Re-Adoption Day!

And all I have to show for it is this picture I took from my phone because SOMEONE (I'm not naming names...but it wasn't me) didn't check to make sure a card was in the camera (after said person was reminded many times). I gave this person one job this morning... OK, enough of that. But someone else did take a photo from their iphone, but Ty was in rare form, so I'm not sure how it turned out. The formality of the paperwork and talking with the judge did get emotional for us, but we hid it well. We were asked if we still promised to never abandon or abuse our son, and if we promised to love and care for him. And then I had to make a statement about how things are going and Ty's progress. It was amazing to think back about it all.

Here is Kacie and Tyson as we waited at the courthouse.



Today was definitely a day of reflection. 18 months ago, we had tantrums, sleepless nights of me lying on the floor while I rubbed his back in his toddler bed, gorging food issues, no speech (except Mama and No--the toddler staples of any language), learning English, cleft palate repair, grieving, anger...I could go on.

I am not saying it's all cupcakes and smiles now, but wow...it's a 180 degree turn from where we were. Ty is now fully potty trained (except at night...and there have been a few nights of staying dry!) and that has taken so much stress away because he was using it as something he could control. This weekend was the best weekend we've had in 18 months--honestly! We, as a family of 4, went shopping, watched TV, played a board game (and Ty pretended, but he sat with us and participated!), and we were almost *gulp* normal. Now today Ty was back to his usual self, but I think he knew something big was happening too, and if you're going to take a preschooler into a lighting store...well, expect bad behavior! So re-adoption is over, and in about 45 days, Tyson will have his own birth certificate with our names on it as his parents.

We have all been taking turns being sick. Today it's Kacie's turn. Her throat is bright red, and she has nose bleeds. She did tough it out this morning as we bought new lights for our kitchen, made a few other stops, and finished up with a yummy lunch Hibatchi style at Fujiyamas. Here is Kacie and Tyson at Best Buy. And do you see that DVD he is holding? Well, do you also see the mischievous look in his eye? He didn't get to bring that Bob the Builder DVD home because for the first time in ages, he tried to run from us. The good news is that he got over it in about 5 minutes.


As sad as it was that Ty didn't get to bring home Bob the Builder on DVD, it was a great experience as a parent. Why you ask? Because months ago, that tantrum would not have stopped on it's own. Today it stopped in 5 minutes. He got over it!

It was amazing to think that three years ago, I was researching agencies and adoption programs. Three years later, I have the most beautiful boy in the world. Today--re-adoption day--is a happy day, and we are all home just relaxing before we have to get back to reality tomorrow.