The Amazing World of Etsy

Hey Ladies!!! I thought I would do a fun post on something other than the anxiety I am rattled with right now waiting for this weekend when we are "supposed" to pick up birthmom again. So let's focus on something fun, shall we???

My friend got me turned onto Etsy, a really cool website that almost everything on there is handmade specialty products that you can get personalized for you, your home, your family or your child. Somethings are really pricey, others are really reasonable and one of a kind items, you can't find anywhere else.

So I have taken a gallery of pictures of the sweet things I have gotten for Chloe on Etsy over the last months, and I thought I would share some of them with you. This is a long post with lots of pictures, so just warning you. Some friends have been asking what stores I purchased things from- so especially Tara- here you go honey!!!

So one of the first things I ordered from Etsy were some amazing wall decals from the shop on etsy called LeentheGraphicsQueen. There are so many shoppes on etsy that have literally 1000s of different quotes, scripture etc. One that I loved, and put over our bed is the one pictured below....... so sweet.

This one is over the french doors in our living room and it reads one of my favorite quotes that I cling to- "The WILL of God will never take you where the GRACE of God will not protect you." Love it.

And this one I placed in our hallway, by the thermostat LOL.

And then last but certainly not least, I have already posted this one before in this post on Chloe's room, I HAD TO HAVE THIS ONE...... it is my anthem!

And while I was looking for the above quote, I stumbled upon a wonderful shop on Etsy called pinknbluebaby and they have millions of beautiful trees and other designs specifically for nursery walls. I love this one with the pink birdies which matches her bedding.

And then I had this sweet door sign made from the shop MamaMessages. Again it is my heart's cry and cant wait to hang it on baby girl's door!!

So now lets move on to the things I have gotten specifically for Chloe. I have not gotten much in newborn size, because they grow out of it so quickly. Most everything I have gotten is 6mos or larger.

Let's start with her Clemson wear. As you know if you are a regular reader of this blog, Sweetness is their biggest fan and Chloe will become one too if he has anything to say about it!!
So the little dress on the right that says "Clemson girl" was handmade by a lady that runs the shop called elizabethannoriginal just for her!!! It is so precious, lined and double stitched- great quality!! The cheerleader outfit on the left was hanging in the window when we rode by a children's consignment shop in town called "Sweet Repeats". Sweetness literally stopped the car and made a U-turn to go back to this shop and grab it out of the window. It's going to be so sweet to see her in it in 2 years as it is a 2T, but for $6 you cant beat it!!!

I also got this hat and little Clemson clippy bow on Mamasbowtique on Etsy.

Speaking of bows, I ordered some sweet crocheted ones and ones with a thin elastic band. I am not a big fan of the thick crocheted head bands, they look too big to me on a baby's small head.

And this cute little hat, from the shop PolkaDotBabyBowtique. It is monogrammed with her name and some sweet Swarovski crystals applied. Going to be so sweet on her little head!!

Some people asked where I got these letters that are hung on her wall with the ribbons and "destressing" already done to them. I purchased them from a site on etsy called SplitRockCreek.

The personalized apparel you can get on etsy is just so pretty. I got her some cute monogrammed bibs. Both of these were only $15. They were purchased from a store on etsy called mylittlehedgehog.

And then this little beauty is my favorite. I am soooo into smocked children's clothing now. Chloe will be wearing a lot of it!!!! I purchased this beautiful white rainbow bishop smocked dress. It is so gorgeous and I am dying to put it on her!!!

Here is a closer picture showing the intricate beautiful work done on this dress. It was purchased on a site called NancysFancyDesigns.

And this little beanie cap was hand knitted with love specially ordered and it is for her newborn pictures. It is so tiny and so sweet. it came from the shop called ForStitchesSake.

I purchased a lot of bows already from many places but the ones above are from the Hairbowdepot store on etsy. So precious and cant wait to dress her up with little bows!!!

These are 2 of my favorites, specially personalized for her.

And this has to be the sweetest thing I have ordered. It comes from a store called LilPixieBoutique. She makes some ahhh-mazing stuff on there!!! Its a onsie and a matching beanie hat!!

And then back to some more Collegiate wear for football season. This precious little Alabama dress with matching bloomers came from a store called Alabamaonmymind!!! Toooo cute!

