Wordy Wednesday

Admittedly so, I've been a little lazy in the blogging efforts and mainly relying on Wednesdays to post a picture and feel like I've acknowledged the fact that we do indeed have a blog. I've decided maybe I should take some time to update everyone on the current info and happenings in our lives.

1. Apparently visa paperwork is prepped and ready to be submitted January 2nd. I am being optimistic that the call will arrive early February.

2. We seem to really have everything we NEED in order to have Simon home. This means we've even stocked the house with diapers and wipes. Feels like that means we should have our boy here soon.

3. Having everything we NEED did not prevent me from falling back on my trusty coping mechanism of compulsive online shopping. Unfortunately, Discover does not approve of my coping strategies and I was alerted by the fraud team that my card was frozen as they suspected it had been stolen. My small amount of embarrassment from taking ownership to all the charges was masked by my annoyance that they screwed up my babies r us order and I had to make several phone calls to get the order through.

4. In other coping mechanism news, we tore apart our bathroom 2 months ago and have yet to get it fully functioning. I decided that I would tear out the old tile from our shower and re-tile. And by I, I mean drag Steve and my bro-in-laws into helping me destroy the bathroom. Of course a simple re-tile project turned into new insulation, new sheetrock, new tile, new trim, new paint, etc. etc. I'm happy to say the tile is up and I'm no longer disgusted by the thought of Simon's cute buns being in the tub and touching gross tile. Steve is convinced he is going to come home one day and find me tearing up the flooring. I do despise the kitchen floor...

5. We found a daycare! This is a relief and we feel very good about the provider we've chosen. She understands our concerns about transition and attachment and is open to working with us.

6. Other great news- when I return to work after maternity leave I'll only need to be in the office M-W. I'm so excited for the special time Simon and I will spend together on Thursdays and Fridays. I spend a considerable amount of time daydreaming of activities and playdates. This will be sure to include regular lunch dates with Daddy and our friends at USES.

7. I've been doing some research on what we need to do to prep Gretzky. As it turns out, for the past 8 years we should have been disciplining her and exposing her to children. Whoops. We apparently need to teach her the commands "Go away" and "Go to your spot" in a friendly tone with no negative connotation or she relates negativity with children. It seems the only thing we've done right is lessening the amount of attention she gets prior to Simon coming home because we've been so wrapped up in other things poor G has been left to fend for herself.

"Apparently, the purpose of this is to send my smell to some Simon character" -G

8. In about an hour it will be December! I almost can't believe it. A week from today is our one year anniversary of becoming Simon's parents. Words cannot express my disbelief that we've made it this long without him. I'm grateful every day that although we miss him, we know we don't need to worry about him as he is being cared for so lovingly by his amazing foster family.

9. We should get our final (hopefully!) update on Simon in a couple weeks. Can't wait to see his next picture.

10. The month of December historically goes quickly and we look forward to the new year. I am dreading January. I am not a big fan of January to begin with but I will officially be going out of my mind waiting for news that Simon's emigration permission has been approved.

11. Lastly, we look forward to the holiday season and traveling to see our friends and family that we can never see enough of. Last May when we found out that we were not going to travel to bring Simon home with us in 2011 I was devastated and quickly told Steve there was NO WAY I would make it through another holiday season without Simon and we were going to Mexico instead:) Granted I would love for Simon to be with us this year, we are very much looking forward to the holidays with our loved ones. Hope to see you soon.