Almost one whole year!

I realized last week that this Friday will be one year that my handsome little boy has been in our lives.  One whole year.  I cannot believe it!  Sure, there are days that he makes me want to pull my hair out and question my sanity, but is there a Mom out there who doesn't do that?!  :)   Most of the time, the days just seem so normal to me, like he has always been here (even on those hair pulling out days!) - then there are sometimes that I am reminded that he has not - monthly visits with caseworkers, licensing home visits, court dates, and papers to fill out.  But, regardless of the latter, he is here....and has been for almost a whole year!




One year ago, I was on the phone talking and texting with my high school best friend about the little boy who just *might* make it to our home.  What an emotional couple of days it was wondering what was going to happen!  I had no idea that one year later, I would look that little boy in the eyes he would melt my heart.  Lots of things can change in one year!




The baby who came to us with (too)long, wispy hair and couldn't say but a few words just told me "Good night, Mommy - I wuv you" an hour ago.




The little boy who once threw tantrums (thank goodness, not often) and didn't know how to express himself just calmed himself down earlier tonight when I told him he needed to stop with the fit that I saw brewing. 




The handsome little boy who called every woman he saw "mom" does not do that anymore and proudly tells people that I am HIS Mommy.  He recognizes other women as who they are, and knows that I am the one who will be a constant in his life. 




The wee one who didn't have a sister a year ago played with HIS Sissy in the backyard tonight.




The little man who they said wasn't so sure about men, hugged and kissed HIS Daddy last night, big time, because he was so excited about the new bike that Bill brought him home.  (And he has never shown anything but love toward Bill, never scared or intimidated....I think he always knew his daddy was there for him from the moment he saw him!)




The little baby who let me rock him to sleep the first night he came here was just laid down in his racecar bed for the night, after rocking with Mommy.  He stopped this for several months, and only occasionally wanted to rock, but for the last week or so he has asked to rock nearly every night.  I think he knows how special it is to me and what a milestone this week is. :)




The little boy who didn't understand where his Sissy was going when she would leave to go to her mom's house, just spent a few hours with his Sissy there last weekend, and had a blast.  That was very special to me. 




Lots of growing for this little boy.  Lots of positive changes for him.  People often remark how lucky he is, but I think we are the lucky ones.  He has brought so much joy into our lives in almost one whole year!  We are very blessed!

Throw Back Thursday - Blog Style!!

Here is a blog post of mine from 4 YEARS ago!  All I can say is:  Man, I'm crazy.  Like, legit, crazy.  Read, and you'll see for yourself!  :)


Time for another random picture!  I don't have a soul right now to give me two random numbers!  I know I should just pick out 2 numbers and blog the picture, but that is so much pressure.  I don't like that!  I can't even make decisions about what to cook for supper, which kind of crackers to buy, or even if I should buy the 60 load Downy April Fresh because it's $1 cheaper than my favorite Gain!  Ok, ok, eventually I do make those decisions (we do have to eat and smell good!) but it comes with so much thought!  WHY do I spend so much time contemplating such mundane things?  I don't know!  Maybe because I don't have kids yet to occupy my mind.  Maybe I'm just a freakazoid. 

Anyway, picking 2 random numbers should require no thought at all.  The point is to be random right?!  Ok, here goes.  15 and 35.  Ohhhh, that was intense!  So, without further ado, here is folder 15, picture 35:  never mind.   Can't do that.  That random picture is of a cousin and former boyfriend.  Said cousin is now happily married to different boyfriend.  I don't think that would be a wise choice on my part!  This is why I don't like making decisions!!  I'm heading over to facebook to enlist the help from a friend.

