The Long Road--Random thoughts from a waiting mother

As you can imagine, the most common question we get anymore is "have you heard anything about Grace," which I might add is a great deal better than "when are you guys going to have kids," or "have you tried X" ("X" being any type of advice about how to conceive a baby, most of which usually makes me uncomfortable to discuss in public).

For all of you Grace-watchers out there, here's the scoop: it's going to take awhile. Today, the CCAA (The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) sent out another batch of referrals. People who had a LOG IN DATE of JUNE 2005 just received their referrals (for translation of adoption terminology, refer here). Now, since our log in date is MARCH 2006, we have a wait in front of us. At this point, we are hopeful and prayerful to get our referral in March 2007, but we are prepared to even add a few more months to that estimate.

So, what am I doing during the wait. Well, I am doing things biological mothers the world over do... drinking margaritas, smoking cigars, and sitting in hot tubs. Just kidding (at least about the smoking part), but truth be told, I am pretty busy. This week I am painting Grace's room (I know people wanted me to decorate in pinks and other such girly colors, but I love blues and greens, and I don't want Grace growing up thinking pink is a girly color and blue is a boyish color; that seems silly).

I found her bedding at a consignment shop ($30 for three pieces in mint condition from Pottery Barn), and I settled on painting the room a celery color. But what started out as celery on the small paint sample, turned into neon mint. Needless to say, I am going to add some stripes to tone it down. In addition, I am going to handpaint a gingham border. I have to stay up for 24 hours next Monday (I have a wacky sleep testy thingy on Tuesday), and I think I'll finish it during the wee hours of Tuesday morning. (As a side note, staying up for 24 hours is going to be near impossible for me. I could fall asleep nightly at 8 p.m., and I am convinced the early bird special was created for me.)

In addition to painting, I am trying to gather all the necessary baby stuff via garage sales. I don't see the need to buy new stuff when Grace will probably use it for a whopping three or four months. While I'm on the subject of things I don't get... I don't understand these clothes for babies and toddlers that look like something Brittany Spears, at least in her pre-baby days, would wear. I want my baby to look like a little girl, not a hooker. Grace will be a complete nerd in school: the only kid wearing garage sale clothes, the only kid who isn't wearing hoochie-mama (actual spelling: who knew?) clothing, and the only kid who doesn't know the lyrics to songs like Spears' "I'm not so Innocent."

Also, in my spare time, I am teaching myself guitar. I've been at it a total of two days, complete with every guide, dvd, book and audio tape from the library on the subject. All I can show for it, right now, are some very, very blistered fingers.

All in all, I don't want to wish away the time I do have until Grace makes her debut. Life will never be the same when she shows up, so I might as well enjoy the long nights of sleep, the hours of quiet reading, and the drool free carpet until then.