Preparing for the Adoption

The worst part of adoption is the waiting. Helplessly waiting for immigration approval (you must apply with USCIS to be approved to bring in a foreign born orphan), waiting for referrals, waiting for your dossier to get sent to the country of choice. It is all just hurry up and wait--something that I am really not good at.

I called the agency every other week asking if they had a referral for me, if there were kids available. At first they told me there were lots of children available, I just needed to wait until my dossier got to Liberia. Then the next time I called they told me that there were no children available at all, but maybe soon. Then another time I called they told me that there were new ones being processed and I was second on the waiting list. Then I found a post on the AFAA yahoo group that listed a whole bunch of children that needed homes and asked if anyone was interested. There were several that would fit my criteria, but in particular were two children named Diamond and Florence. When I called and asked, the director of the agency chastised me and told me that I had no right to ask because it wasn't my turn yet. They had put that out there for other families, but apparently not for me. I was disappointed, but all I could do was continue to wait. The waiting was frustrating, but what was most frustrating was the fact that my agency told me something different every time I called.

So while we waited for a referral, we decided we needed to prepare ourselves for the fact that we were about to have alot of children. Brian was determined that we would only be getting a little boy. The thought of six children caused him stress, the thought of seven made his eyes bulge out of their sockets. But, I knew, just like I know so many other things without having an easy way to explain it--I just know. I tried my best to prepare Brian for the fact that it was going to be two, but he would get so angry with me when I would talk about. So I had to use my devious feminine cunning to prepare for two more children without letting him know that was what I was doing.

First on the agenda was a new set of vehicles. Brian kept looking at new Suburbans with a console in the middle, seating for 8. I knew that wasn't going to work, so over the course of a month I sold Brian on the idea of a 12 passenenger van. I told him that it gave the kids lots of room to grow, no climbing over seats, extra passenger room for visiting inlaws, and $20,000 less than a Suburban. I won that battle in preparing for two more children. However, there really are not alot of 12 passenger vans out there--not especially a hot selling vehicle. There were lots of white ones that we could have gotten, but they just seemed too "Youth Correctional Facility" for us. Finally, we found a tan, gently used 12 passenger van and were able to trade in our Tahoe.

Brian also relented and decided to sell his mid-life crisis RX-8 for a more suitable family sedan. We decided to sell it private party, which always causes anxiety. We bought a new Hyundai Sonata from my brother (a car salesman) in Utah for a steal. We actually have yet to see it or drive it, as it is still sitting in the lot. But I am sure it will be a better car than that silly sports car was (did I just say that?).

I made quilts for each of the kids. I drew out the patterns by hand, cut about 200 pieces for each one, and sewed them one at time together, and then quilted them on an old-fashioned quilting frame by hand. I am terrible at it, but I loved doing it! (I am waiting to do Diamond's and Florence's until the get here and they choose their fabrics.)

Giselle's Quilt Sophia's Quilt

Oakley's Quilt Chloe's Quilt

Gwynyth's Quilt

Awhile back, I also refinished a 20-year-old, hand-me-down table to accomodate many children. I chose an antiqued Mexican style, reminiscent of Cafe Rio in Utah. This way the children can beat on it and it only looks more authentic :)! Here is a picture of it:

Lastly, I refinished all of the bedroom furniture. I took one 1960's set and covered all the drawers with dark brown faux suede, painted the handle copper, and the surrounds metallic black. This set is for the boys. Then I took 3 pieces, not all of the same set, but painted them cream and pink and hand painted flowers and vines across the trim in the front--so they made a beautiful set. This set is for 3 of the 5 girls. The last set was still nice, I just added new cuter handles.

(Pics: The dark spot on the suede is where I had to wash off Giselle bugers and it's still wet.)

But that left Mom and Dad with no furniture. We searched high and low for the set of our dreams, but the ones we loved were soooo expensive, and the ones we didn't love were too expensive to buy just to make do. Finally, on another of my crazy notions, I decided to check the one classified paper in town to see if by chance they had a used 8 piece, king-sized, marble topped night stands, bedroom set listed. And would you believe my luck. . .