My Famous Dog

Have you ever heard of Cute Overload? Head on over there to check out my pug, Mollie. She's under the title Macro Mania.

I hope you think she's as cute as I do!

Beginnings

Today is the beginning of the new school year. T is wearing his new Superman shirt and was so excited he kept biting on his lip. I cannot believe that two years ago I was still grappling with my newfound motherhood. I was trying to find out how to get this little kid-stranger into 1/2 day Pre-K and struggling with getting a copy of his immunization record. Today I have a 1st grader! I hope he keeps up the good work, otherwise, his teacher has no idea what she's in for!

Since T will be adopted before the end of the year, we thought it would be nice if he started the year with what will become his new last name. We just thought it would be confusing to change in the middle of the school year. Luckily, his teacher and the assistant principal are both fine with calling him by his new last name even though, legally, he still maintains his birthname.

In other beginnings, I am going to be renting a space in a store in which to sell the things I have been making/sewing recently. It's an area of town that is packed with little crafty stores so I'm hoping my stuff does well.

I'm so ready for fall! I love when the seasons change - they bring so much possibility!

Progress

T's cw has been saying she needs to come to our home to see T. She usually saw him during birthparent visits but since his bmom is in jail, she hasn't seen him in months. It was also important for her to come by because we needed to sign a piece of paper called Memorandum of Understanding. Basically, it states what bmom wants us to do if she voluntarily relinquishes her rights. Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending on your viewpoint) it is inadmissible in court as it would be seen as coercion. After the adoption, if we do not do what she's asked, there's nothing she can do about it. She cannot take us to court over it.

We certainly plan on following through with her requests as we feel they may be beneficial for T. As he is 6 years old and has had a relationship with her all this time, it will be a hard adjustment for him to know that he is not going to see her anymore. That is why we do not have a problem with a "goodbye visit." It will give him closure.

He has already had so much taken away from him - being moved from foster home to foster home. He will see this has having yet another thing taken away which is why we are going to provide a P.O. box for her to correspond with him if she wishes.

We will be reading anything that she sends and will not allow him to see anything that we feel will hurt him in any way. We will also be reading anything that he wants to send to her and will censor any "identifying" information - name of his school or sports team, address or phone number, etc.

If there comes a time when he does not want to correspond with her, we will not force him to. If he does not want to see anything she sends, we will put it away so that he can have it at a later date if he wishes.

Other than that......he should be adopted by the end of the year!!! I can't believe it! I can't believe I'm so happy about it when a few months ago I didn't even know if it was something I wanted anymore.

We've had quite a turbulent two years. I think we deserve a little happiness.

I Never Thought I'd Say This

T has not gotten in trouble for 16 days. Seriously! I know, right? It's too good to be true. It's like a lightbulb has been switched on and he seems to be "getting it." I was a little worried yesterday when he told a tiny lie for absolutely no reason unless he thought he was going to get in trouble (which he wasn't) or it was just out of habit. In either case, he was given a warning and the night went on as usual. So, 16 days!!

The therapist believes there will be some regression when school starts but she's really proud of him. If he keeps up the good work, she thinks we'll be ready for another child in 2 - 3 months.

I just wish we could be guaranteed a little girl at that time.