George is ready

Our faithful dog, George is ready to be the role model we all know he can be. Here he stoically stands guard during a "wait patiently at a stop light" drill.

It's nice to know that if Elizabeth ever needs help, George can stop intruders with his magic laser eyes.

The Green Chair

The last vestige of Andy's bachelorhood, the big green chair that lurked in our basement, has a new home. Our friend Alex, who has a cool new living space, agreed to take on the stewardship of the symbol of "Andy's dating mojo" (his words, not mine!)

Here's Alex right after we delivered the chair to his house. Andy reports he feels good about the chair's new home. It's safe to say I am too.

Because the baby will care what color the walls are

We go in 10 days. So what are we doing? Painting the house. Yup, the basement, the first floor, and maybe even upstairs. Because you know the baby is really going to care that the walls are beautiful, gleaming morning sunshine rather than boring old canvas. And by "we" I mean Andy, who has done all the work. I am the touch-up girl, which means I follow him around with a tiny paintbrush and a cap full of paint.

We're going!

We heard from Elizabeth Rose at WACAP (our agency) that we will need to be in Changsha to pick up the baby on March 5. So we're going! We'll probably leave here around Feb 28, go hang out in Hong Kong (my brother Peter's recommendation,) fly into Changsha on Mar 4, get the baby on Mar 5, get to Guangzhou by Mar 12 and fly back to Seattle Mar 14.

We'll know for sure early next week. Meanwhile, that's the latest as I get the baby's room ready, and focus on all the household tasks that need tending to before she arrives. These include putting shelves in the baby's closet, getting the rugs cleaned and repaired, putting plug covers into outlets, wrapping up loose electrical cords.

Oh, and we have to buy a car. In 3 weeks. We're not ready!