My Family, My Journey: Blue Is the New Yellow

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Blue Is the New Yellow

After months of living without one or the other of our spare bedrooms (which is hard to do in a cottage) we are happy to say that our room remodel is finally complete. Brown may be the new black everywhere else but blue is the new yellow in our home! We think it is soothing and gender neutral (think of it paired with orange or green for boys and pink for girls) and, well, we just don't subscribe to traditional gender assignments around here anyway! As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so here they are...

TRANSFORMATION #1

First we took the guest room...

...tore down the scary vinyl wallpaper and my awesome handyman put up beautiful bead board and molding...

Haha, just kidding, but the project was painful at times...

Finally we painted it blue and turned it into the office! It is so bright and cheerful and flooded with sunlight in the morning. I just love it and can even see our garden from that window when I am sitting at my desk. At some point this may become a second bedroom for the kids but for now they will sleep together in the larger bedroom.

TRANSFORMATION #2

Next we took the room that used to be the office...

And painted it, you guessed it, BLUE, and now it is the children's room! As you can see, we put the guest bed back in there for now until we find out how old the children are. Last call, out of town friends! Let us know if you want to come visit and explore your inner child! We are thrilled that our friend David in Seattle will be doing exactly that in a couple weeks :-)

The room is partially complete with a few little outfits, books and stuffed animals...

...and a few more books and toys...

And the cutest little rug!

I know I am a broken record with this statement but....all we need now are the children! Come home, Babies, we are ready for you!!!

5 comments:

Jeremy and Sheila said...: They are both beautiful rooms!! It does look like it was quite the undertaking. I love the blue!! And, it's not a broken record because really all you need is your little ones now!!; Tuesday, June 30, 2009
More Dorrs said...: We are getting closer!!!

You've inspired me to get crackin on our spare room to get it ready for the little one that will be joining us!

-Beka; Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sara said...: I love the rooms, too. I'd love to see pics of the rest of your cottage. It sounds so lovely. I watched an 18 mo. old today and put him down for a nap in the baby's room. I hadn't been in there forever (it is at the far end of the house) and, like you, I'd like to get it put together and ready!; Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Cassandra Britt said...: Hope your new room is full, SOON!!; Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Journey to Jaden said...: I just wanted you to know that I am still praying for you! I think you know that I of all people believe that this wait was for something amazing and I just can't wait to hear the ending!! The wait is truly the worst part of the process so stay busy and know that your call will definatly come...and then it will all make sense!; Monday, July 06, 2009

Timeline

*PAPER CHASE/5.5 MNTHS*
6-27-08: Register for orientation with local agency
7-16-08: Attend orientation with local agency
8-19-08: Decide to adopt from Ethiopia through Gladney. Best decisions ever!
8-28-08: Attend orientation with Gladney
8-28-08: 1st Home Study interview
9-25-08: Home study interviews completed & all Gladney paper work submitted
9-30-08: CIS fingerprints
10-2-08: FBI clearance
11-12-08: Home Study report completed
11-25-08: Gladney approval
12-4-08: CIS approval
*WAIT FOR REFERRAL/13 MNTHS*
12-11-08: Wait list!!!!!!!
4-21-09: Increased our age preference hoping to speed things up (HA!)
8-29-09: Heidi's medicals updated
9-15-09: Mark's medicals updated
9-20-09: Travel Immunizatons
11-10-09: Sent in request for CIS fingerprint updates
11-11-09: Gladney calls to review our age preference
11-17-09: Gladney calls again and tells us about twin boys who *might* become available. We agree to increasing our age preference in order to pursue these boys.
11-21-09: Receive CIS fingerprint appointment
12-16-09: Have CIS fingerprints taken
1-4-10: Referral!!!!!!! 28 month old twin boys!!!!!
*WAIT TO PASS COURT/4 MNTHS*
1-19-10: Start home study update
2-18-10: CIS fingerprints cleared
3-4-10: Home study update completed/sent CIS extension request
3-30-10: File submitted to courts!
3-31-10: Received court date!
4-22-10: Received CIS approval extension
4-23-10: 1st court date
4-28-10: 2nd court date
5-05-10: 3rd court date
05-06-10: 4th and final court date! We're a family!
5-12-10: Receive travel dates!
5-18-10: Travel!
6-1-10: Home as a family of SEVEN (four humans, three puppy dogs!)

Fun Facts About Ethiopia

•Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.