We have just finished redoing baby girl’s bathroom. Honestly . . . . I HATE yellow in general, but something about a little girl and yellow seems so sweet to me. Anyway, the Hubs suggested a yellow wall so that it would be a bright, happy place. I hunted for weeks for just the perfect bathroom ensemble. Finally settled on a turtle theme. After spending 6 hours and visiting 5 different stores I got everything I needed except for the soap dispenser and bath rug which I ordered. They finally came in! I put the finishing touches on this morning except for some wall art. I think what I want to do is take pictures around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi and the Turtle Pagoda for the walls and we’ll do photoshop them when we ever get to VN. The yellow, however, turned out to be POW! Yellow instead of Buttah Yellow. . . . OY! It will certainly wake a girl up in the morning. Piccies to follow as soon as my camera batteries are charged up!
How many guests has Aven had?
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Protected: Aven’s first Christmas ornaments . . . . a la Patience Brewster
November 29, 2008 — Sharon
The Imaginarium . . .
September 11, 2008 — Sharon
We are on vacation and while touring the Old City, I happened upon what I thought was a Dr. Seuss store. I was going to get Aven and her little friends a little trinket or two as this was clearly a “specialty” Dr. Seuss “store”. HA!!!!!!! It was actually an Art Gallery for nothing but art featuring the work of the creator of Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel.
I visited on Tuesday and tossed about buying Aven a numbered print commissioned by the widow of Mr. Geisel and priced by her. It was to be in celebration of what I expected to be another adoption milestone that we met. I picked one for the colors and Daddy picked one for the narration at the bottom. I don’t make impulse buys so I told them I would be back. When we went today, another lady was there. She was the owner of the gallery. She tried to be helpful but I was profoundly depressed as we were told today that the milestone we were expecting is not to come any time soon. I have spent most of our vacation verklempt and distraught. When the gallery owner asked about who we were buying it for, I told her about our daughter in Viet Nam. I told her how hard we had to fight to get her home. I told her that we were growing weary but could not stop. Not until she came home; not until all the precious little children came home. I talked about how tiny my girl was; about how little the children of Viet Nam were and how most of us worried about their nutrition and care. During my story, it was becoming clear I was unable to decide on which print I wanted. Sarah, the gallery owner put down another print featuring the characters of Horton Hears a Who. I stopped dead in my tracks. I began to tear up. I told Sarah THAT was the one. It was perfect as it said everything that I feel for Aven . . . . . for all of Aven’s orphanage mates and for the little children in Viet Nam who wait to join their families. . . . And until Aven and all her little friends get a voice of their own, we, their parents will make sure that everyone knows that no matter how small, they are people too.
So, you know I was crying right? Well, I looked over at Daddy . . . . he was tearing up too. Then Sarah took the museum quality framed print and said, “I am shipping this to your home to make sure it is protected and I am shipping it as a gift . . . what you are doing for your child is wonderful; what you are doing for the other children is wonderful. Thank God they have people like you and your friends to speak for them.” (I told her about a wonderful group of people who have stood by each other during this drama).
So Miss Aven . . . . you have another fan. And you are the proud owner of a wonderful piece of artwork. Hurry home honey . . . .
{point of clarification . . . the gallery owner gifted the shipping to us since she didn’t want the work to be damaged in our drive back to our home state . . . . The shipping costs would have been $40.00 and that was quite generous of her as we hadn’t planned to have it shipped. The actual costs of the print was $375.00 which Mama had to fork over!!!! Sorry . . . didn’t mean to mislead anyone!}
This was to be her 8 month birthday present . . .
September 9, 2008 — SharonBut I just bought her something else while on vaca for that . . . and I think I am getting ready to buy something bigger so let’s just call this Aven’s “Mommy loves the stuffin’ out of you” present . . . . .
