4th weekend

Nathanael playing hide and seek at the pool.
He's not scared of the water anymore!

James prepares to be thrown "weally high!"
Mommy tosses James off her sholders.
He loves every second!
How adorable is our little snuggle bug! (That's our neice Heather in the pic)
James and Nathanael (red shorts) had a great time playing in the main water fountain at Depot Park in Sanford on the 4th.

We've had a fun 4th weekend so far! We swam for quite a while at Ken's parents with our neices and the boys. Ken's dad took a bunch of pics. Perfect weather. The afternoon of the 4th, we went to Sanford's "old fashioned 4th" celebration. Playing in the fountain was the highlight. We also went into the historical railraod museum, where according to James, they have "stuff from a loooong time ago."

We had yet another intersting phone call from the boys' aunt Friday night. Long story short, apparently the parents left the 2 week old baby girl with the mom's 17 year old sister (who also has an infant) and didn't return when they said they would (don't know details, but it must have been a long time after), so the sister and g-ma called the police to get social services to come get the baby. In the meantime, the parents returned, hell broke loose and the parents said they were leaving the county... we thought they would've laid low for awhile. They clearly hadn't "abandonded" the baby since the police left the baby with them.

knot in my stomach

The boys LOVE to swim! We swim at Ken's parents house one or two days a week.
Nathanael, who is totally NOT potty trained, wanted to be like his big bro and pee in the bushes. His arm floaties are almost as big as he is!
Trying to get a shot of Taylor's 5 teeth...but he keeps crawling towards me!

Today was interesting, to say the least. We had gotten a letter from social services saying there was a Permanancy Planning Meeting today. The social worker said we didn't have to come, but it would be a good time to ask questions about the process from here, etc...and they were at the point of setting a court date to have the TPR (termination of parental rights) signed. So, of course we went to the meeting. The SW said the parents had been invited, bt had not shown up to one yet, so told me not to worry about it. When we arrived (this is at the social services in cmberland county - about an hour from us)...the receptionist asked if we were the Mosses. We said yes, and she said the sw worker had been trying to reach us to tell us the parents were there! The sw pulled us to the side and said they were in the conference room signing papers to relinguish their rights to the boys. They had the little girl last sunday, and apparently just want social services to stay away from them and the baby, so signing over the boys is their best way of doing that (this is what the sw (and Ken and I) feel is the reason). The sw said she had not told the parents that we were there, and asked if we wanted to meet them. We told her no, we didn't, unless they wanted to meet us to make sure they went through with the paperwork this time. The sw said they didn't even know we were there, so not to worry about it. So we went ahead with the Perm. meeting...which was us, the sw, her supervisor, and the GAL. They basically went over the plan, which WAS TPR, followed by adoption by the Mosses. The parents DO have 7 business days to change thier mind (they DID follow through and sign everything today)...but, if they don't - we will move to an adoption social worker. The sw said we should start thinking about names...how fun!!! Ken and I agreed not to talk about names until the 7 days is over. Ironically, the seven days is over on Ken's birthday. So we may have a mighty celebration on July 7th! If they do change thier mind, the plan is still to terminate rights, it will just add about 8 months or so to the process. Keep your fingers crossed - and please pray for the boys' baby sister - that she is safe and healthy.

Ready?

Well, we've had the boys for 9 months now! The length of a regular pregnancy - should we be ready for them yet?

"Don't Cry Mommy"

It's 100 degress down here (literally) so we took the boys swimming at Ken's parents' house. Opposite of most situations, James is the daredevil and Nathanael is the scared one. Nathanael likes being in the water, but needs to feel very secure that hes' not going to go under.

James, on the other hand is a little water bug with no fear - he did a front flip off the diving board today. He has to wear "floaties", but he's not scared at all.

Taylor loves the water - splashing around. He was in his little baby tube and I looked over and his head was down on the tube, he was out cold...pacifer floating away and all. I took him up to the house for a nap! It was too funny though.

