Chicken, Fish, Rice, Greens

The above four words are stated more in our home on a daily basis then they have been said in my entire lifetime. They are only superceded by MOMMY or MOMMY-O!

Tomorrow we will go to the fair down in Oklahoma City. Never been to that one but Lorea will be out of town when the Tulsa fair comes so what the heck. So, new pictures will be forthcoming!

More on domesticating the adoption - ughhhh!

Have I said yet that I am sick of people prying in my life or that I am sick of my office being piled with 10 copies of every document from the day I was born, or that I really just want to have my son and not have to fight every minute for him to be mine. Well, if I haven't let me say it now! AHHHHHHH!!!

Okay, now that that is out of my system. I met with an attorney whom I have retained for the final process of Akins adoption. One might ask why do we do this and well there is but one good reason, BIRTH CERTIFICATE and another desired reason - name change. Yes, Akins has a birth certificate from Monrovia Liberia and it is in fact certified, but should he ever need copies good luck getting any certified out of Africa. So, the process is to petition for adoption in the state in which you reside and upon final approval of that adoption (which name change will be a part of) birth certificates can be secured and then will be available like any other birth certificate for a citizen born in the U.S.

So, here's the kicker...my homestudy expires in about 10 days that said we have to scramble. Once the petition is filed then the time clock stops and should I be lacking any documents the judge wants we can get them. Getting the petition in now will save me several hundred dollars on a revised homestudy. So, we scramble.

After the adoption is finalize I will then be able to apply for a birth certificate and SS card. So, more reason to scramble because without the SS card I can't claim him on my taxes this year. All this means more time, more money, more damn papers! The funny thing...I'd be willing to pay more money to not have to spend the time or deal with the papers but there is no way out of that. Can you hear the copier burning now!

Back home - ahhhh!

Well, meetings are always chocked full of good information and new challenges, but there is nothing like getting home and especially now. Grandma had fun with Akins who fortunately lives next door to Madison one of Akins new school mates. So, that made it easy. He got OVERLY excited when I got there and she made the comment about how calm he had been until I came in. All of this excitement leads to a really loud voice and too much splashing in the tub and then when he was getting a bit out of control and I had to get on him a little he gave me the sweetest kiss. Okay, he wins!

Mamma Lorea and Junior

I called home a while ago and all is calm so far. Lorea is letting Akins sleep in the "big bed" and this seems to cure all wounds even Mommy being gone overnight. She also went shopping today and had clothes, shoes, and food to distract him with. I spoke with him on the phone and he was being his typical "goofy boy" self (my nickname for him which he likes now to refer to himself as). He knows tomorrow that he will go to school, then to Grandma's for fish (very excited about this), and then Mommy will be over the pick him up. As of this point this plans seems to be okay with him. We'll see what the morning brings, but this is wonderful news, things are going much better then I thought they might so - big sigh of relief and a fun time for Lorea to spend with him in a positive one on one way.

Scarecrows and Halloween

Tonight I was reading a bedtime story to Akins and we got more off on the pictures in the book then the story itself. Remember, there are LOTS of things that are so common place to us that he has never seen or heard of before. The book is the Red Hen some of you may remember. Anyway, on one of the pictures there is a scarecrow in a field, cartoon version making it even more difficult to explain. Akins says "Mommy, important man?" Anyone in a suit, tie, or uniform is typically an important man. I said "well to the farmer this is an important man, but it is really a pretend man, it's not real. The farmer puts the pretend important man in the field to scare away birds so they won't eat the corn" He ponders a moment and points to the duck and goose (both characters in the book) and says "birds eat the corn?" Now, this opens a whole other discussion about birds that fly and birds that like water and that the duck and the goose are not the birds that the scarecrow are designed to protect the corn from. I'm still not sure he is clear but eventually he seemed satisfied. I am certain there will be a lot more conversation about scarecrows in the coming nights.

We saw our first halloween stuff the other day and I'm wondering how do I explain this one to him and remembering Sue's blog of trying to explain Santa Claus to Abegail. Oh boy!

One day does it count as a routine?

Back to work today. The general plan will be Lorea will drop Akins off everyday at day care and I will pick him up, well except for when the general rule doesn't work and then Grandma is standby. Akins had been saying no to school all weekend but he graciously went and seemed to have a good time. I am told he is quiet at school hard for me to beleive and I worry what it means. Is he shy? Is he struggling to communicate? Is he taking it all in? Is he afraid and somewhat regressing to the days of yore at the orphanage where it seemed he spoke little, listened lots and learned everything.

When I picked him up he was almost shy with me at first seemingly puzzled by the whole notion that I did come back and that he could leave with me. Thirty minutes later he was screaming "I want Chikin" and one hour later we were racing down the driveway he on his bike and me on a razor scooter. I guess it is okay, as long as we can make it really fun after daycare until he settles in. I worry for Wednesday night when I will be gone and how this will make him feel. But, I will come home and one day I hope he will rest comfortably all night long without the need to find me in the middle of the night. I realize this is my desire now and when that day comes I also will likely be sadden by it too. Weird how we humans work huh?

D-Day

D = $$$$$$

This means I must return to work tomorrow. There are pros and cons to this whole necessity. Those of you that know me well know that work helps keep me balanced and well it provides for food, clothes, toys, travel all of the things I consider necessities. I suppose all of this could be considered the pros.

Now for the cons, the most obvious, leaving Akins to understand that yes I will return for him at the end of the day as what he understands is that people leave and they never come back. Then comes Wednesday when I need to travel out of town overnight. The timing is not great I realize, but it is what it is. Lorea may have her hands full trying to make him understand where I am and that I will return tomorrow. Hopefully, some good can come from this by allowing a deeper bonding time for the two of them. It will be the first time I have not been with him for any period of time since arriving in Monrovia.

So, I'll get off here for now and spend those last precious hours enjoying his sweet smile, infectous laugh and tricky sense of humor. For those of you that have followed this journey I must thank you for your words of encouragement and support through your comments, as much as you enjoy the blog updates I enjoy the feedback on how we are doing.


Under that ice cream mustache notice the favorite shade of pink

Finally he has the hang of his bike.

Cousin Bill playing monster man with the rubber worm

900 miles per hour straight towards the house

I'm not sure who was the monster Bill or Akins