Other Fun Pics!

Easter Egg Hunt

PICTURES!!

Collin loved his new maracas...and so did Kahlen!!

What's new with the Wilson's??

Well, not much. I don't have any Easter pictures to post because I forgot my camera at work so I will post those later. I have a free moment which has been rare lately. Of course it is one in the morning but hey, it's still free time!

Easter was good. We had brunch at our house because I had to work. The kids had a little easter egg hunt in the yard. It was a fairly nice day, a little cool, but nice enough to go outside for a bit. Brylie definitely understood the concept of the hunt this year. Collin could have cared less. He found one egg and just sat on the sidewalk and played with it the rest of the time. Kahlen seemed to understand but isn't nearly as quick as Brylie. Probably by next year they will be beating eachother up to get to the eggs! It will be the WWE at the Wilson's. We may have to move the Easter egg hunt to the back yard to prevent any unnecessary alarm or calls to the police.

Collin had his first "unscheduled" doctor appoinment since he has been home. He has been feverish and stuffy but we just assumed he was teething. A couple of days ago he got a really nasty cough that sounded like it was coming from his toes and he was gasping for air so I thought we had better call the doctor. He has bronchitis and an ear infection so he is on antibiotics and they sent him home with a nebulizer for breathing treatments 3 times a day.

I am placing the blame for his decline of health soley on the shoulders of my brother who thought it would be funny to get me back and stuff Collin full of chocolate on Easter. He poisoned my little healthy eater. The poor kid never gets sugar let alone chocolate. I know...mean mom... but I believe in starting early. He's only one-he doesn't need candy for Easter! He got toys in his Easter basket and he seemed very happy with that.

If everyone is healthy we are taking all of the kids to the circus this Sunday. Hopefully they will enjoy it. I know I did when I was a kid. My Grandpa was a Shriner so he and my grandmother took us every year. I recall bringing home a chameleon one year and always eating lots of cotton candy!! I'm sure my parents were thrilled. I am going along to supervise so that my brother doesn't get any ideas. Who knows what kind of fun circus food he will try to feed Collin!!

Wyatt will be leaving us next week for his annual Las Vegas "boys" trip. It will be the first time one of us has gone away since Collin has been home. I really would love to go to Vegas but I don't honestly think I could leave yet...and I wasn't invited!! We will miss him!! Hopefully the weather will improve so we can get out of this house!! WHERE IS SPRING!?!

That is about the extent of our excitement over the last week or so. Check back for Easter pictures!

Our Day in Court

Today was our final adoption hearing through Franklin County. As I mentioned before it was just a formality but the Wilson's never pass up a perfectly good excuse to celebrate.

Where do I begin?? The "re-adoption" process in theory is very simple. I had heard most people don't even hire an attorney they just do it on their own. If most people can do it, I know I can do it! It was mostly fill in the blank paperwork with a lot of fancy language. I have a theory that the clerk at the adoptions desk in Probate Court has some type of agreement with the attorneys to make the process as difficult as possible for the idiots that think they can do it on their own!

When I went in the first time to turn in the paperwork it was not a very pleasant experience. When I walked out I felt about 2 feet tall, I must be an IDIOT! The clerk was nasty and rude. She rolled her eyes a lot and was very short with me as if I should know exactly how this all worked. After all of the huffing and eye rolling she told me she couldn't assign a court date until 6 months after we returned home. Why was she rushing me then?? We still had 5 1/2 months to go! We came home September 13th so 6 months would be March 13th. She told us to come back on that date at 10AM and then gave me her list of demands. Bring this, bring that, do this, do that!!! And if you don't, you will be sent home!! Quite honestly, I wanted to knock her out but instead I left before she reduced me to tears. Didn't she know what we had been through??? As if it wasn't enough to deal with the Guatemalan government and the US Federal Government now I have to be hassled by a clerk at Franklin County Probate Court. When will it end?? Oh! And yes, they took money from us too!!

So here we are...March 13th! We got up early to get Collin fed, bathed, dressed and ready to go. He wore a suit and tie!!! We ran down the checklist of demands so as not to get sent home with our tails between our legs. Off we went on our adventure downtown to the courthouse. My mom, dad, Bryan and Brylie met us down there-we had a crowd. We get to the counter and there she is looking at us like we are IDIOTS! "Can I help you"? DUH!!! My 1 year old is in a suit...yeah we just thought we'd come up to the 22nd floor to look out the windows!!! Now who's the idiot...I mean, there is a big sign above your desk that says ADOPTIONS!! Wrong, it's still us! "We don't have any hearings scheduled today"??

Now, I KNOW 100% that she told me March 13th-exactly 6 months from the day we came home. "Your hearing is March 14th at 10am". This chick is really cruisin' for a bruisin'!!! She claimed that all the magistrates were gone and we would have to come back. Just as we were walking out the door-wait a minute! A magistrate magically appeared . Thank goodness because the idea of getting Collin in that suit again and going back down there the next morning was not sitting well with anyone, especially me! And, mostly because I know I'm right and she's wrong!!!

So we got our hearing where some strange guy asked a bunch of personal questions. He wanted to make sure that we understood that this was the same as having a biological child and he doesn't come with a warranty-he comes as is. NICE! As Wyatt put it, I'm pretty sure they have never turned anyone down since the adoption is already legal-get on with it buddy!!

