Sicko, random and a video

Sorry blogger. The past 2 days have been rough. And go figure, the day after Nick leaves for TDY, I get sick. I felt it coming on yesterday but I was able to push through it and do my chores, play with the kids and do a run. But today, I could N.O.T. wake up.

Caden fell asleep in the swing a little before 8 am. I sat on the couch just wanting to rest my eyes and Kayla sat with her toys and the disney channel. Next thing I know I wake up 2 hours later and Kayla is still just playing and watching tv and Caden is still asleep. Wow.

My head is stuffy, my nose is either running or stuffy, my throat hurts, my energy is nonexistent.

And I think Kayla may be getting sick. She layed down for a nap at 12:30, woke up at 1 crying and sweating, went back to sleep after gulping her entire cup of OJ, and now its 3 pm and she is still out.


Of course, because now I am on my own and will be for another 6 days.

Oh, and of course because Dada is gone Caden decides to have a few firsts. The day after he left Caden decided to start to laugh out loud AND this morning when I went to get him out of his bed, he was facing the opposite direction from the way he went to sleep and somehow he torn down the baby monitor that was zip tied very tightly to his bed.

On another note, my weight is 145! ONE-FOUR-FIVE!

14 pounds down, started at 159.

My wedding ring is a lot looser on me and the sweatpants I had been wearing to run in I can no longer run in because they are too big.

Oh and today we got some mail.

COURT ORDERED AND ADJUDGED: THE MINOR CHILD CADEN JOHN ALESSI IS DECLARED TO BE THE LEGAL CHILD OF PETITIONERS NICHOLAS AND MICHELLE ALESSI. THE MINOR CHILD SHALL BE THE CHILD AND NATURAL LEGAL HEIR OF PETITIONERS AND IS ENTITLED TO ALL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES TO ALL OBLIGATIONS OF A CHILD BORN TO PETITIONERS.

Here is a video of the boy's first giggles out loud.

Done

It's a done deal.

Caden John Alessi is ours forever. We are finally, after so much with this adoption, done.

We are forever family of 4.

Wow.

Final Hearing- Finally

Dear Mr and Mrs Alessi:

Please be advised that the final hearing in connection with your adoption is scheduled for June 9, 2010, at 9:00 a.m., eastern standard pacific time (Florida time) before the Honorable E*** R***, Circuit Court Judge. Please mark your calendars and keep this letter for reference the day of the hearing.

To reach Judge R*** for your hearing, please dial (***)***-***. You will reach Judge R***'s judicial assistant,J*****. Identify yourselves to the judicial assistant, who will put the call through when the Judge is ready to begin the hearing.

Please be further advised that Florida law requires that a notary public be present with you. The notary will need to identify you to the Judge, either through state-issued picture identification or from knowing you personally. Next, the notary will need to swear you in for the hearing. The easiest way to facilitate this is by the notary reading the oath form the enclosed Notary Certificate Re guarding Administering Oath. Finally, the notary must fill out and sign the notary certificate, and you should return the notary document to our office. Please be sure that the notary indicates on the documents the type of identification you presented or that the notary personally knows you.

After you are sworn, you will answer questions regarding several topics, including: when the child was places in your care; whether you have sufficient resources to provide for the child's care; and whether you understand the legal ramifications of the adoption. The Court wants to ensure that you understand that the adoption grants you privileges and imposes obligation and is a permanent and final decision.

On behalf of our office, we look forward to finalizing your adoption.

Lost

Happenings in the Alessi household have gotten lost in the shuffle since my friend's tragic news. I thank each and everyone one of you who either read my blog and left a comment, or just thought of my friend and her family. Im still in the state of disbelief of all of this. Its like the things you see in horror movies and on the news to people you expect it from. Its like a bad dream that I can not wake her up out of.
There have been a lot death things going on. The 2nd anniversary of Aunt Deb's death, the 1st anniversary of my Pappy's death and my Great Grandma wrote me a card saying she forgot to tell me when I talked to her, that my Great Aunt Sofie passed away in March. This was a shock. I mean, she was in her 80's but still very unexpected. And then the even more unexpected loss of one of my only and best friend's parents.

