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Secret Projects and Randomness

11/20/2012

I probably won’t get around to doing a full New Home Update this week because of all that’s going on with Thanksgiving, family visiting and a boat load of graphic design work I need to do this week, but here are a couple of shots of our new wood floors in the great room.

There is still a lot of slippery sawdust on the floors. Ali looked like she was at a skating rink.

I moved/helped move a huge amount of furniture this weekend (no… we’re not moving into our new house for another couple weeks) including this sofa (with hide-a-bed), desk, wall cabinet and a large media cabinet (not pictured because it’s for my parents) from an estate sale…

And also all this furniture for a secret project that has been in the works for many, many months… Here’s a sneak peek at our first home staging job. Much more about that coming soon… including the official launch of our new business, more photos and hopefully a video tour of this house:

This goober is 16 months old today! I’ve been looking forward to 16 months for a long time because that’s how old Ladybug was when we parented her. Oh, 16 months! I have experience with that age! Of course, the two girls are very different.

1 Comment | Art, Art: home staging, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: estate sales, furniture, mid-century modern, new home, precious, staging, vintage, wood floors | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

I Believe in Miracles

11/14/2012

Do you remember this story? One year ago tomorrow, a miracle happened while were in court feeling hopeless, thinking that we were about to say goodbye to our sweet baby girl after two months of fostering and falling in love with her. But, to our surprise she was taken out of state custody and put back into our arms so we could become her forever parents! We are so blessed, so thankful that we get to be this precious little girl’s parents!

November 10, 2011

November 11, 2012

4 Comments | Family, Family: Adoption, Family: Foster Parenting, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: adoption, anniversary, custody, foster care, precious | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

“Read It!” – Ali’s Favorite Books

11/12/2012

Evidenced by 15-month-old Alianna’s new two word phrase “read it,” she’s been really into books lately. When she’s getting sleepy before a nap or bedtime, she’s even more likely to have the attention span for me to get through a whole book. The other day my mom was reading my sleepy girl this book (below) and I wanted to capture the moment.

One, Two, Three by Sandra Boynton

These are some of Ali’s (and my) other current favorites to read everyday, sometimes many times a day:

Little Pink Pup – a great story for foster or adoptive families – it’s a true story so it uses real (poor quality) photos but it’s still very sweet

A Mother for Choco – another great one for adoption/foster dialogues about mother and child that don’t look alike, as well as what it means to be a mother

Rhyme Bible Storybook – the stories are just the right length and written as poems that are fun to read aloud. (Note: this is a huge book with tons of stories in it.)

All of Baby Nose to Toes – this is my favorite book to read aloud because it’s impossible for me to not sing-read it

Polite Elephant – we’re working on manners like “please” and “thank you” and how to welcome someone into our house, thank someone when we leave their house, how to play gently with other’s toys, etc. so this one is timely for us

Hug Time – about a kitty so full of love that he wanted to give the whole world a hug. Need I say more?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? – we use this one to practice animal names and sounds

Hop on Pop – this is the only one in our current favorites pile that was also one of my favorites when I was little. Good old Dr. Seuss.

1 Comment | Art, Family, Family: Adoption, Family: Foster Parenting, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: books, favorites, precious, reading, toddler | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Alianna at 15 Months

10/24/2012

On October 20th, Ali turned 15 months old…1 year and 3 months! It didn’t go unnoticed and I wanted to write a record of what she’s doing these days.

Ali-gator, you are now walking more than crawling, and even walking with your hands down! (No more Frankenstein.) You still trip a lot. I guess it takes a while to get a sense of where your feet are and what’s coming up. You’re really into climbing lately. You love to climb from your little rocking chair on to Grandma and Grandpa’s big recliner and then back down. I got you a toddler slide from craigslist to help satisfy your climbing desires but you haven’t figured out the ladder yet. You love the slide though!

You’ve started becoming a little more picky and opinionated in your eating lately. The result is just that you’ve been eating a little less because you don’t always care for what’s offered to you. I figure if you’re really hungry you’ll eat it anyway. We sometimes hand you a plastic toddler fork or spoon with food on it and you’re happy to eat whatever is on it. You haven’t yet tried to get the food on to the utensil yourself but that will come eventually.

