Life Goes On

Things are more or less back to normal around our house since back to back funerals. I'm sorry for the little break in blogging...I just didn't have much to say for a bit that wasn't depressing. I'm okay. I miss my Granddad very much, but I know he's in a better place, and he's not hurting anymore. MrKB is okay too...though I think it's been much harder on him, losing his Dad. He went back to work to help keep himself busy...he still has moments where I know he wants to shed more tears, but being a guy, he doesn't like to cry much. It's going to be hard on him for awhile, but I'll be there for him when he needs me.

SO...how's the weather been for y'all lately? Oklahoma has been seeing a lot of rain, and even some flooding in places. We've had a couple of awesome thunderstorms, which I love, and we've had a few tornadoes this past week...a couple of which were not too far from where I'm at, but we're all just fine at our house. This is the kind of weather that we normally seem to get in April, but I think our seasons are all running behind a bit. The rain was needed, but I think we're set for awhile now! LOL The sky right now is gray and overcast...might have more rain sometime today or tonight.

Before all this rain, we had a really beautiful sunny weekend...temps in the upper 70s and lower 80s, so we took the girls out to the park. :) I took the camera along and got a few good pictures, and a couple of short videos, and I'm gonna share them with you now. The girls are both getting so big! Especially Meghan! Hope you enjoy...

Look at This! :)

I've been nominated for an award! I'm so honored, and flattered that anyone likes reading this stuff enough to nominate me. :) Seriously, this makes my day! Please go vote for me!




*edited to add* WOW! Vote here too! :)

This has been such a rough month...

Remember when I first posted about the adoption finalization, when I said I had bad news too but that I'd get to that later?

Well, my bad news was that my Granddad had passed away the Monday before the finalization. The funeral was just the day before we went to court for the biggest day of our lives. I've been quietly dealing with my sadness on my own for the most part...of course with hubby's support.

Today it's going to be my turn to be HIS support.

Just about half an hour ago I got a call from my sister-in-law. Then I had to call him on his work phone and tell him that he needed to come home. He made me tell him why...I just had to tell my husband that his Dad had died!!!

Dammit...Other than the adoption and Meghan's birthday, this month is SO totally sucking!

I'm going to go try not to have a nervous breakdown now...

Help Me Win $1000!!! *Sticky Post*

*SCROLL DOWN FOR CURRENT POSTS!*

I entered a "Cutest Kid" photo contest at Shutterfly. The Grand Prize is $1000, and goodness knows I could use it! I need y'all to help me out and please stop by real quick and give my picture a vote! Pretty please?? You can go cast your vote HERE. I really, really appreciate it! :) This should give me something to focus on while I get through the next week!

This is the picture:

Happy Birthday Meghan!!!

Dear sweet Meghan,

My baby girl...you are 2 years old today! I can't believe it, it just doesn't seem possible you are already 2! You were just 3 weeks old when Daddy and I brought you home from the hospital, and so tiny! Seems like just yesterday, yet so long ago.

We've been on quite a journey together the last 2 years, as Daddy and I worked hard to adopt you and big sister Destiny and give you both a forever home. Our dream finally came true just a week ago today when your adoption was finalized. You've been "mine" in my heart from the first moment I held you in my arms...now you are truly MINE forever, and I love you SO much!

You've changed so much since your last birthday. You have teeth now! Your first ones didn't come in until you were 11 months old, and you have almost all of them now. Unfortunately, you tend to bite your sister now and then...we're working hard to teach you that it hurts her when you do that, and I'm glad it's not an all the time thing. Destiny uses that against you too...one day she actually bit HERSELF and tried to come tell us that you did it! We knew better, though, because you don't have all your teeth yet and it backfired on her. She got herself into trouble instead. Normal sister stuff! I know it won't be long until you turn the tables on her, and do things to try and get HER into trouble! Oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to that! (NOT!)

You talk all the time now, though it's still in mostly your own little language. "Mama" is your most used word! That both thrills me and bums me out...since you call almost everyone "Mama" or "Mommy". LOL You've got a much bigger vocabulary than you let on...I know, 'cuz I've heard it! I'm not worried though...you'll catch on soon. I love how you'll say "Aw, man!" when you are disappointed. I love how you tilt your head to the side every time you say "Please", looking so cute and you know it! I really love hearing you say "Daddy" because I can see the joy in your Daddy's eyes when you do.

Most of all, I love YOU! You mean the world to me, and I can't imagine my life without you in it. I look forward to watching you grow up, learn, and change. Happy Birthday baby girl! I love you!
Love,
Mommy

Our Big Day

Friday, April 6, 2007 at around 9:30am we stood in front of the Judge with our girls in our arms and watched as he signed the papers declaring us their parents and completing the adoption we'd been working towards for almost two years!!!

