Lady Bug

For Christmas, my sister got Madeline this lady bug night light.  She absolutely loves it and can't sleep without it these days.  It glows in red, purple, and green and throws stars all over the room.  Best of all, it shuts off autmatically after about 20 minutes. Long enough for Madeline to enjoy, but doesn't drain the battery! It's super cute and a very charming way to have a nightlight.

Let the Paperwork Begin

You know you have a whole new outlook on life when it's Saturday night (and St. Patrick's Day to boot) and the highlight of your evening is driving to Office Depot so you can purchase supplies to make a paperwork binder.  And yes, that's a true story. 

Despite all the insanity of school and work right now, we are diving head first into the paperwork stage of our adoption.  I laughed because every piece of paper from our agency says to take it one step at a time and not get overwhelmed....and then I looked at what all was required and I figured out why all the warnings! 

So now I have a nice binder, organized by topic, with all my important paper in sheet protectors. Nerd alert! 

Let the paperwork begin!

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a fantastic weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with our friends, the Harless family.  We swam and rode water slides until we were pruned.  The girls had their first "sleepover" together.  We hardly even ate we were so busy.  I wish I could show you picutres, but we were pretty water logged.  We will definitely be returning for another weekend getaway in the future. 

Pretty hair. Glad that Madeline will at least sit still for Ashley, even if I'm not allowed to do her hair.

Best Buds.

Weekend Project

Up next at the Long house: Madeline's New Room! Here's what we're striving for...only better!

She picked it out!

Good Reads

For Christmas we bought Madeline several adoption themed books to help facilitate a discussion about our upcoming life changes. I know there are tons of great kids books on adoption, but I was really happy with what we have so far:

This book has Madeline convinced that any time someone is sad it's because they miss their mommy. Very cute but a little confused.

By and far, this is my favorite book.  Bright colors and a perfect message about how families are made.

(And whoever bought a new flat screen tv and accompanying items this week....I love you.)



Three

Hard to believe, but our tiny baby girl is now a 3 year old. Still tiny, but a 3 year old none the less.  It’s unbelievable how much she’s changed over the last year.  So independent – insists on doing everything herself and helping mom and daddy with their chores as well.  She pretty much gets her self ready for school each day.  It’s hard to imagine going back to the baby phase with such a big girl running around and potty trained. Madeline is developing a very strong sense of humor – very dry and frank – it’s absolutely hysterical.  She knows where everything is and just how it’s supposed to be done.  

 

We celebrated her birthday by a big family party at Grandma and Grandpa Webb’s house.  Unfortunately both Uncle Matt and Uncle Bert were indisposed that day, but other than that it was all our people in one house.  We are moving Madeline into a new bedroom to make way for baby, so all the Grandmas and aunts joined together to pick up some room items.  Madeline picked the bedding herself, with my approval.  I wouldn’t have picked pink, but it’s pretty cute.   Additional gifts included Barbies, Barbie's convertible and a jewelry box.

This ridiculous face is becoming her official picture pose. Ugh.

Instead of having a party for our Indiana friends, we decided to keep it low-key this year. (Read: Heather does not have the time or energy to clean the house.)  Instead we will be venturing to the Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati with our good friends, the Harless family! 

Madeline and Evan: The first time all winter they've been allowed in the same room.

Next time you're on Amazon....

Not going to lie - adoption costs a small fortune.  There are lot of valid reasons why this is the case, which I will not go into here.  There's no doubt that the financial aspect of this adventure has been the hardest thing to grapple with.  Needless to say, the Long family is in full fledged financial lock down.  We are attempting to filter every possibly penny we can into our adoption fund.  We have already been immensely blessed in the last few weeks through a very unexpected gift from friends and some awesome work opportunities.  Even little things like my car repair being covered under warranty and my beloved Sonicare toothbrush miraculously fixing itself have proven to be blessings.  But we know we're going to have to step it up with some creative fundraising ideas. 

So here's a SUPER easy one that you (and everyone you know!) can help with.  The next time you feel compelled to buy something from Amazon, (and who doesn't? I've bought my entire Christmas list from there 2 years running!) please access it through our nifty little link on the right side menu.  A portion of your purchase will go straight into our adoption fund. How ridiculously easy is that?

A few details:
-We will not know who is purchasing, so don't be afraid to load up on neon spandex undergarments or whatever else strikes your fancy!
-You must log in through our link each time you access Amazon in order for the next purchase to count.  Please bookmark us!
-If you put something in your cart but then check out during another session, that will not count :(
-Please feel free to pass this along to your friend, family, coworkers, Facebook feed, Twitter, etc. The more the merrier!
-If you want to post to your blog, let me know - I can get you a cool looking link.