We’re working hard on stay positive and redirecting you rather than saying “No” too much. You respond so much better to a gentle redirect than to an angry, “No! Ali! That’s Lucy’s food!” That only makes you want to do it more. I felt convicted recently that I was getting too harsh with you, after reading “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” So true that is with you. Thank you for being patient with me and giving me lots of chances to practice.

Just lately you’ve started putting 2 word phrases together. We were Skyping with Jason while he was out of town one day and right after I ended the call you said, “Bye Dada.” (You also gave him lots of kisses on the phone that day – so cute!) You also sometimes say, “Oh Yeah!” and it cracks me up. You’ve also said “more pwease” and “read it.” You babble all the time and I love getting little glimpses of what’s going through your head. I showed you some pictures I was working on of paint mock ups of the new house and you indulged me with, “Ooooh!” You never hide your excitement when you see something you love or think is pretty. You’re a jewelry fanatic so it’s no surprise that you’re saying “Jewry” even before you’re saying “Grandma” or “Grandpa.” You’ve been trying, though, and I can tell the subtle difference between “Dada” and “Dinda”… Dinda is your word for both Grandma and Grandpa at this point.

You’re growing slowly and steadily. We weighed and measured you at home the other day. You were 21.5 lbs and 29″ tall. (Sidenote: you’re exactly the same height and weight as your cousin Iris right now, who is 3 months younger than you.) You’re still wearing size 3 shoes though 2/3 of them are too small. Your size 4s, however, are mostly all too long. So we’re back to having just a few pairs of shoes that fit, but that’s fine. Your hair is getting longer and longer but still sitting up on top of your head. Is it going to start falling downward eventually? You have 8 teeth now and you are great about letting us brush them before bed every night. Daddy taught you to hold hands recently and you love to hold his hand while I push you in your stroller back and forth from Grandma and Grandpa’s house to our new house.

You’re great at making choices between two items and I love to give you that power. (More than 2 options is a little overwhelming.) Banana yogurt or peach yogurt? Do you want to wear this shirt or this shirt? Should Mommy buy these striped sheets or the gray sheets? Do you like this soap dispenser or this one? Obviously, I think you’re an excellent shopping buddy. I see many, many mother/daughter Friday night shopping excursions in our future. You are super fun to spend time with, excited about life, easy-going, loving and curious. Thanks for being my daughter.

All pictures in this post are from Ali’s buddy Jaron’s adoption day October 2, 2012; taken by Beth Rose Goin.

Leave a Comment » | Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: 15 months, Ali, alianna, child, childhood, development, kid, precious, toddler | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

1st Familiversary!

09/24/2012

Are you familiar with the term “familiversary?” I think Foster Parenting Podcast made it up. Some people call it “Gotcha Day” (usually when traveling to meet a child and bring them home for adoption) or “Family Birthday.” It’s not Adoption Day…it’s the day that we became a family unofficially, but a very real family.

• • •

On September 21, 2011 Jason and I were just sitting down to dinner on our back patio when my phone rang. I went in the house to grab a paper and pen and started repeating details out loud as I jotted down notes and shot some glances at Jason.

“Two-month old baby girl.”

“Bi-racial…white and hispanic…”

Umm hmm. Ok. Uh huh. I scribbled down information about her biological siblings and her situation.

“Can you hang on a second while I talk to my husband?”

It was just shy of 3 weeks from the day we said goodbye to Ladybug and we were still grieving. We thought we’d wait a month-ish before saying yes to a call. We had gotten plenty of calls but they were all outside of our parameters so it was easy (easier…) to say no.

Jason’s response to this call: “The only reasons I can think of to say no to this one are completely selfish.” Which meant yes. YES.

“Yes!”

I let my dinner go cold as I snapped into hyper nesting mode. Are there clean sheets on the crib? Do we have any baby clothes? Blankets? How much do 2-month-olds eat? How often? How much do they sleep? I realized I was completely clueless. Remember all those What to Expect books you read while you were growing a baby for 9 months? Yeah, nada here. So I called my sister-in-law Ginger who had just had my niece 7 months prior and she gave me bullet points (which is all my brain could handle) on what kind of bottles to get, a typical daily sleeping/eating schedule, a few suggestions like bibs and burp cloths, and an invitation to call her any time of the day or night.

