Our Adoption is final!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!


Samson & Sydney are officially ours as of Tuesday the 22nd at about 11:45 AM. It is such an amazing feeling and definitely the BEST Christmas present ever!!

Here are a few photos for you:

Alot to be thankful for!

We will be finalizing our adoption on either December 22nd or 29th (depdending on confirmation of court availability).

We will be having an adoption party on January 9th with an open house reception from 4 - 6 PM.

Let us know if you'd like to come and we'll send you the info.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy October

I do hope you are sitting down...otherwise it may come as too much of a shock that I have finally managed to sit down and post an update.

We are so thrilled to report that as of Monday, October 12th the twins are finally legally free for us to adopt and we have started the adoption paperwork process. Our adoption home study has been updated and as soon as our adoption case worker gets back from her Hawaii vacation we will complete the "disclosure" paperwork (this is basically just saying we know their background and yes we want to move forward with the adoption). Once that paperwork is completed it will be submitted to the regional office for processing which takes about 3 - 4 weeks. It will then be sent to our attorney who will finalize all of our paperwork and set the court date. We are hoping to be able to wrap everything up by the end of the year but it may slip in to January. Either way - we are well on our way to becoming a "Forever Family"

Sam took his first steps to me on Mother's day and hasn't stopped since! Sydney has been a bit slower to walk but started about a month ago now and is cruising around at a pretty good clip already. She has had some gross motor skill delays but has Occupational Therapy every other week here at home. We have seen a lot of progress in a short amount of time!

They are saying several words now and know several signs - they can sign "more", "thank you", "please", "water, Please", "dog", "all done" and Sam signs "shoes". They say Mama, Dada, baby, Bobpa, Nana and shoe and others. They love to read books - Sam is especially fond of reading to anyone who will listen. They are learning some animal sounds - "ruff ruff" and "meow" are the current favorites. They are also quite eager to point out their nose, eyes, mouth, hair, and especially belly buttons! Another favorite activity is tickling - not only do they like to tickle Mommy and Daddy - they will tickle themselves and crack up laughing.

They have also really started to play together quite a bit - especially peek-a-boo! It is pretty funny to watch them crack each other up. Tonight we had some music playing and Sam went over to Sydney and took both of her hands and started dancing with her - sure wish I had been fast enough to get a video of that!

Here is a photo album with a taste of what we've been up to for the last 6 months. I will try very hard to not let so much time go by before the next post.

Click here to view these pictures larger

At Long Last - warning mega-post

Finally a post....with lots of pictures! We've been pretty busy around here with the babies gaining mobility rapidly. They aren't quite walking yet but they are definitely getting around - and FAST!!

Things are progressing with their case and the state is changing their official plan to "adoption". That change will go before the judge on May 6th but is expected to be approved. The process for adoption will still take several more months but we have been encouraged to begin calling them the names we have chosen for them. Drum roll please......

Samson Robert Elijah and Sydney Anna Peytine are their names. We call them Sam & Sydney (or Sam-Sam & Syd-girl!)

So - I haven't posted for so long so this goes clear back to early February. We had 5 month old Akeshia with us for 2 nights while her foster mom attended a class.



Trying to fill Dad's shoes:


One of my favorite pictures - a Sunday afternoon in early February. Darin, our niece Leah with Sydney and our nanny Chelsey with Sam having an afternoon nap:


Sam being extra cool:




And Sydney with her sweet smile and cowgirl hat!!:



A playdate with our friend Hannah who was born the same day as the twins!


Reading bed-time stories with Auntie Suzette:


Sam helping Daddy build a fire:


Visiting Mommy's best friends from HS - Jill & Kari on March 9th (yes, they are twins too!!). It was so fun to spend time with them - the first time in MANY years to just hang out and visit.


March 20th - riding around in a box:


We stayed in a hotel for 5 days during our bathroom remodel (will do a separate post on that once it is completely finished - hopefully will be done this week). We used our moby wrap to tie the twins into a chair for feeding:


The hotel stay was quite an experience - our niece Leah was with us as well as our nanny Chelsey. Sydney found a piece of a snickers bar and had consumed most of it before we noticed what she was up to:


Cousin/Niece Leah feeding both babies at the same time in the hotel:


Here we are back home again wearing our jammies from Nana Shirley:


Sydney with Auntie Bonnita on Easter with her pig tails:


Our little family with Lily the lamb at Uncle Jeff & Auntie Bonnita's place on Easter:


Sydney & Lily:



Sydney & Sam with Lily:


April 16th - our first swimming experience - WE LOVED IT!! Sydney and Chelsey on the left and Sam & Mommy on the right:


Shopping at Fred Meyer:


Playing with our favorite toy in our new diaper covers:


Not quite sure what's so funny but something is absolutely hilarious!!


Sam's first haircut






Sydney fell asleep eating breakfast one morning - nice post-pony tail hair!


