I really thought that time might slow down as we approached our finalization, but in reality...time hasn't slowed at all.
I guess it is a blessing...that of course we are moving forward in the adoption. And soon Hadrian will legally ours...but it just reminds me that his "baby days" are quickly slipping through my fingers.
Hadrian's first two teeth popped through. You can barely see them, but boy can you feel them! It was another bittersweet moment. He is growing up, yay! Soon countered by the...he's growing up...oh no! I surely will miss these days of babyhood. But I realize how blessed I am to be the one to watch him grow.
As we near finalization, Hadrian's birth mother is on my mind. I've been praying for her since we found out about the impending birth of Hadrian...but lately I've added some prayers. Hadrian's birth mom has issues that are different than a lot of birth mothers, and I can't really talk about them in a public forum...But we are grateful to her...she has given us the life she created. We get to to be the ones that he cries for. We get to be the ones to watch him learn something new. We get to be the ones he covers in slobbery kisses and the ones he lays his head on when he is tired. We get to be the ones who receive the compliments on his adorableness. I get to be mommy and Justin gets to be daddy...all because of her sacrifice for him.
So as he learns something new, or tries something for the first time...I am reminded of one woman's sacrifice...Her sacrifice so that I can be the witness to the amazing life she created.
We are 13 days away. I am so happy...but as these 13 days come and go, I am struck with bittersweet thoughts. But I am thankful beyond words...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Full Circle
So tonight...I feel like we have come full circle...Sept 2 was the day of our first home study visit and tomorrow, April 16 we will have our final post placement visit.
The last one!
Praise the Lord!
We are so excited to be closing this chapter of Hadrian's story.
Our countdown continues...we are at 17 days until finalization. We got our final petition to the courts that we have to sign and mail. It is just so cool to be seeing and saying words like "last" and "final" and of course "finalization".
I was explaining our whole story to someone at work. She had a few questions about the whole waiting 6 months to finalize. I was happy to answer them...but it really got me thinking again about just how blessed we are. We haven't had any worries about the adoption being contested. We haven't had any issues with the birth family at all. We are actually close with them. We still refer to them as Grandpa K and Grandma J and of course Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Mike. I am thankful they get to be a part of his life.
I have so much to be thankful for. We used to sing a song at church...it said "Count your blessings name them one by one...count your blessings to see what God hath done" When I do this I get so overwhelmed. When I think about all the blessings we have encountered as a couple I am just grateful to our Lord. He has blessed us over and over again even in the darkest night when it seemed our cries would never end. He was there.
I could marvel forever at the blessings bestowed upon us...but I would rather encourage others to look remember to count your blessings. Sometimes the world gets to us and its easy to look at all of our misery and mistakes...It happens to everyone. People have bad days. But nothing will get you out of a funk faster than thinking and dwelling on our blessings.
The last one!
Praise the Lord!
We are so excited to be closing this chapter of Hadrian's story.
Our countdown continues...we are at 17 days until finalization. We got our final petition to the courts that we have to sign and mail. It is just so cool to be seeing and saying words like "last" and "final" and of course "finalization".
I was explaining our whole story to someone at work. She had a few questions about the whole waiting 6 months to finalize. I was happy to answer them...but it really got me thinking again about just how blessed we are. We haven't had any worries about the adoption being contested. We haven't had any issues with the birth family at all. We are actually close with them. We still refer to them as Grandpa K and Grandma J and of course Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Mike. I am thankful they get to be a part of his life.
I have so much to be thankful for. We used to sing a song at church...it said "Count your blessings name them one by one...count your blessings to see what God hath done" When I do this I get so overwhelmed. When I think about all the blessings we have encountered as a couple I am just grateful to our Lord. He has blessed us over and over again even in the darkest night when it seemed our cries would never end. He was there.
I could marvel forever at the blessings bestowed upon us...but I would rather encourage others to look remember to count your blessings. Sometimes the world gets to us and its easy to look at all of our misery and mistakes...It happens to everyone. People have bad days. But nothing will get you out of a funk faster than thinking and dwelling on our blessings.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Rumor has it...
So the rumor is...today while I was at work Hadrian said "maaaaaa"...the sound could not be replicated upon my return home so the authenticity of this rumor is still in question.
Tomorrow may or may not put an end to this rumor...
But I sure hope it does!
Oh and 29 days to go...
Tomorrow may or may not put an end to this rumor...
But I sure hope it does!
Oh and 29 days to go...
Friday, April 2, 2010
30 Days and counting
It is official.
We have begun the countdown.
30 days...
736 hours...
Justin and I will officially be Hadrian's parents. Oh wow.
We are so excited for this all to be over. It has been an amazing journey but I can't wait to have this chapter closed. He will forever be ours. We have 1 more post placement visit with our amazing social worker, Dena. She has gone above and beyond what I would expect of any social worker. I hope that when we update our home study to one day adopt more babies that we will have her or someone just as amazing as her.