The strangest thing happened with me though. I jumped into the pool, going down to the bottom of the deep end and all of a sudden it felt like my ear had exploded. I got to the top and out and I felt like i was going to vomit. Long story short - I ended up in urgent care and I cracked my eardrum. The pressure was just right to "blow" it out. So, I can't take a shower, swim, or blow my nose for a week. Now it just feels like I have alot of water in my ear. Nathanael was too cute though. I was sitting by the pool crying and he came over and gave me his toy fish to make me feel better.

So....after that saga, we had the boys at home and were playing outside in the waterhose and james got sting by a bee and was screaming bloody murder. Once we got him calmed down, our last resort for water fun in the 100 degree sun was.... BUBBLE BATH!!! Big boy Taylor even got into the fun.

Drag Strip

Here are a few shots from our trip down to the Rockingham Drag strip a couple weekends ago. Our friends Tiffany and Jason had their camper there, so we enjoyed the day playing with their kids. tiffany came prepared with bags of sand for the kids to play in! Her husband had been racing for years, so she's got it down to a science.
I LOVE this picture!

Taylor had fun crawling around in the sand. It was SO hot that day, his haid was slicked up from sunscreen and sweat.

Updates

Nothing really major to report, I just realized that I need to be recording milestones. I never thought I'd forget how old Taylor was when he first started crawling, but then it occured to me this morning that I couldn't remember exactly how old he was (lucky for me, I have this blog to help me remember!). So, Taylor officially has 2 bottom teeth - they aren't all the way in, but you can definatley see them. He is crawling like a mad man, and can pull up to stand up. he pulls up against the couch, chairs, etc, and can mokve sideways along the couch. He can balance himself with one hand on the couch, but is definately not standing on his own. He's still eating stage 2 foods (he chokes on anything solid). He still smiles and giggles all the time, but has gotten to where he wants to be held alot. If Ken or I walk past him without acknowledgin him, he screams! It's too funny!

Nathanael is getting so "mature". He's not putting as many marbles and other little peices in his mouth - crayons are still a battle. He's hitting less and less, and his vocabulary is growing. He's much better about going to bed at night (thank goodness!). He loves for you to pat his back while he's getting settled down for sleep. He's so cute - he'll flip over on his belly and say "pat me". He looks so content.

James is getting so grown up I can hardly stand it. When he wakes up from his nap on the weekends and just before bed are about the only times he's real cuddly. We're having a little trouble with him talking back, but are getting that slowly under control. On tuesday at daycare, his teacher reported that he was "exceptionally good". We were too excited about that!

My mom and stepdad (Mimi and PapPap) came and visited for the long Memorial Day weekend. The boys were spoiled rotten and had a great time. They went down to the pond alot and fed the cows. On Monday, we went for the first swim of the season. Those boys LOVE to swim! James and Nathanael can doggy paddle with floaties on.

Guess those are the updates for now!

Random events

We took the boys to the New Hope Valley Railway where they got to ride on a REAL choo-choo-train! It was an open air style train and the ride lasted about an hour.
Here, James and Nathanael investigate by looking through the cracks in the floor to make sure we are staying on the track.
Mother's Day! Mommy and my boys.
Relay for Life to raise $$ for cancer. Ms. Kelly paints faces. (James LOVES Ms Kelly)
James rounds the corner of the Scooby-Doo bouncy house.

How cute am I? Look at my chubby knees!
Swinging at mawmaw and pawpaws


Taylor singing into the mic.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a good day. Ken cooked breakfast while I slept in, and then he had the boys wake me up. We went to church, and the sermon was about non-biological moms, so it was really cool. Then the Moss family came over for a Mother's Day dinner. Ken had the boys give me flowers, which was very sweet. James picked off one of the flower buds from the pot and said "here, I picked you one!". He was quite proud of himself - it was pretty funny. If anyone watches Jon&Kate+8...I agree with Kate, Mother's day should be once a month!

