Monday, May 21, 2012

Adoption Finalization!!!

An EXCITING Announcement:
Luke "officially" became a member of our family today!

We had to be at court at 9 am and by 9:30 am, were in front of the judge.  Our attorney asked us several questions about our intentions for the record:  ... did we want to adopt him? ... did we understand this was forever? ... are we sure?  The answers were:  ... Yes!  ... Yes!  &  ... Absolutely!

Then the judge signed the paper ...
... and Luke legally became OUR SON!  Forever and for always.
He is the baby we have dreamed of ... longed for ... prayed for ...
... it was an emotional morning.

There were two other families adopting children today.  Both were adopting as step-parents, now taking legal guardianship with a biological parent (ex:  new wife, etc), but it was special and emotional none-the-less.  Even though I didn't know any of these people, my heart & eyes were overflowing for this special moment in their lives.

Adoption is beautiful.

Here is a shot with the judge (who is an adoptive father of a 33 years old):
(Unfortunately, the only photos we have are blurry!  The nice gentleman who took the pictures for us must have shaken the camera each time he took a picture.  (EEK!! So frustrating!!!)  ... so squint your eyes and we'll look perfect!  BTW, did you know you cannot take a camera into court?  Or the hallway outside the courtroom?  At least in our small town, it is not allowed.  They only let us because we were adopting today.


"Officially" a Family of Three!  Thank you, St. Joseph!  
And THANK YOU blog ladies!  Your prayers have made this Adoption happen!!!







Friday, May 18, 2012

5 & 6 Week Pics + Update

I'm behind on posting any 5 and 6 week pictures of Luke ... we're almost at 7 weeks on Monday!  He's growing so fast!  I hardly recognize the little newborn we *just* had a few days ago!  Luckily I take several hundred pictures each week.  We'll have to get a new computer hard drive soon.  :-)

5 weeks old


6 weeks old


After Bath Time ... Luke really likes his baths!


Hanging out with the kitties ... soon he'll think he's a cat.  
Mommy decided to do a cute photo op.  Daddy wasn't happy about it.  He thought Luke would get scratched, but Mommy knows her kitties.  :-)


Luke (1-1/2 months) & cousin Jayden (3-1/2 months)
Babies are fed and happy .. for the moment!


Hubby facilitating the cousins hanging out ... so much to see!  (Who's this kid again?)



This last week (since Monday the 14th), I've been back at work full time and hubby has been at home.  He took a week's vacation.  Next week Luke starts daycare.  Gulp.  It's not my hearts desire to have him in daycare at all, but we aren't able to go down to just one salary. 

I guess we could, but it would mean selling a lot of things and prevent any future infertility treatments or adoptions, so back to work I go.  I have a company that is depending on me to be back so they can operate, otherwise 2 other people are out of a job as well.  It was nice for the last seven years how everyone depended on me to get things done, but there are downsides as well, as I can see now ... I am now invaluable ... literally.  Of course, who knows what the future will bring, as the owner is having failing health and episodes with his heart, which may cause total heart failure and then we would be out of a job as a result.  I was filled in on the owner's health on Monday when I got back to work.

It was definitely surreal going in on Monday.  It felt a little like "normal", where I kind of forgot that we adopted Luke and I wasn't gone for 6 weeks, but other things, like operating a mouse and keyboard, were so unfamiliar and felt weird.  I missed Luke like crazy those first few hours, as I LOVED lots of time every day with him for the last six weeks and then I had to go cold turkey and deal with grownups.  Ugh.  Luckily, my hubby sent me pics all day of what they were doing and recorded Luke's cute breathing so I could hear him sigh and wheeze like he does.  I'm so thankful for smart phones.  What would I do without them?  

We met the day care lady a few weeks ago, who will take care of Luke next week.  She is nice and has been working with kids for over 20 years.  She has the nicest home and it is bright with lots of fun kid things to do. Out of all the options, she was the best.  And let me tell you ... there were some CRAZY day care people / homes out there!  I had one lady with both eyebrows pierced and I think her tongue pierced too.  And she said she wouldn't tell the kids she loved them if they said it to her.  Some unusual reason, I guess.  She was the first one crossed off!  A lot of the rest of them had smaller, older, dark homes and cramped quarters.  Most were single moms, so I understand that they don't have the easiest time sprucing up their home, but some were just dirty.   I'm not sure how some people would trust their kids to their care.  It would make me feel so uneasy. I like the socialization factor but hate the germs.  Any crazy day care stories out there?

