Tuesday, March 30, 2010

progress!

The crib arrived!! We are waiting for Bev and Wayne to get here from Houston (Thursday) so we can assemble the crib together, but it did motivate me to get to work clearing out the baby's room.



Before:

Progress (we took the bed apart and sold it to my cousin):


Before:

Progress (we went through this giant file cabinet and recycled 85% of what was inside; and I removed the pictures on the wall...it's something! even if they are just sitting in the hallway now. The file cabinet has been relocated to the basement):


Before:

Progress (not much, but one more file cabinet is gone and that birch cabinet will eventually be filled with baby clothes rather than miscellaneous tools and electronics):

Before:

Progress (I vacuumed):

Next project = moving those tall bookshelves and the computer to the new office, stripping wallpaper, painting the walls and trim, assembling the crib...and getting a baby.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

it is time!

In just a few minutes (just as soon as I will myself to move from this couch) I am going to break down the SelectComfort bed that's currently living in "the baby's" room:

Then, I'm going to move these bookshelves to my new office:

(this is the new office...still waiting on some quarter-round installation)

(...and the gorgeous, white, hard-wood, plank floors that Ryan installed!)

Then I'm going to empty a few file cabinets...


...transfer a computer...


...and strip some wallpaper.


We have no idea how long our wait for "the call" will be, but I figured it was safe to begin the process of designing a nursery (and I wanted an excuse to get that hideous wallpaper down!)

I decided to order another crib. It's similar to the Robin "burned in a fire" crib, but it's called Sparrow:


Cannot even tell you how delighted I am by the fact that these cribs are named after birds and the theme of this nursery is birds/trees/nature. Regardless of the horrifying circumstances of crib #1, I am sticking with my theme and pressing forward. Crossing my fingers that crib #2 arrives in time for Easter and a visit from Ryan's parents - the charitable benefactors of "baby Westhoff's" crib. (In my mind, the doorbell rings and there's a huge box on the doorstep and we all spend the next 3 hours sitting in the nursery, putting it together.)

It is 5:30 now. I predict I will be done by, oh...Thursday.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Burned.

Last week, I ordered a crib. It was very exciting. It was officially the very first item I purchased for the baby. Today, I got this email:

---------------

Ashley,

We sent your order over to Oeuf to ship and they just notified us that their Robin cribs were all destroyed in a warehouse fire. The Robin cribs won’t be available anywhere until August. Before you cancel your order with us, please take some time to look at the other options. We are pretty sure no other retailers have the Robin cribs in stock either but verify before you order anywhere. Also, we do have the Oeuf Sparrow, Argington Bam crib, and Argington Sahara as other options.

I know this is very disappointing and I’m sorry for any inconvenience this causes you. We will still honor the Free Crib Mattress with any other crib you choose. Let us know what you’d like to do.

-------

First of all...what?

Second...destroyed? In a warehouse fire? All of the cribs? Is there anything more disturbing than the image of thousands of baby cribs burning in a fire?

Of course there are other cribs. Of course I can find another one that I like. But I'm trying hard to believe this was not an omen - that the VERY FIRST THING I bought for this baby burned up in a fire.

Strangest news ever.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

the nursery

Not the actual nursery - this is what we call "research" over here in Hallmark-land. Here's how it works: 1) you find something that you absolutely LOVE 2) you take screen-captures of it and then drop those in a folder called "research" on your desktop 3) you save it for a rainy day 4) when the time comes to actually need your research, you pull it out and then frantically try to remember where you originally saw it 5) you search every single website you can think of to find it again 6) you give up and piece it together to the best of your ability.

I found this super-chic, eco-friendly nursery about 4 years ago. Of course, I have no idea where, but it will inspire the nursery I will be putting together for sweet baby westhoff. And in case I haven't made this clear - we are adopting a baby. I mentioned something on facebook that we were buying a crib and was mortified to find out that a co-worker of mine had "suspected a bump". Awesome. Enjoy the research while I spend the next 72 hours on my elliptical:





Friday, March 5, 2010

WE DID IT!!!



I'll post another update when we're actually on the websites. You can go check it out!! So excited. It's getting SO close now!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Dear Birthmother

To a very courageous woman:

My name is Ashley and I am an artist. I want to do craft projects with my kids at the kitchen table some day. I want to make costumes for Halloween and buy new backpacks for the first day of school. I want to invent something called “finger-painting Tuesday” and throw elaborate birthday parties in the backyard. There isn’t a single day in my marriage when I haven’t thought about what an amazing father Ryan would be. He is patient, he is kind, and he has the most fantastic laugh. He loves math and science and will have an answer some day when our child asks, “Where does rain come from?” I want to watch Ryan become a dad and I want to know the joys of being a mom. This is my dream.

Ryan and I met 7 years ago when my little brother joined Ryan’s softball team. The tall, handsome guy on 1st base finally met the tall, brown-haired girl in the bleachers and went on a 3-hour lunch date. We talked about how much we love to travel – Ryan’s scuba-diving adventures in Mexico and my semester in London. We talked about our parents who continue to demonstrate what true love looks like – Ryan’s parents have been married for 38 years and mine just celebrated 40. We talked about the love we have for our siblings and extended families – Ryan is so close to his cousins that they’re truly more like brothers and my family gathers every Thursday for burger night. We talked about the traditions we loved as kids and our desire to pass them on – Ryan’s family made regular trips to Disneyland and mine took summer vacations to places like Mount Rushmore and Estes Park.

In 2005, Ryan and I recited vows of love and hope for a big happy family. And in our five years together, we have remodeled our house room-by-room; traveled to Greece, Mexico and India; spoiled our favorite (and only) niece with princess parties and twirly dresses; and jumped at every opportunity to host game nights, birthday parties, and baby showers for our amazing network of family and friends. But we continue to dream about the day when we can share all of this with a child.

We can’t pretend to know how you feel right now, but we can assure you that your child will know joy, imagination, and unconditional love because of you. We will say your name in our prayers every night for your strength and sacrifice – giving your child the life you felt you could not. Your child will have every opportunity and years of happiness because a very brave woman made a very brave decision.

Gratefully,

Ryan and Ashley