find a small semi-private place for my mother to stay while she is here. That place is my current office and sewing room.

We decided that we will put a daybed in the office and get rid of another piece of furniture. We bought two new nightstands one for office equipment and one for next to the daybed for my Mom to use. My friends have all told me that once the little guy gets sewing will be out for a while. I guess they are all right about that I hope I will be able to start again one day.



Oh before I forget, we got a great deal on an ottoman for the living room that opens up for storage. I figured this would be great as a toy chest for the little guy. This ottoman was just $32.00 at Bed, Bath and Beyond.





I am just waiting for my home study to be adjusted because we switched agencies and the I-171 approval letter. The home study should be finished hopefully by next week. Then we are done and it is off to Trenton to get the whole thing apostilled.

I Have a Love Affair With Ebay

I was on EBay and some of my favorite things to shop for are things for little bean's room. Please keep in mind that I love everything old and well worn. One of my friend's (Craig's wife) was absolutely hysterical when I showed her one of the prints that I plan to put into little bean's room. Now stay with me a moment. I want the room to reflect the cottage feel that the rest of my house has but I also want to put only the most special things into this space (Like Little Bean).

My father was in construction. Unfortunately, he has passed on many years ago. Even though he loved me and my sisters very much I am sure that he would have enjoyed having a boy around to do the boy thing with. Because we have not made a preference as to what gender we want CHI has pretty much told me that we will get a boy. I want my father to have a small place of honor in my little bean's room.

I also plan on honoring Russia and Gerard's heritage as well. Gerard is from Brooklyn. The running joke between us is that his favorite team remains to be the Brooklyn Dodgers. For those of you who do not follow baseball this team has not existed for many years. But that does not stop me. I got him this picture for his birthday one year. It was very funny at the time. He keeps trying to explain to me that this team no longer exists but I tell him "You’re wrong!" This is a phrase that I use when ever he gets up tight. I state a fact that is not actually a fact but completely made up. Then I insist that he is wrong. It usually makes him just laugh.

Brooklyn Dodgers (Gerard's Favorite Baseball Team)

So in comes EBay. I thought it would be nice to have a map of Russia or the world in Little Bean's room. I started to look on EBay and found two beautiful maps and an old map/print of a bunch of famous buildings from around the world. I think because of my father I enjoy seeing how things are made and enjoy the beauty of old buildings. I was instantly drawn to this print the most. The funniest thing was Craig's Wife's reaction. After she saw it she walked around for about 3 hours and said "Oh No! You do not have to have Winnie the Pooh but I am putting my foot down NO!" Thinking about her reaction has just made me laugh harder each time.


See Craig's wife knows how I feel; she went through hell and back to have her children and they mean the world to her. She has been an inspiration, a sounding board, the voice of reason and a good friend through all of this. I think that I will have to put the picture up anyway but every time I see it I will think about my father and the fact that he is not here to share this special time in my life (That is the sad part). I will also think about Craig's Wife and how she makes me laugh even when I am sad (That is the happy part). So here are my new acquisitions from EBay and I love them. All three are over 100 years old.
Quirky yes but priceless.


Map of Denmark (This is where my Father was born)

Map of Russia (Where Little Bean was born)

A Little bit about Little Bean's Home

My first house was a funny experience. I was only a nurse for about 2 weeks when I decided to buy a house. Gerard and I looked around at many different places and decided on a beautiful townhouse. Once again 20 years old, RN, a homeowner and could not buy the champagne. This house was perfect and I ended up living there with Jackie and Jenny 2 of my sisters for about 9 years. Towards the end both of them moved out and Julie (one of my other sisters) and her children moved in with me. That is when I really decided that I wanted to be a mother. So I sold the townhouse and built a huge 2 story colonial house with a full basement. This house was about 3 times bigger then the townhouse and although I picked out everything it never seemed like a home to me. Luckily for me house prices went up and I sold the house to buy a small ranch.

This house was nicknamed the stinky house. We left the windows open for months. The people who had it before us were drug dealers and the house although it was only 4 years old needed everything to be redone. Everybody that came into the house could not understand what I loved about this house. The inside of the house was painted shades of chocolate, lemon yellow, barn red, hunter green and tan but the paint was everywhere. The people before us had cats (10 of them) a dog, a bird and a fish. It was like the Cat and the Hat lived here. The house smelled badly. They all thought that we had made a big mistake. This house is about 1400 square feet less then half the size of the other house but I love it. Any bigger and I would not be able to clean it. We have a nice yard on a quite street that is close to the Parkway. For those of you who do not live in New Jersey that is how you describe where you live close to the Parkway or far from the Parkway. My commute to work has dropped by about 10 minutes because of the move. Gerard’s commute has improved as well because of the move.

I think I am just more comfortable in a smaller house. Plus now it smells much better.
The little bean's room is very close to our room. It seems to be the perfect size for a child. More about the little bean’s room in another post. The house has 3 bedroom a large living room and dining room. We added a hot tub and large deck for parties.

Another reason why we moved was to be able to afford the adoption. Becoming a mother is my goal. I could live in a huge house drive the best cars and vacation 4 times a years but that is not what will make me happy. I want to share my life with a child.