Hallie's weekend has been a pretty important one.
it began on a really high note on Friday when we all got up bright and early, fed and bathed Hallie (in that order, so as to not require us to re-bathe Hallie after any potential refund activity) and got ourselves dressed up (which sadly is now defined on any item of clothing lacking a milk stain on the shoulder). Grammy came down from New Jersey to meet up with us, and we picked up Auntie Neystice at her house, because we were all headed to Juvenile Court. No, Hallie has not burped in no burping zone or anything of that nature; we were in court so that I could formally adopt Hallie. While Hallie thinks of me as her mama (or at least as someone special who is particularly inclined to play endless games of 'I'm gonna get you!" with her and changes her diapers and feeds her bottles), and I certainly feel like Hallie's mama (there have been plenty of sleepless nights already, and I am certain that this will only get worse when she becomes a teenager), the law didn't exactly recognize us as related until 11am on Friday. While one could complain about this (and the fact that it cost a bunch to make our relationship legal), I'm more willing right now to look at the situation in a glass-is-half-full kind of way and am happy that at least I live in a state where this is possible. Anyway, Hallie did beautifully, it was great to see so many kids in Juvenile Court for such a happy event (the halls were filled with families adopting kids; Hallie was the second youngest child being adopted so we got to go early in the docket), and it gave us yet another major celebration in our lives. We went out to lunch right afterwards; we enjoyed a very adult meal replete with wine (how decadent!) and Hallie enjoyed a nice long nap:
(NOTE: Aunt Neystice has the official adoption photos on her camera; as soon as she sends them, we will post them)
Afterwards, we came home and Grammy took Hallie to the park to swing on the swings and Mama (that's me, officially!) prepared a feast for dinner. Mommy had to go to work, alas (she enjoyed playing hooky all morning and early afternoon). Then, we got Hallie out of her playclothes and back into her adoption finery because Aunt Ellen was coming over. Aunt Ellen watched Hallie play on her rug in the living room (she is actually playing on my carriage blanket from when I was an infant around 40 years ago) and even got to see Hallie roll over. Not bad for a kid who weighed 1 lb. 5 ounces when Aunt Ellen met her in the delivery room just shy of 10 months ago. And check out those shoulder muscles! I am glad someone in our family is still in shape!
Aunt Ellen sent us some gorgeous flowers on this very special day:
Then, later on, Auntie Vanessa and Uncle Mark and Karina (who has taken to hugging, kissing, and calling Hallie by name), Vanessa's brother Ernie (who himself had spent quite a few weeks in the NICU at Washington University Hospital when he and his twin were little) and Auntie Nancy and Uncle Josh and Ethan came over for dinner with us; it was nice to celebrate with the whole Queen Street Commune.
This all left Hallie (and us) tuckered out and so we slept late on Saturday. Hallie woke up and was in a very nice mood and even wanted to hold her own bottle when we were feeding her:
After that, mommy got Hallie ready and took her to the zoo with the Queen Street Commune and Uncle Ernie. We dressed her in a favorite pair of jeans and her cute red and white striped jacket; these things were swimmingly large on her back in December and now barely fit her. The whole commune posed for a nice group shot (which excluded Mommy, who was taking the picture).
Hallie was eager to play at the zoo:
She was happier being held than wheeled around in the stroller; that way, she could see more and was less likely to drift off into sleep.
Karina and Ethan had a great time at the children's petting zoo:
But Hallie was not quite sure what to do!
In spite of herself, Hallie was really tuckered out by the end; this, however, did not stop her from giving Uncle Ernie a hard time on the way home!
Today, we just took it easy and didn't do much of anything. Glorious!
8 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS! What an amazing weekend. So happy you are officially legally recognized as the Mama you've always been!
I'm so happy for you guys!
Congratulations! Hallie is beautiful and I'm so excited for you and your family.
What an awesome day and a HUGE reason to celebrate!
Hallie is looking as cute as ever and it looks like she really enjoys being a little social butterfly!
Congratulations, Hallie is so lucky to have 2 loving Moms! It certainly sounds like a great weekend was had by all.
Hooray for legality! Hooray, too, for glass-is-half-ful-ness. I had a very entertaining conversation when S was ittybitty with a friend whose wife had to do the same thing with their boys despite the fact that the mamas were legally married (hooray again, for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).
Congratulations Mama and Hallie on the officialness of your relationship! I am glad you are on the half-full end of the spectrum. We were on the half-empty spectrum and resented our adoption day more than anything else, but you're right--it IS a reason to celebrate and I am glad you all had a wonderful, family-filled day! You have been through so much: it is about time the government recognizes all those hours spent in the NICU, all the doctors appointments, midnight feedings, dirty diapers, hours of therapy exercises, etc.
Hooray for another happy family!
Congratulations!!
shes so adorable!
by the way the black squeare clip on her car seat i supposed to be slid up to her armpits.
she's a true miracle! and sooo precious!
SaBella
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