Trial Date

       Well last week we went to court for the trial to terminate our girls' parental rights. The best part was during cross examination they basically got one of the biological parents to admit they were unable to care for the girls' needs. This is the same parent that has attended every hearing, the other hasn't shown up since last year even though they are apparently living together. The parent that isn't showing up currently has a warrant out for their arrest. Well when it was all said & done the judge terminated their parental rights. The order is scheduled to be entered at the begining of July. The parents each have 20 days from that date to file an appeal. Once we left the court room the girls' CASA worker went & spoke with the bio parent who attended & they asked if we would send updates on the girls, we agreed. The CASA workers seem to think they won't be filing an appeal. For one, they realize they didn't complete the case plan & the appeal would be denied, but also they would have to raise the money to pay their own attorney this time. The state has been supplying them with an attorney up until this point. Now basically what will happen is CPS will assign us an adoption worker & that person will prepare the girls' redacted or "de-identified" files. These are the big files of everything that led to the girls being in care, along with everything that happened since. There are many things about their past we just don't know & now we will hopefully be able to find out a little more about their parents' past also. Once we read the file & agree to the adoption, we are just waiting for the 90 day period to be over. Once a parents rights are terminated in Texas, there is a 90 day period before that child can be legally adopted. We have an attorney lined up & names picked out. So we're really excited to just breathe that giant sigh of relief & start living our lives with our daughters! (The picture above is my little Tuck showing off a fish he caught with his Daddy!).

So Much Going On...

So much has been going on getting time to post updates is pretty much impossible! I had finals for school, along with everything with the kids its been crazy! The last 2 days have been so busy! That little guy right there graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. He makes me so proud every single day. He is such a free spirit & walks to the beat of his own drum. I hope he never changes who he is for anyone. I try to remember everyday that its a BLESSING to be a parent, not a job. He is a gift to me from God, not my possession to try & control. I hope he always knows I love him for who he is, regardless of his choices, and my love is never conditional on him pleasing me. Then today was my wonderful husbands 31st Birthday. We've been together over 10 years and I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else! He still makes me laugh until I snort & is the best daddy I could imagine for our 3 kids. Speaking of our kids, everyone is doing really well. Tuck is turning into such a sweet brother. I catch him doing little things like holding Sissy's spare hand in the parking lot or brushing her hair for her after bath time. Sissy is doing well & is still making so much progress. She is becoming much more talkative, she has always talked REALLY well, but now she holds conversations & is more expressive. She is bonding well and is potty trained. Dee is doing good. She is nearly walking & is 10 1/2 months old already. We have court in 2 weeks for the trial to terminate parental rights & we are so ready! We have names picked out for the girls and just want our family to be final!