ISABELLE'S PRETTY SUMMER BEDROOM

I meant to share these pictures last month, but the month sort of got away from me. Funny how they've all been doing that lately. And now we're into June... I can't even believe it!

I've never written about Isabelle's bedroom here because it isn't particularly noteworthy. It's a lovely room where our lovely girl sleeps and plays, so that makes it just perfect to me.

Isabelle loves to read, but the book situation quickly gets out of control. I'm seeing if this little basket book caddy beside her bed will help- it's just for library books, but she loads it up with any kind of book, totally defeating the purpose, ha.

It was a happy, happy day when I flung open the window, removed the "winter" bedding, and put on this sweet quilt for the summer months. A little background story about the quilt: when we were expecting Isabelle, I saw that quilt at TJMaxx and told myself that if/when we got out of the Guatemalan court system, then I would come back and buy it up. But that day didn't come, at least not that summer. I have since forgotten some of the angst we went through financially (certainly not the emotional angst!), but we were pinching our pennies fiercely as adoption costs rose higher and higher, and to buy the quilt would have been frivolous, I thought.

Fast forward not one but two years. I had been looking for that very quilt and had all but given up. But...out of the blue one day, I saw it, sitting all alone on the shelf, only this time, my beautiful baby girl was HOME. I snatched up that quilt faster than anything I've ever done in my life, and would not have been above fighting the poor soul who might try to get to it first. Such a small thing, but then, not at the same time. I believe that is one of the many ways in which God lavishes His love on us, delighting with us over the details, whether huge or seemingly small.

I fought the temptation to make everything in here picture perfect because, well, that is simply not a reflection of her bedroom. We are working on the tidy issue, though.  ;)

The doors on the closet may return someday as well, but for now, things are so much simpler and easier without them. I'm currently undecided about adding some drapes or curtains...we'll see...

For the longest time, the top part of her walls remained unpainted and was a weird cream color. When I removed the border, there was an awful residue left on the walls that I couldn't paint over, and I could not get it off- I'm wondering if they used some other adhesive for the border, maybe? Well, I was going to try and paint it about a year after we moved in and realized that we didn't have any more of the pink paint, and I was worried that even if we did, the colors wouldn't match up exactly after that long had passed. So we went for an accent border and I really love it. The texture is still funky but at least the paint adhered to it this time. Poor girl...she only had to wait a year and a half for me to finally finish that project.

The position of the bed is also different now, hence the awkwardly placed cross and picture. We're discussing what might go up on the walls instead. Such a big girl now!

These animals and blankets are so special to us. My Mom made the pink dress on the huge teddy bear, as well as the blankets. The bunny, known as princesa, traveled down to Guatemala and was with Isabelle that whole last year while we waited and waited to bring her home- we went to Build-a-Bear to make something special, and the boys chose the bunny, and then we recorded each of our voices saying Hello and We love you into a sound device they inserted right into the bunny's foot. Isabelle's foster family showed her how to press the button to hear us talk to her, and they said she smiled and giggled every time she listened. That bunny is the only thing that she came back to us with (of all the things we'd given her), so it is a very special keepsake. The pink elephant was a baby shower gift- I just couldn't believe that I was going to be a Mommy to a girl!

Guatemalan treasures-

I made this during the wait as well. Instead of including her weight and height, I added the date that we first laid eyes on her and KNEW that she was our baby girl. What a night that was!

Gotta love the dollar store! They shine under the light and look so pretty.

Recycled from her birthday party- you can read about her Frozen-inspired party HERE.

We are down to the final two weeks of school until summer! We'll enjoy a nice big break of nothing but fun stuff, but then I'm pulling out some books and we'll be working on some classwork. Idle time in our family is just not a friend, so it's better that I keep their bodies and minds engaged more than not. Maybe one day they'll learn the art of simply doing nothing for a time...but that day has definitely not yet arrived!  =)