Finalization!!!!!

I had this post all typed up last week, but then my computer ate it. Kind of like your dog eats your homework...except this is for real!! :) So...here's the info on how our adoption finalization day went!!

Finalization was Friday, Sept. 30th at 10 am. My parents and sister, made a trip up to join us for the momentous occasion, and Joe's parents, sister and her 3 boys accompanied us as well!! First we got ourselves spiffed up, and then took a photo of the girls...



Then we all made our way to our local county courthouse, where our social worker, Laura, and the Honorable Judge James Duvall awaited us. Aside from the fact that Liddy pooped on our way to the courthouse, and we had to do a quick diaper change on the floor of the bathroom, we arrived with 10 minutes to spare (thankfully)!

Laura walked us into the courtroom, and told us to sit up at the defendant's table. She and the rest of our family sat out in the courtroom watching area. As we waited, Liddy enjoyed the echoing sound of her hands slapping the table, which I quickly shushed once Judge Duvall entered.

Waitin' for the Judge...

He greeted us and stated the formalities of our court precedings, and then asked which one of us was going to be taking the stand to testify. He told us we could arm-wrestle for it...hehe...but we had already decided that Joe would be the one. So Joe, lookin' all handsome and spiffy, took the stand, and Judge Duvall proceeded to ask him a few questions. Things like how long we'd been married, if we owned our house, how long Lydia had been living with us, where we both work, and if he understood that we will be taking responsibility for Lydia as her parents for the rest of her life. Then Judge Duvall asked me if I agreed with all his answers, and I nodded.

There were a few more moments of the judge reviewing our request (things like whether the termination of parental rights had been finished and about her name change), and confirming things with Laura. Then he looked at us both and said, "There are a lot of bad things that happen in this courtroom. This is one of the few happy occasions." and then he went on to say, "I would like to be the first to welcome Lydia Joy Kathleen Roemer....I think that calls for a round of applause!" I gulped back tears, grinned and joined in the applause. And I'm pretty sure that the grandma's and auntie were crying too... :)

Once everything was finished, we asked if we could take some pictures with Judge Duvall, as well as with Laura. And they were happy to oblige! :)



Us with Judge Duvall. Liddy looks very underwhelmed... :)

 

Us with Laura!!



Lots of smiles...and check out Liddy's sneakers! :)



After finalizing (yay!) we went down the hall to order her birth certificate, which went smoothly (except for the moment of panic when I realized I didn't have any checks in my checkbook! Eek!! Thankfully, I found a starter check in the back of my checkbook...though I just found out that they will not accept it, so I have to send another. But still. Minor problem. ). And then we all went to one of our favorite places, Buena Vista Park! It has a gorgeous view of the Mississippi, and we'd never showed it to my family before, so we thought it would be a beautiful spot for a few family pics.

We attempted to get these 2 five-months-apart-cousins to look happy,
but they would have none of it.



The Roemers...family of three!! :) :) :)



Haha...I know Joe looks silly, but I couldn't resist showing how much Liddy
loved her high tops!! :)

Squishy kisses!!!!!!



Weber-Roemer family



Roemer family!!

And that sums up our Finalization day!! Woohoo!! Hopefully posts will be coming more frequently in the future! :)

Seven and Eight

Yes, yes, I know that Lydia turned 8 months (how is that even POSSIBLE?!?!?) this weekend, and I STILL haven't posted any of her recent milestones!

Well. Here it goes! :)

In the past month and a half, Liddy has really increased the different types of foods she's tried, as well as her ability to be active! The girl is CRAWLING now. Unbelievable!! A whole new world has opened up to her....and she's LOVING it! Unfortunately, this also means that she has to learn what the word "no" means. We're working on it.... ;)



This is the closest thing to her crawling that I've captured on film! :)

I didn't think that Liddy had lost any of her chubbiness in her cheeks until I was looking back at pictures from when she was 4 and 5 months old recently. And she definitely has! I think with all her crawling and endless energy, she's burning off the chubbiness! So sad.... :(

Lydia sort of understands playing peek-a-boo now, and loves to pull the blanket off of her head when you toss it on top of her. She also has mastered kneeling in her crib, and the first thing I see in the morning these days is her little downy head peeking up at me over the crib rail! Ha! :)

Also, she sucks her thumb ALL the time now. I'm hoping she outgrows it eventually so we don't have to teach her that you can't suck your thumb for your whole life! But for now, it's fine. And I must say, she looks ADORABLE with that little thumb in her mouth! :)


See what I mean??

