Court Update

Many of you know that we went to court last week with the understanding the the parents rights would be officially terminated, giving us 60 days until we could finalize our adoption. We were working hard to have the adoption completed by the end of March. However, when we went to court on Thursday, one of the attorneys brought up a letter that she had received from Max's tribe stating that they are claiming him as part of his tribe, but that they do NOT want to interfere in his adoption. However, because the court wants to make sure that all laws are being followed in the ICWA Act (Indian Child WElfare Act) they did not terminate rights and they are bringing in an ICWA specialist to make sure that all of Max's special rights are followed. We have a few more court dates coming up in Feb, and then we have our ICWA court date on March 7. So, needless to say, we have been heartbroken. Travis has been doing a much better job than me at being optimistic, but I have seen first hand how difficult and Indian adoption can be!!! So, I have been a little depressed- but thankfully I have 5 super busy kids, one needy birth mom, and a baby on the way to keep my so busy that mostly I can't wallow in self pity!!  We will keep you all updated. Keep us in your prayers!!

Max turns 1

Max loved having a birthday cake...

Here is a picture of Max's birth mom and birth grandma (we call his mom "b-ma"). They were able to come to the party.

Max loved this part of the party best... eating the cake!

Here is a picture of me, Max and b-ma.

Here we are opening gifts.... okay, I opened them ALL as Max had NO interest in them!!  

Max with b-ma

Max trying to escape the presents to go play!

We had a lot of fun for Max's birthday. We went to the local children's museum... it is near b-ma's house, so she could come. We had a great time and lots of fun. I can't believe how big our little Max is getting. He is not walking, yet. But soon!!!  We are so thankful and so blessed to have him in our lives. I love you Max!

Grayson turned 9!!

Grayson turned 9 years old last December. He is growing up so fast! We had his joint-party at Laser Quest with a good friend of his, Ryan. Their birthdays are close together and his mom and I always have a hard time decided who does parties on what days, so this year we just combined them! It was a GREAT idea! It was a BIT hectic at some points (we had 20 kids and 10 adults) but mostly just good old fashion fun (maybe it is not OLD FASHION....)!!
Grayson is such a joy in my life. He is such a good kid. I was trying to decide how to begin this post about my guy, and it's hard to know where to start. He is just such a neat kid.  Here are my top 10 favorite things about Gray;
1. Funny! This kid loves to crack a joke. He is constantly looking for the funniness in a situation and then pointing it out to everyone around him. He looks for opportunities to pull pranks on people and he is usually laughing about SOMETHING!
2. Reading. Gray shares my love of reading. He is required to read 30 minutes a day for homework and over the break I required him to read an hour a day, and he will usually read way more than I ask him to read. He is my kids that will sit down and read for hours and ask to keep reading when it's time to do something else. He has a HUGE collection of books. He has read the Eragon series, Percy Jackson series, Magic Treehouse series (I believe he finished the whole series before he finished the first grade), he is currently reading 3 different books... "The Series of Unfortunate Events" (I found the entire series at a thrift store, he has just started the first one called "The Bad Beginning"), "The Fire Within", and the series "Heroe's of Olympus".  I love that he loves reading... we share that passion.
3. Mamma's Boy.  Yay! I love that he is a momma's boy. I love it a lot. He will come and sit on my lap (still) and cuddle me. He will still hold my hand and walk with me. He will come and sit by me just to be near me. I am so lucky to have a momma's boy!! It is really cool.
4. Helpful. This boy of mine asks me several times a day "Mom, is there anything I can do to help you?". He will take out the trash without complaining. He will watch MAx happily. He will do JUST ABOUT anything... except vacuum. That's his ONE vice.
5. Style. I love that this boy really indulges me in the clothing department. He lets me pick out his clothes every day. I just love picking out his clothes and that he lets me!!  He also lets me style his hair anyway I want.  I started doing a Faux hawk on him in the 1st grade and by the end of 1st grade almost all the other boys had adopted his hair style- I started doing his hair combed to the side, which I love and I have had moms come and tell me that their boys want the same thing now. And in December I went and saw "Les Mis" in the movie, I fell in love with "Marius's" hair do, he let's me do his hair that way every day.... happily!
6. Brother. Grayson takes his role as big brother very seriously. He protects his sisters and brother. He helps me take care of them all the time.
7. Stories. Grayson tells the best stories. He can go on for hours, we have recently encouraged him to start writing his detailed stories down on paper because he is so creative!
8. Conversations. I love how Grayson will have a conversation with me about anything, any time. If I ask about his day or his class or the kids in his class, he never shrugs or gives me a one worded answer... he talks to me and tells me everything!
9. Compassionate. Grayson is well liked by everyone. People follow him and love to be with him... I believe that it is because he is so compassionate. He is aware of other peoples feelings and he tries hard to make sure that everyone around him is happy. He is always polite and shares and is just a good kid.
10. His smile. It lights up a room and melts my heart. I love this boy. I love him so much.
I am so thankful to be a mom to this fabulous kid! He is amazing. Happy Birthday, Gray!