Getting ready for Esinam

I can't believe that we pick up Esinam tomorrow! I'm so excited for what this year has in store for her. I've been in her shoes twice myself as an exchange student in Mexico and then in Spain. I had amazing families both times, but the first few days in someone else's home can be nerve-wracking no matter how great the family is.

I've been getting a few things ready for her arrival. First, I decided that the bathroom she will share with the boys needed a bit of an update. I didn't do tooooo much to it, but I'm loving how different it looks. First, we (you know I had the hubs pitch in) removed the big mirror from the wall and replaced it with a nice framed mirror. I had to do some wall patching so of course I also had to repaint the bathroom. I painted it the same color, but it was a bit off so, the ENTIRE bathroom had to be done.



Next, we removed the cutesy shelve and followed The House of Smiths advice and came up with this:



If you give a mouse a cookie... I decided I needed new towels and a new bathmat.



Ah, so much better!

On to her room. I've been wanting to add something above the guest bed forever, but couldn't figure out what to put there. I came across this quote "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" and thought that sounded pretty perfect for above Esinam's bed. Her journey is actually more like the journey of 7 1/2 thousand miles, but who's counting?

I also emptied all the picture frames on the walls of our family members. In place of two of them, I added a photo of her parents and a photo of Independence Square in Accra. The rest are empty and ready for her to fill with images from home or of new friends and experiences. We gave her a camera when we saw her last so that she could come with prepared with pictures of home!

Let the countdown begin.