michael's here

Michael arrived this afternoon with the social worker, and he jumped into Alan's arms.

He is a happy seven-month-old baby (though he is overstimulated and overtired tonight!) who came into our house and our hearts tonight. He has been in foster care for the last two months. He is healthy, and weighs in at seventeen pounds.

Michael has had a few visitors already (people who "just couldn't wait"), and is working on getting himself used to his new home. He's trying to sit up, and he's rolling over... and over... so, we're pretty sure he'll be mobile soon.

By the weekend, hopefully he will be ready to play. Tomorrow, we anticipate he may be a bit grumpy (if he doesn't sleep well tonight)... and Thursday he gets a new round of shots (and he may have a field trip to my office).

We know that you're all anxious to meet our boy... and to welcome him into your lives. We can't wait to share him with you!

Some good news from the Social Worker... looks like birth mom may be willing to give up her parental rights voluntarily, rather than waiting for them to be terminated by the county. That would make Michael's first year with us much more relaxing.

Love,
Peter & Alan

tonight, tonight...

We met the social workers yesterday and spent some time with Michael and his foster mother yesterday... and he is coming to our house this afternoon!

So, the tough part that we have to deal with is the reality... he is a foster child, still in the custody of Adams County. He is "ours, but not ours" during this time. There is a social worker concentrating on reunifying him with his birth mother and one working on terminating her parental rights. We are comfortable that the odds are with Michael staying with us forever, and we will treat him as if that is the case. However, we are confident that the system will come to the right conclusion.

In the meantime, yikes! Are we ready for a baby?! Here's the nursery and an introductory picture to Michael.

Standing by... Our file is finally complete, and we have a message from the adoption recruiter that she's calling at 5 to talk about a kid.

inspection and paint

We had our final home inspection today and passed... the Social Worker needs to file her final report, we have to send the cat's vaccination records to the county, and then we wait for "the call."

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the painting projects we've taken on as part of the home prep...

paint

We figured the fastest way to get the county to schedule an inspection was to begin a home project that would create all kinds of hazards for little ones... so we started painting! The problem with a nice open space and a great room is that it's hard to decide where to begin and where to stop...

So, with the entry half-done and ladders, plastic, and open paint cans everywhere, we got the call. Our home inspection is scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon!

That means that this week will be occupied with finishing the painting, cleaning the garage, getting stuff out to GoodWill, and studying the inspection/certification list to be sure we've missed nothing!