Wednesday, May 16, 2007

UPDATE

Well, we had one visit last Thursday. It only lasted 40 minutes, and was doubly supervised. I alsio sent snacks since that seems to be a "good behavior" time. We had the TPR hearing on Tuesday. The hearing itself lasted about 40 minutes, as much of the meat of the material was offered as evidence in written form. Each lawyer has been asked to submit a list of facts to the judge within thirty days. The judge will then make a decision shortly thereafter. One parent, on paper, doesn't look as bad as I believe they should. But both parents have sat before this judge before, so he knows some of the bacground and can read between the lines of the carefully phrased questions.

As time went by yesterday, I felt less disturbed than I had walking out of the courtroom. It's clear this little boy will not move from our home. Now it's just a matter of what the status will be -- adoption or legal guardianship. I pray for adoption, as the one parent in particular has had a lot of trouble attending visits to date, and I can't imagine being court-ordered to make those happen.

In the meantime, Betty is ticked off because we won't let her go on a field trip for the ESL class on Friday. I'm not sure how she got invited. But given that it leaves at 4 a.m., gets home at midnight, costs $40 and takes her away from a day of school (when she's missed a couple hours here and there lately for appointments), not to mention the fact that she got a mid-term report that was less than stellar, we're keeping her home. This also is her last chance to visit her bio. Mom this month, which she needs to do. So she hates me and wishes she were with older parents. Sigh. Teenagers!

Monday, May 07, 2007

A BIG MONTH

Well, it looks like we may be nearing the starting line with the adoption process. Both biological parents have expressed their concern about the process, but have also made comments that make it seem that they are resigned to the upcoming events. We shall see.

We have two visits scheduled for Thursday - one with each parent. That could be a very tricky day, indeed. Between visits the mobile therapist comes. Is that good timing or what? Neither parent has seen C in awhile -- for one it's been one month, for the other it's been five. So I can gues that this will shake up the little guy's world, which has become pretty stable over the past month or so. Sigh.

Next week is the TPR hearing. It's scheduled to last two hours. I'm crossing my fingers that there will be no bumps along the way. I will be happy when this step is behind us. But it's just the beginning. Then we start the paperwork! That should be fun, too!

Meanwhile, I'm getting the itch. I can hardly believe it myself, but I'm thinking it might be nice to have another kiddo for C to play with and interact with. Betty is just too much older than him. She is basically off in her little corner of the world, as she is preparing to finish up high school in the next couple of years. She still is around a lot, and things are still going well, overall. But she's just getting increasingly independent. My husband thinks I'm crazy. And he should know that that's certainly true. But we do have the space (in our home, schedules, and hearts), and we're getting a lot more used to this whole thing. So ... it likely won't be long. He says we'll wait til Betty graduates. We'll see... All I know is that for now, we are NOT looking to get a baby. Nope. I'm past that point for right now. The thought of late nights, diapers, puke, etc. just isn't as glamorous and wonderful sounding as it once was. Give me a first grader that has an attitude any day!

To be continued...as always....our family is just one part of the canvas that God is creating in our lives!