DH and I are requesting a male ages 0-18 months. We want to get started on his room now that our dossier is almost finished. We know it will be a logn wait, but feel like we can make it go easier by using the time to prepare for our little angel. We've looked at furniture, car seats, etc.. but how do you know what to buy when you don't know how old or big your child will be?
When adopting from Colombia you travel 2-4 weeks after refferal.. we certainly don't want to have to buy everything up that fast!
We're probably going to go with a convertible crib so that no matter how old he is it'll be able to adjust to his size. What about car seats, toys, CLOTHES.. how on earth do you decide what to get??
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Brandy(33) DH Dan(33)
DS Samuel Sebastian(6) - Adopted from Colombia
DD Isabelle Caiyi(5) - Adopted from China
RNY Gastric Bypass surgery 1/30/2009
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306/301/199/165
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Such a hard thing to figure out. The convertible crib is a very good idea. The clothes you will really have to wait on. With a car seat you could get the second size (not the infant carrier) and they fit in that for a while (my kids are preschoolers and still using them) and they started using them around 8 months I think - I really don't remember exactly, but they weren't in the carrier one for long. Get a stroller that a child can sit up in and has a reclining back so that they can lay down if you want them too. If you are traveling to get your son, and you have to spend much time in columbia you might want to have an umbrella stroller (if he is old enough)
Toys - try to find some that fit into the age range - fisher price little people .... you really don't need many - our house is overrun with them LOL
Hope this helps
Good luck
Kath
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Hi Calantha,
I don't really have any advice to give since dh and I are just starting on the journey ourselves. We will be requesting a boy or girl under the age of 1, but we know that we can not start to prepare for a long time.
Congrats on the completion of your dossier. How long did it take you to complete? Just curious...
Best wishes for a speedy referral!!
Janie
__________________ Me: 40 DH: 40 Married 04/21/01
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Adopted the Light of My Life on July 14th, 2004 from St. Petersburg, Russia
We started in February of last year with what we thought would be a Guatemalan adopotion. After our car died and a couple major appliances broke, we had to put things on hold for financial reasons. In January of this year our agency suggested Colombia instead because of the MUCH lower cost. After some contemplation we started gatherring papers for our homestudy in February. We sent those in on May 1 and started gatherring the dossier documents while we waited for the homestudy to be complete.
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Brandy(33) DH Dan(33)
DS Samuel Sebastian(6) - Adopted from Colombia
DD Isabelle Caiyi(5) - Adopted from China
RNY Gastric Bypass surgery 1/30/2009
Highest/Surgery/Current/Goal:
306/301/199/165
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Its very hard to know what to buy, expecially when you have requested 0-18 months.. we had requested 14-24 months and ended up with a 15 month old (16months old today !), so it was much easier for us...
You wont be able to buy any clothes at all (I would suggest a clothes jar for change and extra money)
Definetly go with a convertable car seat, one that will hold infant and on...we have the Fisher Price Convertable and its awesome !
We also purchased a convertable crib, it goes only into a daybed becuz we are planning on adopting more but for him its perfect for now...
As far as toys go, why dont you have someone have a toy shower for you or yard sales are amazing for getting deals...also if you have friends with kids they are a great source of gently used toys....
We have alot of things that arent new, your baby will grow SO very fast and they certainly dont care if they wear ROOTS or BABY GAP so ...
I guess for you, saving money and going on a giant shopping spree is what is going to have to happen... shoot girl that will be AWESOME !! I just always gound it was hard to keep my paws off the baby stuff !!
Good luck.. sorry this turned into an essay !!
xoxo
Amy
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I would for sure have a shower after your little one arrives. I got what I needed for Destiny (which in your case you don't know the age yet) to last me a while. I bought all the importants and my friends threw a shower for me 3 weeks after she arrived. It was wonderful. I woud for sure have a shower, they are so fun and like Destiny she got to be there! Just put the money back that you planned on buying things with and then when you find out a little more you can go buy more. Another thing when people started finding out about Destiny they starting bringing all kinds of things over. Things that she would use from birth to 2 years old. It was unreal. I was sure blessed.
When will you find out how old the baby will be? How soon before you travel? Just curious.
We won't know how old he'll be until we receive a refferal. That could be anywhere from 2-15 months from now. When we do find out though, we'll be travelling about 2-4 weeks after that, so it doesn't leave much time for preparation in between! The stay in Colombia is 3-6 weeks, so maybe we can call home and send grandma and grandpa shopping while we're gone.
-Brandy
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Brandy(33) DH Dan(33)
DS Samuel Sebastian(6) - Adopted from Colombia
DD Isabelle Caiyi(5) - Adopted from China
RNY Gastric Bypass surgery 1/30/2009
Highest/Surgery/Current/Goal:
306/301/199/165
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How do you know what to buy? 
With a car seat you could get the second size (not the infant carrier) and they fit in that for a while (my kids are preschoolers and still using them) and they started using them around 8 months I think - I really don't remember exactly, but they weren't in the carrier one for long. Get a stroller that a child can sit up in and has a reclining back so that they can lay down if you want them too. If you are traveling to get your son, and you have to spend much time in columbia you might want to have an umbrella stroller (if he is old enough)
for him its perfect for now...