The whole thing took less than five minutes...I dunno, I always thought it'd be a bit longer than that. At any rate, just by signing his name to the adoption papers, this wonderful Judge made a 14 year long dream come true, and made me a Mama.

No more monthly caseworker visits...no more rules and regulations...no more red tape...no more being put under the microscope! We are DONE and these two precious girls are now our DAUGHTERS. You guys have NO idea how this makes me feel!

Anyway, as promised...here are some pictures of our big day!

Destiny waiting to leave for court:


Both girls before we left the apartment:


Our newly official family and the Judge who made it so:



One of us, the Judge, and the fosters who adopted the girls' brother the same day:

We're a FAMILY!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a really quick post...I've been offline since last Thursday due to internet being cutoff. Lots of stuff happened, some bad...but I'll get into that later. :(

The point of this particular post is just to say:

THEY'RE ADOPTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Details to come...with pics! Right now I'm late for a celebration lunch with Mom and Sis! :)

Adoption Update!!

Just got another call from the lawyer. We went down to his office yesterday to sign some paperwork, and were told again that the finalization would be Friday by his assistant.

Well, you can scratch March 30th off your calendars...turns out it won't be THIS Friday, but next Friday, April 6th! That's exactly one week before Meghan turns 2!

One more week to wait...I'm kinda bummed, but I know it's not that long after how long this whole thing has taken. I'm just SO ready to be done and be their forever Mommy!

FINALIZATION DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!! I thought I'd never get to post this!

Lawyer's office called MrKB on his cell phone. He's on his way home now to pick me up so we can go down to sign final paperwork.

Then...we go to court THIS FRIDAY for FINALIZATION!!!!!!!!!! March 30th...mark your calendars!!!!!

I'm Boycotting "American Girl" After Reading This!

I came across a link to this post while browsing the forums of OLS, a sweepstakes community.

A 6 year old girl took her beloved doll, that she'd purchased with her OWN money from Target, to the American Girl Place to have the doll's hair styled. The stylist treated this little girl like shit, and refused to style the doll's hair, saying the doll was "not a real doll". WTF???

Read the post by this little girl's Mom on the subject HERE. I'm just appalled at how this child was treated, and my girls will NEVER be getting anything from American Girl!

They Finally Got Me...

Yep, I've finally been "forced" over to the new Blogger. Guess time will tell how I like it or not.

Anyway...so what's new around here? I am STILL getting over whatever has had me sick. I even lost my voice completely for a few days, and though I can talk now, I still sound hoarse. MrKB has strep throat, he thinks...and both the girls have had colds. Fun stuff, huh?

We got our taxes done and bought a few things we'd been wanting. Got a new entertainment center for the living room, and I got a new monitor for my computer! It's a 19" LCD flat-screen, and I love it! :) We also got a couple of new games for the PS2, along with a wireless controller...that's awesome in itself, 'cuz now the kids and I don't have to worry about tripping on the controller cord when MrKB's playing his games. We also paid ahead on our rent, so now we don't have to stress every month about the DHS check not coming in time to get it paid before they start eviction proceedings. That is a huge load of our minds!

Speaking of MrKB, his birthday was on the 11th. I had planned to do a special post for him, but as sick as I was, I just didn't have the energy. The PS2 games and controller were mostly for him, for birthday presents.

Our adoption caseworker came by again last week with more paperwork for us to sign. Our adoption subsidy was approved, which means we'll still get a check every month towards the care of the kids. She said that the adoption SHOULD be finalized this month, it depends on how soon the lawyer can get a date scheduled in front of the judge. At the very latest, we should be finished by the time Meghan turns 2 on April 13th. :)

That's about it...all the news I can think of at the moment. God, I'm boring! Now I leave you with a short video that someone put together about the Africam I'm so addicted to these days. Really...check it out! It's only about a minute and a half long, and SO worth it!

It's a Party and You're ALL Invited!! *Sticky Post*

Y'all may have noticed this button over in my sidebar the last few weeks, and wondered about it. Well, it's PARTY TIME!

The idea of it is to be a way to "meet" new people, and discover new blogs to read. If you want to be a participant, by all means, please do! This is the brainchild of Janice and Susan, over at "5 Minutes for Mom" and it should be loads of fun. No, you don't necessarily have to be a "Mom" to join in, it's open to everyone. There's even gonna be prizes given out on March 8th...to find out more about the Ultimate Blog Party, just click on the button up there.

SO...Welcome to my little corner of the party! Come on in, make yourselves comfortable...There's lots of snacks around. I've got all kinds of chips and dips, veggie trays, cookies, ice cream...and my personal favorite...Cherry Cheesecake! Yum!