Anyways, back to the Alessi household. Let's see. What's been going on here?

*May 3rd was our last final post placement visit for Caden's adoption! Finalization is still set for June 9th at 9 am. Because of the time difference and 8,000 miles between us and Jacksonville, FL we have to do a tele-conference on the phone at 11 PM June 9th our time at the on base legal office. It's going to stink dragging both babies out of bed at that time. Im NOT looking forward it, but dont get me wrong...it's oh so well worth it.

*Our big furry Pooh Bear turned 9 (NINE?!) years old on May 5th. Feels like there was never a life before him, only with him. He is still a big pest-y kitten at heart.


*May 4th Caden hit 3 months old. He is smiling a lot, fussing a lot (he is such a gassy baby) sleeping a lot, chewing on his hands a lot. He has certainly discovered chewing his hands. He has also discovered his voice! Yesterday May 8th he let out his very first giggle. Just to show how different blood siblings can be...Kayla didn't do any of this until 4 months old. However, I am predicting he will be behind on all the other things like sitting, standing, crawling. We shall see!

*Caden has slept from 7pm to 7am 2 days in a row with only one feeding at 3:30 am. This makes for a happy Mom.

*Kayla has a new fascination with being naked. Naked to her is wearing a diaper only, so most days we are hanging around at home, she's naked.



*Caden upgraded to a size 3 diaper. Kayla upgraded to a size 4 diaper, but only because she has gained some serious height. The 3's were too short for her and the 4's are too big in the waist. I need to seriously start potty training her. I just havent had the desire to commit to that yet.



*I (we) made my (our) first fondant cake. Pics and blog post about this to come later.

*Kayla is now 21 months old and I have her birthday theme set as Butterflies!

*Today is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms, birth moms, moms to be,moms who are still waiting, and moms who have angels because you are moms too.
If you would have told me last year, or even the year before, or even 3 years ago that by Mother's Day 2010 I would have TWO babies...I would have laughed at you.

Petition For Adoption!

Caden's Petition For Adoption is signed and in the mail.

And because when I'm holding him and he looks up at me like this (see below pictures)...it was worth the fight for his life.

My friends who are still out there waiting for your baby...Please dont give up. To you, in the end it will be all worth it too. I PROMISE.

Out with the old, In with the new and good news!

We are loving the new house. Still have a few boxes to get unpacked. We are almost there, almost done.

We sold my car this week. It was sad to see it go since I like it so much but it wasn't practical for 2 babies in the back seat. For instance, I wanted to buy Kayla a toy box but couldn't for the simple fact that it wouldn't fit in the car with 2 babies in the back seat and it wasn't fitting in the trunk. And when Nick is driving it, he cant put his seat back far enough to be comfortable because of the car seats. So out with the old 2003 BMW and in with the new......


Stayed tuned to find out!

We received news this week also, that is very good. Caden's birth parents right have officially been terminated....and his adoption will be finalized on JUNE 9TH!

WE'RE GOING HOME!

I know its been a while, but I promise the craziness is close to an end.

In just 3 hours, myself and my TWO bambinos are headed to the airport to go HOME!

We are leaving the in law's house around midnight for a 2 hour drive to the airport. We will arrive at 2 AM Wednesday morning for a 5:30 AM flight from Philadelphia to Dallas. Then from Dallas to Honolulu then from Honolulu to HOME, Guam arriving at 7:30 Thursday evening.

And I must add my friend Sinus Infection is coming along.

Im exhausted thinking about it, but I cant wait....all this hard work has paid off.

CLOSE!

We are close to being able to post details. Just know we are all happy and healthy (besides me having a cold) and still waiting! BUT, ANY day now!
We appreciate all the support more than you know.

We're here!

Im so sorry I cant update with the details I wish could, unlike Kayla's adoption which was so open. This one is much different...and until things are more finalized legally, I cant post much.

