Two Things

Part 1: Finalized

With Judge Petrie!
Thanks for the pics, Jenny!

BabyGirl all dressed up for her big day
Thanks for the pics, Aunti Michelle!

Acacia Grace officially became our daughter on Thursday… ahh, what a great day!  We went before the judge, who happens to be an elder at our church, and swore that we would take care of her, provide for her, and bring her up in a loving home. There were a few hiccups with the adoption process, even in the last day or so, but we weren’t anticipating any major issues in the courtroom. Even so, it was still such a relief to have the judge declare that she is ours forever… the thought that nothing and no one can take her away from us brings a sappy grin to my face every time I think about it.

I’m struck again by what an amazing thing adoption is… sometimes people tell us what a great thing it is we are doing or what a blessing it must be to to our kids... but I feel the opposite. We’re the ones who are so thankful to be their parents, and I think we recognize that more than we otherwise would, because it can be a struggle and fight to finalize an adoption. When it finally becomes official, after already parenting a child for 4 months… waves of thankfulness just pour over me. Even without any major issues, it is still an unadulterated, happy moment when an adopted child is declared ours.

Here's a visual representation of how we all feel about Cacia's adoption being finalized, courtesy of Pharrell's "Happy" and Cacia's big bro, Cashel:

Our BabyGirl, Cacia, is a sweetie, who loves to smile, especially at her lovely mama. She is incredibly active, especially compared to how docile her brother was at the same age1. She loves to stand, jump around in her exersaucer, look around at the world, and squeal at us, especially late at night after big bro Cashy has gone to bed. She is also a professional cuddler when she’s tired, and really enjoys watching sports on TV with me. It has been awesome getting to see more and more of her little personality blossom as she discovers new things every day.

1. Now he’s a constantly moving, bull-in-a-china-shop, but up until about 8 months old, he was supremely satisfied just to sit back and observe the world.

It was wonderful to celebrate with family...

And friends!

And more friends!

Part 2: When It Rains, It Deluges

So, here’s a funny story that we haven't been able to make public until now…

Since “pulling the goalie” almost 5 years ago, we have not been able to get pregnant. Colleen has been to see doctors, and we’ve tried a few things, but we didn’t sweat it too much since we’ve wanted to adopt since early on in our dating relationship. Our original, pre-marriage plan was to have two biological kids, and then adopt all of our other children, but because of the complications things obviously did not happen that way. Life rarely works out as planned, and most people (including us) have to learn that the hard way. “The mind of man plans his ways, But the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

As we posted previously, Acacia’s adoption came extremely quickly after we completed our home study update, and much before we expected we’d be able to get a baby. Well, here's the rest of the story" from back in February... the day before Cacia was born, Colleen took a pregnancy test that was positive.

!!!!!!!!!!!

Bumpin' bumpin'

My reaction was more dumbfounded than anything, but we had registered false positives before because of some of hormone issues, so I didn’t totally believe it. Colleen, however, really felt like she really might be this time, but because Acacia's birthmother was being induced the next morning, we had no time to do anything or to think much about it. We decided to put it to the back of our minds, as best we could, and focus on Cacia’s incredible entrance into our lives. We didn’t tell anyone2 that we might be pregnant since we wanted all the focus to be on Cacia in her first days on earth. Once we got back home from Cincinnati when Cacia was a week or so old, Colleen went to get a blood test which confirmed the pregnancy test.

It was actually difficult to be excited about it for a little while since being pregnant complicated our adoption of Acacia a bit. Our home study was completed under the reality that we only had one child, and there were a few anxious hours not knowing what would happen after we told the agency that we were pregnant. Thankfully, the pregnancy did not interfere with the adoption, other than a request for us to have some additional help in our home after the baby is born (which we'll probably need anyway!).

Not too long after we brought Cacia home, Colleen started to have some first trimester night queasiness and morning sickness, which did not make newborn night feedings very pleasant. I did my best to pick up the slack, but Colleen was an incredible mom even when not feeling her best. Over the next few weeks and months, we gradually told more people in our family and at our church, but we were asked to wait to make any public announcements until Acacia’s adoption was finalized - which is why we can finally post this now! For those keeping score at home, Colleen is 21 weeks along, and is due October 25th.

Can you see the prego belly hiding behind the baby?

One of the funnier side-effects of having to keep the pregnancy off the internet until now, is how we’ve had to edit or censor what photos of Colleen go online. There have been a few cute ones of her and the kids that we might have normally shared, but her bump was too prominent. A few from the past couple of weeks have had a strategically placed child in her lap as we attempted to abide by the request to keep the news off the internet until the finalization.

Many people have told us that we must have gotten pregnant because we were adopting. Apparently it is pretty common for couples who can’t get pregnant to finally conceive when they are in the adoption process. However, because Acacia’s adoption went so quickly, we were actually pregnant before we even knew about her. Though we definitely believe that God knew and had a plan the whole time! 

Say hello to Pelé!
Looks like he has Nana Wittig's little button nose

A few weeks ago we found out that we’ll have another boy in the family! He is quite a squirmy guy and loves to kick his mama in all directions, so we’ve dubbed him "Pelé" for the time being. If he comes on schedule, he will be 8 months younger than his sister, and 26 months younger than his big bro Cashel. It is going be to crazy in our house for a while!

So that’s our news. 2014 is apparently “the year of babies” for us.

Thanks so much for the prayers and support for Acacia’s adoption, as well as the love we’ve received throughout our whole story as it unfolds… definitely not according to our plans all the time, but according to the Lord’s. Thanks for reading!

-Cason

2. Except for Colleen’s sister Adrienne, with whom she pretty much has sister hive-mind. I was trying to be rational about everything, apparently annoyingly so. If Colleen didn’t have someone to freak out with her, she might have exploded, so it was good she had Adrienne.

The four of us at the beach