Moving Forward w/ Our 2nd Adoption!

 

 

It's no wonder why I changed the title of this blog about a week ago.  October 21st was the day of Peanut's initial TPR hearing, when the bio parent(s) either sign off their parental rights OR request an attorney & possibly take the case to trial.  "Mom" always shows up for court, though she always arrives about an hour later than the time stated on the summons.  "Dad" had never shown up for court in the past, and actually has not even established paternity.  Well, much to our surprise, they did NOT show up that morning.  The Magistrate reviewed all the details of the case and made her decision - and at that point she terminated both of their parental rights!  I can't even begin to explain how overjoyed and emotional we were.

(hubby was there in court, I was home with the kids, Peanut was sick....but he called as soon as he could with the wonderful news.  that's one of the best phone calls I've ever gotten :) 

We had always hoped his case wouldn't drag out for a long time, but we never actually thought we would get our wish.  We fully expected 'mom' to show up. Our Case Manager had spoken with both of the bio parents a week prior to court and they both stated they'd be there, and 'mom' was planning to request a lawyer for consultation.  'Dad' even stated he was going to establish paternity so he could take his son home......  We were definitely prepared for a long road.  

Thankfully, God had things planned a little differently, he had plans for that day to go quite a bit better than we imagined.  For the first few days after that wonderful court hearing we were floating around on a cloud, just so blown away by how quickly things have happened for Peanut.  We've come down off of the cloud, meaning we're finally able to think straight :),  but we'll never take our blessings for granted.   

And so by the grace of God, our 2nd adoption is now in process!!  Our attorney has drawn up the Petition for Adoption to be filed with the courts, just as soon as we sign it next Wednesday afternoon.  We're just a little bit excited about it!!!!

Ladybug In The Leaves

Laying on her belly, and loving that she's buried in the leaves.

 

 

 She was having so much fun falling backwards into the pile.....

 

....making 'leaf angels', laying in her leaf bed.....

 

 

posing for pictures.......

 

 

running back and forth....

 

and helping mommy rake.  As long as she was in or near the leaves, she was happy!

Yay for Fall!!!!

 

 

(photos taken oct. 18th)

Ladybug In Church

Today in church the preschool kids were called to the front of the sanctuary to sing some songs.  There were probably about 15 cuties up there, and Ladybug was the only one who didn't sing, or do any of the hand motions with the songs!   LOL!  It was funny...she just stood up there real serious-like and kinda watched the other kids.  But I was glad that she actually went up there in front of everyone.  Later in the day I asked her why she didn't sing, and she said "I was just a little shy".  Here's a picture, but it's not very good - I used my cell phone and I have a pretty old phone.

Ladybug is the 2nd one from the right, hands in pockets and looking at the other kids :)

Words Can't Describe......

.....how much we love them.

Peanut Progress

No, he's still not crawling.....lol!  BUT for the past couple days he's been creeping back and forth along the whole length of the couch.  He seems much more excited about standing / now creeping along furniture / zooming all over the place in his walker after dinner, than trying to crawl.  When he's on his tummy he gets around very well by rolling everywhere and pivoting in circles on that little belly of his - and he's happy rolling around and playing.  But for now he seems much more eager and excited when he's on his feet.  His PT will be happy to see his new moves on Friday :)  It's cute to see those little legs just side-steppin' away, with a big smile on that chubby little face!

October SnugBug Visit

A couple days ago D and M & SnugBug came over for pizza.  We were amazed by how much Snug has changed.  She's made so much progress developmentally.  Honestly, throughout the whole visit hubby and I were continually baffled each time we noticed something new that Snug could do.  The SMOs she wears inside her shoes, a special type of ankle brace, have helped tremendously.  She walks with so much more stability, and she runs!  She can climb on things, and goes down the slide by herself.  She's much more physically active now.  Her language skills are starting to come together.  M told us all the different words she says now, and how much babbling she does at home.  SnugBug is VERY bonded to D and M, and it's so obvious how happy she is with them.  She is doing just great!  She's a very blessed little girl to have such terrific parents, who put her needs first and work so diligently with her, following the guidance of her physical and developmental therapists.  D and M are doing an amazing job with her, and it definitely shows.  Words really can't express how happy it makes us knowing that she is so loved.