No TPR YET

James snuggles with his blankie and thumb while Nathanael encourages Taylor to stand up.
He did it! He is so precious!
Even though he can't pedal yet, Nathanael loves to 'ride' his 'motorcycle'. Doesn't he have a great smile?

Well, today was court. We were really hoping the TPR was going to be signed today. It wasn't, but actually, things are working in our favor anyway. The TPR was not completed by the legal department at social services in time for court because of staff illnesses. However, the parents did NOT show up for court today. They had been living with the mom's grandmother (not the Granny the boys visit) for the past few months, but on Friday, there was a 'blow out' and the grandmother kicked them out, so they are homeless again. The dad has not gone to substance abuse counseling, nor has he taken a drug test. The mom has taken some parenting classes, and has passed 2 drug screens. She is in fact pregnant, but our sw feels she will not go to the hospital in Cumberland County, which means she'll probably go to Harnett County, so social servies may not even get involved. If the baby is drug negative, the hospital won't even call social services. If the baby is born in Cumberland County, then social services has them in the hospital 'system' and will then decide about taking her. Back to today...so the TPR was not signed, but our sw feels it will be completed in about 3 weeks. At that point, the judge will sign it. She feels absolutley certain that he will sign it. She said that at court today, he spelled out everything that has happened (the parents wanting to relinguish rights a few months ago, the drugs, the non-compliance, etc) and had the paralegal record all of it so that when the TPR came to him, there would be no question about it becasue it's all on record. Now, the problem is that the signed TPR has to be delivered to the parents, and now no one knows where they are as of this past Friday. If they can't be found, they have to post a legal ad in the paper for 60 days to give them a chance to appeal. Even with the appeal, our sw said that even though it would slow down the process, Jesus Himself would have to return to Earth and touch the parents for the judge to reverse the decision. So, she said that essentially we are the boys' parents, it's just a matter of time for the legality. So, not exactly what we were hoping for, but God has had his hand in all of this, and His timing is always perfect, so we'll just ride it out. As reassuring as she is, until we sign on the dotted line, we still have that little fear in the back of our minds. Oh, and the judge did stop ALL visitation with ANY biological family members (including Granny), so that is GREAT to not have to worry about that. THANK YOU to everyone who is praying for us!!

Taylor's First Hair Cut

Pre-cut
Post-cut. Cruisin' in the walker (he scratched his nose during the night!)
I'm a crawling fool!
One day I was a beached whale stuck on my tummy and now I'm keeping mommy and daddy running!

Crawling

Taylor is crawling! He officially made three moves forward on hands and knees yesturday!

Working Hard

Taylor is trying so hard to crawl! He gets on his hands and knees and just rocks back and forth. But he has officially gotten the army crawl, so he can scoot himself forward on his forearms. It's hilarious.
It was a beautiful day out, so I took Taylor for a walk (it was so nice to get some exercise!) and then after dinner, I took all the boys down to the pond. James and Nathanael wanted to practice peeing outside (thanks Pap), so James peed in the pond and Nathanael (who is still fully in daipers, mind you) insisted he pee in the pond too. So there I stand with Nat's diaper in my hand, his pants around his ankles, he's bending his knees, all the while looking down trying to see his little weiner and he's making grunting sounds like he's trying to poop. If he actually could've peed, it probably woud've shot a stream right into his eye! It would've been a $100,000 video!

The Important Things

The boys often remind me of the important things in life - God, and family. I was running late at work. I usually pick the boys up at daycare around 5:00. They close at 5:45. Today, I rushed in the door at 5:40 and found my boys huddled around one of the workers. I said "Oh my gosh! Are my babies the last three here?" James just looked at me with his mesmerizing eyes and said "I scared." I asked why he was scared and he said "you not come get me." My poor baby thought he was being left...again. It about tore me up. I didn't know it was possible to love like this. Our pastor once told me that God gives us children to give us some understanding of how much He loves us. Knowing that God loves us more than we can humanly love our children, I cannot imagine how much He does love us.

yes, they can

A lot of people have been asking me about the new baby, and whether the parents can keep her. And the sad answer is yes, they can. If the baby is born drug-free, they can keep her.

