She's arrived!

B has arrived and is currently in New York doing training. She had her first experience with American pizza. I'm not sure she was thrilled. :-) But we are eagerly awaiting her arrival here on Friday. Things are falling in place around the house. I feel we are in a good spot. This will be a fun and interesting weekend!

Finished Room

Coming to America

We were a bit worried last night after reading about the "worst flood in Thailand's history". We were/are concerned for B's safety. We spoke with our agency. Unfortunately there was nothing for us to do but wait and see. But it appears everything is okay. Her flight is on time and she should be taking off NOW! First stop, Seoul, South Korea for a three hour layover and plane change. Then it's off to NewYork for a few days of grainy, workshops, bonding with other au pairs and sightseeing. Friday she'll be flying into our city. We hope J can come with us to the airport. My mom will stay with t. We decided to order in from a Thai place down the street so B has time to relax, unwind and get settled. T and I might try it out today and see what we think. We are hoping for safe and comfortable travels for B and no problems!

One week to go!

Well, in one week we will be heading to the airport to pick up B. I'm still not feeling prepared but T and I plan to accomplish a lot this weekend so I think come Monday I'll feel like I'm in a much better place. At least that is the hope! I think the first weekend will be the hardest adjustment wise for us all. She'll be in a new place, we will have a new family member living with us, there will be a slight language barrier, etc. But we will get over that all quickly and settle into a new routine and life for the next year.

Off to Bangkok!

Well, nine days before B joins our family for a year. Nine days! I have so much to do and get done before then but know it will all work out in the end. I just need to shift into high gear. All that, plus getting ready to go back to work and trying to switch t's schedule so he will start to take his milk in a cup. We're also introducing a new solids to him every three days. So, days and nights are busy. But enough about that. B left for Bangkok sometime today. It's quite a long trip and I think she goes by bus. So her last night with her family at the family home was last night. Her adventure has begun! After taking care of some licensing issues in Bangkok (she needs to have her driver's license translated into English so it's valid here in the States) and any other last minute purchases, she leaves for America. She'll have a layover in Seoul, South Korea before continuing on to New York for training and workshops. B met a friend and fellow Thai au pair a month back in some first aid training class in Bangkok. They will be traveling together on the same flights. I'm so happy she has someone to travel with on the long flights; it can be overwhelming and will be nice for her to have company. Next Friday she flies into our city and we'll pick her up at the airport in the afternoon. We're thinking maybe a nice Thai restaurant that night so she can have some comfort food from her homeland.

IKEA is a life saver!

We've been so busy this summer spending weekends relaxing at our cabin. (Is that an oxymoron? Busy relaxing?) Anyway, we finally closed it down for the winter last weekend so we could get caught up on things around the house before B arrives. First things first...her bedroom! The room used to be J's bedroom. Then it was his playroom. He kind of out grew that and so it made perfect sense to use it for the au pair's bedroom. She'll be the only one with a bedroom on the main floor so she'll have some more privacy in that aspect and her own bathroom for the most part. We all have our bedrooms upstairs and mostly use that bathroom to shower and get ready. While we finished painting a month ago, we still hadn't gotten any further. But this obviously needed to become a priority. My in-laws brought over a bed last week and we spent an hour at IKEA on Saturday to furnish the rest. We wanted it to be cute and comfortable but we needed to do it on a budget since we've been without my income for several months. We accomplished all those things! We will print out a couple large mural-sized images of Thailand at work to decorate the walls and it will be complete. We are very happy with the outcome.

T assembling and J playing on the iPad

Mirror image

Countdown!

We got an email from B this morning. She is excitedly preparing for her trip. She was hoping to find a large pink suitcase with her mom yesterday but found one she really likes that is Disney-themed.


B has never been out of Thailand before so this is a major adventure for her! She leaves in just a little over a week and after her four days of training in New York she will fly to meet us two weeks from tomorrow! We are so not prepared! But, it will all come together I am sure. Yesterday t and I spent the morning shopping for bedding and pillows, etc. for her room. After some mis-purchases, I am very happy with how it came together. She loves pink so I knew I would have to incorporate that somehow.


Now to get a dresser, bookshelf and mirror up and add some finishing touches and we'll be good to go...on the room at least. My list of things to do is pages long and I'm trying not to put it off any longer. This afternoon I will write our handbook. Or at least get a good start on it!