Phew, that weight has been lifted from my shoulders now!  Thanks to Shannon Knapp, I will now present you with folder 21, picture 69.  This picture is of my Maggie....spoiled, rotten Maggie.  Grace is really into sewing and making pillows, dresses, and now, dog accessories!  We had been playing with her Fashion Runway stuff she got for Christmas and some fabric we had bought and Grace decided that Maggie needed a headpiece (?).  I'm not sure what she called it, so we'll go with headpiece!  Anyway, she cut it out, attached some fabric to go under Maggie's chin, and even cut holes for her ears.  As you can see here, Maggie is thrilled about her new piece!  Look how blingin' she is with that sequence!  I know, I'm a riot.  Settle down.

I'm so glad that Grace has a creative side and is putting it to good use.  You know, making sure our dogs are always in fashion!  Now, won't you join me and find a random picture of your own?  Post it to your blog, facebook, email, or myspace and let me know!  I'd love to see yours.....and I hope you don't have as hard of a time picking one as I did!  Thank goodness for friends with the ability to make quick decisions!!

One more thing, and this is totally not random:  Grace making Maggie a princess (or a bride?) a couple of years ago!

Meeting Birth Mom

So, if you read my last facebook post, you saw that I was deactivating my account.  Much like my problem with food, I have (had) an addiction with facebook, and it was a major waste of my time.  (Sad, isn’t it?!)  I will be back one day, after lent is over….though I’m not Catholic, I gave it up with my friend Sara…..just like I did littering in high school with her! 

I have been such a failure at blogging and hope that my facebook hiatus helps that.  Also, I don’t exactly know how much I’m allowed to share about Lucas’s story just yet, so I’ve been a little apprehensive about sharing publicly.  (Not that I would give away major deets anyway, but I don’t want to test it!) 

When I left the last post, I said I’d tell the story about meeting his birth mom.  Since I’ve got a lot of ground to cover since my last post (roughly 6 months worth!), I’ll just start there and work my way on.

I arrived at the courthouse for the hearing that day for the judge to either terminate her rights or for her to sign her parental rights over.  I was just a ball of nerves.  I called my friend Sara who suggested I be prepared for her to either like me, or be really mad at me.  I was sure I was ready for both, but I really knew I wasn’t.  I would just die if she yelled and cussed me and thought I was trying to take her baby.    

Due to my aforementioned facebook addiction I had already known what his mom looked like, or at least looked like when he was very young anyway.  As I began walking up the stairs, I glanced ahead and there she stood at the top.  She had no idea who I was so I glided on past and went through security and found a seat inside.  The caseworker wasn’t there yet and after a few minutes she came inside and sat down RIGHT BESIDE ME!  That was fate telling me to introduce myself and let her know her son was ok! 

After several minutes of watching her looking at pictures of her boys on her phone I finally said, “Excuse me, are you X’s mom?”  She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said yes and I told her who I was and that he was living with me and was doing great and was so smart.  I gave her a pack of pictures I brought for her and she was so happy to see them and just kept talking about how happy he looked. 

The room started to fill up and the caseworker showed up.  We talked to her for a minute and went to a corner to talk a little more privately.  I assured her that he would know he was adopted, and she said that that had always been her main worry – that he was so young, he wouldn’t remember if no one told him.  After talking a while, she warmed up to me so much.  Some people are just lost and/or broken and need someone to listen.  She pulled the caseworker over and told her that she wanted to sign her rights over specifically to us.   I almost screamed when she said that, but I was so dumbfounded that I didn’t know what to say.  I hugged her and we talked a while more.  We discussed visits when her life was in order and when we saw the judge, he commended her on making one of the best decisions she’s ever made. 

We had to go back a couple of weeks later for the judge to sign and I was so nervous that in those weeks she would change her mind or be influenced somehow.  Thank goodness she wasn’t and she made the best decision she could for her little boy!  A few months later, dad’s rights were gone too, then there was no way his bio parents could come back and try to gain custody again.

Meeting his mom was nothing like I had imagined.  I pictured a woman who would hate the ground I walked on, but instead she thanked me for taking such good care of her baby….and I thanked her for giving her baby to me when she could have made things much, much harder.  For that I will always be grateful.