And of course another clemson outfit, this says Clemson cutie on it and it is a little dress with attached bloomers!!! Its gonna be tiger paw land in my house, with Sweetness and Chloe all dressed in orange.

And this little set was a gift from a friend who told me she purchased it on etsy. Not sure of the store, but I just love handmade stuff!!

And then there is this beautiful tutu I had made for her. It will be so cute for her 1st birthday and a prop for professional pictures etc. Anyone that knows me knows I looooooove rainbows so I chose these colors because It will go with anything!!! Look for pictures with this tutu in the near future!! Oh and this came from the shop called gogirlusa.

So there you have it. I may have missed a few things but overall this is a great look at the kinds of things you can buy on etsy for all my friends out there that are pregnant or have some small babies you would like to dress up in cuteness!!

Good 'ole Irene !!!

Well just in case you live under a rock...... we are getting hit by a pretty bad hurricane this weekend. Sweetness and I have decided to stay home and ride it out. I actually do not think it's going to be AS BAD as they were originally saying two days ago.

But we have taped up all the windows, gotten non perishable groceries, filled the bath tubs with water, taken pictures of all our belongings, charged all cell phones and our back up batteries, and we are as ready as we can be.

So supposedly by the time we wake up in the morning (Sat morning) we will be having tropical force winds and then tomorrow evening is going to be hard core. The vet gave us a sedative tonight for each dog to help them ride out the storm. They are both so old and they have been so nervous all day, I wanted them to not have a full blown panic attack when that wind starts howling tonight.

But thank you all so much for the facebo.ok messages and the prayers wondering how we are and if we are staying or not.

And earlier this week (Tuesday) we had the first earthquake centered on the east coast in 64years I think I heard. It was so eery to feel the whole building shake under you!!!

Thankfully I know I am a born again christian, because all of this sure makes me think that it is getting close to the end times...... but please Lord let me become a mom first...... I am sooo close.

Birth mom actually CALLED me, yes I really talked to her on the phone today not just texted. And she sounds really excited finally to come here an stay with us. The biggest news of the day is that the doctor pushed up her due date to Oct. 17th!!!!! Wow that means we literally have like 7 weeks until she is supposed to be here!!! And Ive said all along I think she will deliver early,. Its getting so close I can taste it....I can feel her in my arms, and I can small that new baby smell......

Thank you all again for everything. Please keep praying, we are almost ready to get off this roller coaster!!

I will update on the other side of Irene....... here we go!!!

20 wk ultrasound today....

No not for Chloe.... She is already 31 weeks old!!!

But today surely was not at all what I expected. I arrived at work this morning to a sobbing student. I took her in another room and we discussed what was wrong. In a short version, she is 20 wks pregnant (which I already knew), and her boyfriend broke up with her last night and wants nothing more to do with her or the baby. But a caveat here, they broke up once before in march and she got drunk and slept with some guy she was in the Navy with, then her and her boyfriend got back together and she slept with him 3 days later!!! So there in lies the rub, she has no idea whose baby this is.

So her boyfriend originally told her he loved her anyway and was excited about the baby but now he says he cant do it...... (I kind of don't blame him really) but I was just trying to be supportive.

So then she says that today is her 20 week gender/morphology ultrasound and she doesn't want to go alone, and she was sobbing asking me if I would go with her?? So of course I said yes.

I thought I could do it, and just enjoy the amazement of it all....... Well I was kinda right, kinda wrong.

let me just say that the experience was AHHH-mazing!!1 I have never seen that amazing detail of the precious baby at 20 weeks. You could see all the chambers of his heart and all the parts of the brain. They measured his humerus and femur and he weighs a whopping 10 oz today. And then she was able to find out it is a BOY!!!! I was so thrilled as we stood there staring at the screen, in the darkened room, and silently as I stood behind her, I wept. I wept.

I wept for all that I will never have, never experience the life growing inside me, and never have Sweetness see the miracle I just saw today. My heart literally broke in two. As she got dressed I went to the restroom to get it together for her- after all I am her professor, and we drove back to school. I listened to her tell with excitement her mom and dad that its a boy, and the joy of the grandparents impending grandson. It was all too much.

So after I got back to my office I sat there and silently sobbed for a bit and let it all out. I told the Lord how unfair I think this all is.......... she gets to have a one night stand and doesn't even know who the father is and I don't get to have a baby to raise to love Him??? I just want to know why!!!