Enough Said

Why a picture of toy dart guns and handcuffs?

Why would you give these to a 2 and 3 year old at a visitation with the social worker? Logical decision making does not run in their family. These are the toys the boys grandparents brought for them. In addition to the fact that they are guns, the box is clearly marked as a choking hazard for children under three. Smart.

And we found out why the parents took the parenting classes (we think). Oh yeah - you won't beleive this one - bio mom is 5 months pregnant. I guess they want to see if they can keep this one.

Visitation

Well, the boys had a supervised visit with their granny today. The social worker took them, so we really only know what she told us. The visit was supposed to be granny, gracie and adell (the boys 2 female cousins that they lived with, along with granny) and uncle johnie (a 21 year old who has mental retardation and loves the boys to death). We're cool with all 4 of them. Granny's a little tricky though - she called the social worker Wednesday to tell her that the bio mom's parents were coming too. And then 1/2 way through the visit another aunt and 2 more cousins showed up. The social worker was really mad and told granny that if she did that again, she would stop any visits at all. On top of that, they brought the boys presents - toy guns and handcuffs. Right on.

The boys' aunt beth, who originally got us with the boys called tonight and said that the parents had gone to the parenting classes, but that the dad quit his job this week, and they are still living with the mom's grandmother, so they aren't in compliance with court orders even though they took the classes. The next court date is April 29th. I hope the judge doesn't extend things just bc they took those classes. It scares me to death sometimes.

Finally

I got the official 'get off your arse and post' message from a friend...so here I am! I did finally get a new camera and you won't beleive how much they've grown! Taylor can sit on his own...he still gets too excited and flaps his arms really hard which make him fall over, but he's got the hang of it! James has a great memory - he remembers every somg from daycare. He is a mama's boy, that is for sure. And Nathanael is doing so well. He's going through a really cute stage, and I don't want to speak too soon, but he has not been having fits at all. While at home and on thier regular schedule, James and Nathanael go to bed easily. We recently took 2 trips - both times bedtime was an issue - but it just goes to show how important the schedule is. First, we took the boys to the beach!

James watis patiently on the deck as we get Taylor and Nathanael ready for the trek down to the sand.

nathanael was hilarious! He was determined he was going to catch a bird - he chased them, squeeling and cracking himself up the whole time.

The water was ice cold - but they didn't care!

They were so cute, very excited to see the ocean and all the sand. They swam for hours in the indoor pool. By swimming, I mean jumping in to us. Ken was able to teach James to doggy paddle with his floaties on. James was so excited to be swimming without holding on. Our next trip was to WV to visit my mom and stepdad for Easter.

Lil' Nate under mom's piano finding eggs

James shows off his eggs too.

Everyday life is still overwhelming at times. But in general, I can hardly remember life without the boys. Taylor is the the most beautiful baby. He is full of smiles and giggles all the time. His daycare worker always says I cant take him at the end of the day bc he's the only one not crying. He rolls over both ways (his prefered mode of transportation). Not crawling, and no teeth, but his gummy smiles makes me weak in the knees. I practically suck off his fat cheeks everyday and I love to cuddle with him in bed. He does sleep in his crib until about 4 or 5 am. He wakes up and I put him in bed with us. I know a bad habit, but one I'm not ready to break.

Why buy expensive toys? The boys' favorite evening activity (after I make them come inside!) is to take apart the couch and build forts and tents.

Taylor hanging out in his Bumbo...the greatest baby seat!

Taylor loves playing his bongos!

As for the adoption process.Basically, there is nothing to report. The parents go back to court sometime in April. Usually there is 30 days between court dates, but this has been a 60 day lull - I'm not sure why. We don't really get told very much. Supposedly, the TPR (termination of parental rights) process is being put into effect, but our social worker says it gets turned over to the legal department of social services at that point. I don't have alot of faith that it will be a quick process. The boys have not seen their granny in 2 1/2 months - fine with us, but she called the social worker last week wanting a visit. So that is happening this friday. It is supervised, but it will be a setback for sure.

no more sickness!

