Officially a Momma!

So...its been a hot minute since this hot mess momma has visited the blog world! To say a lot has changed would be an understatement!
If you've been around my blog at all you know I've been a foster momma since March of 2014. Well, as of February and March of 2016 I am officially an adoptive Momma!
My babies that came to me as a newborn and a nine year old are now my three and almost thirteen year olds and I cannot imagine loving them anymore had I given birth to them myself.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my two official lovies!!!

My first baby is actually my youngest, three year old Simon Ezekiel! He was the best baby! Slept through the night from day one, loved to cuddle and outside of a week long stay in Children's Hospital he was so perfectly healthy I was in shock (given the situation he came from). Simie, as the daycare kiddos renamed Bub, is now a rambunctious toddler who likes to climb furniture, ride the dog like he's a horse, make monstrous disasters and show his favorite people just how much he loves them by giving "good sugars"...a lot. He is my little rotten boy that could not be more perfect!

My second "baby" came to me a month before her 10th birthday as an overly medicated, exhausted, nervous, beautiful little blonde haired, blue eyed girl. Once we tackled the medication issue she quickly became a sassy, loving, inspirational little girl. Now, almost three years later Lillian Elizabeth, aka LillyBeth, is the absolute best big sister, officially a Homecoming Queen for the peewee football team, an amazing little softball player, and has a huge circle of friends that are an absolute blast. She really has grown in to such an amazing (almost) teenager and I am so blessed to have this sweet girl as mine!

Exciting News for 2016!!!

2016 is bringing huge changes for my little family and I could not be more excited!

Most of my friends and family have heard all about my adoption process with my baby boy, it has been long and drawn out, but we're finally getting close to the end!

What I haven't shared as much about is my adoption process with one of my other kiddos, Miss Priss! 

So, while we are still waiting on our adoption date for Bubby, (we do have a review date finally!!!) as of today we have our official adoption date for Miss Priss!!! 

February 22nd!!!

Yes, it is happening! I am adopting not one, but TWO kiddos in 2016!!!

Miss Priss is counting down the days until she can change her name and she is so excited for me to be able to post pictures of her all over Facebook! ha!

2015 was an amazingly blessed year for our family, but 2016 is looking even better! So thankful for all that God has blessed me with! 

I'll leave you guys with this picture Miss Priss showed me after court today. She brought this to me with tears rolling down her face and said, "This is so true!" And it really is! 

Love my Babies!

via

getting closer.

via

I just wrote my baby boy's "new name" on an official document for the first time, and WOW, I didn't realize how emotional it would make me! These past 17 months have seemed so long at times and then others, like today, it seems like just yesterday I was picking up the most precious two week old baby boy from our DHS office.

This whole process has been so emotional, and like I said before, so long at times. I would get so excited for court every time we would go starting in January of this year because I had been told that termination would be taking place and the adoption process could get started.
Four.
This is how many times in the past eight months that termination was placed on hold and the adoption processed was pushed back. Four times my family got so excited, just knowing, that today is the day they will terminate! And four times it didn't happen.

17, almost 18 months since I first laid eyes on my beautiful boy, it is finally here! Termination has happened and now we wait again, but this time for the adoption hearing.

I could not be any more excited as I plan the days ahead, the adoption photos, the "name reveal" party, sharing photos of my gorgeous baby with everyone, and really just planning a life for myself and my downright rotten baby boy.

I can't wait to show you all his huge brown eyes and the cutest little grin in the whole world! And well, I think he probably has the best name ever. (Not even my closest family and friends know his name yet and it is killing them!!) ;)

Thank you for the prayers over these last months as we sat through such uncertain times. Those papers aren't signed yet but we're getting closer!

momma countdown

via

I'm counting down the days.

36 days.

In 36 days I will take my little man back to court for hopefully the next to last time.

In 36 days our adoption date should be set, and hopefully taken care of within a month. By July 4th Bubby should officially be mine and I could not be more excited!

I tear up just thinking about how special this last year has been and how grateful I am for the parents that birthed my sweet baby, but I'll save that post for later, maybe when it is all official.

Today I'm stressing about the logistics of it all.
I have to plan long term with this little person. I have to worry about the paperwork, new birth certificate, new social security card, etc. I have to think about him starting pre-school and kindergarten and then graduating high school and eventually college.
I like to think about the person he will become. He already has such an amazing little personality, I can only imagine how it will grow and change with him.

Today I'm stressing about names. What will I name my sweet boy?! For over a year we have simply called him Bubby for the most part. I knew if given the opportunity to adopt I would and I would not want to keep his birth name in its entirety, if at all. I feel like what you name a baby is a huge decision, but how do I find the perfect combination of unique and traditional? Should I be freaking out over the fact that the original name I picked has now sky rocketed on the "Baby Names of 2015" on nameberry.com!? Because I'm totally freaking out over this!

More than all of these things I'm stressing over at the moment (and there are plenty of other things on the list that are more than any one blog post can handle), I am so beyond excited to be this much closer to officially being a Momma and not just a FoMomma! This is not at all what I expected for my life at this point, it's so much better. I am so blessed!