We're Baaaaacccckkkk!!!!!

Hey guys!!!!! It feels so good to be back, and for life to have some sense of normalcy again!!! Don't get me wrong, these past 4 weeks with my angel, as I stayed home with her everyday and held her and bonded with her I will cherish forever. However I was getting stir crazy and I am very glad that it finally feels like we have our precious on a routine now at night and we are settled into our family of three :).

Let me start off by saying THANK YOU to so many of you who have mailed cards and gifts. I have received gifts from blogger friends that I have never even met!! That to me is so amazing that you have followed our story so closely and that you care that much! Also everything is going along just perfect with the adoption. Our attorney called just yesterday and said the juvenile court in our city just issued the final permanent custody order to us, which is the next to last step before the final decree of adoption is issued by the judge which my attorney said she believes will be issued by the end of this calendar year!!! YEAH!!!

Some of you have asked how the birth went and what my interaction is now with L the birth mom? Well the birth went well, although she did end up having to have a C-section, Chloe's shoulder's were just stuck, but I told you guys L was very small in stature. She was born at 6:42pm on October 16, 2011. L did hold Chloe for about 20 mins after her birth and fed her the first bottle, and then she said she was done, and she never wanted nor did she see her after that. She then authorized us to have full care and responsibility for her in the hospital as well as take her home from the hospital.

The nurses then put arm bands on Sweetness and I, they even gave us a room on the L and D floor, and we cared for Chloe and were able to stay there in the hospital with her for 2 days while she was a patient!!!! It was a total God thing!! (This was something we specifically prayed about- not having to leave her at the hospital and something or someone pull a fast one or start more drama again).

Above is the first time I held my little peanut. She is the smallest, most petit little thing. As soon as we laid eyes on her, we knew that this was our daughter. We had been waiting all these years, not just for a baby, not just any baby would do, we were waiting for HER. Thanks you Jesus!!!

We did not ask for a thing. The nurses were so attentive. They thought our story was so amazing and uplifting, they cried along with us as well. L was in her room 5 doors down, and I did go see her a couple of times, but her father and mother were in there all the time with her, and her father DID NOT want me visiting AT ALL. Basically because he did not want this to be an "open" adoption, he wanted L to have no way to contact me or the baby ever again, but L finally stood up to him, and told her it was going to be HER way, because this was her daughter. I was very proud of her.

She and I still text daily, but it is on a much scaled back level. I have ,ailed her newborn photos we have had taken professionally that I will post on here in another post, and she loves to see Chloe doing well. She tells me all the time she made the right choice, and she is so happy Chloe is so happy and well cared for. yesterday was her birthday and she could not believe i remembered ans sent her a card and gift. She said she sees me as a big sister. I believe the Lord brought us into her life not just for Chloe but to help mentor her too.

After 2 full days, L terminated her rights by signing the official documents on Oct. 18, 2011 allowing us take her home!! Then I got the full "mommy treatment", they would not let me walk out of the hospital..... I was wheeled out like all new mommies with the baby in her car seat on my lap. It was a nice touch for me, again God made sure I experienced everything! Below is a picture of her all snuggled in her car seat as we left the hospital for the long 8 hour drive home to Virginia with our miracle.......

She did wonderful on the ride, she slept for the majority of it, stopping only once to feed. When we arrived home to our house, my sweet Momma was there waiting to get her hands on her grandbaby and she had decorated our whole house with all sorts of balloons and yard decorations and banners everywhere to welcome home our most precious gift!!!! It was such a nice touch!! We took lots of pictures of it, but I don't have the camera with me at the moment so I can't add the pictures of it and I wanted to get this post up to reconnect with you all!! Our dream had finally become a reality, all the tears, all the pain, all the sorrow, all the heartache, all of it, every single bit of it, was WORTH.IT.ALL.to look in to the face of our angel as we carried her into her new home......

And so began my life filled with Sweetness AND Chloe....... :)