Today started with an all too rare dose of sunshine and the realization that this Christmas morning would be our last without our daughter. Sometimes the fact that we are about to be parents doesn’t seem real. We won’t have any more pictures nor any more information before we travel so sometimes it seems like a dream ans we’ll wake up before the happy ending comes. Hopefully next week we’ll find out when we travel but like so many things in this process, we’ll probably end up waiting longer than normal, although as they say “…good things come to those wait” and Lili is absolutely the best thing possible. That being said we are tired of waiting for her.

Our morning was quiet with only our 4-legged canine baby,  Maggie, getting our sole attention. We admired this year’s present to each other – a beautiful flat-black, wood stove insert with two, count them two, stainless steel chimney liners. This unexpected purchase pretty much eliminated the possibility of a last minute trip to somewhere exotic, with fruit drinks and warm waves lapping the beach. I’ll post pictures of this beauty in action with a roaring fire, although we are still limited to starter fires in order to “break in” the stove. Between the stove and the our new storm windows Catherine is actually enjoying sitting by the window in the mornings, something she hasn’t done in the winter since we moved in.

I’ve been asked to post more pictures, which shouldn’t be a problem for a photographer, so I’ll try to add more in the coming weeks, but I have to admit it’s difficult now without any new photos of our daughter. Of course once we go to China there’ll be pictures galore, so stay tuned.

If anyone has problems getting registered, please let me know and I’ll be glad to help you because once you’re registered you can make comments and I can let you know when there is something new. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all. -t

With the imminent arrival of Elizabeth Li we’ve begun the traditional nesting process. Unlike other families in our adoption group who had a crib before putting in their paperwork, we are just getting around to thinking about those kinds of things. Catherine and Christine went out Friday afternoon to register for a variety of things we need, like baby gates in triplicate, car seats in duplicate and many other items most of which make my head spin when I start to think about them. 

Our friend and artist Sara Lee comes on the 29th to begin the mural painting. She leaves on the 1st so my guess is we’ll all be working a few extra hours getting the babies room ready for furniture. As part of the prep work we had the room’s windows restored and made lead safe. No colors have been picked out yet but there is talk of an animal scene possibly involving at least one naked mole rat wearing lederhosen. I’ll let Catherine explain that one. 

In addition to working on the Lili’s room in the last 6 months, we’ve had our front porch rebuilt – it looks great, new storm windows through-out the house, a brand-new wood stove insert because our fireplace was just not safe, all the double-hung windows in the house either tuned or restored, 3 new storm doors are being built for us, the bay window on the side of our house raised, stabilized, braced, and a new surround built for it, plus who knows what else. It seems new workmen show up at our house on a weekly basis and checks fly out of our checking account almost as fast. 

The online nesting is proceeding as well. The blog is up and seems stable. Everyone should be able to post comments although you do have to register in order to do so. If you can’t post, please let me know. We’ll be adding new features and other exciting things, as soon as we figure out how to do so,  at least until we leave for China. Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Ciao.

It’s been interesting watching people’s reactions hearing what they say when I’ve shown them our baby’s pictures. All women, especially mothers say the following phrases – though the specific order may vary:

• She’s so beautiful (they are right of course, but they still say it)
• How exciting! (usually in a higher pitched voice)
• When do you go get her?
• Her shoes are so big for her (see one of the pictures below to understand this comment)

The men, even fathers, generally say:

• Congratulations
• When do you travel?

Occasionally a male, in touch with his inner voice, may venture forth a few more words or even offer some advice, but those men are rare and are usually fathers.

Still no word on the travel dates although our agency is optimistic that we will be departing in late January. -tjm