A few days ago, Liddy even pulled herself up to a STANDING position using our small chest where we store our remotes and the coffee table. I was absolutely stunned. I thought it was a fluke, until I saw her do it several more times today!! YIKES!

As well, she had her 6 month pictures taken (though now it's practically time to schedule her 9 month pictures!!) by my wonderful SIL Melissa Laska at MEL Photography. I'll share a few of my favorites from that session, as well as a few other random smiling ones. Enjoy!! :)

 

Smirk!



My lil' Sweet Pea



In awe :)



Officially Official!

I am pleased to announce that.......*drum roll please*........on September 30th, we have Lydia's adoption finalization in court!! YAY!!

What this means, essentially, is that her name will officially be changed to Lydia Joy Kathleen Roemer, we will receive a birth certificate with her adopted name on it, and everything will officially be official!!! We are THRILLED to pieces! :) This is our last step in our adoption journey with Lydia, and we look forward to not having to fill out any more forms or have any more social worker visits (though we love Laura!! :) ) or have her referred to by her birth name at the clinic!! Hallelujah!!

Guess it's time to send off our last (FINALLY! Uffda!) adoption payment today! Yippee!!

Half a Year

This Sunday, my baby turns 6 months old!! How can this be possible? I feel like it was just yesterday that we saw her downy little head peeking out from the hospital blanket as she was placed in our arms. How time flies...



The first time we saw our little girl

I remember when...

....Liddy's whole body would scrunch up when you'd pick her up from her papasan chair...

Here's her scrunched up newborn look! This was the day after we brought her home.

....She still fit into her moses basket...

....We still had the head guard attached to her car seat...

I can't believe how bald she looks here! :)

....Lydia would fall asleep on my shoulder before I even realized she was tired...

....Her vocabulary consisted of soft coo's and hunger cries (she's definitely figured out how to be loud now!)...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's crazy the ways that Lydia is growing and changing! Here are some of the things she's up to these days:

• Lydia can roll over! Mainly from her back to her tummy, though we have caught her going from front to back a handful of times. (Unfortunately, this new-found skill means that she wakes herself up often from naps or in the middle of the night from rolling in her sleep! :P)
• We started cereal for the first time on July 4th and haven't looked back since. She now eats it for breakfast and lunch and does a pretty good job of keeping it all in her mouth! :)



First time eating cereal!!



Liddy likes to play with toys in her high chair!

• Lydia loves her Baby Einstein activity center (she can jump in it and play with toys!) as well as her Jenny jump up. She loves to stand and watch Quincy walk around!



Such a happy girl!

• 
• 

• Standing tall!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  
•  
•  

• Speaking of Quincy, I don't think he's ever had such a #1 fan! He is a constant source of entertainment for our Ditty, and she loves to grab his fur and tries to put his nose in her mouth if he's close enough! (Gross!)
• Her hair is really starting to thicken up. I'm sure it won't be long before she's got long raven locks! :)
• Our "quiet" little girl has definitely found her voice! She loves to blow raspberries (constantly!!) and on certain days loves to squeal and "growl" just to hear her own voice. :) She's also developed what Joe and I refer to as her complaining, where she does a low-pitched vowel sound with furrowed eyebrows....makes us laugh every time!!

Peeking out from the cute sun hat her Gamma gave her!

 

We're amazed daily at the gift of joy we have in Liddy, and we love watching her learn and grow!!

 

Our precious gift!

The Ministry of Being a Mommy

Yes. I realize I haven't posted since May. But....what can I say? I'm a busy mom now! :)

Anywho.

The pastor's wife from my church back home shared this link recently, and it really resonated with me in my new role as "Mommy". It's easy to lose sight of what's important when you're all caught up in doing the dishes, keeping up with the laundry, and figuring out what's for dinner. :)

Enjoy!