Thursday, September 22, 2011

Grampie

My Grampie is going home to be with Jesus soon. The Alzheimers has taken its toll, and he is ready to go. I'm glad that Josh got to know him.




Saturday, September 17, 2011

Coming Home Day

3 years ago I only worked for half a day. I left at noon, and came home to wait for a phone call from our Bethany social worker. It was the day of Joshua's birthmom's court hearing to terminate her parental rights. If all went as planned, we would be able to pick Joshua up that night and bring him home. It wasn't a guarantee, as not much had gone as planned with Joshua's adoption. He was in a wonderful foster home, but we all wanted him home where he belonged.

The call came about 2:00, and it was Josh's birthmom, who bravely called and told me we could come pick him up. We called our families, and packed up and drove about 90 minutes to Elkhorn. It was a very emotional afternoon. We had a placement ceremony at the foster home. Joshua's birthmom was able to sing to him and pray for him, and we prayed for her as well, and then she gave him to me. There was not a dry eye in the house - it was emotional for the foster family as well, who had spent the past 6 weeks bonding with him.



After the placement ceremony, we got him dressed and changed and loaded up in the car to come home. I tried feeding him a bottle on the way home, but it was hard because I couldn't get him out to burp him. We finally stopped at a gas station, and went inside. One of the clerks told me how cute MY baby was and asked how old he was. Such a simple question, but I almost started to cry...he was MINE.



When we got home, our parents and my brother were waiting to meet their new grandson and nephew. He was fussy (I think he'd just had it with all the attention). After being passed around and fed, we put him to bed...



So 3 years have passed...I could not even imagine back then the joy of being Joshua's mom. I could only guess at the wonderful, imaginative, loving little boy he would become, and the joy he would bring to our family. It was much easier to capture photos of him back then, but now he has such personality that capturing a photo is priceless. For comparison, him sleeping...

...and hamming it up for the camera...





Man do I love this kid...even when he's being a "trying" 3 year old...so many snuggles and loves and cuddles and sweetness. I'm looking forward to many more years!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Being Responsible

We're on hold...mostly because of finances. My paycheck is seeing about a $250/month hit, even with some extra education under my belt. Wisconsin's Act 10 has resulted in teachers in most public school districts paying a portion of our retirement that was previously paid by our employers. Plus with increases in health insurance premiums, daycare, etc...we're taking a hit. So - we're doing the responsible thing and waiting a bit before continuing forward with adoption #2. We're looking into refinancing our house, although the application fees and closing costs can be a bit expensive as well. We trust God to bring us through and provide for our family.

In the meantime, we enjoy every moment we can get with Joshua. There isn't a feeling of incompleteness, just a contentment in having him around. This Saturday will be the 3rd anniversary of the day he came home to stay - one of the most joyous days of my life....I'll be blogging about it then.