Green Dress and New Teeth

Baby Girl's Invitation

We're having a party for Sweet Sadie on Saturday, and I wanted to share the artwork on the invitation because I am so happy with the way it turned out.

We're keeping it small and intimate - our family, Sadie's birth father's family, and a small group of people who prayed with us and surrounded us with love and support as we journeyed toward her.

Happy Birthday to our lovely girl! (Again!)

Happy Birthday, Sadie!

It's been a year - can you believe it?!  I hardly can. And now she has gone from that precious, tiny creature above to this strong, energetic, and beautiful little girl (who threw up on her shirt while at the park - which is why she's topless...):

Dearest Sadie Eloise,

We thank God for you, your life, and your backstory. We think you are absolutely delightful and lovely in every way. We are blessed to be your parents.

Love, Mama and Papa

Sadie's Final Hearing

In the adoption process there are many steps. While the child cannot be taken back by the birth parents after the first thirty days (or sooner if a waiver is signed), it is another eight or more months of home visits from social workers, reports being submitted, documents signed by the child's doctor testifying that she is in good health and being cared for appropriately, and lawyer busywork before the legal transfer is complete. The final step is appearing before a judge and signing one last piece of paper.

Sadie's court appointment was on Friday, February 10th. It took all of about four minutes for this monumental event to occur. First we sat down with the judge. She said we were signing to acknowledge that this arrangement would be permanent. Forever.  (Um, yes, please!)

With that warning, we were given a document to sign. Our wonderful lawyer drew up a separate agreement (not legal, of course) for Benjamin to sign. Note his excitement at getting a turn to say, yes, Sadie would be his sister forever (above).

We all made our mark (Benjamin actually made a mark that looked like cursive, believe it or not!).

And then the judge signed and sealed it as well.

With this action, we were accorded the same rights in the eyes of the law as any parents who had biological ties to their children. We are no longer guardians, but parents.

We should receive Sadie's new birth certificate in the mail in about six to eight months - we can then apply for a social security card. The new birth certificate will have our names on it as her parents - it will look no different from a biological birth certificate.

We still have her original certificate, however, the one with her birth parents' names on it. That will go into her scrapbook, and it is a dear and important part of her story that we will always make available to her.

Look at the photo below - I don't know what that comic was taped to the table, but I find it funny that while the judge was showing us her document, it looks like we're reading the comic. What?!!

Thanks to Grandma for being present and taking photos of Sadie's big moment!

Sadie's 11-Month Milestones

So this post is a month late, but the photo and information in it is accurate.

It just took me forever to post. Being that TODAY IS HER FIRST BIRTHDAY,

I thought I should get this up and then celebrate her twelfth month.

Weight: 21.5 pounds

Sadie can...

* stand (until she realizes she's standing)
* say "all done," "dog," "da-da," "nana" (for banana), and make the sign for milk when she wants some
* walk about 3-4 steps unaided
* get into drawers and take stuff out
* walk while holding onto the couch or table
* sit and look at a book - turn the pages
* hand you a toy, then take it back, then hand it back, then take it back...this makes her laugh
* ring a bell, play drums

Sadie can almost...

* walk any distance

Sadie likes to spin herself dizzy in her Jolly Jumper. One morning after eating breakfast, she spun herself constantly for a good 20 minutes - until she threw up!

She also does a lot of talking: "zuka-zuka-zuka-zuka"  "bahzkowitz-kovitzka" and so on.

Two more teeth made an appearance in honor of her eleventh month - they are moving in on the lower level.

She puts up with a seemingly intolerable amount of nonsense from Benjamin, including getting flattened by his "rough-housing" moves, having toys grabbed out of her hand (by the same individual), and being swung around in her jumpy. Sadly, it only takes about 2.2 minutes of my back being turned for this sort of "big brother" behavior to manifest itself.

Want to see how far Sadie's come?
Ten-Month Update,   (I missed the nine-month!),   Eight-Month Update,   Seven-Month Update,   Six-Month Update,   Five-Month Update,  Four-Month Update,   Three-Month Update,   Two-Month Update,   and    One-Month Update.

**Note: I am photographing Sadie each month in this chair. Look at past months to see how she's grown!