Just please know how much I really truely appreciate from the bottom of my heart, all of your support. Without the support from all of you, Im so sure I wouldnt be in the state I am in today. I would be closer to the looney bin! lol.

Anyways, things are still going and when BIG news happens, I will be sure to let you all know.

Love,
Michelle, Nick and Kayla

We're on track

We're on track. This adoption is still on track even though sometimes my posts here seem as if things arent. I wish so much I could put details out there to keep you all in the loop of whats going on, but until birth father's rights are terminated I feel I should keep those details away from the blog since I dont know who reads this.

But things are good. There are a few bumps on the road that havent smoothed over yet, such as our fbi clearance not being back yet. But Birth Mother and I have figured a way around this. Of course it being more risky, but we found a way none the less IF it still isnt back before the baby is released from the hospital. And our adoption case manager doesnt seem concerned that it wont be back in time.

Monday Im supposed to get a call from our adoption case manager to discuss a few things. Tuesday Im going to be calling to check on the status of our fbi clearance. Thursday is Birth Mom's next doctor's appointment, where we could possibly get an induction date, and over the weekend we could be on our way to FL to await the birth.

For those who have been pregnant/given birth: Birth Mom's last appointment on Thursday the doctor told her she was not dialated at all but her cervix was starting to thin. I dont remember this happening with Kayla. Can you all tell me what this means? or indicates? Does this mean the baby will come early? I sure hope not! We need all the time we can get out of this pregnancy.

Oh drama..

Oh the drama in this adoption NEVER ends. I want it all to end and be over. I want to know how this is going to work out so I can prepare myself.

Trying to catch up

I'm so behind on blogs! I hate that. But things were crazy here for a while. Since it's so much to catch up on I will do this the boring matter of fact way....in bullets.

*Kayla and I are in Pennsylvania. We got here 3 days early and unexpectedly. We we not allowed to stop in Hawaii because my paperwork got messed up so we had to follow the plane to where ever it was going. It so happened that the Air Force had contracted a commercial flight to Washington state because they had some active duty guys headed to deployment so Kayla and I got TWO of the VERY LAST THREE SEATS available. Got lucky.

*This flight only cost us $54.00, for meal costs since it was a commerical flight.

*Washington state is very dark, very cold and very rainy.

*Kayla did great on all the flights. The first hour of the first one she was exhausted from only having a one hour nap that whole day. She cried "Go Home!" with the biggest tears and saddest little lips but passed out and slept the whole 6 hours 40 minutes to Hawaii where we had a 1 hour layover.

*Hawaii to Washington was around 5 hours, where Kayla also slept the whole time. I don't remember much about this flight for some reason.

*4.5 hour layover in Washington state. I had tons of help. Kayla played at the terminal on base with 2 other kids for 2.5 hours waiting on the shuttle to the Seattle airport. At the airport I went up the first ticket counter I saw, U.S. Airways, and got lucky again. 2 hours later was a flight to Harrisburg, PA stopping once in Charlotte, N.C. I took it. I took it. We walked around a lot, got Kayla some Wendy's.

*3 hour and 40 minute flight to Charlotte, N.C. with a 3 hour and 30 minute layover. It went fast. We walked around and sat in rocking chairs and got breakfast.

*Charlotte to Harrisburg was 1 hour and 20 minutes I think, and from the time the wheels left the ground until landing Kayla and I both were passed out.

*We got to my in laws house late Saturday morning and the second Kayla was brought into the house by her Mimi I knew by the look on her face she remembered everything...the house, the dogs, the toys, her Papa and her Mimi.

*Kayla fell asleep in the car on the way back from dinner, at about 5 PM, and slept all the way through until 9 AM the NEXT MORNING! I slept from about 7 until 9 am the next morning- when I actually had to wake Kayla up!

*You dont know jet lag until you have made this trip, with a toddler. And on the way back I get to add a newborn into the mix. All.by.myself.

*OMG, I forgot what cold felt like. Its been about 7 years since I felt this cold outside. And Kayla...she has never felt it before and it doesnt even seem to bother her.