If you'd like a drink, just step up to the open bar, where you'll be served by either the drop-dead gorgeous Armando, or for you men out there, you can be waited on by the lovely Michelle. The bar is well stocked, so order whatever you like! Of course, there's plenty of tequila and Jello shots as well.

You can kick back on the ultra comfy couches and chairs in the Movie Room, and watch whatever you want on the giant flat-screen TV with the best possible sound system. If you can't decide between a favorite movie, or whatever sports game, not to worry! Just turn on the picture-in-picture option!

Feel like gettin' your grove on? Dancing the night away? Head on over to the best dance floor you ever set foot on! There's music for everybody, just request whatever suits your desire from our 5-star DJ! (But please...to preserve the hostesses' sanity, let's keep the rap and the heavy metal to a minimum, alrighty? Thanks!)

What are ya waiting for?? C'mon!! Let's get this party started! :) This will be going on from now through March 9th. Chat away in the comments for this party post, and let's get to know each other! (Regular posts will continue under this one, so don't forget to check them too!)

Stuff in My Head

First, I haven't been able to get around yet to many of the blogs participating in the blogger party. I've been sick all this week and whatever it is, is seriously kicking my ass. I was actually in bed last night by 10pm!! I haven't done that in ages. Woke up at 5am, then went back to bed at 6am and slept until 10:30am. It's now just before 1pm and already I just want to go back to sleep some more. Unfortunately, the little ones don't stop just 'cuz Mama has zero energy!

So we went and saw our lawyer yesterday. He is waiting on some paperwork he needs from our caseworker, and he got all the necessary information from us that he needed, like the girls' new names and such. He'll be sending us some stuff in the mail to get signed and notarized, and said we will be getting this done ASAP! :)

I got some bad news from my Mom this last weekend, and have been coming to grips with it in my head ever since. Her Dad, my Granddad, has been sick with emphysema. In the last month or so, he's really gone downhill fast, and according to my Mom, is just a shell of the man he used to be. She says he is just skin and bones now and is in a lot of pain anymore. His hospice nurse thinks that in maybe a week or two he will slip into a coma, and then it won't be long after that that he leaves us.

I'm struggling with this because though I want to go and see him, I don't want to see him like he is now. Also, I'm really worried about my Grandmother. They've been married for over 50 years, and I know she's going to be so lost without him.

Sigh....don't want to get into it too much right now or I'm just going to end up a blubbering mess. Life is kinda sucking at the moment...hope y'all are doing better!

Checkin' In!

Not a whole lot going on around here, really. Last night around 2:30am I ended up taking Meghan to the ER. She has a very bad case of pinkeye. UGH! I wasn't going to make the ER trip, but it started out as some yucky gook coming from her eye in the late afternoon/early evening and just worsened from there. I was planning on getting her in to see the regular doctor so I could get meds to treat it with, but she went to sleep for maybe an hour and woke up just screaming and crying, and the eye was badly swollen...looked like she'd been punched or something! So, off to the ER we went. She was not cooperative there at all. I've had to take her in before, but she's always been great. This time she didn't want anything to do with ANYBODY there. Poor guy working triage had a hell of a time getting an oxygen level reading! She screamed and cried the whole time we were there just about...I bet people could hear her throughout the floor!

I have an antibiotic cream for her now that I'm supposed to put in her eye every 3 hours. Fun, huh?? Yeah, I know!

We have an appointment on Wednesday morning to meet with our adoption lawyer. This will really get the ball rolling in the right direction!! Wish us luck that it all goes well!

I'm sorry I haven't been doing so well posting regularly. I have a new addiction! I discovered a VERY cool site, where you can watch a 24/7 LIVE feed of an African watering hole in South Africa. I have the camera open on my computer constantly when I'm awake, so I don't miss anything. I've been watching since around Valentine's Day, and so far I've seen Waterbuck, White-Tailed Mongoose, Elephant, Saddle Billed Stork, Southern Ground Hornbill, Wildebeest, Impala, Giraffe, White Rhino, Spotted Hyena, Black-backed Jackal, Zebra, Hippo, Vervet Monkey, and Baboon...not to mention many other birds!

I'm still waiting to see many more animals, especially any big cats! Apparently, back on Christmas Day '06, a group of lions made a kill right by the watering hole (they got a Cape Buffalo) and spent the next 3 days hanging around! Wish I'd known about the site then. Anyway, it's been quite an experience to be able to see these animals live in Africa while I sit in Oklahoma at my computer! (As I type this I can hear the Hyena calling!) The camera is run by the Nkorho Lodge, which shares a fenceless border with the Kruger National Park in South Africa. If you want to check it out for yourself, go here, and to view the cam I watch all the time, click on "Nkorho Stream". There are also several other cameras set up in various places, but they run on still shots updated every minute or so.