We got our taxes back and with that we are making the final payments for the home study and post placement visits. [Thank you Lord for meeting all of our financial needs...]Who woulda thought we'd pay people to inspect every aspect of our homelife. Hehe. Its tedious, and I know why it is done...so I am thankful that these steps are here to protect little ones...but I wish we could have opted out of them.
Hadrian had a rough week this week. At first we thought maybe he was getting a tooth or something but it turned out he had a bug. He was not sleeping well at night and was running a fever. It was really tough watching him suffer and not being able to really do anything about it. We gave him tylenol but it didn't always help. Thankfully after a good 3-4 days he seems to be all better. Justin and I on the other hand have been battling it ourselves since then.
So our little guy is growing up so quickly. He hits his hands together in an *almost clap* but his fists are clenched type movement. He sits up unassisted and can almost get himself into a sitting up position by himself. He is loving his foods...I try to make his baby food...but only really had luck with butternut squash and sweet potatoes...everything else I tried didn't really work out well. But he loves both of those...and peas, carrots, apple sauce, green beans, and of course bananas. He will freak out if you eat a banana within sight of him...I think he believes all bananas belong to him and we are just here to peel them for him. He still isn't saying mama yet but I did hear an "Mmmmmmmmmm" once...so I think it'll happen soon. He is also soooooooooo close to being mobile. He gets up on his hands and knees and he rocks back and forth. A few times he has moved his knees but his hands don't know to move yet so he ends up looking quite silly and then falling over.
He is giving sweet kisses and will hold his arms up/out to be picked up. It always works for mama. He is weighing somewhere around 18lbs....and is almost 29"...97th percentile for height!! He also has a lovey...He just loves to snuggle with his Pooh bear that his Grammy and Grandpa gave to him at Christmas. I'm not a fan of Pooh, but I'm not gonna lie, its probably the cutest thing I've ever seen to see him hug and snuggle it.
So here we are...beginning our fifth month of him being home. We have learned so much and we have so much love for him. Sometimes we still marvel at the fact that the Lord chose us to be blessed by this sweet little boy.
This month will be a good month...and will drag on, I'm sure. But we will enjoy each day and take them one at a time. Relishing each moment we've been given with this little one. We will be patient and wait because we know we have the strength to endure...
Only 30 days...
...736 hours....
We have begun the countdown.
30 days...
736 hours...
Justin and I will officially be Hadrian's parents. Oh wow.
We are so excited for this all to be over. It has been an amazing journey but I can't wait to have this chapter closed. He will forever be ours. We have 1 more post placement visit with our amazing social worker, Dena. She has gone above and beyond what I would expect of any social worker. I hope that when we update our home study to one day adopt more babies that we will have her or someone just as amazing as her.
We got our taxes back and with that we are making the final payments for the home study and post placement visits. [Thank you Lord for meeting all of our financial needs...]Who woulda thought we'd pay people to inspect every aspect of our homelife. Hehe. Its tedious, and I know why it is done...so I am thankful that these steps are here to protect little ones...but I wish we could have opted out of them.
Hadrian had a rough week this week. At first we thought maybe he was getting a tooth or something but it turned out he had a bug. He was not sleeping well at night and was running a fever. It was really tough watching him suffer and not being able to really do anything about it. We gave him tylenol but it didn't always help. Thankfully after a good 3-4 days he seems to be all better. Justin and I on the other hand have been battling it ourselves since then.
So our little guy is growing up so quickly. He hits his hands together in an *almost clap* but his fists are clenched type movement. He sits up unassisted and can almost get himself into a sitting up position by himself. He is loving his foods...I try to make his baby food...but only really had luck with butternut squash and sweet potatoes...everything else I tried didn't really work out well. But he loves both of those...and peas, carrots, apple sauce, green beans, and of course bananas. He will freak out if you eat a banana within sight of him...I think he believes all bananas belong to him and we are just here to peel them for him. He still isn't saying mama yet but I did hear an "Mmmmmmmmmm" once...so I think it'll happen soon. He is also soooooooooo close to being mobile. He gets up on his hands and knees and he rocks back and forth. A few times he has moved his knees but his hands don't know to move yet so he ends up looking quite silly and then falling over.
He is giving sweet kisses and will hold his arms up/out to be picked up. It always works for mama. He is weighing somewhere around 18lbs....and is almost 29"...97th percentile for height!! He also has a lovey...He just loves to snuggle with his Pooh bear that his Grammy and Grandpa gave to him at Christmas. I'm not a fan of Pooh, but I'm not gonna lie, its probably the cutest thing I've ever seen to see him hug and snuggle it.
So here we are...beginning our fifth month of him being home. We have learned so much and we have so much love for him. Sometimes we still marvel at the fact that the Lord chose us to be blessed by this sweet little boy.
This month will be a good month...and will drag on, I'm sure. But we will enjoy each day and take them one at a time. Relishing each moment we've been given with this little one. We will be patient and wait because we know we have the strength to endure...
Only 30 days...
...736 hours....
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