It's almost final!

Today we had our last of two home visits. The purpose of the visit is mostly to ensure that we are caring for the child appropriately. Pictured here is Tammi Hawk and Joshua. Tammi was the local social worker we used to do our home study and post-placement visits. For any of you out there considering adoption we highly recommend you contact Tammi. Tammi is amazing, she takes her job seriously, but at the same time is tremendously supportive. We always knew that Tammi was in our corner and available for advice on any aspect of the adoption.

Tammi will write up a summary of our home visit and forward it to Open Adoption and Family Services. Then OAFS in conjunction with our lawyer, will petition the court finalize the adoption. We aren't sure how long that will take but we feel it should be finalized before the end of the month.

Our little...well big..boy!

My how our little boy has changed. The top photo is Joshua when he was just a couple days old. The bottom photo is Joshua at 2 months. On Monday, he had his 2 month apt. He got 2 shots (hence the band aids on his legs) and weighed in at 14.2 lbs and 23 1/2 inches tall. That means in two months he has grown 3 1/2 inches and gained 7.6 lbs. Yep he isn't missing many meals. As is evident by the rolls on his legs and arms. The apointment went great and Joshua was a trouper for the shots.

Overall Joshua continues to mature by leaps and bounds. He is only getting up once in the night and unlike Jeremy, Joshua can actually be laid down before he falls asleep this has been a new but welcome experience. We aren't sure if our parenting has improved or if it is just the difference in children. Whatever the cause we'll take it.

Josh smiles a lot now. Especially for Di (author of today's post). He loves to listen to music, watch his mobiles or his Rain Forest aquarium in his crib. He can roll over on his side, but can't seem to get the rest of the way. He loves checking out everything and everyone one. Today we have our final home visit. After that it should be just a few short weeks and Joshua will "officially" be ours. We plan to celebrate that day.

JOSHUA ANDREW IS BAPTIZED!

On January 17, 2009, Joshua was baptized at St. Luke's Lutheran Church. Jackie's brother, Kelly and sister, Lynn are Joshua's sponsers. This picture was taken at home of Joshua in the outfit he was baptized in.








Sorry, I thought I had this picture turned, but I guess not. And at this point, I can't figure out how to delete it, without deleting the whole entry, so.....

Here's Jackie, Joshua, Kelly, Lynn and Di at Joshua's baptism.

Here's the whole family with Joshua, Di, Grandma H., Jeremy, Grandma T. holding Joshua, Lynn, Jackie, Roxie and Kelly. After the ceremony, everyone came to our house for dinner.

Joshua continues to grow and become more alert. He is beginning to smile and is very attentive to movement and our voices. He has grown out of newborn clothes and if he continues, will be out of 3 month clothes!! It's hard to believe he's 7 weeks old!!

Joshua is almost 6 weeks old. It seems like just yesterday!! He looked so handsome in this outfit!! Just like a little man!

Joshua got to go to his first KSU Women's Basketball game on Jan. 3, 2009. He slept through the second half!! The Women's Basketball team is awesome. They are 14-0.

Joshua keeps growing by leaps and bounds. He continues to do well. He is really starting to notice objects and has started reaching for the objects. He is sleeping a little longer at a time at night. He slept from 10:30 to 3 a.m. last night.

HAPPY 1 MONTH BIRTHDAY TO JOSHUA!!!

And Happy New Year to All!! Joshua had his 1 month doctor's appointment today. He weighed in at 10 pounds and was 21 3/4 inches long. He is doing great. He is eating well!! He continues to allow us 3 or so hours of sleep at a time at night, most of the time!! And most of the time he lets us have 2 of those sleep times, so getting sleep is pretty good. Of course withthe holidays, etc. we can always sleep the next day if we don't get enough during the night. Everyone who meets him, marvels at his wonderful complexion. And of course how cute he is!!! Jeremy is still being very helpful and will hold him and feed him when he's not busy!! The boy's had a great Christmas and a great New Year celebration. Today Joshua has been watching the Cotton Bowl with Jackie. You know he will like football!! Best wishes to all for the new year.

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since I posted. I have pictures from Christmas , next post, and these pictures above are of our boys in their robes. Jeremy got Joshua a robe for Christmas so we thought it would be cute to take some pics of them in their robes.

Here's Christmas at Grandma H.'s house. We spent 3 days at Grandma's, including Christmas Eve. Then she came to our house for Christmas Day with Jackie's side of the family.

Grandma T. and her two boys at Christmas.

Here's Joshua in his first Christmas outfit.

Here's Joshua in a very cute outfit from our friends Susan and Laura.

Here's Joshua with his cousin Susan and her husband Curtis.

We all had a great Christmas with our families. Joshua enjoyed being held by everyone!!