My new conclusion: I care more about people than I do what my house looks like.
In a world where we often feel that we have it all together, that our house has to look like something decorated off pinterest and every square inch should be spotless, I feel like we have lost the art of just simple hospitality. I have found that since having Kaleigh my house is barely picked up and it looks like a baby store exploded in my house. For those reasons I have not wanted to have people over.
To say Heath loves having people over is a major understatement. He would have people in our house every night if it were up to him. That very thought stresses me out to no end. He is constantly asking me who we should have over and I feel like I am constantly putting it off. I am realizing that one reason for that is that I want our house to be perfect before having people in it. Well that's changing.
I am currently in a Bible study in our church and this subject came up one morning and I have really been thinking about it. That's how I came to the conclusion that I care more about people than I do what my house looks like. I'm not saying that I don't want to take care of my house and that I am never going to clean it, but if we have the opportunity to have people into our house I don't want to pass it up just because my house isn't clean. People are more important.
So, if you come over to my house and there stacks of unopened mail, I still have my hoodie on, my floors haven't been mopped or anything else you may encounter, welcome. This is my life. We are glad you are a part of it!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Adoption Update
Some people have asked me what the status is for our adoption so I thought I would fill you in. Some of you probably think there is no status update because she is here with us so I thought I would clarify that too!
When we left the hospital with Kaleigh, her birth mother signed over her rights but the birth father did not because he was not around. Because the birth father wasn't around, our attorney's had to try to find him and give him every opportunity to claim her as his. They didn't find him and he never showed up. So then after about 30 days, our case went before the court and both the birth mother and father's parental rights were terminated meaning they could never come back and try to get her. That was a sigh of relief for us. Not on M's part (the birth mother) because we have a great relationship with her, but it made us nervous about him. We had no reason to think he would show up, but you just never know.
In the meantime, we were having our post-placement visits. Basically our home study agency comes to our house to make sure we are adjusting well and that Kaleigh is adjusting well. We had one in February and one in March. They both went great! In the March home study our social worker had to recommend/not recommend that our adoption be finalized (which means she's ours forever). She saw that things are going well and recommended that our adoption be finalized.
So both of those things had to happen-parental rights terminated and us passing our home studies-before we could finalize. There also has to be a 90 day waiting period. So as of yesterday our home studies have been submitted to the attorney's office and they will set a court date to finalize our adoption. We will not have to be physically present in court, but will have to be present via the phone. That should be right around the April 9th date.
We look forward to the day Kaleigh is officially a Racine (most of you probably didn't know she wasn't!) In our hearts it is obviously already official, but we will be glad to have it legally official. From there it's more paperwork-getting her a birth certificate with our name on it, getting her a SS #-you know the essentials! I'll tell you what, we sure do love that girl!! We are thankful that finalization is the next step on this beautiful journey!! (and how could you not when you get to look at this sweet face all day!)
When we left the hospital with Kaleigh, her birth mother signed over her rights but the birth father did not because he was not around. Because the birth father wasn't around, our attorney's had to try to find him and give him every opportunity to claim her as his. They didn't find him and he never showed up. So then after about 30 days, our case went before the court and both the birth mother and father's parental rights were terminated meaning they could never come back and try to get her. That was a sigh of relief for us. Not on M's part (the birth mother) because we have a great relationship with her, but it made us nervous about him. We had no reason to think he would show up, but you just never know.
In the meantime, we were having our post-placement visits. Basically our home study agency comes to our house to make sure we are adjusting well and that Kaleigh is adjusting well. We had one in February and one in March. They both went great! In the March home study our social worker had to recommend/not recommend that our adoption be finalized (which means she's ours forever). She saw that things are going well and recommended that our adoption be finalized.
So both of those things had to happen-parental rights terminated and us passing our home studies-before we could finalize. There also has to be a 90 day waiting period. So as of yesterday our home studies have been submitted to the attorney's office and they will set a court date to finalize our adoption. We will not have to be physically present in court, but will have to be present via the phone. That should be right around the April 9th date.
We look forward to the day Kaleigh is officially a Racine (most of you probably didn't know she wasn't!) In our hearts it is obviously already official, but we will be glad to have it legally official. From there it's more paperwork-getting her a birth certificate with our name on it, getting her a SS #-you know the essentials! I'll tell you what, we sure do love that girl!! We are thankful that finalization is the next step on this beautiful journey!! (and how could you not when you get to look at this sweet face all day!)
Monday, March 11, 2013
Kaleigh Month 2
I cannot believe Kaleigh is 2 months old!! I think I will probably say that every month! Here is her month in review:
She celebrated her first Valentine's Day! She wanted to make sure everyone knew she was Mommy and Daddy's Valentine!
HAHA! She really is such a good baby, but she has definitely started to develop a little sassy side too (Heath says she is learning it from me!) One day Heath was out of town so when he called I just held the phone up to her and let her tell him what kind of day she was having.
Most of her days are like this:
She started smiling this month. It seriously melts my heart. It's next to impossible to get a good picture of it so this is the best we could do. She also started recognizing our voices and will turn and look for us when she hears it. I love it!
She still spends her days with Mommy and Daddy. Heath is such a good daddy. I love seeing him with her.
Love that pouty lip! It's so pitiful!!
We love her so much and are so thankful to be her Mommy and Daddy!
Things she likes:
*still playing with her tongue
*she is cooing a lot (especially in the morning)
*smiling
*hitting the rattle on her play mat-I'm not convinced she knows what she's doing, but she likes it!
*sitting in her swing
*when I sing to her (she will often start making noises right along with me!)
Things she dislikes:
*still bath time...I'm talking screams the whole time :(
*the nasal aspirator...oh man does she hate it
*waking up and realizing she doesn't have her paci in her mouth
I think that's all for now! We love this little girl so much!!
She celebrated her first Valentine's Day! She wanted to make sure everyone knew she was Mommy and Daddy's Valentine!
She got to meet Glory, Saige and Emet. And the Cazee's came for a visit!
She started having days like these:
Most of her days are like this:
She still spends her days with Mommy and Daddy. Heath is such a good daddy. I love seeing him with her.
Our dear friends from West Lafayette, the Cremeens, came and spent the night with us. Liam enjoyed checking Kaleigh out. He was so sweet and wanted to keep going to look at her in her crib while she was sleeping. He is getting so big. It was such a sweet treat to have them visit!
She got her 2 month shots. This is right before. She was snoozing away and then got a bit of a rude awakening. When they gave her the first one she immediately looked at me and started crying as if to say "what are you letting her do to me?" They let me pick her up as soon as they were done and she calmed right down. What a trooper!
She turned 2 months old!!
Things she likes:
*still playing with her tongue
*she is cooing a lot (especially in the morning)
*smiling
*hitting the rattle on her play mat-I'm not convinced she knows what she's doing, but she likes it!
*sitting in her swing
*when I sing to her (she will often start making noises right along with me!)
Things she dislikes:
*still bath time...I'm talking screams the whole time :(
*the nasal aspirator...oh man does she hate it
*waking up and realizing she doesn't have her paci in her mouth
I think that's all for now! We love this little girl so much!!
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