Well the amazing part is, I was still quite teary as my evening class was rolling in, and a sweet student named Kim came up to me and handed me a bag and said these are some presents for Chloe we all pitched in and bought you. I was so floored, the tears started again!! :) How sweet they were..... several Hello Kitty onesies and carters play suits and stuff. I guess the Lord sent what I needed right then to ease this agonizing pain.

Just thought I would share my 20-week ultrasound experience.

Our trip to Pennsylvania....

So last weekend we went north, ultimately to pick up birth mom and bring her back with us, but that did not happen. So I am going to do this post on the positive things that did happen on the trip. So we drove up later Friday night, and then early Saturday morning we went to our nephew's wedding in a beautiful park. Here is a nice shot of Sweetness and me before the service. (BTW- these are my first pics taken with our new DSLR camera)

These cuties are the ring bearer and flower girl. The ring bearer is mt nephew- the brother of the groom- named Aiden. and the flower girl, named Alyssa is the daughter of the bride.

This is during the service..... it was such a beautiful setting at this park, and such nice weather!!!

I thought I did such a nice job taking this picture- looks frame worthy to me!!

Here they are cutting their cake!!! As you can see red was the color of the day. I think it was a little too much red, but let me tell you everything matched!!

So after the wedding was over, we headed another 2 hours north to visit with our sweet friends Tara and PJ who recently moved to Pennsylvania from here in Virginia.

They have such a wonderful and inviting home- we felt so welcome. We went to some outlet malls and shopped, the guys at Bass pro shops and the girls at Gymboree, Osh Kosh and Talbots.

Before we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse we stopped and saw a beautiful covered bridge. There are several of them in Lancaster county and the area is rich with the Amish riding the roads in their horse-drawn carriages. I just loved it up there! So here are some cool pics of this one lane covered bridge....

And last but not least, here are our precious friends, PJ and Tara, who will be spending the entire month of September touring Europe! I'm so jealous!! Have fun kids and be safe!!

So that was our fun weekend and then of course we came back with out birth mom. But she and I texted yesterday and the plan now is we are going to meet her half way on Saturday, Sept. 4th and then I will drive her car back to Virginia and Sweetness will drive our car back to Virginia. This way she will not be driving the whole way alone and very pregnant- and she can still have her car while she is here visiting.
We are trying so hard to do anything we can to help her and get her here, so this adoption will be financially possible. Please keep us in your prayers, I am getting more and more anxious the closer it gets and she is not here in Virginia.

Our new camera!!!

Well, since the meeting of our little girl seems to be getting closer and closer, we were feeling very anxious about capturing these moments in a very nice fashion, after all her birth only happens ONCE right??

So we did a lot of research on DSLR cameras, the newest and greatest cameras. We basically discovered that Nikon and Canon are basically the same. They have all the same features and are very similar cost wise. We consulted the man who did our wedding pics and some other photog friends to ask their advice and/or opinion about which to choose. And we kept hearing Nikon, and then saying you really cant go wrong with a Canon either.

So we waited until there was a sale on one and we went for it. We just bought the Nikon D5100. We are so happy with it. We even bought the DSLR Book for Dummies also to help us figure out all these buttons and filters on this amazing camera.

A picture of it id below and it has a very nice LCD screen on the back with which you can view your pictures you have just taken. It also takes videos, takes Monochrome (B and W) pics, and has just about every bell and whistle on a camera it can have these days.

We bought it last week and took it with us last weekend to Maryland and Pennsylvania for my nephews wedding and I cant wait to do my first blog post using pictures from our new camera.

So now we are ready for Chloe's birth and her life and it will be documented VERY WELL!!!

Sept. 1st it is

Well I can not thank you all enough. It is so humbling how many people are praying for us and have texted us to say they are doing so after my post yesterday, It was a truly hard day.
This banner at the top is truly how my life feels, this blog is the dealings of "The good, the bad and the infertile." lol

So I really had not talked to Birthmom L all day, I was still swirling from the weekend and having my heart ripped out of me. But she texted early evening and I really told her in a gentle way what she was doing to us. She said she was scared of having no friends and being lonely at our house and I told her she wont even give us a chance and she's always telling me she is lonely at home anyway.

