New addition
There was a court hearing on July 26, and we got custody of Peanut. His bio mom didn't show up to court, so even though we came to court it was over in only a couple minutes and we didn't even set foot in the courtroom.
He moved in this past weekend. It was a mad frenzy of moving furniture, selling stuff on Craigslist to make room, cleaning, etc. Hubby's parents have approximately 30+ outfits for him - I have never seen a kid with so many clothes! Seriously! We barely have room for it all! :p So far it has been smooth sailing. He is such a sweetheart, and all of the kids were totally thrilled to welcome him into the crew.
Assuming his bio mom confirms the visit, we are taking him to a visit tomorrow. The worker asked us to supervise but I just don't feel comfortable doing it, since we'd have our 5 other kids with us. It's going to be at the mall, so we are going to take the other kids shoe shopping (the worker did find someone else to supervise so that's good). I'm not sure if bio mom even knows he's been moved in with us.
The caseworker came out today and said bio mom hasn't talked to him in months. He's tried to get ahold of her but her phone service is unreliable and she doesn't have a steady residence, job, etc. so it's not like he can just drive to her house or something.
I found out she has 4 other kids, one that has been TPR'ed on in another state and 3 that live with their dad here in the same city we live in. I have a document now that has all of their names, which is more than I have for our other adopted children! I know our others have at least 8 or so other biological half siblings from their bio dad, but that's a whole nother ball of wax I suppose. She is one year (give or take) younger than me, and, this is totally crazy, she and I went to the same high school, which is in a small(ish) town about 5 hours from here! She would have been 2 years behind me, so I didn't ever know her. It's still pretty crazy to think about though.
Termination hearing is coming up in less than 2 weeks. The worker said he thinks it's pretty cut and dry, but the judge may take several weeks or even months to rule. Hubby and I plan to attend the hearing, and this time I'm going to bring a notebook and take notes. Wish I would have done that when I went to the other kids' bio dad's termination hearing. It's just nice to write down all the crazy things you learn that you might not have known, and anything they say that is especially memorable.
I asked if she would be offered relinquishment, and the CW said she would be but that he doubted she would take it, as she doesn't believe she's done anything wrong. So that's somewhat discouraging.
All business, this post, but I like to get this stuff written down! I want to be able to have this info for when he's grown up, or at least older, and starts having more questions about his bio mom. He has been calling me "Mommy" for about a month now, and I kind of feel bad about it but what are you going to do? Up until a few days ago he was calling all the kids C's name, he has finally expanded his name repertoire but doesn't have them all down yet. I get it, it's a lot of names. ;)
We are somewhat concerned that Peanut may have FASD, but that is something that we are learning more about and just kind of being wary of, as he gets older. We will deal with it and it will be ok. I do believe he exhibits some of the facial features of FASD kids and if I'm being completely honest, so does his mother. :( He's young yet, and seems to be fairly normal. The past few months his vocabulary has grown a ton, and he's getting much more coordinated and strong physically so that's encouraging!
Anyway. That's it for now!
He moved in this past weekend. It was a mad frenzy of moving furniture, selling stuff on Craigslist to make room, cleaning, etc. Hubby's parents have approximately 30+ outfits for him - I have never seen a kid with so many clothes! Seriously! We barely have room for it all! :p So far it has been smooth sailing. He is such a sweetheart, and all of the kids were totally thrilled to welcome him into the crew.
Assuming his bio mom confirms the visit, we are taking him to a visit tomorrow. The worker asked us to supervise but I just don't feel comfortable doing it, since we'd have our 5 other kids with us. It's going to be at the mall, so we are going to take the other kids shoe shopping (the worker did find someone else to supervise so that's good). I'm not sure if bio mom even knows he's been moved in with us.
The caseworker came out today and said bio mom hasn't talked to him in months. He's tried to get ahold of her but her phone service is unreliable and she doesn't have a steady residence, job, etc. so it's not like he can just drive to her house or something.
I found out she has 4 other kids, one that has been TPR'ed on in another state and 3 that live with their dad here in the same city we live in. I have a document now that has all of their names, which is more than I have for our other adopted children! I know our others have at least 8 or so other biological half siblings from their bio dad, but that's a whole nother ball of wax I suppose. She is one year (give or take) younger than me, and, this is totally crazy, she and I went to the same high school, which is in a small(ish) town about 5 hours from here! She would have been 2 years behind me, so I didn't ever know her. It's still pretty crazy to think about though.
Termination hearing is coming up in less than 2 weeks. The worker said he thinks it's pretty cut and dry, but the judge may take several weeks or even months to rule. Hubby and I plan to attend the hearing, and this time I'm going to bring a notebook and take notes. Wish I would have done that when I went to the other kids' bio dad's termination hearing. It's just nice to write down all the crazy things you learn that you might not have known, and anything they say that is especially memorable.
I asked if she would be offered relinquishment, and the CW said she would be but that he doubted she would take it, as she doesn't believe she's done anything wrong. So that's somewhat discouraging.
All business, this post, but I like to get this stuff written down! I want to be able to have this info for when he's grown up, or at least older, and starts having more questions about his bio mom. He has been calling me "Mommy" for about a month now, and I kind of feel bad about it but what are you going to do? Up until a few days ago he was calling all the kids C's name, he has finally expanded his name repertoire but doesn't have them all down yet. I get it, it's a lot of names. ;)
We are somewhat concerned that Peanut may have FASD, but that is something that we are learning more about and just kind of being wary of, as he gets older. We will deal with it and it will be ok. I do believe he exhibits some of the facial features of FASD kids and if I'm being completely honest, so does his mother. :( He's young yet, and seems to be fairly normal. The past few months his vocabulary has grown a ton, and he's getting much more coordinated and strong physically so that's encouraging!
Anyway. That's it for now!
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