Seriously, I'm going to have to break down and buy a new camera. I don't know if the boys flushed it down the toilet or what, but Taylor is getting so big, and I haven't taken a picture of him in weeks! He is soooo cute! He has discovered his voice big time and babbling dadadadadada.... I keep telling him to say mamamamamam, but he's not listening! He now sticks his tongue out too - it's adorable. He's into 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. Stop growing, boy! 18 pounds.

Last week was insane at the Moss household. Ken got the flu. Then Nathanael got the flu. Then James fell and cracked his head on the coffee table and I had to take him for stitches. He ended up just needing dermabond (they basically hot glued his head together), but still a rush to the hospital, followed finally by a call to poison control because Nathanael ate a pellet of rat poison. Oh, yes, the ambulance got to come and everything. What fun. What's more funny is that I was in the car with James and Taylor when Ken called me and frantically asked the number for poison control. I held in the laughter and replied "I don't know. Hang up and call 911!"

Saturday was relatively uneventful based on the rest of the week, but fun. The boys rode their powerwheels outside for a long time, and I took them down to the pond to go "fishing", we visited the cows in the next field over...mommy got blasted for not bringing the cow food like PapPap does...James went down our new cork-screw slide a hundred times (nathanael is too scared!). We topped the day off with a long bath using bathtub crayons to decorate. What a great day!

He rolls

Taylor is officially rolling over! At age 6 1/2 months, he can go front to back and vise versa. He's soooo cute!

Nathanael turned 2. I have managed to lose my camera, so sorry I don't have pictures. We had a joint b-day party for him and James. Thomas the Train was the theme and we were joined by friends and family. Luckily, it was a nice day outside, so the kids played in the yard for about an hour before we had hotdgos, cake, and opened presents. James keeps telling me he wants to have his birthday again!

James turns 3!!

Seriously, is this the cutest little boy you've ever seen, or what?

Daddy brings on the birthday cake!

Taylor and PawPaw get into the action!

We had a fun day. I took cupcakes to the daycare and Nathanael got to come to James' big boy class with us. Tonight, we had McDonals chicken Mcnuggets (James' choice), french fries and birthday cake for dinner. Ken's parents and our 2 neices came over. We'll have a joint b-day party for James and Nathanael next weekend.

Firsts

The boys got to enjoy their first snowfall...and we got to enjoy them enjoying it! James and Nathanael sat and watched out the window for a long time...they just kept saying they wanted to go outside. We told them they had to wait until it stuck to the ground a little more bc it was so muddy. That night, we bundled them all up, put them in their new snow boots, and went out on the back porch. We had a fun snowball fight until their fingers were so cold they could hardly move them. They kept pulling their mittens off to make a better snowball!

The next morning we actually took a long walk on our property in the 1/2 inch of snow. It was really pretty. We pulled the boys on their sled and they loved it.

Another first for us...Nathanael cut in FIVE teeth yesterday. Seriously. Five in one day.He had his front 8, plus 4 in the very back. But his 4 pointy teeth plus 1 other just punctured his gums yesterday. He was a little whiny, but not too bad. I couldn't beleive it! Poor little guy.

Grr..

At about 11:30, the Social Worker called and told me they did not sign the papers. Once at social services, they told the SW that they wouldn't sign without the agreement to see the boys. The SW reminded them that they HAD had multiple (like, over 20 at least) opportunities to see the boys, for which they did not show up. The SW also reminded them that social services is not an open adoption agency, and whether they signed the papers or not, their parental rights would be terminated based on their non-compliance. So regarless of whether we adopt the boys, or someone else, they are not going to have visitation. The parents said they were going to the car to confir with granny before deciding anything, and they just never came back.

I called the SW again about 1:30 and they had still not returned. Obviously not going to.