An hour later, this precious little peanut was delivered to our house. I’ve been saving this picture to share today. It’s the first picture I took of our beautiful girl to send to family and friends. I even managed to accidentally get our DCS agreement paperwork into the picture, too.

Our life will never be the same—it’s so much better now because of our dear little Alianna!

It’s a fun coincidence that I happen to have pictures of both myself and Jason on September 21, 2011. I was dressed up for a meeting and wanted to remember my outfit for future reference.

Jason was trying to help me to relax and calm down before my important meeting so he was playing his guitar for me, while I chilled out…in our nursery!

7 Comments | Family, Family: Foster Parenting, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: adoption, Ali, familiversary, family birthday, foster care, foster parenting, gotcha day, precious | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Alianna at 14 Months

09/20/2012

I’m not specifically doing monthly updates anymore (or maybe I just skipped 13 months…I haven’t decided for sure) but I do want to continue documenting her growth and progress, for my own records if nothing else. So here we go…

Ali-girl, you are 14 months old today! I don’t think you know that tomorrow is a very special day – it’s the 1 year anniversary of when you joined our family! But I’ll talk more about that next week. I remember reading somewhere that 14 months old is the average age that kids learn to walk. You, my dear, are right on time. You started taking steps for the first time on September 4th. I was so proud! You are very brave and a little bit reckless. You take a few steps and then dive into one of us with your eyes closed and your arms out. Except, you don’t always check to make sure I’m paying attention first and sometimes the diving ends poorly for both of us, especially if you have a book in your hand that you want me to read to you. The good news is, you’re gaining confidence and taking more and more steps at a time. Very soon you’ll be walking and running all over the place.

To satisfy your adventurous toddler spirit, I took you to the park the other day. It’s was our first time at this particular playground that’s designed for 2-5 year olds so the slides and steps and everything are shorter. You’re still a long ways away from 2, of course, but you seemed to really enjoy this slide. I’d set you at the top and say, “Ready, 1-2-3!” and you’d launch on 3, just like we’ve been being doing on the side of the pool over the summer.

Speaking of following direction, yeah…we’re working on that. You understand everything we say and you often listen. I have to keep reminding myself that you’re just 14 months old and not always mature enough to obey. When you do, we celebrate! Honestly, you’ve been surprising me with how much you do listen and obey like when I ask you to hand me your sippy cup (instead of dropping it off the high chair tray) or take the chewed up paper out of your mouth and you actually do it! It’s really a test of patience and parenting skills for the adults and you’re giving us all plenty to chances to do re-dos when we mess up.

You’re still eating well and sleeping well. I feel like a broken record saying that every time. You’ll eat just about anything. Your favorites are still peaches and blueberries but we recently rediscovered kiwis. You’ll still eat green beans and broccoli. You prefer beef to chicken because it’s easier to chew (I suspect). Scrambled eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches and PB&Js have been working into the lunch time options lately. Oh, and you still LOVE cheese sticks and yogurt. You had fun making a big mess out of this bowl of speghetti at dinner the other day. I think more ended up in your bib and on your lap than in your mouth. Soon enough you’ll be using utensils!

You’ve had a ton of new words lately. My favorite is that you’ve been saying Mama much more consistently now. Finally! We’re still working on “more please” instead of pointing and whining but sometimes you’ll point at what you want and say “Mama?” Sweetest thing ever. You’ve also started saying baby and you love to point out babies everywhere you see them. You love to look at pictures of your baby cousins and friends and most often say “Ice!” for your cousin Iris. You called your cousin Eliza Ice the other day but when I corrected you, you said Eye-za. You say/whisper stars when we’re putting you to bed at night (we have a turtle night light that projects stars) and you’ve said shoe a few times. I’m very impressed with the s’s! The other day you crawled over to your high chair, pulled up to a stand, looked at Jason and said, “Hungee.” I love that! Makes me glad we were too busy to bother with baby sign language. You’ve always been good at communicating your needs. You say baba for bottle when you want a drink. You have 3 6-oz bottles of milk a day before naps and bedtime, and are doing pretty well with a sippy cup for water at meal times. You say woowoo for “woof woof” when you see a dog or any animal resembling a dog. “Meow” comes out as ee or ow, and sometimes you also say moomoo for a cow. I’m sure I’m forgetting some words and of course there are instances where you repeat words once or twice and then ever again.

