Finished!

Avenn's furniture arrived today.  We had baby furniture but both of the boys had used it and we wanted to girl the nursery up a little bit.  So we picked out new furniture and each of the kids have had their own bedding sets and decor.

We have pink!  And turquoise, and green, and yellow, and orange and a lot of colors.  I wanted the nursery to be girly but I wanted to it to have other colors besides pink.  I think we have it covered.  Also, I found a turquoise glitter toy box today.  What little girl doesn't need a turquoise glittery toy box?  Exactly.  She needed it.

She finally has a place all her own.

Also, Brice finished preschool today. He was actually finished in May but stayed through June to complete the kindergarten prep lessons.  He's a kindergartener now!  He will miss his teachers Miss Stacy and Miss Deana.  They were wonderful and he learned so much and loves them dearly.  I have no doubt Miss Deana and Miss Stacy will always remember their first year at The Goddard School and Briceman.  He leaves an impression!

 After school he came home and wanted to feed his sister.  He continues to take his big brother role very seriously.

Sorry...

When friends and acquaintances ask how Avenn is doing, I feel I should start my answer with an apology.  I do not want to be jinxed.

She's wonderful.  Truly wonderful.  She sleeps like a champion.  She wakes once a night and has since her first night home.

I know.  Newborns do not sleep that well.  We swaddle her and lay her down. She is out like a light in minutes.

I have many friends with little ones right now and I feel guilty when they ask how she is sleeping.  I do not want to answer.  I am afraid of being punched right in the mouth.

I get it.  The boys were not such good sleepers.  They were not bad, but typical.

I took Brice to his speech therapy appointment Monday.  A mother of two, her youngest 3 months old, sat beside me and asked about Avenn.  She was a tired mommy.  I understand.  I remember the days of just longing to have a five minute shower.  I did not want to tell her.  I wanted to lie.

I answered truthfully.  Her response to me (fire in her eyes) was, "well you look good for having a twelve day old baby".  I had to tell her.  I immediately replied, "she's adopted".  I felt guilty.  I told her it was easier for me because I had not birthed her.  I rambled about being more energetic and able to do more.  I spilled my guts.

In truth, we have three kids.  Our home is a three ring circus at times.  We are developing a system.  Brian and I are doing a good job of picking up each other's slack.  We just stepped off an emotional roller coaster.  We did not know if she would ever be our baby. We are just so thankful. We are ending on a high note. So far she's the easiest one.

I do realize as I typed that last sentence that I will eat my words someday. Probably someday very soon.

I am however, going to enjoy every peaceful minute of it right now.

And let's not let her adorable brothers be forgotten because they are pretty great too...

Week One

Yesterday marked our first week as a family of five.  We have settled in quite nicely. We are still working out the methods to our madness, but so far so good.

The boys have taken to their sister.  They turn to mush around her.  Their mushiness is sweet to watch.  Our rough and tumble hooligans softly stroke her hair, help with feedings, tickle her feet and run to greet her in the mornings. Melts my heart.

Tomorrow our sweet girl will be two weeks old.

No Time...

I have no time to blog.  We are enjoying our newest family member too much.

Maybe later...

Nothing But Photos...

 Chaos at the adoption agency...we're getting a sister!!

 Been a long day...

Big brother is in love...

 Finally home!

 Brothers still checking her out

 Grandma's happy!

 Mommy's over the moon!

She's Home!

The TPR (termination of parental rights) hearing was at 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon.  The court house closes at 5:00 p.m.  By 5:15 p.m. we were sweating bullets.  We had not yet heard from our social worker and it's safe to say we were freaking out a little bit.  Finally, a few minutes later we got the phone call...she's yours!

We all loaded up to go pick up our girl. I mean all of us...me, Brian, Brice, Rogan and my mom.  We thought about taking the dogs too but it was a little crowded in my big ol' SUV.  We headed to the adoption agency to sign all our paperwork and to bring her home!

We had her home by 9:00 p.m. last night and she has been the center of attention ever since.  Our boys are in love.  They could not wait to go get their "seeester" and Brice also asked to get a Pokemon.  They were all over her and behaved like maniacs at the agency because they were so excited.  

Avenn slept wonderfully last night, only waking up once at 3:30 a.m. to eat and was back to sleep by 4:00 a.m.  It's 7:00 a.m. now and she is still snoring in her pack and play.  I think she likes it here.

Today, stock in the mega baby stores will go up because we will most likely hit em' hard!  We did not want to buy too much in fear we might jinx her arrival. We were still feeling the sting of last August's failed placement.  Now she is home with us and poor Brian's credit card is probably going to melt.

So happy to have our Avenn!

Lots more pictures to come!

Adoption Update

Brian and I went to the hospital last night and spent some time with Avenn before she was discharged.  We helped to load her up and send her on her way to the foster family's home for the weekend.  She is in very good hands and will be the center of attention all weekend I believe.

The hearing for the termination of the birth mother's rights is set for Monday at 4 p.m.  The birth father's termination paperwork was filed yesterday with the court.  We do not attend the TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) hearing on Monday.  The hearing will include the birth mother, judge and agency social worker.  After the hearing is completed we will be notified immediately by our social worker and will meet at the agency for a commitment ceremony.  The birth parents may attend if they like.

After the TPR's have been signed and filed we will have to wait six months in Oklahoma (it varies from state to state) to finalize the adoption.  Everyone always asks when/if the birth parents can change their mind within the six months.  They can, but it is very difficult for them.  In the 30 years our agency has been placing children, twice has a birth parent returned and challenged the TPR.  In both cases the children remained with the adoptive parents.  The birth parents would have to prove to the court they had been coerced or under duress when they signed the TPR.

We hope to have Avenn in our arms by 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

Now What?

Sometime today, Avenn will be discharged from the hospital.  She will go to a family who fosters for the agency until next week when "R" appears in court in front of the judge to terminate her parental rights.

It's going to be a long weekend.

Hopefully, the attorney will be able to get the hearing set first thing Monday. Fingers and toes crossed.

Hopefully, "R" will still feel in her heart that Avenn is meant to be a Mitchell and she will appear in court on Monday.

It's going to be a long weekend.

She's Here!

Avenn Lily (pronounced aye-venn) was born around 8:00 p.m. last night and weighed 7 lbs 2.6 oz.  We do not have all the details yet because privacy paperwork is still being signed before information can be released.

Brian and I were able to go to the hospital around 10 p.m. to meet here.  I was allowed into the nursery for a few moments to greet her, talk to her and gently touch her.  We were unable to hold her and Brian was not allowed to go into the nursery.  In adoption, a lot paperwork has to be processed...A LOT.  Our agency had all of their paperwork complete and they are currently meshing their required paperwork with the hospital's required paperwork.  Privacy laws provide many hoops that must be cleared.

Also, Avenn did have a slight arrhythmia so doctors were closely monitoring her. The medical staff did not want her to be held and jostled around while their machines monitored her throughout the night allowing them to get a clear picture of her heart rhythms.  We were told her arrhythmia is common and most often clears up on it's own in a couple days.  After speaking to the doctor our social worker told us this morning she did well last night with no issues or irregular rhythms and another EKG was being done this morning to verify she was doing well.

We were able to get one quick snapshot of her with me trying to hold her head up for a quick photo but that is it so far.  We will be going to the hospital around lunch time when all red tape should be cleared and a private room set up for us to go hold her and bond with her.

We will share more photos and information as we are able.  Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, texts, emails and Facebook postings; we truly appreciate all of the support we have received.