So, it's really not about the visits, it's about them wanting to be in control and saying "I'll show you...we won't sign anything". Whatever. It'll just be 7 months instead of 7 days. Life goes on...

I called granny and she said that the mom came to the car and said she wasn't signing without getting visits, so granny just took her home. Lord knows what alll she told granny.

Hourly Update

The parents did show up at court and told the judge they wanted to reliquish their rights to the boys. The SW called me from the car saying they were on the way to Social Services to sign the paperwork. The parents had two requests: to see the boys 3 times/year and for us to not change their last names. I said NO to both requests. The SW completley agreed with me and told the parents that those were unreasonable requests, but that she would ask me anyway. I told her I would send granny a letter twice a year with an update on how the boys were/what they were doing. Fingers crossed...!

Keep your fingers crossed

The boys visited with Granny, Gracie, Adell (cousins) and uncle Johnie (we're cool with him) on Saturday. It was supervised (by me) in a public place (Imagination Station...a play place). The visit was really fun. They played like crazy and we did Christmas presents. Granny really does love the boys and wants what is best for them, she just makes some dumb decisions. For example, she gave the boys a framed picture of their biological parents. James opened it and said "a picture". He had no clue who it was. Gracie chimed in "those are your other parents." I gently took the frame and said "let's put it away for later so we don't break it." I was a little peeved, but what can you do...?

So, I talked to the social worker this morning. Today is the court date to change the boys' plan from reunification with bio parents to adoption. The SW told me to NOT get my hopes up, but that bio mom had called her yesterday and told her they were really thinking about just signing the boys over at court today. Granny told bio parents that the boys were happy and loved and it wasn't fair to put the boys through all this mess, and to just give them up. So, IF they actually do it, we will not have to go through the termination of parental rights. That's what takes many months. So instead of adoption them in 6-8 months, it would be more like 1-2 months. Now, even if they do sign them over, they have 7 days to change their mind. I'm trying not to be excited, because honestly, if they got high last night, they may change their mind today.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Christmas

Wow! What a week it's been. I have to back up and start with the Friday before Christmas. I took Taylor to the doctor Friday morning for his shots, but I asked the doc to see if there wasn't something they could give Taylor because he had really been coughing for like 3 days. I am not kidding, once she listened to him breath, she had another doctor and 2 nurses in the room. They took him to xray to see if he had pneumonia, which he did not, then tested him for RSV, which he did have. It's a respiratoty virus. His oxygen level was at 80%. It should be 95 or above. They sent him immediately to the hospital, where he was taken straight up to a room and put on oxygen. He got breathing treatments every 4 hours, and had several fevers over the 4 days he was there. Scared us to death. But our prayers were answered in 2 ways: 1. He got better! 2. He got to come home Christmas Eve. I was so upset that our first christmas with the boys was going to be messed up, but it all worked out. Ken and his parents stayed with Taylor at the hospital Christmas Eve day until he came home in the early evening. Meanwhile, James, Nathanael and I baked cookies for santa, and had your basic hyper-active day of toddler play. They needed lots of mommy lovin' since they had stayed with their grandparents the 3 days before while Ken and I stayed with Taylor. Here's a picture of our little man.Christmas was GREAT! The boys got power wheels. Here are a few pictures of the big day:

Unfortunately, we did not get to go to Charleston for Christmas because Taylor can't travel yet. But mom and Jim came down, and my aunts and uncles were so great to send great presents. The picture above is James "surprising" us from inside his new play tent/tunnel/basketball hoop = bigger than the living room adventure center from Aunt Kathy.