She continues to promise that Chloe is ours and she is coming, and I told her she is going to mess around too long and end up giving birth up there, and it will not be possible for us anymore. I told her to make this decision for Chloe and she can go right back to her life after she is born and safely with us. So she said she was sorry and that she would change. Then she said she will be here on Sept.1, 2011, I told her that she must keep that promise or we are going to walk away to save our tormented and broken hearts.

So I guess September 1st it is. Two more weeks and hopefully she will keep her promise although she has never kept a one to me yet, she doesn't even call when we set a time to call. SO I am trying to give it to the Lord but I don't even know if I believe He exists anymore- I am a hot mess for sure.

And on a side note- a service guy came over last night and fixed our fridge. The control panel in the back had shorted out. Thank fully we have a home warranty and we only paid the $60 deductible. Now we just have to go and buy all these groceries again because we threw almost everything away. Ahhhhh nothing like a cold drink!!!

Game over- I'm out.

Well I know you are waiting for an update.

So we flew out of the house Friday night, drove to Hagerstown. MD, stayed in hotel overnight, went to my nephew's wedding at 11 am on Saturday. Then we drove another 2 hours north to Lancaster, PA and spent the evening with my friends PJ and Tara- man it was so good to see them. We had so much fun visiting covered bridges and shopping at outlets, I have pics to post and I will soon.

Then we went to bed. Sunday (yesterday) morning I text her at 7:30 when I got up- she said she would see me in 2 hours- right on track, then at 9:30 when she is supposed to be meeting us, she texted to say she is throwing up again and at the hospital. Are you really expecting me to buy this line again???? I was so livid, I really told her that I was so sick of all the LIES. WE JUST DROVE OVER 500 MILES TO PICK YOU UP AND YOU AREN'T GOING TO MEET US, AND FURTHERMORE WONT EVEN TALK TO ME ON THE PHONE B/C YOU DON'T WANT TO BE CONFRONTED ON YOUR LIES????? I was so upset...... so sweetness tried to comfort me as best he could- and we began the agonizing drive back home. It was POURING down rain the whole way and we were exhausted by the time we finally got home.

As we began to leave she asked us to spend the night and she would come tomorrow, huh??? No way were we getting sucked in AGAIN. And then she keeps telling me "Chloe is yours i promise", "I'm gonna drive myself down there on Aug. 30", "I just want to die", "Im sorry I am such a b****". I mean she really has some issues mentally- that's clear. I just don't believe anything she says. I don t understand how she could do this to another person and play with their emotions like this and not care.

So if I was in a bad place on Friday's post, you can imagine how I am today...... I am making it through the day until I can go home and break down.

And to make it worse. We got home last night, and went to grab a quick something to eat before bed, and the fridge died over the weekend, everything was hot and spoiled. All the meat we bought to have dinners with her this week, all gone....... So Im trying to get a repair person to come out today- but that seems impossible too right now.

When it rains..... it pours. I've about had all I can take God- game over-

I'm out.

Our prayers have been heard!!!

Thank you to all my sweet friend to have read my last blog post and have called and texted my phone to tell me that you are praying for us. Well our prayers have been answered it seems I got a text message from birth mom and she says she's ready to come we're currently on the road to pennsylvania to go get her. Hallelujah I am so happy right now I know this is only 1 step in the battle but it's a big step just getting her here to virginia. Please continue to cover us in prayer this weekend for traveling mercies as well is things going smoothly when we pick her up I will update you all on sunday night again. Please excuse punctuation and or grammatical errors as I am doing this on my phone in the car!!

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On the Edge..... literally

Okay, so it has been 2 weeks since I blogged , and I know you are all asking me what is going on. Well the long and short of it is I don't know.

I have had sooooo much happen the last 2 weeks that I could write in detail but it all boils down to this. The birth mom is a pathological liar and we have finally caught on. The last time we were to go pick her up, she texted of course (b/c she cant talk on the phone) that she fainted and was in the hospital. And frankly as tomorrow approached, the day were are to go get her again, has neared I was waiting for some similar happening.

Well sure enough last night she texts to say she is in the hospital and something may be wrong with the baby. I freak, she then waits 47 minutes to answer me and says she may not be growing right. Huh? And then I knew, here it was, and she has now stooped to an all time low. She was now going to use the baby to play with my emotions and her lies. When I called her on her lies and called her bluff, she admitted it. I am so far gone emotionally. I am a COMPLETE WRECK today.

