Wordless Wednesday

The Cornhusker State

One Nebraska stereotype that I do not mind is that we have lots of corn. We do. But ya know? It's sooooo delicious!!! Tonight at Papa's (my dad's) birthday party, Decs got hooked up with his own corncob to gnaw on.

The cousins had some good slip n slide and popsicle time. Here's my nephew Shauny. Isn't he the cutest? Tonight he informed me that he's much bigger than all ants. He also said "sure thing" about 20 times. Adorable. 

My dad, Declan's Papa, tought him to give him a five. Maybe all the arm action was getting to him because he waved for the first time (on his own) tonight. So cute!!! Also, he's taking 6-7 steps and standing with such confidence. He looks like he had a margarita first but, hey, he's still walking!

Open Adoption Wish List

The open adoption roundtable marches on. If you want to read other's posts on this topic visit Production, Not Reproduction. My open adoption "wish list" looks a little like this:

*Security. My wish is that Declan will be a strong, confident, kind and secure person. I want him to know where he came from. I want him to know his birth parents made a loving plan for his life and did not "give him up". 

*Relationship. My wish is that Declan will continue to have a relationship with his birth parents. We see them every few months now and I hope the contact doesn't go away. I wish for him to feel close to and know the amazing people that C and T are.

*Peace. I wish for C and T to have peace in their lives. They've ended their relationship and are moving on to new things and I've never known if they have peace. As you might remember, they did change their mind and take Declan home for 7 days. Did they feel like adoption is what they had to do or something they knew they needed to do? My prayer for them is peace.

*Comfort. My wish is for us to all continue to become closer. I hope to look down the sideline at Declan's soccer game someday and see T or C. 

*Honesty. I wish for Dec's adoption to be an open book to him as he grows. I want him to be a proud adopted child. I wish for us, as parents, to handle those hard questions with humility and love.

*Character. My wish for Declan (I'm veering from the theme) is that he is a caring human being. My wish is that he treats people with respect. That he does not judge. My wish is that he is confident and funny like me. My wish is that he's kind, smart and analytical like his Dad. My wish is that we have the strength to be the role models he deserves and that we teach him about a relationship with God- not just a religion. More than anything, my wish is for him to be happy person that knows he's loved more than this mom can describe.

Blog Hop

I'm taking part in a blog hop today. We're to post a favorite picture. This picture is from late last summer. Declan was about 3 or 4 weeks old. I just LOVE how the pacifier is half the size of his face. It's crazy how huge the car seat buckle looks. This picture's been a favorite of mine for awhile and I finally got it downloaded off my mom's camera. If you want to join the blog hop (or hop around to other blogs) click on the link below.

Guess what the mailman brought?

I just got through the mail from late last week and there was a great little surprise in it....a birth certificate for this precious boy:

Oh...and the "mother" and "father" portion?? It included the information of this crazy couple:

WOOT!! I know it's just a piece of paper but to us it's another piece to our puzzle. The joy of a birth certificate is compounded by having to wait for it to be changed to reflect our forever family. 

I got caught in a "goose bump moment" tonight. Declan was splashing around in the tub making his famous laughing noise (sort of a hacking sound) and I was getting choked up. He's such a little man. He looks tall. His neck is longer. His hair is filling out. He has such a personality. Not a baby anymore. How did this happen so fast? 

Today Mark and I were sitting opposite each other in the living room while Declan walked back and forth to each of us and I said that he was the most adorable boy I've ever seen. My husband said the sweetest possible thing: "Of course he's adorable, he's our son". I didn't think genetics, I just soaked up his comment. Of course he's adorable. He's our son. My heart overflows. Every life experience is richer. The mundane is filled with more meaning. Looking at things through Declan's eyes makes every moment delicious. 

Adoption finalization...check. Birth certificate...check. Forever family blessed-beyond-what-words-could-ever-describe...check check.

Walk this way....talk this way...

I'm not ready for Declan to be walking quite yet but he doesn't care. He's taking 3-5 wobbly steps and face planting all day long. He's Mr. Fearless but so far so good. I'm told I only have weeks until he's full on walking everywhere. Better go- need to do more childproofing. :)

Wordless Wednesday