- 1/8/2008 10:41:23 AMPlanningNow that we are in a new year and very close to making our trip, it is time to get our house prepared for Yuri's arrival. Recently we made a trip to Saint Vincent De Paul which is a local food pantry and thrift store. They have tons of very nice new and gently used stuff there. From cloths to appliances, furniture to books. You name it - it's there.
For this trip, we were in search of a head and foot board for a twin bed. When Yuri was here last March, we borrowed a mattress from some friends and put him in a bunk bed with my other son. My daughters are using the bunk beds now so we were in search of a nice replacement - which we quickly found. It is wooden with dark brown spindles and is in great shape. I think the price was $10 or $15.
My wife is a bargain hunter. As such, she would never leave a store like this without checking out everything. We soon found a new, twin sized, blue, down comforter - $10. It is VERY nice!
On New Years Day, we went to WG&R Bedding Shop. It is a satellite store for WG&R Furniture on the west side of Green Bay and only does bedding. They also have a nice selection of mattresses to choose from and a variety of manufacturers. We ended up purchasing the high-end store model mattress and box spring. It is comparable to the high-end Serta model. When stacked on top of each other, they stand about 2 feet tall (or thick). In fact, it was so tall that you could not see the foot board of the bed frame. It is a very nice mattress and the other kids like to lay on it. It will make for a fine place to lay a weary head.
We also painted the bedroom that Yuri will be sharing with James. It is the largest room in the house and has its own bathroom. Peggy chose a blue-ish/periwinkle with white trim. It looks very Victorian and fits the style of the house. It has book shelves and lots of room for Legos and other toys that boys typically enjoy. It is very calming and relaxing to be in there and I'm sure Yuri will like it.
For now, we wait. According to what we've been told, the adoption coordinator in Russia will try and secure a court date for us on January 10th. Since they are about 9 hours ahead of us, I'm calculating that the earliest we will be notified of our court date will be some time late on Thursday (central time), otherwise perhaps on one of the following days.
We have been packing our suit cases, visiting the bank to order the cash we'll need, making arrangements with family for the care of the other kids, our home, the cows, dog, cat, fish... Things seem to be moving along smoothly. We're also discussing what we will do in the event we must stay an additional 10 days (depending on the Russian Judge). One thought we are considering is taking a trip to St. Petersburg. There is lots of history there and it is not likely that I will get back there any time soon.
There is so much to think about and so much to do. I can honestly say that I have not been looking forward to or excited about anything as much as this since some of the earliest Christmas's I can remember.