I'm just worried about how she'll care for Luke and how much she'll hold him and interact with him.  She had several other kids there when I visited and they were very well mannered and polite, so I'm sure that she takes good care of them, it just must be mommy nerves.  I'm worried about Luke being too cold and what to dress him in as they can't have blankets in their playpens.  I guess I'll give her the swaddler onesie we have and maybe dress him in a long sleeved onesie for daily wear.  I'm sure as he gets older he can dress in lighter clothes since he'll be moving around a lot.  Advice?

I have yet to get pictures to Luke's birth parents.  I've been "trying" for the last six weeks, but you can see how far I've gotten ... nowhere!  I've been trying to load them onto an iPhoto journal that they could access (hubby will have to tell me how to do it), but I'm not sure if there is a better way.  I'm hoping to load lots of photos and add captions below some of them, so they know who is in the picture, besides Luke.  Also, they can print out any photos they want.  Any good suggestions for sites for sharing photos?   I think doing a separate blog wouldn't have enough room for all the pictures I want.

In more exciting news, on Monday, we will be going to court at 9 am to finalize Luke's adoption in the court!  Then he will be ours "officially"!!!!  Pictures to follow!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

4 Week Pics, Baptism & Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Jenny @ All Things for winning the Blog-o-versary Giveaway I held last week!  Thanks so much for entering and of course, reading along!



Here are some of Luke's 4 week old pictures from last Monday ... tomorrow he will be 5 weeks old.  Agh!  Where has the time gone?  I go back to work next Monday.  Seven days left ... the countdown begins ...


<3   His little smiles make me melt.   <3

After our bath in our bear towel





Today, May 6th, we welcomed Luke into the Catholic Church!  We celebrated the Baptism after the 10:30 am Mass with my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, brother & hubby's parents.  My best friend (pregnant with twins), her hubby and two-and-a-half year old boy also were down for the weekend and celebrated with us.  

It was a wonderful ceremony, but we didn't feed Luke during Mass, and the baptism was at the time he should have eaten, so ... he was fussy.  So much for the godparents holding him.  Mama got to hold him and shush him and pat his bottom and didn't get the "full effect" of the day.  Oh well.  It still counts, right?  Not to mention the full diapers of warm, messy poop he made right.as.we.were.getting.him.dressed!  And then he wouldn't stop!  Ahh, memories!

Buttoning up the Baptismal Gown that has been worn by all of my mom's side since 1949.  Her older brother, herself, her two youngest siblings, all of their kids and now all the grandkids are privileged to wear this heirloom.


Outside prayer at the start of the baptism before processing into the church.  Little J, my friend's 2-1/2 year old, was such a cutie ... he kept walking closer and closer to Father, all the while listening so intently ... then ran off.  :-)


After the water was poured ... little Luke didn't cry WHEN the water was poured on his head ... just before and after.  Go figure.  :-)




Hubby with the Baptismal Candle and me keeping Luke pacified.  


Hubby, I, Father Frank, and Luke's Godparents


Hubby and I with Luke


Godparents B and N ... my sister and her hubby


My BFF (due in July), her hubby and 2-1/2 year old with Luke


My side of the family with our star attraction!


Hubby's parents and us.  We are so grateful they came to support us.  They are not Catholic (neither is hubby), yet came to Mass and the Baptism today regardless.



A good shot of Luke & my dad ... enjoying Grandpa-hood.  
Luke is his first grand-child. 



My sister making faces with her godson.  He studied her like no other. 





Friday, May 4, 2012

Congrats to another blogger Mama!

Perfect Power in Weakness just welcomed her baby girl yesterday!!! Stop by her blog (see my sidebar) and send her some love!!! She has waited so long for this blessing.

Congrats PPIW!!!!!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Darn Cat!

So Luke & I get home from our walk today and what do we see???


Someone thinks he's a baby!!!
Of course I took a picture first, then made him get out. :-)