Getting Ready!

Our two newest daughters are coming home in just a few days (Tuesday) and there's so much to do to make our home ready for them!

Rooms:

We've switched bedrooms around.  The older girls Anna and Agne (just turned 3, and yes, another A name...) will share a room.  We already had bunk beds in there, so we unbunked them and we now have two twin beds set up.  It's super cute in there!

We moved Anthony to his big boy room which has always been intended for a boy.  It's painted gray with legos on the walls and red and black accents.  His crib and a twin bed are now in there.  He's adjusted fine to a new room great!

Little Mya will have the nursery.  The agency purchased a crib for her when she went into care, so that crib gets to come with her.  So we don't have to find/purchase one or have anyone sleep in a pack n play.

We've decorated each room, put names on the walls, and tried to make it feel like home for Agnes and Mya.  

Car Seats:

I've had to move car seats around and a friend gave us one of their extras for the big girls.  The girls also come with agency car seats but I'm not sure what shape those are in, so we may not even take them and let the agency use them for someone else.  It depends on their condition.  We now have the middle seats benched together with Anthony and Mya rear facing.  The big girls are then forward facing in the backseat with a space in between for a buffer between our strong willed, high energy 2/3 year olds!

Bathroom:

We've been meaning to spruce up the kids' bathroom for a while and this is the perfect motivation.  It was not very kid looking and was kinda dull before.  We were still using little baby towels for both Anna and Anthony and well, they were getting a little big for those.  So we did a little shopping.  We got a fun, colorful, kinda girly but still okay for a boy shower curtain and got the kids coordinating but different colored towels.  They will have THEIR color and it should keep conflicts down and organization up.  I need to do something about their toothbrushes and such to keep them all clean/separate but that can wait.  It's bright, cheery, colorful and looks like kids live in it now!

Clothes:

The girls come with all of the clothes that have been purchased for them since they went into care.  So I'm not getting too much out for M just yet.  It sounds like they have a lot of clothes, so our closets will soon be bursting.  A friend who has girls who have similar size spacing (not ages, but sizes) handed down all of her matching stuff.  So we have some super cute matching outfits for the 3 girls.

Stuff:

The girls also come with all of the "stuff" that was purchased for them since going into care.  Toys, bikes, water tables, high chairs, etc...  I'm kinda dreading that, we're already overflowing with toys.  But we're allowed to go through it all and keep/pass along whatever we see fit.  Obviously anything they're super attached to will stay and bikes and things are greatly appreciated!



Overall, we're over the moon excited for our newest additions.  They sound like sweet girls and it sounds like our home is perfectly suited for their needs.  Especially Agnes whose challenges would be greatly reduced by not having to attend day care.  She will hopefully be starting preschool at our parish school in the coming weeks.  She will actually be in Anna's class but DCFS mandates that any 3 year old must attend preschool.  She will then be in the same 3/4 year old class as Anna next fall.  Mya and Anthony are also in the same grade level (only 2 months apart) so we will have 4 in back to back years.  At least it saves us hugely on tuition!  The 3rd is greatly reduced and the 4th is free!

We've been doing lots and lots of laundry, linens, clothes, new sheets/comforters, towels, etc... in preparation.  I'm glad I've been storing away some freezer meals in the past few weeks.  We're going to need them!

We just cannot believe how abundantly blessed we are.  I will try to stay updated, blogging is my outlet a lot of the time!  However, we cannot share pictures of Agnes and Mya until their final adoption (hopefully May/June time frame).  So I still may post pictures of Anna and Anthony but it's going to kill me not to share their beautiful faces with you!  I can email pictures, so if you simply can't wait, shoot me an email (k.smallthingswithgreatlove@gmail.com).

It just so happens that we had family pictures scheduled for next Saturday.  What perfectly God-orchestrated timing for all of this.  So my parents of course had to get coordinating outfits for the other two girls (Anna and Cecelia already had matching dresses).  They should be super, super cute.  Anna and Mya will wear matching dresses and Cece and Agnes will wear matching dresses and all, along with Anthony, coordinate in super cute fallish colors.  Our family is so blessed!