I was snapping pictures like crazy, but deleted several that didn't come out well.  Here's my favorites from our evening, playing outside with the kids.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut had so much fun being outside with the big kids!!  He LOVES to go outside.

Sweet little Snug knew just what I wanted;  after playing for quite a while, she came up to me by the swingset.  When I picked her up she ended up putting her head down on my shoulder, and M was so nice to snap a picture.  This little girl, just as Ladybug and Peanut do, will continue to melt my heart until forever.... :)

Good News....and Heavy Heart

We were very pleasantly surprised a couple days ago when we got the call from our attorney notifying us of the hearing date for Ladybug's adoption.  We kind of thought we would be waiting another month or so to get the court date set.  Basically, once the attorney @ DCS took over the adoption paperwork for the case manager, things started moving along very quickly.  She made more progress in 2 weeks than our case manager did in 5 months (though this was not the case manager's fault - long story).  We were so relieved and just plain happy to get the good news.  Now we just wait until November 19th.  Then all will be official.

Recently I went to the DCS office to look at Ladybug's case file.  As the future adoptive parents we have the right to view her complete file, and to make copies of anything we want.  Her file is a good 12 inches thick, and I was there for two and a half hours going through basically everything.  Reading her file was like re-living the past, remembering all the crazy stuff that went on with her birth mom and grandma.  I saw her birth mom's criminal history reports, all her arrest records, all alleged reports made against her in regards to Ladybug's safety, investigation reports substantiating all allegations, detention reports from the day Ladybug was first taken into protective custody, all correspondence between case managers and investigators, all correspondence between myself and DCS, all visitation reports (which were 2 or 3 pages each and VERY thorough), all birth mom's drug screen results, all reports from birth mom's counselors, all court records, all info. about Ladybug's alleged birth father, all correspondence between visitation supervisor and case manager.....the list goes on.  This case started over two and half years ago, so you can imagine how much info. was in this file. 

Today the photocopies I requested from her file were ready to be picked up, so hubby went to get them and he ALSO had his chance to sit with this monstrous file and read to his heart's content, and photocopy whatever he wanted.  The receptionist at DCS, who has worked there for more than 20 years, told him she's never seen any other adoptive parents come in to look at their child's case file.  She complimented both of us saying we were very smart to do what we did.  We told her it's our only chance to dig through these documents looking for things about Ladybug's past, anything she may want to know about when she's an adult.  It's the least we could do for her.  I know if I was adopted into a family I would want to know as much as possible.  I would want to know the truth, and she definitely deserves to know, when she's old enough, as much as we now know.

Hubby and I both agreed that when we left DCS we felt sad.  Knowing all these details about how Ladybug's life began did make our hearts heavy, and realizing all the things that could have happened to her had she not been taken from her "mother" was truly scary.   We're so thankful the foster system did not fail Ladybug, we're so thankful for all the diligent efforts of the investigators, case managers, LCSWs, attorneys and all involved in making certain her best interests were always honored.  It was a nerve-racking two and a half year journey, and we thank God for giving us strength to stay grounded (sane, or at least somewhat sane) through it all.

Tuesday Tidbits

Why did you put this hat on my head??  You know what I'm gonna do with this hat, don't you?

Yep, that's right....

.....take it off!!   but you keep putting it back on.

Oh, I give up.  Just take the picture already.  *sigh*

Huh?  I'm just lookin'.....

Haha - I got it!  sucker!!

Now it's MINE  :)

Peanut - 10 Months Old

Are YOU talkin' to ME??!!!

Time flies....already he's 10 months old!  I just gobble him up everyday - what a sweet baby he is.

( I posted a recent video on "JUST PRESS PLAY" of when he was messin' around with his highchair while playing in the kitchen one day. )  

Ladybug pics

More pictures...big surprise, right?!  Here's Ladybug, today:

Yummy Jello Blocks!

Trying to do the same yoga pose that Mommy was doing.  Of course, I snapped the pic just before she lost her balance and fell  :)