Finally Final! :)

Yesterday was by far one of the happiest days of my life. It was SO emotional - honestly, more so than when we were matched. Everything back then was such a whirlwind and so scary - and yesterday's finalization had none of that. It was just pure joy. We swore to always take care of her and that she would have all the rights of any biological child. I just felt strong and so proud of our family. Our judge was so nice. She posed for pictures with us, our families, and Lily's attorney. We laughed so hard that Lily needs representation:) We have a picture of the two of them, too. It better be the ONLY time that girl needs a lawyer in a courtroom! :)
Anyway, I cried, my mom cried, everyone cried:) But tears of SO much joy! To hear them proclaim her with her full name and to write up a birth certificate listing us as her parents. It was amazing. To have your family held up as good and right feels pretty darn great.
Pics coming soon!!! :)

So I'm a big baby!

It has been the weekend from HELL!! I have been so freaked out by that stupid mouse. Just an update, it wasn't a baby mouse - it was full grown, but it just wasn't a rat. We were stupid and left our cat food in the bag under the sink and it got in through an old dryer vent. Nice. Anyway, we tried all weekend to be humane about possibly catching any others in the house. We bought a "Haveaheart" trap and put food on it. Yeah, it's little cronies took all the food from it and didn't set it off. SO, Terminix is coming out today. I feel a bit guilty about it, but at the same time, we have a six month old baby who is on the floor all the time. I don't want anything like that around her. What a mess!!

Thanks for all the support and those of you who said, Yep, we've been there. :) It made me feel so much better!

Lily has been in her crib playing a lot this weekend. Yes, I kept her off the floor. I'm super neurotic; I know. Anyway, I took the cutest set of pictures of her. I swear, she is starting to look like a little girl and not like a tiny baby anymore. It makes me sad, but also so proud! :)

Take a look; doesn't she look like she's thinking, "You've got to be kidding me, mom! Get over it!" :)

Um.GROSS.

So I am freaking out. I swear we have a nice house and that I am a GOOD housekeeper:) Tonight as we were sitting watch our football team lose yet another game, my husband saw a tiny little mouse scurry under our couch. Yes, I screamed. Seriously, I am a total girly girl; we have pest control out to our house about once every two or three months. I freak if I see a tiny little bug anywhere in the house. A mouse. We spent about two hours trying to entice our fat cats to want to help us get it out from under the couch. We flipped it over so it couldn't hide there and finally it ran under the bookshelf. The dummy left his tail sticking out. We finally got a giant beer brewing bucket from downstairs and some rubber gloves and my husband grabbed it's little tail, stuck it in the bucket and we deposited him WAAAYY down the street in a field. Yes, it was teeny tiny and it looked soft, but I don't think I'll sleep tonight at all. You guys!! A mouse. What in the world is that about? Does this mean there are more? What should we do?
Terminix is getting a very early morning phone call from yours truly tomorrow. I think you should be able to call an emergency pest control person, don't you? :)

In a rut

I know I just posted about how all this motherhood stuff is finally clicking. And it still is for the most part. Lily's a champion sleeper, she has no eating issues now that the reflux has been figured out, and she is SO good natured. The little tiny problem I'm having right now is boredom. I know that's awful, but it's true. I feel like I'm running out of things to do with her. We can play in the jumperoo or with toys on the floor, but then what? We're using just one car to try to be more eco-friendly, so when my husband is working, we're kinda stuck here. Any ideas for things to do with a 6 1/2 month old? Great toys to invest in? Silly games to play? I'm not sure how much longer I can listen to the songs on the jumperoo...they're invading my dreams at night. :)

Finalization / the situation in Guatemala

I really can't wait. I know I've said it a million times, but I didn't think it would mean this much to me. It's just a "formality." But, I've been reading up on the situation with Guatemalan adoptions. Have you heard about this? I've read blogs about parents who have been in Guatemala since being matched with their baby. One couple has been there for five months WITH their child and now there is the alarming possibility that they might not be able to adopt him. And where would he go? Right back to the orphanage. Why in the world would this happen? Who in their right mind would say this is the best thing? According to this site the Guatemalan government feels there are too many unethical adoption practices linked to international adoption. I won't waste anyone's time and argue that it's not true, because we all know adoption can be ridiculously corrupt. So fine - go ahead and reform laws and work on the system. But do it starting now. Don't say that couples already matched and in love with their baby have to go home or start the process again. They're already parents to that child in their heart. It's not like buying a new car - like they can just get back on the list and start over and be fine. We're talking about families here. Families already made.

The good news is that apparently both sides (US and Guat.) are caving a bit and saying that adoptions already in the process can proceed, but how long with that last? It makes me NUTS!
So, back to my original reason for this post - hearing about families already so bonded and in love with their babies makes me want our finalization done NOW. It's a formality, but it's one I want to be over and done with.

Also, if you have more news on the situation in Guatemala, please comment. I'd love to learn more!

Sitting up!

Just LOOK at this girl! She's sitting up all by herself. (yes, that's a squishy exercise mat under her - we're not taking any chances.) It was really overnight - she just decided she wanted to do it and now she can sit there for an hour and just play with her toys and babble to them and us and well...just to herself. It's the greatest! AND it's really freed me up SO much to do other things. I can sit her in her high chair with a toy and she'll just play and hang out while I clean or cook or whatever. I LOVE IT! It's funny how hard this mom thing can be at times and then there are other times where it really just clicks!! I'm in one of those click times right now and life is good :)

Time Flies

Happy six months, my beautiful girl. I can't believe it's been half a year since I first saw this beautiful face. Thank you for the best six months of my life so far. Nothing is better than being your mommy.

I love you!

Final Post Placement Vist - OVER! :)

We had such a wonderful weekend. The weather was gorgeous, we had friends and family around us, and most importantly, we finished Lily's post placement! Our meeting Friday couldn't have been better. Lily put on her best show:) She rolled over and sat up and squealed and giggled at our social worker. She said that Lily may be the happiest baby she's ever seen. It made me feel so good and almost validated as a mom in a way to hear someone who is supposed to be ensuring that we're doing well tell us that we're raising a happy girl! :)

Also, I've taken up a new mania. I have given in to the craze that is scrap booking. Oh my gosh, it's like crack. I don't know that first hand, I'm just making a comparison from what I've HEARD about crack and it's addictive qualities :) Anyway, I literally spent every single free minute this weekend scrap booking Lily's lifebook. It brought to the surface all the incredible joy of first seeing her. It made me stop in my tracks and pray so hard for Autumn and her family. It's been very therapeutic and has reminded me so much how blessed I am! Also, it's darn fun. :) Lily sits in her high chair and plays with toys while I scrapbook. It's so much fun to see her growing into a little girl. I feel like she's my little pal now while I do things.

AND, I can't believe I almost forgot, we had to move her up into a "big girl" car seat!! No more snug ride! Yes, I got a little teary:) I can't believe she's six months old tomorrow! So cliche, but where does the time go? Happy Monday, all! :)