Waiting for Benny-Boo-Boo

Reid truly and utterly hates that Mason and I call our future son Benny-Boo-Boo.  It started as a joke one day when I was walking Mason through some ways of how he could help me out when Ben comes, using his little Ben doll.  However, the crazy look that Reid gets in his eyes when Mason still calls our future son Benny-Boo-Boo is something that even that 3 year old knows is hilarious merely because we like it and daddy doesn't.  Mason gets me, he is my mini-me and we equally enjoy pushing Reid's buttons as a team.  I think it scares Reid how much me and my boy are alike, which has only spiraled out of control since we spend every waking second together since moving to Oklahoma.

But we are still waiting for our Benjamin Levi, our little Benny-Boo-Boo.  Waiting NOT so patiently either.  I have nested this house into a frenzy, throwing away and selling off anything that we do not need.  I have even finished Mason's 4th Birthday party an entire MONTH in advance, because I was so afraid that we would get a call about Ben and wanted to make sure that Mason didn't miss out on his special day.  However, now I feel like a crazy person because every time I call to find out our status, I feel like another puzzle piece is placed between my son and our family.  Nothing new or unexpected, (whining voice) "BUT I AM READY NOW!"

The wait ~ I am not a patient person and can whip some paperwork out in less than 24 hours to complete a dossier or requirement.  But we are not on my schedule or speed...we are working at "normal" people's paces...which apparently means at least 2 months to complete paperwork.  So I am sitting NOT so patiently in line behind people working at normal paces, when all I want to do is drive to these people's houses and pick then up and shuttle them around until they are done and me and my son can be united.  I guess what hurts so much is the fact that there are so many kids out there that need families and somehow I have to sit on my hands trying to look graceful as I wait.

The nesting ~ Seriously I finished a birthday party an entire month ahead of time because honestly it helped pass the time as we waited.  However, now I look like a giant pile of crazy when people come over and Mason's party supplies are laid out across the tables, walls, and shelves.  Now I am not talking normal human parties, I am talking Tori Spelling style...like I made each child their own super hero towel capes this week.  Custom treat containers, banners, backdrops, and food signs.  My husband says my parties are psychotic...he won't even allow me to throw him a party anymore because his last one I turned the entire house into a Mario game:

Apparently, there was a line for adult parties and I crossed it...I am totally not sorry and the crazy only builds, so it is being forced upon Mason's party instead.

The nesting in our house has been extreme as well.  Mainly because the house has been so clean this last month.  I am not a great cleaner, but the idea of having a little baby crawling around my floors has definitely lit a fire under my butt about keeping everything clean and spotless.  Carpets have been shampooed, dishes washed the same day, I even reset the couch cushions and pillows every morning when I wake up.  Our house has kind of felt like we were staging it to sell.

Ugghhh...you want to know my badge of crazy secret...if you didn't already know I was a pile of crazy you will soon...I already have Ben's car seat ready and latched into my car!  Seriously, I drive around with it in the car all set up because somewhere in my gut I hold onto the hope that I will get a call to pick him up any time now.  Want to know why that is stupid?  Well because the company hasn't even called me for my homestudy yet. Not sure what that means, well they haven't even officially signed off on placing a child with us.  We are in the "pre-approval" process waiting on the chance for the "final approval" when we will be matched.  I drive around with a perfectly coordinated car seat waiting for my baby.  Doesn't this company know how awesome I am and just let me jump past everything and grab any kid I want?  No, oh...well then I will sit here on my hands and go clean my house again.

The heart ~ so I read this amazing article tonight through Pinterest: dear-friends-of-waiting-adoptive-moms that I thought did a really good job of explaining how to love on someone that is going through adoption...because honestly most times we feel like the world looks at us like a giant ball of crazy...bouncing on the balls of our feet, because our hearts are already at the finish line with that baby and somehow we have to keep it together back at Step 3 of 10 with a smile on our faces because we will scare you if we drop all of the information of where we are in the process and how we are really doing with it.  It can be so frustrating because the time frames are not up to us.  Also because we feel like people don't know how to handle how quickly things change in adoption and once again feel like we are the ones who look crazy as we latch on to the next piece of hope only to have it change 2 days later.

Public service announcement...your friend is not crazy because the plans she shares change every time you talk to her...she is excited about her child and any possible avenue that brings her closer to that child will be explored, even when each new avenue ends up being a dead end...at least chasing down that possible movement is the chance to be closer to that finish line in a rather stagnant process.

Somehow my heart feels better after my ramblings and the insomnia is starting to fade (2:00 am authoring going on right now).  Benjamin Levi Hottel...I am ready and waiting for you...and I will never let you go!