And just taken today - Sam & Daddy standing in the doorway:

Handmade surprise

I managed to be the 5th person that left a comment on my friend Jo's block which means I get something fun made by her. The catch is that I have to post this on my blog too....and, just like Jo - have been wanting to "make something" so, here's my chance to do it and be held accountable!!

Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

So....who will be the first 5 people?????

Valentine's Day Cards for Kids

I saw an article on CNN about this...you can buy valentine's day cards for your kids that go to provide support to children living in poverty in the United States. Not only is it a good cause - the cards are really adorable.

You can find the cards here.

Pillow Fight and More

I think the twins have been EXTRA cute lately! So - here's a few more photos.

They both fell asleep on our bed after their morning feeding. When I went in to get them after they woke up - this is what I found. The pics don't show it very well but Peytine was getting in a few licks of her own. Of course they weren't really hitting each other but the back and forth action was pretty funny.

PILLOW FIGHT!





Here are their new shirts from Auntie Kristi - notice that Elijah now has 4 teeth with another one coming in. Poor baby has been getting one tooth after another. Peytine still only has two on the bottom but is working on getting some on the top too.



A few developmental progress notes: We have been teething times two at our house since just before Thanksgiving. They got their first two teeth in succession one day apart for each baby and each tooth one week apart. Elijah has been popping out teeth one after the other ever since but Peytine so far just swells up, her cheeks get hot and red and she drools copiously - no more teeth yet. They are both sitting up on their own with minimal intervention. They are very actively rolling around on the floor and will roll to get a toy that they want to play with. They are showing signs of crawling soon and can both "walk" when you hold their little hands. They make lots of fun sounds including ma-ma-ma and da-da-da. Elijah's sounds are a little clearer than Peytines but she is catching up. Peytine waved "bye-bye" for the first time last week and has been very interested in waving at her self - having just discovered that the hand belongs to her! She is also trying very hard to hold her own bottle - Elijah would much rather lay back and have someone hold it for him. It is so fun to watch their personalities. They really adore each other too and entertain and laugh at each other on a regular basis. We also still catch them holding hands in their crib. They are growing and changing every day and bring such joy to us.

On the legal front: the next court hearing is February 9th. The official state plan is still "return home" to their biological mom - basically they have to have that on the paperwork for a certain amount of time unless the commissioner/judge decides she doesn't get any more chances. She has been showing up for the one hour visits with them every week but has not engaged in any of the other services she has been court ordered to do. We are still waiting to find out about paternity - in typical state agency fashion, the child suppport enforcement agency won't allow the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to have the information from the paternity test without a court order. Even if the bio-Dad is identified and doesn't engage in services, the State is required to try and find any family members of his that may be interested. So - it's a wait and see game but we are hoping to know something more definitive before the end of the year. By law the state is supposed to have a permanency plan in place by the time they have been in state custody for a year which will be the middle of September. It could still be several more months after that before an adoption is final even if the plan at that time is for us to adopt them. We are of course hoping for a speedier resolution than that but are just trying to be patient for now and enjoy the babies. Patience may be difficult but enjoying them is easy!

Happy Sunday!

We took a "few" very cute photos of the babies today and just had to share!

Twins all dressed up:



Uh-Oh, Mommy caught us taking off a shoe!



Here's one each of me with my little man and little miss:




Elijah hamming it up for the camera:



Jammy time (thanks to our friends Garry & Nancy for the cute PJ's):

Auntie Kristi comes for a visit and more

Warning - this will likely be a "MEGA-POST"! Sorry it's been so long since we've posted - things have been a little busy around here. Dad/Bobpa came for a visit for a few days for a follow up with his oncologist at Virgina Mason. He had the wonderful news of a clean report and doesn't have to come back for 12 months!!!

This week we had a visit from Kristi G all the way from Sioux Falls, SD. Kristi was my maid of honor from our wedding and my "sister"...we both have 4 brothers and no sisters and ever since we worked together at the Corvallis Gazette Times (Corvallis, OR) we have claimed each other as sisters. The funny part is that people always think we are sisters anyway so it just makes it easier to answer the "is this your sister?" question with a YES!

The twins are growing and progressing by leaps and bounds. They are super funny and cute. Here is a video of the two of them in their exersaucers - Peytine apparently thinks Elijah is the funniest thing on the planet.


Bobpa and Peytine:



Elijah:


Peytine:


Auntie Kristi and the twins:


Auntie Kristi and Watson (who was VERY happy for all of the extra attention!)


Bath Time!!


New High Chairs (They LOVE them and so do we...feeding time is soooo much easier and the high chairs fold up to 7.5 inches wide for quick easy storage...happiness all around!).


Auntie Kristi left to go back home today so we were all feeling sad. To lighten the atmosphere a little Darin was playing peek-a-boo etc with the babies. Elijah was totally in to it and Peytine couldn't have been less interested. Here is a video clip of the fun:


And one last picture for good measure...Elijah was feeling VERY snuggly one afternoon:


Can you believe that January is ALMOST over already???? Yikes!!