Adoption Day

The day we have been waiting for has finally come! We have officially adopted little Mr. A! I can't explain how nervous and excited we were that morning and the days leading up to his adoption! I just wanted it to be perfect for him and us and it was!

The adoption took place first thing in the morning, so of course, we were up early and still running late. Walking in to the court house I was a nervous wreck; most of our family was already there waiting and it was just so wonderful to walk through the doors and see our family and our case workers who have been on this journey with us. We sat in a waiting area until it was our turn and it was so fun to see Albert run from person to person giving hugs and just being his happy little self. He loves Superman right now, so I had told him that he was getting adopted just like Superman...he loved it and he told everybody!

In the state of AZ, we are not allowed to legally adopt as a couple, so the adoption was under Cassandra's name only. I knew going in that they would ask Cass questions, the judge would sign off and then the adoption would be completed. Well, when we got in the room our attorney told me that I can sit up in front with Cass and Albert, which made me very happy. The judge then asks us who we are and when I said "co-parent" she smiled and said "Albert's other mom." You have to understand that we didn't know who the judge was going to be or how it would be received that we are two women raising a child together, so her immediate warmth was unexpected and wonderful! The attorney asked Cass the questions, and then turned to me and asked me the same questions. Again, unexpected, but so very wonderful. The attorney included me in the entire process as if we were both legally adopting and the judge not only included me, but our  family as she asked them to introduce themselves and how they know Albert. The entire ceremony was even better than I could have imagined it. At the end of it all, we went up to take pictures with the judge and she gave Albert a medal because "Adopted kids are extra special." 

Afterwards we went to Albert's favorite spot, Peter Piper Pizza, to celebrate. Our whole entourage went with us and we had time to chat and hang out. We then went home to relax and nap before our BBQ that night. Cassandra's dad really out did himself this time, we had so much delicious food and I didn't have to raise a finger. Our friends who couldn't make it to the adoption came over to celebrate and of course Albert's buddies from next door came over to play. The day was wonderful and more than I could've asked for.

We are so blessed, by our little boy, but also by the people in our lives. We had so many people go out of their way to spend the day with us and it means more than they can imagine. 

I have to leave you with this last picture which was taken at the end of the night when Superman was tired...

Bad as you wanna be

So, I recently watched a show on the DIY network called Rehab Addict...if you have never seen it, you should! Basically, there's a lady named Nicole Curtis who buys historic homes and restores them. However, she's a total bad ass who does a lot of the work herself (or at least demonstrates how to do it), has handy dandy little tricks that make the work easier, and still manages to be pretty and girly. I was watching the show thinking that she's really nailed it and that I really need to start learning how to do more handy stuff. Well, lo and behold we got a visit from the City of Phoenix saying that the Oleanders in our backyard needed to be trimmed back and within a weeks time. I decided that I can tackle this just as well as Cass and I have more time, so I started the project. It took me close to 2 hours and I felt great! I, too, am a bad ass woman who gets things done! However, I WASN'T done. The oleanders in our back yard are huge and line the back fence so this was a big task, and I had just cleaned up the sides and pulled a lot of the dead branches out. I was so proud of what I had accomplished and got back out there to finish the job a few days later. But the meaning of this whole story is that it feels to good to feel like a bad ass and everyone needs to feel that way every now and then! Dennis Rodman had it right, I am as Bad as I wanna be, just maybe in a different sense than what he meant. :) Go out and conquer something that reminds you that you're a total bad ass, whether its doing yard work, running or taking down a pile of laundry.