20 Days Later

Back when there were fifty days left before Adoption Day, I posed the question to my Facebook friends, "What would be on your bucket list to do if you had exactly fifty days until you became the full-time mother to a toddler?" Now there are only twenty days left...holy moly! So I thought I'd share some of the comments that were common, funny, practical, endearing, etc. in the form of a countdown, along with my progress on each:

10. Spa Day. I will take this one to heart and get a manicure and pedicure before going on our final trip to Kyrgyzstan. That way, my nails will look nice in all of the pictures-ha! I also already have a hair cut/highlight scheduled.

9. See non-animated movies in the theater. Done and done. Since receiving responses to my question, I've already done this twice. Go me!

8. Take a trip away just as a couple. Success. We've done a snowboarding weekend away in Steamboat Springs, and we're about to head out on another one to Winter Park.

7. Read. Does it count if I'm reading adoption or parenting-related books? If so, I've got this one in the bag.

6. Get prepared...his room, freezer meals, cleaning, purging, etc. This one is good and practical, and I'm trying my best. Sometimes I've made double when cooking dinner, so I can freeze half, and I went through my closet the other day and filled a garbage bag full of stuff to donate. My parents are coming out for a weekend "Shamrock's Room Preparation" extravaganza at the beginning of March, so that should help a lot.

5. Eat treats without having to hide them or share. Hearing this was a good excuse to go get some ice cream the other night on a whim. I enjoyed every last bite of it all on my own! And I've been helping myself to a piece of Kyrgyz chocolate whenever I feel like it.

4. Aimlessly wander the aisles of Target (or any other store) for as long as you want. I still need to go do this one.

3. Get ready to have adventures with him. Several people had variations of this one, saying that Zack and I have already done so many cool things, and now we can just enjoy the things we love to do with a little one in tow. I like that.

2. Go to the bathroom alone. This cracked me up. It's the little things I guess! I will say, I already have a big brown dog that busts in on my half-open door, demanding to be pet since I'm in a sitting position anyway, so this transition probably won't be too difficult for me.

1. Sleep. I can't believe how many times this was repeated. Apparently, I am completely naive, because I thought we'd get to escape some of the sleeping issues new parents have to face, since we're adopting a toddler. We expect him to regress some and have some sleeping difficulties at the start, but wow, I'm shocked at how often this point was reiterated. I guess I'll go get some sleep now!