*Sunday I contracted a terrible virus. Without going into details, for 24 hours the toilet was my best friend. I never puked so much in my life.

*Nick landed in Kentucky around the same time as we landed in Harrisburg. He is training and has had only 1 day in class so for but so far so good. Class started with 140 people, all Army, except for 2 Air Force, himself and the LT that was with him. LT got kicked out of the class already. They are down to 67 people just in the first day. Wow. Talk about tough...

*Birth Mom is doing great. I'm waiting on word from her to find out how her appt. went yesterday. Hopefully I will hear from her today.

*We should be in FL in about a week!

*AND our home study isn't done yet because our FBI clearance isn't back yet which makes me so mad because a) with Kayla's adoption we didn't need one, so why need one this time? b) our attorney waited so long to tell us we needed this done and c) if its not back before the baby is released from the hospital we don't get to take him home. He will have to go into 'cradle care' which is like foster care but not run by the state which then costs more money we don't have but more importantly, I want to bring him home from the hospital, not to strangers house for who knows how long.

*I know its not in my control, it's all in God's hands....but please, just please can our FBI clearance come back NOW so we don't have to deal with cradle care? I just want to bring him home.

Oh.....

Oh, the adoption drama has not yet ended, nor do I think it ever will until everything is final. And even then, I don't think it will end...but at least then we can breathe and let it go.

I made a mistake in my last post about the plane. I was reading the arrivals schedule instead of the departures schedule. I think, I THINK, that we will get to fly on a commercial plane if we make today's 5:00 pm flight outta here. It says a 767, so that would be more than great. Nick did say though he thought the commercial flights were contracted out and that they don't do space available on those, but so far the recorded flight schedule has this flight on there with a showtime of 5 pm. So, we are going to show up and hope that at least this can go right the first time.

Headed to Hawaii

Tomorrow Kayla and I will be off to Hawaii.
Instead of looking at this trip as me taking Kayla out of her comfortable home and environment and schedule, Im trying to look at it as an adventure for her. I hate taking her out of her home and away from her Dada and cats this long, but I know she will adjust and be very good just as she always does. I cant help but to feel some guilt though.

Anyways, tomorrow we leave and if all goes as scheduled we will be flying on a KC-10.
The plane in the picture above.

Info on this plane: (copied from another website)
The KC-10 Extender provides:
a versatile personnel and cargo carrier which deploys fighter aircraft, including support equipment and personnel, nonstop to any point on the globe.
a major increase in air refueling capability by increasing the payload/range of cargo airlifters.
augmentation of the airlift fleet by carrying cargo and personnel


In other words, this is military plane used to refuel other fighter planes in mid air, and carry people and equipment to deployment areas.

Obviously Kayla and I aren't getting deployed...haha, but instead we are hopping on this plane as space available since it's already headed to Hawaii.

There are only 60 of these planes in the Air Force, and Kayla and I are lucky enough to have the privilege to fly on one. (Hear my sarcasm?)

Cant wait to just be there and fast forward the next 4 weeks.

*UGH*

Well, this adoption is still not going smoothly. I don't think anything about it will ever go smooth at this point. I know, way to think positive, huh? Would love to post details but cannot until things are a little, or a lot, more legal.

Kayla and I are headed to Hawaii on Thursday. We are taking a space available military flight at no cost. We will remain in Hawaii with friends for a few days until our flight to PA leaves, on or around Monday.

Nick will leave here on Saturday headed to Kentucky for 2 weeks of training.

I hate leaving home. Im going to miss my husband and my 2 fuzzy pesty cats.

The worst part is feeling guilty for taking Kayla out of her home and her routine where she is so incredibly comfortable.

2010

Because I cant post details of this adoption on my blog, unlike with Kayla's adoption...I don't know who is reading...

Just be aware that no news is good news.

Things still aren't great, but they will be.

2010 will be a good year.

I hope you all enjoyed it. Kayla was in bed at 8:30, I was in bed by 9:30 and was totally knocked out at midnight.

