The second intention I made when I started my 40 Days of Change was to do one thing for our adoption each day. Well, I don’t think it’s going to come as a surprise to anyone, but ever since we got our referral call, that one has been an easy one! We’ve done A LOT of things. And there are still A LOT more to do.

So here’s what we’ve done in the last week and a half or so.

• We bought a mattress and some bedding for the baby’s room. Of course, you’ve seen that already. Well, some of it… under the toys, that is.
• We got all the outlet covers changed and put latches on cupboard doors in advance of our social worker’s last visit.
• We bought fire escape ladders for the top floors. One for the baby’s room, and one for the 3rd floor. This was something we had planned to do for a long time, and we’d searched high and low on the internet for a baby safety store where we could get some stuff. I know these places exist, but we never did find one. And then, when we knew we had to finish up for the social worker’s visit, we searched one last time. NOTHING. So, on a whim, I thought, “Meh, maybe I’ll just check Canadian Tire.” And sure enough, there they were! I love Canadian Tire. We got all our baby safety stuff there.
• We got a car seat. We picked up a 3-in-1 car seat so we’d be all set for awhile. And, because our little Mystery Baby Girl might be still learning to sit up when she gets home, we’re going to borrow a bucket from friends to use for things like going grocery shopping and whatnot.
• We put together the armoire in the baby’s room, so now all the furniture is assembled. Although, I must admit, it was a struggle. Between losing a bolt that came from the factory to assemble it — which, incidentally, was in Europe so consequently the bolt is an odd metric size and took forever to find a replacement for — and having screw holes on the top panel that did not *quite* line up with the side panels, it looks fantastic. The door on the front is also a bit bowed, but we have a replacement for that. But all in all, it looks great. I am so glad we bought the furniture we did.
• We bought a life book, which I started writing in recently. Well, I say “life book”, but actually, it’s already not what I was planning on. I had pictured in my mind a book that had things written to our child about her history, how she came to us, and things like that, and also contained pictures and documents and cards and such. However, the book I bought is not really conducive to having things stuck in it. And also, I wrote several pages on who the baby’s birth mother is, and where she was born, and how she came to be adopted — and I forgot to add any pictures or documents or anything. So it’s actually turning out more like a journal. I’ve written in it a couple of times now, and already I am up to something like 8 pages. I think, as it stands now, I’m going to need a scrapbook, too.
• I’ve continued working on a blanket I am knitting for the baby. I also found a quilt that I started many, many years ago — all it needs is batting sewn into the middle — that I am now suddenly motivated to finish, so I might have to get the sewing machine out and get that done.
• I cleaned out a bench that I was using to store my yarn in, but now plan to use as a toy box, and moved it into the baby’s room.

There’s still so much more to do. I’m trying to make the life book a priority though. There’s just so much I want to tell her, that needs to be written down now, before she comes. Because once she’s here, every day will be a new adventure and there will be that much more to write about.