Clearly, we think you are the most talented, intelligent, precious girl ever to exist on the planet. You make life so much more fun and interesting. I’m thankful that God brought you to us one year ago. You are a beautiful girl, inside and out, Alianna.

2 Comments | Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: 14 months, Ali, alianna, daughter, precious | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

In The In Between

09/10/2012

Alianna is learning to walk. On September 4, she took her first steps, 2-3 at a time, between Jason and me. She did it about 10x that evening. Now we can stand her up and once she gets her balance, she’ll stand for quite a while, then take a few steps, then fall. We’re so proud of her and she’s been a trooper about it all, not really getting frustrated but willing to try it over and over again. She’s in this in between stage. Between crawling and walking. Between baby and toddler.

We’ve been in between homes for 7 months now. It’s getting old. Really old. I feel like a jerk for even complaining because I know the new house is going to be a great blessing and worth the wait. In addition, we’ve really got a great situation here living with my parents who help with Ali and cooking and charge us less rent than we’d be getting anywhere near here. But I’m really ready to be in our own home again, you know? I look at pictures of our old house and I miss it. I miss the feeling of coming home. I go inside our new house in the midst of construction and I’m excited…and impatient. I feel stuck in between.

Separation. It’s the step in between married and divorced. Jason and I have some friends who are separated right now after 10 years of marriage. It’s painful to see them hurting, even nauseating at times. I feel so helpless. We’re brokenhearted for them and want so badly to see them come back together. All we know to do is to pray and to be available as friends when they need to talk. I think separation is stupid; it’s one foot into divorce and it’s really hard to move backward. The space in between them is killing their marriage.

I’m beginning to despise the in between.

Leave a Comment » | Faith, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: Ali, divorce, in between, marriage, new home build, precious, relationship, separation, transition, walking | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

DIY Play Kitchen

08/20/2012

I’ve seen some great DIY play kitchens the past view years. (Here’s a round up from Ohdeedoh a few years ago.) There are also great options for sale, like the above modern wooden kitchen from Melissa & Doug, and of course the many plastic variations. A few months ago while I was yard sale hopping with my mom, I spotted this wooden play stove/oven. The only thing better than a DIY kitchen is someone else’s DIY kitchen. This stove was built by the sellers’ grandfather and I talked them down to $7, knowing it would need a lot of work to get it to a condition suitable for Ali to play with.

Jason is super handy and we often do DIY projects together but I decided this was my baby. I washed it all down and painted it with some leftover wall paint I found in my parents’ garage. I was thinking of refreshing the original white until I found the mint green paint—why not make it mint green like a retro stove? I painted over the black burners, handles and knobs with a pewter metallic craft paint.

I did commission Jason’s expertise for one part. I wanted to add casters to the bottom since this is fairly heavy. I imagine it will spend some time in the playroom, some time in Ali’s room and some time in the kitchen at our new house.

At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it being a stove and not a full kitchen. Then I started thinking up all the accessories that could be used with the oven—muffin tin, loaf pans, cookie sheets, cookie cutters, oven mitts—and with the stove—frying pan, spatula, sauce pan, spoons, tea pot—and I realized the possibilities are still endless. I found the pans and spoons second hand for a few dollars a piece. I spray painted all the pans blue to give them a unified look.

For Ali’s first birthday, Aunt Jess and Uncle Jeff got her a set of soft play food from IKEA. It’s the Swedish style breakfast set that I hinted to my sister about. We’re a quarter Swedish but I consider myself more Swedish than anything else. I love their typical breakfast fare: bread, cheese, sausage, bacon, eggs, fruit topped waffles, cheese, bread, and maybe a cookie for good measure. This set also comes with a cutting board, knife and a few veggies.

We gave Ali the stove on her adoption day. I realize she’s still a bit too small for it but she’ll be big enough eventually. I tried to make some kind of sentimental connection about her importance in our family and a kitchen’s importance in the home. Or something like that. Really, I just found a DIY project I couldn’t pass up and I had an occasion that called for a gift.

Ali seems particularly fond of the knife and likes to crawl around with it in her mouth. What the?!

