LuvBug

It's Offical!!

It is offical, our stress of the adoption process is over :)!!  Mikel is now a Sebren - Jason and I are now on his birth certificate and his legal parents.  Of course he doesn't realize a difference, but now I can breath a little easier, I can add him to my insurance and I can enroll him in pre-school as a true Sebren.

The day of the adoption I could feel my heart beating outside my shirt.  The butterflies in my belly were fluttering around so fast I could barely eat.  It was the excitment I felt the day I got married.  Going to see the judge with the family (which included the kids, Jason's mom and 'Mr. Ken') was truely amazing!!  The judge was fabulous - he was so gentle, so loving and so excited to be doing this for us.  By the end of our time in his chambers I had tears in my eyes.  My family is completely intact :)!  Thank you Lord, you are so amazing!! Mikel, like my older two children, is a gift from you and will grow up knowing you.  I can not thank you enough for ALL your blessings!!

Happy 1st Birthday Mikel!

Today we celebrated Mikel's 1st birthday.  Weatherly & Tennyson were so excited!!  We ate marinated grilled chicken, zucchini & onion kabobs, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and hot dogs for the kids (and 3 unexpected boys from the 'hood).  Weatherly & Tennyson baked Mikel a cake and bought him a few toys.  It was perfect - just enough to have fun, but not too much to be overwhelming.  The lawyer called today and gave Mikel another birthday gift - a date for the adoption to be final.  We will be going in front of a judge on August 6, 2009 to change Mikel's last name to Sebren :) - Yay!!

Meeting Nations

Today was a little stressful - Today we met Nations (Mikel's birth mom) for lunch at the Varsity for the first time since we picked him up in March.  When the adoption process started we promised her we would keep in touch and let her see Mikel periodically.  I made a hard decision on that day, whether I wanted the adoption open or closed.  In the end I figured it would be best for Mikel to know who his birth mom is for a few reasons:  he will one day realize I am not his biological mom (hmm, I wonder why..);  Nations does love her children and that is why she wanted them to have a better life;  we want to continue to love Nations and show her the love of Jesus.  However, realizing those factors and acting on them are two different things.

So this week we decided to grant Nations' wish and meet for lunch.  About 2 p.m. we drove up to the Varsity, all the while I felt like a rock was in my stomach, and Nations walked up to the car.  I unbuckled Mikel and she immediately took him from me.  At first I felt a little resentment, Mikel is now my baby, but then I remembered that she didn't want to run away with him, she just wanted to hold him.  We went inside with Nations, Mikel's big sister (Tatiana), and Tatiana's adoptive family and ate lunch.  The whole afternoon went well.  All the kids played together, Nations got to visit with us and her children, and we all bonded a little closer.  After two hours we were all exhausted and went our own ways.  Once we got in the car I was drained from emotional stress, but I felt like we had made the right decision.  I know we will get together again, and it will get easier with each passing event.  I also know with each passing event we will get closer with Nations and she will feel more like extended family instead of the "other mom" or just "the birth mom".  God gave us all such comfort and peace when we were around each other today, and I know he will continue as long as we let him :).

Adoption Update

The last month has been another whirlwind - 4 weeks ago, Monday, we picked up a 9 month old from Atlanta and brought him home to become one of our own.  Now his life and our lives will never be the same....

We are half way through an emotional adoption process.  After we brought him home we decided to change Deontae Kemone's name to Mikel Deontae.  After about a week and a half his biological mom signed papers to relinquish her rights.  She had 10 days to change her mind, the 10 days were final last Friday and we never heard a word.  Now the lawyer is working on relinquishing the rights of Mikel's biological father.  We know his name, but we do not know where he is or how to find him.  So our lawyer will put an ad in the paper for 3 weeks, then we have to wait 30 days after the last ad is run.  At that point the dad's rights can be relinquished, if he does not answer the ad in the paper or appeal the adoption.  Once the dad's rights are taken away we can go to court to make everything official - we will get a birth certificate with his changed name and our names as his parents.  A very exciting moment :)!!  

Every day we are falling more in love with him, he already calls me "Mama", and Weatherly already considers Mikel her little brother.  Overall the children are doing great with this new life change.  There are moments of jealousy and uncertainty with this change, but considering what they have been through the last four weeks I think they are doing FABULOUS!!

Am I dreaming?

The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind....at times I feel like I am dreaming.....then I look around and I see 3 beautiful children looking back at me.  Yes, 3 children.  Last night at 10:00 Jason and I rescued a little 9 month old, Deontae, from a homeless life on the Atlanta streets.  This is the same little boy we were hoping to adopt about a month ago, but the mom had decided not to go through with it.  We were over joyed with her decision and never questioned her again.  Then around 7:30 last night the mother of Deontae called Jason and told him she wanted us to pick up her son and adopt him. She wanted a better life for her son, a life she could not give him on the streets.  Jason and I dropped everything, Mr. Ken came over to babysit, and we ran to Atlanta to pick up Deontae.  Now, 24 hours later, he has adapted well and is sleeping in a small crib in our bedroom.  Weatherly and Tennyson have also done really well with a new baby in the house.  Weatherly has taken on a motherly role and Tennyson just watches him.  Little Deontae lightens up whenever Weatherly and Tennyson are around - he begins to dance and smile. It is so fabulous to watch them all play together :)

Now much prayer is needed - the adoption process begins.  This is not permanent until 10 days after the adoption papers have been signed.  Please pray God's will is done, pray we adapt well to this life change, and pray the children bond as brothers and sister.