And they lived happily ever after...

Well this is the final post of our blog. I want this to stay an adoption blog and not be a family blog. When we were in the process of our adoption I really enjoyed reading people's adoption stories. I often had to weed through the posts to find the "adoption story" part. I hope people can find hope and encouragement within our blog. I pray that if you are reading this or just came across this and are in the process of adoption that you will TRUST GOD-- for He has your perfect child picked for you. We will continue to pray for Kaycee's Birthmom (KBM) as well as the many birth moms out there pre and post adoption. If you would like to be on our prayer list as a birthmom or waiting family please e-mail me at kierstinv@yahoo.com. We love praying for you and we know how powerful prayer is!!
Soooo until I can talk my husband into one more adoption (hopefully we can begin a year from now-- I want Kaycee to have a sister!) this blog is done!
Thanks for reading and many blessings to you!!

Finalization complete

One week ago we went to Orlando to the court house and finalized Kaycee's adoption. We had to answer a bunch of questions and then we had to make a statement of intent. When our lawyer asked us who would be saying it we decided we both wanted to say something.

First I said...
"God has blessed us with the most amazing little girl Kaycee Jaselle. We were incredibly fortunate to be at her birth, support her birthmom during labor and hold her within minutes of her arrival. Kaycee Jaselle’s name is an expression of the love by all her parents. Kaycee comes from the first initials of Kierstin and Chris and Jaselle was given to her by her birthmother. Our hearts grew bigger the moment Kaycee arrived and we are so incredibly grateful for her. She fits in our family perfectly and she has been welcomed and embraced by our extended family members and friends."

Then Chris read our promise to Kaycee...
"Our promise to Kaycee
We promise to provide a loving, secure, safe and positive home for you.
We will love you equally and unconditionally along with your two brothers.
We will encourage your strengths and support you with your weaknesses.
We promise to raise you to express your individuality.
We promise to provide you with the guidance you need to pursue all of your dreams.
We will also teach you the ways of our Christian faith so that you come to know
and love our Lord who has blessed you in our lives.
Kaycee, we are so grateful to have you as our daughter
and we are honored to be your parents."

My friend Penny came with us and video taped the whole thing too! After we finished with the court proceedings and the paperwork we took pictures around the court house. One in front of the statue was of us with our lawyer Debbie who was soooo cool!
Then we went and had a 1 1/2 hour visit with KBM which went great as always. We finished our time in Orlando with a great lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Yum!
When we got home it hit me. Sometimes it takes me a little bit-- I looked at my precious daughter and exhaled a huge sigh and thought "you really are all mine now." I just love her soooo much! What a blessing!

Big Day??

So tomorrow we go to court in Orlando to finalize Kaycee's adoption. I really wasn't feeling like this was anything more than the "last piece of the paperwork" initially. Because we were able to be at Kaycee's birth made me think that finalization is no big deal but now I think maybe it is... When we talked to our attorney last week she said we will have to answer several questions and we needed to have a statement of intent to read to the judge. This feels like saying my marriage vows and I'm all of a sudden nervous. I need to come up with our statement-- why did I wait until the night before??? I asked a friend to come with us to video tape it and take pictures. Here I am writing on my blog procrastinating... Anyhow, KBM texted me today and asked if she could have a quick visit with us tomorrow after the hearing. I was thrilled and can't wait to see her! I came up with a questionnaire that she has agreed to fill out for the book I'm making for Kaycee about the story of her birth and all about her "Tummy Mommy." It should be cool! Well, I better go work on this statement...

Three Months Old!!!

Well I can't believe another month has gone by... this one has been the fastest so far as I feel like I've just been spinning my wheels and praying to stay a float! I returned to work full time on January 10th. It was a month sooner than I intended but the daycare situation sort of dictated that. I could either go back in April or January and due to my financial insecurities I chose January. It has definitely been an adjustment and I am exhausted but it's starting to get easier now that I'm getting in the groove of our routines! Kaycee really started showing some good eye contact and purposeful smiles this month! She giggles (which cracks me up) a lot and is such a happy content baby girl. We did not get to see her birth mom this month but have made plans to see her this weekend. I can't wait for her to see all of Kaycee's smiles and giggles!! Today was our final post placement visit from Bethany Christian Services and we are scheduled to go to court next Thursday to make everything legal. She will then be given our last name legally and will be issued a new birth certificate with our names on it. I wonder if it will feel different-- it's just paper but I'm sure it'll be special! Our sweet blessing...

More to Come

I was so excited this week when my friend Tammy told me she checked my blog frequently and wondered why I hadn't posted in a while! I didn't know people actually looked at this or checked it! Anyhow, Kaycee will turn 3 months old ( OMGosh!!)on Saturday and this has been a crazy busy month! I return to work 3 week ago and am trying to keep up with everything! I have a lot to say here but will wait for the 3 month pics and update!! I will post here a few pics of Kaycee's Baptism that was on January 16th. It was awesome! Everything went perfect well almost everything-- KBM couldn't make it at the last minute due to transportation issues. If she didn't live a hour away and let us know 1 hour before the Baptism we would've picked her up. Oh well... we'll see her in February for a visit. For now we still text once or twice a week. Ok-- here's some Baptism pics and stay tuned-- I'll post on Sat or Sunday-- probably Sunday...

Open Adoption Roundtable #22

So I love reading adoption blogs and recently came across this one:
http://www.productionnotreproduction.com/2011/01/open-adoption-roundtable-22.html

I decided to be a part of their Open Adoption Bloggers so I can "pass it on." They asked Open Adoption Bloggers to participate in this round table discussion so here it is!!
Tell us about your open adoption hopes or commitments in 2011.

Well, I'm new at this Open Adoption as our daughter is only 2 months old but I hope to continue our relationship with KBM. My hope is to be able to educate more people about open adoption and even possibly hold a workshop for waiting families at our adoption agency. I can there share my experience, strength and hope with them. As far as commitments goes I have recently ordered a couple books on open adoption and I plan to read them this year! :) I also want to continue to blog about our adoption experience to give other couples or families hope and inspiration! So those are my plans-- I pray God will guide my footsteps and put me in the right situations to be of maximum service!

Two Months Old

My Sweet Kaycee girl is Two Months Old today!!!!! She is really starting to smile and visually focus on us more! We had her birthmom over to our home on December 26th for dinner/ Christmas gathering. I never in a million years thought I'd have my adopted child's birth mother to our home-- "OMG she'll know where we live! Ahhhhh!!!" But really it's obviously nothing like that! Many people look at me strange when I tell them she came over and I know what they are thinking cuz heck I thought it too... We had a wonderful time and she is a delight. She was so sweet and brought clothes and a toy for Kaycee. We will see her again in January for Kaycee's Baptism. I expect our visits will decrease after that and slowly meld into our original agreement but I'm fine with how everything is going so far...
One thing I did not expect to feel was "adoptive parent guilt." I never even heard this term until I saw it posted on a friend's Facebook page. I had a bad case of it last week. KBM texted me and told me MTV's 16 and pregnant was doing a show on adoption. I watched it on my computer the next day and it really pulled on my heartstrings. I love KBM so much and my heart aches for her-- my happiness is her sadness and this makes me feel sad. Here's the link to that episode:
16 And Pregnant (Season 2) | Ep. 19 | Ashley

It's a long one but phew it's good to see the other side too. Well that's it for now!