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: Cooking, Art: crafts, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: adoption day, DIY, IKEA, oven, play kitchen, precious, stove | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Thank You

08/14/2012

I have said thank you innumerable times the past week and yet it doesn’t feel like enough. So many wonderful family members, friends, church members and co-workers have come around us this week to celebrate Ali’s adoption day with hugs, balloons, gifts, cards and encouraging words. Tthey’ve been cheering us on for the past 11 months. I’d be remiss to not also thank YOU: my blog readers.

I know a lot of you consider yourselves “lurkers” because you read but don’t comment. And that’s perfectly OK. I’m posting my thoughts all over the web and you’re welcome to hang out here—I’m honored that you even read what I write! Many of you do comment and I’m always delighted to see feedback from the handful of “regulars.” I’m thankful for those who have read along with our foster/adoption story, cared about us, supported us, prayed for us and celebrated with us.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You! I wish I could send you all a card!

4 Comments | Family, Family: Adoption, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: adoption, precious, thank you | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Adoption Day!

08/13/2012

Last week did not go at all like I had planned and I’m so glad! Every two months I have 2-3 super busy deadline weeks at work (then 5-6 normal weeks). Knowing last week would be one of those slammin’ busy weeks, I scheduled all my daily blog posts in advance. I like to plan ahead so things operate smoothly. Ahem…

Mid-Monday morning our attorney called with the news we’d been waiting to hear since January. We were finally on the docket for Precious’ adoption finalization—ON TUESDAY! Less than 24 hours notice meant a barrage of texts, emails and phone calls to notify my boss, my co-workers, our family and friends, Jason. Not in that order. I tried Jason first but he was in the air on his way home from Canada. I had planned on having a big adoption party/open house the day of the adoption but it was just too short of notice. I had planned to hire a photographer to go with us to the courthouse but there wasn’t enough time…or so I thought. My awesome photographer friend Beth Rose and her husband Josh were able to pull some strings so that she could be there with us to document the big day.

Monday I was an emotional wreck as I tried to pack in a 12-hour work day to make up for missing work Tuesday. When I finally shut off the computer at 11:00pm, I started to really mentally prepare for adoption day. I wrote Precious a letter. I wrote out the lyrics to a song that was so important to me early on in her time with us. I wrote her a card to go with her adoption day gift. I tucked a $20 bill in the card that had been a meaningful token of God’s provision for us through her adoption. We found it in the parking lot of the courthouse the day we got custody and found out we’d have to come up with money for a private adoption—I no longer need it. I cried as I reflected on this wonderful, miraculous journey. The tears were a release of the last little bits of fear that I had been suppressing, fears that something would go wrong and our adoption wouldn’t get finalized. We had finally arrived!

The actual adoption was a blur. We arrived at the courthouse at 9am Monday morning—Jason, me, my parents, his mom, our friends Leila and Jeremy, their boy Jaron. Waiting for us there was our photographer Beth Rose with her daughter, our sister-in-law Ginger, our niece Eliza, and our attorney Jennifer. We were the second hearing on the docket.

I don’t know the exact time but somewhere around 9:30 or 9:45 we went in and the whole thing was over in about 15 minutes. The judge was all smiles and eager to give all the babies Tootsie Roll pops as soon as it was over. He wanted everyone to come up for pictures afterward. It went by so quickly—like my wedding—I hardly remember anything that was said! I’m so thankful that Beth Rose took photos for us so we can look back on this day for years and show Precious as we tell her about it. Speaking of “Precious,” I think it’s time that I tell you her REAL NAME.

I’m so pleased to introduce:

Miss Alianna (“Ali”) Mae Ahlbrandt!

Here’s a portion of the letter I wrote to her on the night before her adoption:

My dear, sweet, beautiful daughter,

It’s almost midnight on August 6, 2012, the night before your adoption day. Tomorrow, our relationship is made permanent. When the gavel hits the block, that’s it: we’re forever mother and daughter. Finally! What a journey this has been! I would do it all over again. You are absolutely worth every tear, every fight, every phone call, every form we’ve filled out, every hour of classes we’ve attended, every home visit, every medical check, every hoop we’ve had to jump through—you are worth more than all of it. My precious, amazing child…Happy Adoption Day!

Love,
Mama