I also spend time on the forums, discussing with other cammers what we see and hear. I shouldn't be hard to find if you go looking! :) Hope to see you there!

OK! OK!! An Update!!

I'm sorry for not posting sooner since the caseworker visit this last Wednesday! Every time I wanted to sit down and post, I'd either end up busy doing something else, or I'd get distracted by things.

The visit went very well! This caseworker that came by this time was one that had we'd never met before. She is the adoption worker, and we found out that she will be the ONLY caseworker from here on out. YAY! She's a very nice, pleasant, older lady, and she explained things to us very well as far as what is going to happen.

We received all of the "disclosure information" that DHS has had on file pertaining to each of the girls. The file on Destiny is at least 2 inches thick, and Meghan's is about half of that. Made for quite a bit of reading...but a lot of it we already knew. According to my MIL, when the adoption becomes final we will get even MORE files from DHS. Can't wait to see everything, including whatever was said about us!

Then we had to sign a bunch of new paperwork...mostly stuff we've done before, just updated. One of the papers pertained to what the girls' new names will be once they are adopted. :) Meghan's name will be changed completely...I don't care for the name she legally has now, and she'll never know until she's older that it was ever anything besides Meghan. For Destiny, we are changing the spelling of her first name (legally it is Destanie) and giving her a new middle name. Their last names are already the same as ours. Also, there will be entirely new birth certificates issued, with their new names, and OUR names listed as the Mother and Father. I know I am just going to cry the first time I see that!!

As for a finalization date, there isn't one yet. The caseworker said that at the very latest, this should all be done by March! She said around 30-45 days at the most. The lawyer will be the one to set the date, and one of the things we need to do now is get in touch with him and tell him that she's been here and it's time to get things rolling. He will get the necessary information and then file the petition for adoption. MIL had the same lawyer, and she told me that she thinks that after they'd got to this point and the lawyer was involved, that it was maybe two weeks later and they were in the courtroom for the finalization. :)

Oh, speaking of court...remember the judge that we'd had? The one that was so biased regarding the smoking thing? Well, we found out that she is no longer on the case...she now works downtown or something...I don't really care! I'm very glad we don't have to deal with her again! There's a new judge, and the caseworker said he/she (I can't remember which) is very good and fair.

SO...the gist of it is, that this really will all be over soon!! I thrilled, excited, anxious and nervous all in one! It will be such a relief to finally be free of all the red tape, and the fear that my girls might be taken away from me! Yes, it's been a very long, difficult road...but it's SO worth it. I'm kinda glad my brother-in-law and his girlfriend are such screw-ups. If they weren't...I wouldn't have had this chance to be a Mom. You have NO idea just how much this means to me.

'Nuff Said...

Adoption Update!!

We heard from our adoption caseworker yesterday. She will be coming out to our house on Wednesday with some FINAL paperwork for us to sign, and for a visit with the girls. We will hopefully also get a finalization date for the adoption!!

WAHOOOOOOO!!! Keep your fingers crossed that this lonnnnng process is almost OVER!

On This Day 12 Years Ago...

I married my best friend!

We met when I was 19 and he was 21. We knew each other, but didn't really KNOW each other, since we were both always in other relationships, and were too shy to really talk.

Years later, when my boyfriend at the time had gone into the Navy, he was my shoulder to cry on when I felt alone. We got to know each other a lot more, and the more time I spent with him, the more I knew that the guy I was with was not the right man for me.

We ended up falling in love, and on February 14, 1995, after dating less than a year, we got married. I was 23, and he was 25. I have never been happier!

The past year has brought us even more challenges than the last. We've been struggling to complete the adoption of our daughters...both his Mom and Dad have been so sick, Dad with cancer and diabetes, and Mom with brain tumors...Together, we can face anything that might be thrown our way!

To my husband:
Baby, I love you more today than the day I married you. I am truly in love with my best friend!

You are my light, my love, my reason for living...my very best friend. I know we'll have many more happy years together, they should be even happier now that we have a family of our own. We tried so hard for so long to have children, and even though it didn't happen as we expected it to, we now have two beautiful little girls to call ours.

Happy Anniversary Darlin'! I LOVE YOU!!

Alison Krauss- "When You Say Nothing at All" (See the video right below this post!...it's "our" song.)

It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
Old Mr. Webster could never define
What's being said between your heart and mine

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

Alison Krauss - When You Say Nothing At All

This is "our" song. :)

Fun With Laundry Baskets

Meghan is 22 months old today! In just a couple of months she will be *gasp!* 2 years old! It just doesn't seem possible. Should be a very interesting year. :)

My Mom-in-law stopped by a couple nights ago to pick up some laundry that I was doing for her, and Meghan discovered the fun of playing with a laundry basket: