the court adoption

the shape of us

halloween 2012

what a cute clark kent/superman!

 

We had a great halloween! Caleb was so excited once he figured out that knocking on doors, saying trick or treat and thank you gets you a lot of candy! He carried that plastic pumpkin around everywhere even in the tub. He did not however love carving the pumpkin but we had a great holiday.  

halloween at the museum!

how funny is he dancing....

bathroom....

we have had a few hiccups along the way...this was a big one! chris was in a rush to get some things done and one saturday he came running into the kitchen that I needed to take him to the ER. his fingers have healed and he was really lucky that nothing serious happened! 

fall pumpkins

we had a great fall visiting all the local farms and pumpkin patches!

I/we survived the ward halloween party, the primary program and the unfinished bathroom!

And we enjoyed all the activities at the garden factory...

we came to find a pumpkin

but all we got were tears!!!

until we got home and then that 50 lb. pumpkin got all the love......

a little fall...

the pumpkins

the fall leaves

doughnuts, wagon rides and cooler weather!!

I love this time of year....

occupying a 2 yr old..

We have spent many hours at lowes and home depot this past month and a half. we are all getting tired of it and it is harder and harder to occupy this little kid!

 

thank goodness for the holiday displays!

zoned out!!

 This kid can zone out in front of the tv! It is rare but we laugh every time he does, because he is so into whatever is on that he does not even eat his candy worms, which are his favorite right now.

We had a doctors appointment this last week and this kid has grown inches and 2 whole pounds since July! We pulled out his 3T fall clothes and they are not fitting! It is crazy how much a few months can change things.

moon, moon, moon

this kid loves to sing all the time. i love that he is picking up more and more songs. it is hard to catch him in the act because once he sees the camera it is over! but here is a little piece of his sweet voice.

more outtings....

We are still occupying ourselves with outtings while Chris finishes the bathroom. It is just too hard to keep the baby away from all the fun tools and building as he calls it. It is pretty cute how much he loves his daddy and excited he is to help!

hair, hair and more hair

I think it is funny that I have so much to say and have taken so many pictures of this kids hair lately. But we finally decided and agree on what he will be for Halloween. I am not going to say yet! But here is the hair do...guesses!

and the last picture is of his new haircut but I might have to trim up here and there. he has just funny hair. love it!

the season....

This is my favorite season of the year especially here in upstate NY. And we have only just begun all the fun things we will be doing this fall. All of these pumpkins or pumpkeenss came from our garden!

he calls them caleb's pumpkeenss and loved watching them grow....

seriously who is this big kid striking a pose!

Happy Fall!!!

a visit down, one to go...

Chris & I have been worried about how a visit with the boyos birth mom would go, she is a bit overwhelming to say the least. But we had our first independent visit with her and he for the most part just took it all with patience and love. I was very proud of him! He is one smart, independent, strong little man.

 

And we got an adorable picture of the 2 of and I am not sure how it turned out so clean because he would not sit still. And it is wonderful to see her doing better in many aspects of her life.

things are moving along...

We were really excited this week to get in the mail all the paperwork from our lawyer for the adoption! It makes it REAL. This is going to happen and maybe in the next month or two. It sounds a little unusual but I guess we don't even care how it sounds any more-it is our reality but his name is "ordered" (as the document says!) to be know as:

We do have several reasons for wanting to change his name, it sounds like it is not that uncommon even for foster care. But he is a junior originally named after a man who is not his legal or biological father. Someone who has never been involved nor wanted to be involved in his life. And someone who is local and not a very good person so having a senior did not seem right! Besides his last name was changing so we thought why not his first since we would be his family!

We have been calling him Caleb since he was a year and half so he knows himself as Caleb. Not that we even have to justify it but it is interesting the responses we are getting as we make this announcement more official.

So no adoption date but we are one step closer!