The Great Room Reveal

So I am finally finished with Marvel's room and I am so excited about it! I've been *planning* this room for almost 6 months and it all started with a scrap of fabric I saw! I fell in love and so came the "Robot Room"!!!

The bed is the Kura Bed from Ikea, we painted it blue and I painted the side panels with chalkboard paint. I also "mod-podged" the bedding fabric onto the front panel! Because it was a loft bed, I had decided to turn the bottom into every little boy's dream...a fort! I used felt and clear vinyl and hung it with a tension rod!  When it was finished I was In Love! I could see the start of my vision coming to life!!

The reading corner was a Pinterest discovery! I took rain gutters and cut them into 24" measurements, painted them and hung them on the wall! They are sturdy and can hold a TON of books! Definitely my most creative aspect of the room =)

The Robot vinyl on the wall is from This Store on Etsy!  The dresser was a $5 garage sale find that we painted using Annie Sloan paints and bought These knobs from Olive Kids! Loved how it came to life when it was removed from its old wood + brass handles suffering! ;-))

Finally, the accents were all fun to do...the rug, the buckets of art supplies in the "art corner", the bunting on the wall!

I am so happy with it and can't wait to bring my sweet boy home and show him his amazing room!

And the husband got his one wish.

I didn't paint the walls turquoise. ;-)

P.S.

Did I mention we cleared Embassy?

No?

Because we did!! And in a matter of days (DAYS!!) we will be on a plane to bring home our sweet Marvel forever!

In fact? We have NOTHING left to do (less gathering a few documents for the trip) in the short-run except show up for Embassy and get our son!

Finished.

Finito.

Die Ende.

The End.


And so... the truest of all countdown begins.

9 days and counting!!

Sweetest face in the whole world.
I'll beat up anyone who suggests otherwise! ;-)

Ethiopia Part II

During our trip to Ethiopia, we were blessed to have the opportunity to travel to the region Marvel was originally from. It was a beautiful 5 hour drive that allowed us to see so much more of Ethiopia than just the Capital city of Addis Ababa. While the trip proved to be emotionally trying, we are so thankful we took the that opportunity!!! Here are a few pictures of our trip to Awassa.

On our way out of Addis..Lots of hardworking, beautiful women!

Donkeys are still a common form of goods-transportation

Thatch roof huts set back away from the road. Tried to get pictures
but they were never very close to the road

Huts behind their own "privacy fence" =)

These beautiful red/orange trees were in full bloom and completely breathtaking!

yep...This is exactly what it looks like. Camels crossing the road!

Our driver told us that Ethiopia (this region) breeds Camels
and sells them to Arab countries. Very Interesting indeed!

Beautiful view of Lake Awassa from the Haile Resort
(Resort is owned by a famous runner Haille Gebrselassie)

The resort we stayed at was incredibly nice. Surprisingly nice, in fact

A beautiful natural creek that we fell in love with! If you look
close, you can see women washing clothes in the distance!

And finally, our driver had to make a stop for some meat for his father.
This is how you buy meat in Ethiopia =)

During our time in Ethiopia. we made it a point to go visit Marvel at least every day...this trip actually took two days out of that equation. But the benefit of meeting some incredibly special people, seeing so much of the Ethiopian countryside and learning bits and pieces of our son's early life was valuable beyond words.

As much as it pained me to know that we wouldn't be able to visit him these days, I know that as he gets older, the information we were able to get will bring so much more than those two visits would have!!

We're coming to get you soon, Sweet Boy!

Ethiopia: Part I

It's been hard for me to write about our trip to Ethiopia for some reason...


It's not that it was overwhelming...although there were overwhelming moments.


It's not that it was uneventful.


It wasn't horribly emotional....


Neither was it dispassionate.


It's just the cycle of life, I suppose.


When I started this blog, an adoption was barely on my radar. Oh sure, it was fodder for sweet conversation of the future, but it was certainly nothing close to a reality.


But lately, my desire to write has be dwindling...Making it hard to put into words the precious trip we made to meet our sweet Marvel. I'm not certain yet if this is simply a "writing lull" or if this season of my life is finished....


But nevertheless, I have decided to press through today.


Lucky you.


*********************************


Traveling to Ethiopia was a difficult trip. Or at least it was for us. We left Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. at 11:15am...which means we flew all day long (trying desperately to sleep). But due to the time-change we arrived in Ethiopia at about 8:00am.


Morning.


Again.


Leading to overwhelming exhaustion.


But arriving in Ethiopia, there was only one thing on my mind.


I needed to see him.


I wanted to get the horrible awkward uncomfortable first visit out of the way.


I wanted that part behind me so I could thoroughly enjoy meeting and getting to know my son.


So we did.


And it was.


Completely uncomfortable, that is.


Thank the Lord in Heaven that we had no visions of meadows and rainbows and love at first sight.

Because I was nervous.  And exhausted.


And he was wary. And being pushed towards us against his better judgment.


The poor kid just wanted to play with his friends.  I certainly couldn't fault him for that.


And really, we wanted him to have the chance to slowly warm up to us anyways....Watching him play with the other children was exactly what we were hoping for!


So us and the kid? We were totally on the same page.


The caretakers, on the other hand? Made him come sit with us on a couch....and longingly watch all his friends play. and play. and play.


His first impression of Mommy and Daddy? Those boring people who made him miss outside playtime.



Fantastic. 


Definitely don't want to set his sights too high, afterall!


But in spite of all of that....His eyes shined. His smile stole my heart. His cute little laugh took my breath away.


The exhaustion?


Those awkward moments?


They were totally worth it.


Stay tuned. Part II is coming out sometime this century.

Our first few moments together....still not sure about us

Warming up a little thanks to my handy-dandy photo album!

And finally, on the couch where playtime went to die. Which also became
 a couch of cuddling and tickling before the week was over =)