TPR and Granny's downfall

We got some good news on Wednesday. The boys' social worker called and said that they had court that day. Social Services asked the judge to relieve them of their duty of trying to reunify the boys with their biological parents due to non-compliance of the parents, and the judge said yes! So on January 9th, they go to court to change the boys' "plan" from reunification, to adoption. This starts the TPR (termination of parental rights) process. The TPR process takes many months though. She said we are probably looking at the end of May. The parents have to be served with papers to notify them of the TPR, and since the parents don't have an address, it will be hard to serve them with papers. If that is the case, social services is required to post it in the legal section of the newspaper and they have a time period (I think 90 days) to respond. Once TPR happens, the Social Worker said the adoption can happen within a month, so that is good. She said the only thing that could possibly reverse the TPR is if the parents do a total turnaround, get into a grug rehab program, get a job and a place to live. Doubtful that would happen by May.

So Granny, with whom we have had a great relationship, has ticked us off. We were making arrangements for a Christmas visit. The social worker said Granny would like it if we dropped the boys off at Aunt Beth's house for 4 hours. We were fine with that, as Granny has been realy easy to work with and get along with. So I called Granny to confirm. She told me that during those 4 hours, she was going to take the boys' to their aunt Robin's to see her and exchange gifts with the other great-grandma. Oh...H--L NO! She had already told the Social Worker that the parents had been hanging around Robin's house. I told Granny I was not comfortable with that at all. She said "I promise I won't anyone take them." I told her that I did not want the boys to even see the parents - one, because it will totally mess them up, and two, the court order says NO visitation, especially not unsupervised! I called the Social Worker is a tizzy. She was so mad at granny for lying to her. She said there was no way, and that if she tries to pull anything like that, she will take away granny's unsupervised visitation. She said she was going to call granny and tell her she can NOT do that. When we get to aunt Beth's house, I am going in and looking in all the rooms, bathrooms, and closets to make sure the parents are not hiding anywhere, and then Ken and I will park our car across the end of the driveway so they cannot leave. Granny will soon learn that we are not parents that she should tick off if she still wants a relationship with the boys. The social worker has already warned her about losing her visits, and I won't be unhappy if she does. I wanted to boys to be able to keep a relationship with her, but not if it's constant drama.

5 months

I can hardly believe Taylor turned 5 months today. It hardly seems possible! He's a whopping 14 1/2 pounds. He still wears mostly 0-3 month clothes, except for his sleepers...he's too long for them. His head and neck are definately strong, and he enjoys tummy time, but he hasn't rolled over. He was evaluated by the Children's Developmental Serivces, last week, and his test scores came out that he is at 4 months, so he's on track! He giggles all the time, I mean, he just starts laughing and doesn't stop. It's hilarious!

Last night we got a phone call from the boys' aunt (the one who hooked us up with them in the first place) and told us that the social worker had called the great-grandmother (so this is 3rd hand information) and told her that Social Services was going to request that the judge dismiss Social Services from having to continue to attempt reunification, and to start the process of terminating parental rights. If all that's true, and if the judge says yes, that's great for us. It would still be AT LEAST 6 months down the road (3 months for the TPR and 3 months before we could legally adopt), but it would be nice to have some sense of security about the boys.

TGIF

Farrell Cats

The boys social worker came to the house along with 2 other workers to evaluate Nathanael and Taylor for early intervention services. Neither of them are eligible because neither of them have any developmental delay - which of course is great.

But Nathanael's behavioral problems are really an issue. The three women told me that he really needed mental health play therapy, NOT developmental play therapy like James had. James thrived from it, and doesn't even qualify for it anymore. Problem is...they don't know of any psychologists who work with kids under 3. The social worker says his anger and rebellion is probably mainly related to the structure we are setting.

She described James and Nathanael as "farrell cats that we are now trying to domesticate". That is the best way to describe it I think. I really don't know how they survived. But I'm so glad they did. Just over the past few weeks, I've really seen James mature and 'settle' in with us a little better. And even though Nathanael is still our "troubled child", he is clearly better than when he came. Taylor - well, he's just a perfect, happy little boy. We really are lucky.

The most exciting things in their lives right now are: "Santa Clause is coming to town" and their "big boy" beds.

Pictures

James and Nathanael making cookies
James' first haricut! (with us)
Ken cracks Taylor up
Nathanael - post cooking, trying to clean
Papap feeding the boys peanuts