Just a quick update on our lives and then I'll talk about termination court last month.
Life has been pretty good with a few stressful events. I found out that I had degenerative disc disease in my back, a ruptured disc, and would be needing surgery. My dad had a heart attack and got diagnosed with a rare heart condition, so rare it doesn't have a name. After being discharged from the hospital he developed blood clots in his leg and lungs and had to spend another week or so in the hospital. He is now out of the hospital and is taking it easy before he is able to return to work. We had termination court while my dad was in the hospital the second time and were able to spend some time with him. Our nephew turned 2 and we celebrated with Luke's family (this was not a stressful event but a fun one!) My surgery was September 30th and I've just been taking it easy since then, which is easier said than done. Luke's parents and mine have been to visit and my brother and his family are coming today! Other than all that, Luke has been working hard and we have both been enjoying time with family and our girl.
An update on adoption happenings: We had termination court September 26th and I haven't had a chance to write about it, but wanted to talk about it now and leading up to. It was a big step for us in this adoption process!!
Normally the court date that terminates the parental rights happens alot sooner than it did in our case, but we had some problems with our lawyer and it took longer. Our lawyer was not very experienced in adoptions, especially one that takes the baby across state lines. We found out when Addison was about 6 weeks old that we needed permission to have her in Missouri...something our lawyer was not aware of until we started asking questions. We considered taking Addison back to Iowa until we could get things straightened out , but thankfully our lawyer was able to contact the necessary people and explain the situation. After contacting them, our lawyer found out she had missed alot of things so far in our adoption process and had to do a lot of backtracking to cover her mistakes. She asked for more money and we considered finding a new lawyer and even contacted a couple different ones, but soon realized that we did not have the money to do that. We had alot of people praying for us during this time that things would go smoothly, be done correctly, and not put the adoption and our family at risk. Luke had a talk with our lawyer and they decided we would not be paying her any more money and she would keep us more informed of everything going on. She still wasn't doing things too quickly, but was in contact with the ICPC (organization that helps with interstate adoption) and we were trying to trust that things were being done correctly. Things seemed to be going semi-smoothly for awhile..until Addison was 3 months old. At 3 months, I got a call from our lawyer telling me to "lay low" for the weekend and be aware that cops might show up at our house; apparently the correct papers that the birth mom needed to sign in the hospital had not been signed. [Side note: this was all because our lawyer was MIA when Addison was born.] Again, we considered taking Addison back to Iowa, but talked to the hospital that Addi was born in and felt confident that we were safe to keep her here (we also knew that the ICPC knew where she was and that helped calm me down). The birth mom met and was able to sign the necessary papers and did so with out any second thoughts or hesitation. We posted in the paper about the birth dad, got a few more things from the birth mom, and were finally ready for court!!
The day of court and a couple days before brought many emotions for me. I was so excited it was finally here and that another step in this process would be done; we would be a big step closer to being done and having Addison as ours forever (legally, in all other areas she is already ours forever). But another part of me was sad for the birth mom. I was sad that she was giving up this smart, beautiful, and special baby girl. I was confused as to how anybody could hold my precious girl and say goodbye. But at the same time I was so proud of the birth mom for realizing she could not provide for Addison and make the incredibly difficult decision to give her up..and so very thankful that she chose Luke and I to be the forever parents.
The actual day in court was short and sweet. We swore that we were prepared to take care of Addison in every area, the lawyer and our GAL talked a little bit and the judge made the choice to terminate the parental rights. YAY!!
The next step is finalization. Our lawyer in Iowa told us we were not able to finalize in IA and would have to in Missouri, when we told her we knew it was possible to do it in Iowa she said she would find a way, then later emailed us to tell us she would not do it. We are still trying to find a lawyer in Iowa before here. If we can do it in Iowa, it will save us money, but more importantly this process will be done alot sooner! We are praying to find the right lawyer--hopefully one that has at least an idea of how to do this correctly :)
And now: pictures!
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