I cant believe it

Yesterday was an ordinary day.

I went to check to see if the mailman had come yet since we are still missing one Christmas package from my Mother In Law. (Thanks Guam)

The mailman hadnt come yet but we had a paper on our door telling us the outside of our house (roof mainly) will be inspected on Jan 7th between 7-8 am. This is a yearly thing so no big deal.

Then I saw a blue envelope on the ground, upside down. I wouldn't have seen it if I didn't look down hoping for a package. Weird. Looks like someone just threw it instead of leaving in the mailbox or somewhere I could clearly see it.

Hmm, maybe an invite to a birthday party. There are 2 birthdays coming up for the kids across the street.

I pick it up and take it in the house. I stand near the front door and notice our name is spelled totally wrong. Its spelled Allessai on the envelope. Really weird. Everyone that knows us knows how to spell our name correctly...Alessi and not to mention we have our name tag and rank on our house. A requirement to live in base housing. Weird.

So I sit on the couch and open it. Its just plan card that is pink blue and red and says HI on the front. I open it and there a hefty wad of cash, and a note that says, "a little to help you with your new little one, God Bless."

That's it. No name. An anonymous $200 donation to help with our adoption expenses.

Wow. Speechless.

Today is that last day of 2009.

I hope 2010 brings brings happiness...and complete families for all those who are waiting.

Another down hill

We are yet again going down hill on this roller coaster ride.

Please,

Pray.

And the next annoyance is...

I got email today from the attorney's office telling us we need FBI clearance and fingerprints done. BLAH. Our last attorney with Kayla's adoption didn't request this because we had a military clearance which is more thorough, plus Nick being military with a security clearance due to his job,his fingerprints are already on file.

But, according to our new attorney the Florida statue states we must have them done and only this summer started enforcing it. This clearance is said to take 8-10 weeks. Yes...that long. And the baby is due in 5-6 weeks. Attorney did say it typically does not take the 6-8 weeks as the website says. But, basically I will be stuck there with the baby until these are done if they are not completed prior to placement. I don't know if this means I will have to stay in FL with the baby or if I can go back to PA with the baby and stay with family. I sure hope I don't have to stay in FL that entire time, in a hotel room, which costs more money.

I sure wish the attorneys office would have told us this sooner. A couple weeks ago when we started our home study would have been great, or even better when we first contacted them about the requirements for the home study more than 2 weeks ago.

You can not expedite this clearance so that is not an option. However, we can mail the request in express mail and include the returning express mail envelope. From Guam this still take 2-3 days each way. So there is a whole week. We can mark on the outside envelope and cover sheet ADOPTION needed by __(date)__”. And we are told they are great about getting them back quickly.


All in all, if the attorney's office isn't concerned about timing, then we shouldn't be either. But in a situation like this, easier said than done.

Contest

*Above picture is not mine, it is from Mrs. R's blog, The R House. She knew I needed this right now.*

Nope, not the contest as in competing in a fun game. But a contest in who will win the love of this baby?

We been contacted buy birth father and is contesting the adoption. Yes, you read that right. We found out the day before Christmas Eve. This is the longest weekend ever. EVER.

I'm still trying to believe.

I cant go into details here but thats all I will say about the situation on here because I dont know who reads this.

For this reason, we have to move and act fast as well as protect ourselves from hurt.

I will be picking up Kayla's passport on the 29th, this coming Tuesday. And be off this island headed for Pennsylvania soon after in hopes that me being closer to FL will indeed help this process along with more ease.

*From Mrs. R.'s blog*

believe.
it's my new word.

believe that there's a plan.
believe that Heavenly Father loves you.
believe that He only gives the good gift.
believe that there is light.
believe that you can make it.
believe that you are a survivor.

believe.

believe in the sealing covenant.
believe that it is more powerful than time.
believe that it is more powerful than DNA.
believe that it is more powerful than death.

believe.


Mrs R. I hope you dont mind me reposting your words and your picture.