On the Edge of a Cliff and Ready to Fly

I worked from home yesterday and today…AWESOME! And I am going to work from home about 1-2 a week for the next few weeks!!!

Our house passed inspection, so the move is a go!

Joshua’s adoption finalization is May 28th! That evening, (starting at 4:00 ish)  we’re having an  open house/ adoption finalization party at our NEW house in Gardner. Email me at watermelonjessie at yahoo dot com if you didn’t get an invite, as I’ve been forgetful lately.

My friend Katharine called today and said she and some other church folks could help me pack!

This has been an AWESOME day!!!!!

And, my blog hit 10,000 visitors!! Woo hoo!

Donald and I talk about Joshua all the time. He is our favorite topic of conversation. Everything he does is facinating: from facial expressions to bodily functions.

I can’t believe it’s been 9 days since he was born!

I went to Wal-Mart today and brought Joshua. 3 ladies commented on how cute he was and asked how old he was. It was pretty neat. Once you put a car seat in the cart, there really isn’t much room for anything else! Oh, well, cuts down on the amount you pile in your cart, so you end up spending less.

When he takes naps I look at photos of him, if I’m doing something else I’ll peek in on him just to watch him sleep.

We had a fun moment today. He had wet his little bassinet and he was LIVID. I got him undressed and washed him up, and he INSTANTLY calmed down when I was holding him. That felt really nice, made me feel like mom!

Our attorney advised us the birthmom is going to court Monday at noon. I’m not EXACTLY sure what is going to happen, but I thnk that she has to declare before the judge under oath that she does not know who the birthfather is. After that, we put announcements in the paper for a few weeks asking if anyone has a claim to the baby (ie, the birthdad) to come forward. If no one comes forward, an attorney represents the birthfather and his rights are terminated. That same day the birthfather’s rights are terminated, we go into court and Joshua’s adoption is finalized. That will be a VERY fun day! Our attorney said that the judge is really nice and makes the adoption finalization pretty smooth.

Here’s hoping no one comes forward after we place those announcements in the paper!

Man, I give kudos to all you moms that BIRTHED your babies first and then had to care for them! I am tuckered out and I didn’t even have to push this little one out! Wow…

…I was up with Joshua all night, Donald slept on this super fantastic cot. The nurse was laughing at how Donald was out and just snoring away. Donald is a pro at swaddling though, so that’s his job for now. Last night I was up at 11pm, 2am, 5am, and Donald got up to do the 8am feeding. Last night Joshua was on my shoulder after I was burping him and he turned his head to look at me, it was so cool! And then last night while I was giving him his bottle, he turned his whole head so he could look at me better! I just love this little guy, I can’t believe it. I am tired but I am so happy at the same time. I think it’s finally sinking in. Can’t wait for these first sets of papers to get signed today!

Dad is holding little Joshua. He is the most adorable baby in the whole world!

Got to meet birthmom’s friend Katy that brought birthmom to the hospital & stayed through delivery. The birthmom didn’t want to meet us or exchange information, but we exchanged information with her. We’re going to email her photos of the baby and us and if sometime in the future the birthmom decides she wants to look at them, she can.

Katy shared with us what has been going on with birthmom. I guess birthmom was crying this morning and was having a hard time, but still wanted to go through with the adoption. When he was born, the doctor held Joshua up, and birthmom told him, “I am not doing this because I don’t love you, I’m doing this because I love you.” Katy shared that the birthmom has no interest in changing her mind, she wants to give us the baby, and is prepared to sign any and all documents. That made us feel a lot better. We told Katy to please tell the birthmom how brave she is, how courageous she is, and how much we appreciate what she’s done for us. We’re going to write the birth mom a letter and give it to Susan (our social worker) and the birthmom can decide if she wants to read it sometime in the future. It was neat how excited Katy was for us, and she was happy we were adopting the baby, it was a great experience.

Birthmom wanted to go home right away today, but she couldn’t relinquish the baby to us until 12 hours after birth. So, our social worker is going to meet with birthmom tomorrow to have her sign the relinquishment paperwork. For now, we are caring for Joshua with a signed Power of Attorney; his birthmom is giving us ability to make all health decisions and keep him in our care until she signs the papers tomorrow. I guess the dad’s parental rights will need to be terminated at court in 2 – 3 months. Donald and I were talking about it and we think we’ll have Joshua baptized at our new church after we move and after the adoption is finalized.

It feels wonderful, it’s nuts that we are this baby’s PARENTS. We aren’t babysitting, we aren’t keeping him for a while, but he is OURS. What a beautiful gift we’ve been given!