Bailey is a Genius

So Bailey is a genius. Today in church she was wandering around in Sunday School and found something on the floor. Jennifer didn't want her to play with it so she said, "That's garbage". Well upon hearing that Bailey marched right to the front of the room and threw it in the garbage can. She then turned around with a big cheesy grin and clapped her hands for a job well done.

I can't believe how smart she is getting. Jennifer is doing such an amazing job teaching her too. What a great couple of girls I've got.

Why we were AWOL

So sorry to have disappeared for the entire month of April. Our internet has been down this entire month which means in the next couple of days I need to do some catch up posting on things like, Bailey, Bailey's birthday, more Bailey and ...Bailey.

As for why the internet went down, we tried to switch our phone service to Vonage to save some cash. It works with your DSL connection and sounded like a great deal. Well, it turns out we have the wrong kind of DSL. As soon as our AT&T got switched off our DSL went with it. Vonage is very prompt about signing you up but they tend to drag their feet when you want to cancel, so we have been waiting and waiting.

In the end here we are back again. I have attached my current favorite picture of Bailey, enjoy!

Finalization Update

Well remember we said we had a March 2nd court date to terminate paternal rights? Well, everything went well and the case went to our attorney to finalize for us. He found one problem however, they terminated paternal rights to a baby boy not a baby girl. This means that the termination is invalid and will have to go back to court...in two and a half months! We are so sick of waiting. We are waiting for the finalization to go through before we can change Bailey's name legally, file our taxes, bless Bailey and be sealed in the temple. What a pain!

Baby Steps

So cute!

Adoption

Going through the adoption process has helped us to see that there is a lot of misconceptions about the whole thing. Jennifer and I feel strongly that we need to clear some of this up. Our friends and family are scared for us everytime we have contact with the birth family. I hope that I can put your fears to rest and help you to see this through our eyes.

We have been nothing but blessed by the relationship that we have formed with Bailey's birth family. They are kind, warm people and we absolutely love them. To let them see Bailey from time to time is to let them know that she is alright and that they made the right decision.

Birth mothers do not place their children for adoption because they do not love them rather it is because they do. It would be far easier to save yourself the pain and to rear the child in a less than perfect environment, which so many people do. Or to even have an abortion and to save yourself from all of the pain of the pregnancy and the challenges of raising a child thereafter. This is not to suggest that those who place their children for adoption could not raise them themselves because many of them could. They want however, more for their child. Things that they know they will not be able to provide. It takes a lot of maturity to take such an honest look at your station in life and to make that decision.

A healthy relationship with the birthfamily does not threaten the relationship of the adoptive family. Here I stress the word healthy. We have all heard horror stories I know, but these are in the distinct minority. More often than not various forms of contact serve to reassure the birthmother that everything is alright and help to form a tie between her and her child. The child so placed never has to wonder why they were placed they can instead take comfort that they have two mothers that love them and would do anything for them.

I suppose that is all I have to say at the moment but this will be a topic that I will revisit from time to time. I want you all to know how much I love my daughter. I also love the birthfamily that comes with her. Adoption is far more common than we might realize and it is not something to be ashamed of. The mother who places her child can be assured that outside of a few anamolous cases they are healthy happy and loved.

If you know someone who is pregnant and in trouble please help them to know that adoption is an option. It is because, someone told Bailey's mother that we have Bailey with us today. Now I could not imagine our lives without her.

Wow, what a fun day!

So the visit with the birth family was awesome! They are the absolute warmest people that you could imagine. I believe they could make anyone feel right at home. Before we even made it to the front door Bailey's brother and sister came charging out of the house shouting, "Bailey, Bailey, Bailey." Brandon who is three and Sierra who is five buried Bailey in a barrage of hugs. They wanted to hold her carry her, they just couldn't get enough.

We visited for a bit inside and I think we were all grateful to be more open in our relationship. They got to see Bailey do everything that she can do now. She took little steps, laughed and played with her Brother and Sister. In their backyard they have a playground set which they have dubbed "Sierraville". Bailey was not thrilled with the swings but she loved the slide. As soon as she got to the bottom she would try to crawl back up it.

I did commit one etiquette faux pas however. I was playing with Sierra who was rolling a soccer ball down the slide. The game was simple, I just rolled it back up to her. Well at one point she said, "You can't get me" and preceded to dodge around. Well I threw the soccer ball and nailed her right in the face. I felt like such an idiot. She cried and cried but eventually she forgave me and gave me a hug. Aren't kids great.

We also got to see their Bailey tree. It is a tree they planted after Bailey was born to remember her. It was really touching to see Bailey play around this special tree. That is the picture above. It was an amazing day, and I am so glad to have them in our lives and in Bailey's life as well. Bailey will never wonder if her birth mother loved her because she will be able to hear it directly from her.OK guys, you can get me down at any time.

We had a hard time rounding up the kids for a picture so we were just happy with what we got.

Sierra playing with her baby sister.

Brandon was so cute. He kind of hovered around Bailey almost the whole time.

BIG NEWS

I just got off the phone with Bailey's birth mother. We are going to get together with her tomorrow! We are so excited. In addition to her birth mother, Bailey's birth grandmother, brother, sister and aunt will all be there. It feels really exciting, we are of course nervous but we'll let you know how it goes.