Patience is not one of my strengths

We have gotten our US Consulate's approval for Wades Visa. This article 5 is now delivered to the CCWA for final travel approval. Once this is in place our agency gives us a date to be in Beijing.

Their time estimates say this date can be from 3 to 7 weeks away. Ugggh. I have been trained to be a long range planner. I can already tell you what I am planning on doing this weekend, Memorial Day, July 4th....well you get the idea.

The waiting hasn't been too bad for me up until now...but as this gets closer I find it harder not to think about our little boy and how I just want him home.

I can't control any of this, so just pray for patience and take advantage of a few more weekends to quilt, paint, see movies and hike with friends.

Mid Atlantic Favorites

I took a whirlwind trip to the quilt festival. The main reason for my trip was to hang with friends and hit the vendor mall, but the quilts are always amazing too. Here are some of the quilts that caught my eye....and not necessarily due to workmanship but their subject. And I know I should cite the quilt makers but I didn't write anything down.

I am doing this post from my phone so not sure if it will keep these in order. The first is the best of show with a close up of the detail that was in the embellishments and quilting of these prancing carousel horses.

I loved the picture of the returning soldier and his child.

The next two are Zion and Arches National parks. I have seen these two images and they are spectacular and very quilt worthy. I liked the Texas quilt, (no photo) how could you not love a quilt with a jackrabbit and armadillo?

And the last is a wacky Linda Cantrell creation. History of the world according to her Boston terrier....this one is for Alden and Landon!

Babies take a lot of stuff

And thankfully our friends and family are helping us get ready to have Wade Michael home. I had a shower this weekend (thank you Kim, Mary, Cara, Trish and Paige) and most of our immediate needs are met. We have a car seat to bring him home from the airport, new bedding for his room, cups and spoons, books and lots of Johnson and Johnson Lavender scented nighttime bath.....my favorite!!! We also have some new toys like this adorable horse that has sound and movements to enhance the riding experience, an easel and a water table for outside fun this Summer. Oh and yes....the bike helmet with the Mohawk spikes, his older cousins thought it was especially cool.

It was a lot of fun just having quilters, family, ski club and work friends all together at once. We can't wait to integrate Wade into all of these circles plus a few new ones!!!

"Fine" Dining

GP made a reservation for us tonight at Trios in Mt Airy. Even though I had to help box doughnuts tonight until after six. He figured it might be our last chance for a quiet nice dinner out for a while. Next year we are more likely to spend Valentines at our favorite Mexican restaurant with a high chair pulled up to the booth. But that sounds pretty "fine" to me as well.

Happy Birthday Landon

He doesn't like his picture taken now that he is a big man of 8. But this will always be one of my favorites if him...and it now sits on my desk at Krispy Kreme. Can't wait for him to meet the "newest" cousin Wade, and he will be happy to no longer be the baby of the family.

Nesting

OMG it has come to our attention that our home has to be ready for a toddler in 6 or so weeks. There is no getting to it after we come home.

The baby bed is up and the quilt is made but now we have to tackle the less exciting things like:
* putting shades up in his windows
* securing cabinet doors
* securing tall cabinets to the walls
* covering outlets and securing cords
* getting a sturdy gate at the top of the stairs

And that's probably not a complete list.... We have been so focused on paperwork (Monday was Chinese Visa night) that these other things have taken a back seat. We have a few weeks of down time from the paperwork until we are given our travel date so hopefully we can make a big dent in the to do list!!

As a reward/goal I am going to head up to Mid Atlantic quilt festival on Saturday the 23rd to hang with my quilt buds. This may be Go Postals last chance for alone time too before we rocket into the world of parenthood!!!