Ben's Room

Ok, so when you are adopting, you don't have anything but paperwork to remind you that you will one day have a baby in your arms.  Paper pregnant never makes me feel like things are real.  I assume every adoptive mother has her "thing" that she does to get ready for the soon to be baby.  For me, I decorate my kids nurseries.  For some reason if I have the babies nursery in place, then the reality of the new kid feels more real.  Reid thinks that I am completely crazy for doing this each time we adopt, but is afraid of me enough to let me do my "thang".  He figures if it calms the crazy, then why the heck not.

So, in February we had a preschool room, and I knew I would need to make some changes before Ben got here to make it a nursery.  I think it took me all of 2 hours to dismantle the room to 4 white walls and carpet.

Here is the room before

So we decided that since we were in pilot training that we (obviously me because Reid could care less) thought a plane themed room would be fun and very appropriate for where we were in life.
With me not working Reid was pretty apprehensive of me decorating this room in a way that would allow us to still eat.  He challenged me to use what we already had around the house, especially since we had so much stuff in our garage not being used.  Lucky for that man, Enid Oklahoma does not offer much in decorations outside of Wal-Mart.  This forced me to get creative and it ended up being so rewarding to not just decorate, but design.

When we packed up our house in North Carolina, we decided to bring the crib and changing table shrink wrapped for the "just in case".  Already owning the major pieces of furniture helped the process along quite nicely.  Ben is using all of Mason's nursery furniture and it is really nice to see those items in the room.  Mason is surprisingly ok with Ben having his old stuff.

So we placed the furniture in the room, but it all seemed so bare.  Mason had a full mural in his room, but in base housing, this was not realistic for us.  I spent a long time on Pinterest looking up ideas and decided a photo wall would be nice, and then I could create some of the pictures on my silhouette machine.

 Mason and I made a trip out to the Thrift Shop in Enid and bought all their fun frames.  We also scoured our garage and found some plain wicker baskets that we had never used, but I got a "really good deal" on them so obviously my hands were tied to buy years ago.

 We split up the frames and baskets at random and bought spray paint.  I am not very trendy, but went with some bold colors: orange, navy, and teal for a color scheme that I could incorporate into everything.

 After about 4 weeks the grass grew back in and no longer had teal and orange splotches in it.

The house was slightly unusable as things dried.  

We also spray painted paper lanterns in the matching colors, the same 2 spray paint colors on everything to ensure I didn't wind up with 12 shades of teal that would clash horribly.  

Mason and I then made a trip to Hobby Lobby to find papers that would match our color scheme and  then dispersed them somewhat randomly, some what strategic.  We looked up different plane designs and this was the one part Reid got interested in.  The fact that I had found a T-6 style plane made him fall a little more in love with me I think.  Once the planes were approved, we cut them out and placed them on the wall for our baseline of the decorations. 

 

Testing out the papers and making sure they coordinated together.

 All 4 custom pieces on the wall.

 A heart in Oklahoma, Ben's birth state.

 Benjamin Levi around the T-6 silhouette.  

 Ben already earned his wings way before daddy.

Then 2 old school fighter bi-planes.  

Here is the wall mostly with the addition of a mirror, F-22 Raptor pictures from Uncle Syd, and some other plaques and empty frames to add pictures of us with Ben.  

We got extra scrap book paper along with cardboard letters "BENJAMIN" to place over his bed.  

 We spaced out color and design and came up with this.  

I mod-podged these and then used a nail file to shave the edges equally.  

Now that I had an idea for the direction I was going, I ordered navy sheets for the crib.  I don't really like using the store pre-bought sets because then my kid has the same room as someone else, but I do love coordinating items.  I only but dark sheets for baby.  I didn't want a set of cute sheets that ended up with a brown stain the first time baby had a blow out.  Navy should cover up poo brown nicely.  I ordered a soft orange blanket to tie the colors together.  

We got a bookcase for free on the Vance Yard Sale page and filled it with all of Mason's old board books.  Mason is wasn't too sure how he felt about Ben getting his books, but was ok with the idea that he could pick which book to read to Ben.  As you can see by the book shelf, I may have bought Mason quite a few board books...I don't really like reading the same books over and over.  

 We got a set of sheer teal curtains and spray painted a coat rack.

 Then we placed the spray painted wicker baskets on the changing table.

So you ready for the full reveal yet?

I am going to make you work for it...

Insert a cute picture of Mason practicing being a big brother to hold you over...

AND NOW, HERE IS BEN'S ROOM~!

 

I hope you like it, I will try and post some more recent photos with a few more updates and awesome-tastic pieces that I have found since the last photos!