This whole time, she and I have texted all day, everyday and everything is fine, she's coming, etc. and now this. All she has to say is "I'm scared, I cant come" whatever, but the lies and manipulation is really too much.

So today she wont answer if she is coming or not. She texts about ice cream and all this other crap but will not answer the question. My poor class knows whats going on because they have seen me crying, but I can not comprehend why she is doing this. She said last night that Chloe is still ours, and I told her no she isn't if you will not come down here so we can afford this adoption. She calls me her best friend, and I have listened to all her drama for 2 months daily now, but yet no courtesy or concern to just say I am not coming.

So about an hour ago I spoke to the baby's father, our nephew, and he has been texting her as well this morning and he is at his wits end too. He finally forwarded a message he sent to her, and he basically called her out and cussed her out. Someone needed to say it to her, but I have too much invested, I never can say "IM DONE". He also believes she may be psychotic and has said he has a bad feeling..... I am scared. He is afraid she would harm the baby to get back at him. Its hard for me to believe that, but I don't know her so......

Here I sit at work, a wreck....... I need some serious prayer guys PLEASE...... I really feel like I could have a breakdown although I don't know what that would feel like. My heart has been to hell and back through all of this and now to end here??? God do you have any mercy on my aching broken heart?

I honestly believe this baby was made for us. The Lord has made so many things fall right into place. We even have found THE MOST AMAZING lady to watch her. My heart is so broken, so empty and so sad. And everytime I open blogger another infertile has gotten pregnant. It really makes me so mad that all these people complain and bellyache about pregnancies and all this and everytime they do IVF they get pregnant. Had one with IVF #1 and now pregnant with twins on IVF #2!!!! Really God???? And I cant even have ONE BABY after 5 IVFS?????? as you can tell I am done today.

There are so many pics of cute things I have bought for her that I would like to show you and post here, but what's the point really? And her nursery looks PERFECT, better than I ever imagined, and it sits empty..... the rocking chair never used and all the beautiful clothes, shoes, hair bows and onesies all ready to be worn. It will be a long time before I can go in there and sell it all. A LONG TIME..... WHY God???? WHY????!!!!!

I wish I could crawl in a black hole and come out in 5 years when my reproductive years are over. Pray for me PLEASE.

A few more additions to the nursery

Hello!!! Well last post I said I was hoping to get these new pink birds to add to our owl tree in the nursery. I ordered white birds when I ordered the mural, and the white was invisible on the wall. So below is a pic of the finished mural with the beautiful pink birdies!! You will also notice that we changed the glider and ottoman form the old one in other previous posts. This one is white wood and pink cushions....it looks so sweet. I CAN NOT wait to sit in there and rock my baby girl all night!!!


A couple of days ago we popped into Babies R US to see if there was anything from her Posey bedding collection still there- because the line has now been discontinued of course! :[ When we went in, we saw these precious soft blocks in the picture below that match her set that were not there when we bought the set!!! SOOOO sweet.

We also were able to order the hamper that matches it as well. There was only one left in a store in Cincinatti and I got it shipped to me!!! Cant wait to have all the beautiful pieces!!

And last but not least, we are starting to work on the walls now, and I had these beautiful letters made. I think they look super sweet actually hung up. I have been looking at these letters for over a year and now we finally hung them up tonight!

And I ordered another vinyl word quote to put on the large wall over changing table. I will post a picture when I get it in and put up!

Thank you all so much for all the encouraging words and cards and TEXTS!!! Speaking of texts- birthmom L is doing great. She did not come back with us 2 weekends ago for reasons I will not go into here, but ALL IS GREAT - and she even said tonight her mind is totally made up. SO that really does give me alot of peace. But my other nephew is getting married on August 13th in Maryland and then on Sunday the 14th we will drive north again and pick her up and bring her back with us until Chloe is born.

I know it sounds like a repeat of two weeks ago, but please pray for L, she is a very troubled young teen who is just looking for someone to love her and accept her. She has been through a lot so instead of getting mad at her like I sometimes want to, I have compassion for what she is going through and show her the Love of the Lord.

And my precious friend Robin is throwing me a shower on Sept. 24. I cannot believe it has finally arrived- MY baby shower- a day I have dreamed of!

Have a great week- and I will post more later this week.