July 26, 2011

"I pray I never forget that I became a mother through the broken heart of another. " - Jill Catlett

Today I became a mom again! It was a very bitter-sweet day.

We arrived in Idaho yesterday evening and spent some time with our little guy and his family. He and Aria play so well together. Naomi, our little guy's aunt is Aria's favorite. She follows her around like she's her big sister and is always excited to see her. Naomi and sister Megan turned on the sprinklers for the kids (and them!) to play in. They had so much fun together. Naomi made me try out her little electric bike - it was rad!
We then went and checked in to our hotel. We found out Aria can climb out of her pack-n-play in about 4 seconds. We all slept in and about noon went to the agency up here and signed our portion of the paperwork (which, of course was contingent on court going as planned).

We then went to the courthouse about 1:15. We met up with our little guy's paternal Great-Grandparents (who we've been seeing/talking with regularly. They are such sweet, awesome people. We just love them so much!) and we met his maternal grandparents for the first time. They were so sweet and supportive. It was great to meet them and see more of his family. They adopted his birthmother when she was newborn, so having been in our shoes before was neat.

Our little guy's mom, dad, and grandma (who we have been working with mostly) arrived and we got to speak with them a little until the court room was ready and they were called in for the termination of parental rights. We were planning on waiting in the hallway, as placement would be right after, but they invited us in. We were a little hesitant to go in, as this is something difficult for them, and usually the adoptive family does not participate. We've developed quite a relationship with them, so I guess they were fine with us being there. It was very hard to be in there. Knowing how hard it must be for them to do the things they had to do to relinquish rights was so hard. We love them so much and it was hard to see them make this difficult choice. Right after leaving the courtroom, the 2 kiddos just gave each other the biggest hugs! It was so cute to see them do that on their own!

We then all went to lunch at Chili's. It was a lot of fun being with each other. We exchanged some gifts and afterward headed back to our hotel. Both kiddos needed a nap desperately at this point. We agreed Aria probably wouldn't fall asleep with the excitement of the day so Drew took her swimming which helped keep her happy and content. I attempted to get our little guy to sleep. It didn't work very well. He was really missing his "papa" (great Grandpa). Eventually he slept for about 20 min, ate, and then we went to visit them and get his things for bed. Seeing them again really helped him and when we got back to our hotel, he was happy and content and went right to bed. Aria went really well also. It's weird sitting here typing with my TWO kiddos asleep!

Tomorrow will be filled with keeping routines. And finding a park for Aria to run around in. I think she will go CRAZY if she doesn't get a long time outside, ASAP. That and the pool will keep her happy. Now we just gotta figure out exactly what'll keep our little guy happy. He's so sweet. He has such a sweet personality and demeanor. They have raised him well and given him so much love. We'll always be so grateful to his birth family for all they have done for him.