Finally, the hearing was over and we had to return to the dreaded clerk for some additional paperwork and...suprise...to take some more of our money! There was a lady sitting at the desk looking very frustrated. The clerk was rolling her eyes and literally scolding this woman holding her newly adopted baby. The lady got mad and eventually started crying-I feel your pain sister!! I know it is embarrassing to break down in public. People think the only women with the raging hormones are the pregnant ones-WRONG!! So when the clerk stepped away I had to go talk to her and tell her not to feel bad that she treated me the same way which seemed to bring her a huge sense of relief.

She said something that rang so true with me. She said you go through all the "stuff" you go through to get this baby home and you are just emotionally "raw". I thought that was the perfect word. You expect and are used to dealing with disappointment, rudeness and annoyance from so many different angles throughout the process. You don't feel like you can really speak up for yourself because you don't know if this person can make or break your adoption. You are literally at the whim of that person's mood. Once you are all home together you just let it all go. All it takes is one person to look at you wrong and all that anger and frustration just floods out of you. But the other thing I have found is that there is usually someone close by that knows what you are going through and that is willing to help or at least offer some words of encouragement. Sometimes that is all you need is someone who really understands. It seems throughout our journey with Collin, especially when he was sick in Guatemala, just at the time I thought I was going to lose it someone was there to help me. Don't laugh, I call it karma. You help someone when they need it and someone will help you when you need it. That has been proven over and over to me during this journey.

Off the soapbox and on to the pictures!!


Here is Collin waiting patiently in his favorite chair with his remote.

Collin and daddy both in their suits!

Here we are during the actual hearing-thanks to my brother, our photographer.

Collin wasn't too happy about the magistrate either.Wyatt looks like he's running for office!

Collin-worn out after a tough day in court.

Nice Suprise!

Today we received a nice surprise from the son of Collin's foster mother "Mama Rosa". He e-mailed us pictures of Collin that we had not seen yet. We have a few but we were really glad to receive more so that we can fill up his baby album. It will be very special for him to see the people that love him in Guatemala. We have stayed in contact with his foster family and it is very apparent that they love him and miss him very much. We hope that some day Collin will be able to meet them. We can never thank them enough for taking such good care of him and loving him as a member of their own family. They gave him such a good start in life and created a great foundation for us to build on.



Here is Rosa, Collin's foster mother.





Today (yesterday now since it is 1am) is the 1 year anniversary of the day we received Collin's referral. Forgive me while I go back in time...it was a very exciting day!!! We had just turned our dossier in the day before . When the phone rang I saw that it was the adoption agency and figured that they were letting us know they got it. Our coordinator said "you have a baby"! I was at work driving around with some coworkers and I just wanted to scream!! She was e-mailing the photos and overnighting his package to us. I called Wyatt and he told me I had to wait for him to look at the pictures. I think he had special duty that night because he didn't get home until after midnight as I recall. I was sitting at the computer waiting. Neither one of us could wait to get our eyes on him! We pulled up the pictures and breathed a sigh of relief. You have no idea how you will react in a situation like this. A million things go through your head but he was absolutely beautiful!! We printed off about a million pictures and started passing them out the next morning. There really are no words to describe how happy we were. And today there are no words to describe how happy we are that a year later it is all ancient history and he is here at home where he belongs!! It is hard to believe.

I have to go check on the little guy sleeping in his crib and give him a little extra love on this special day(if that is even possible)!!

I must be psychic!

What did I tell you? You have to love Ohio. 5 days ago I predicted a blizzard and guess what????

WE GOT IT!!

Maybe I should go into the weather business? I have to say that this is the most snow I have seen in quite a few years! I had to weather the storm to go to work today only to find my city car snowed in. I couldn't even get into the parking lot. I couldn't find a place to park my personal car so I had to go to headquarters and sit there all day. FUN! Another productive day. The real tragedy of the day is the fact that everything is closed including White Castle! No coffee for me! I thought White Castle never closed???

We bundled Collin up in his snow suit and took him outside this morning. He didn't seem to enjoy the snow any more this time than he did the last time. I don't think he is going to be a cold weather person. We were outside for about 5 minutes which is only half as long as it took us to get his snow suit on! I will have to post the pictures later.

So, Collin and Wyatt get to stay home together this weekend while I brave the cold to make the bacon. What has this world come to? I wonder what they are doing??? My guess is laying on the couch watching a lot of TV-some quality male bonding!!

Look mom...I'm a dog!

He must have been really thirsty! We need to get this child around kids. It seems like he's being raised by the pets. I know it's gross but he was very proud of himself.

Collin's Favorite Things

I've noticed there has been a lot of writing and not a lot of pictures posted lately so here is a photo update of some of Collin's favorite things.

PLAYING WITH BRYLIE




PULLING THINGS OUT OF THE CABINETS/
MAKING A MESS



PLAYING WITH BOSLEY


BATH TIME AND WRITING MESSAGES
WITH HIS BATH LETTERS-HE SPELLS VERY
WELL!!


VISITING WITH HIS BROTHER AND SISTER
AND RIDING HIS ZEBRA-VERY FUN



SITTING IN HIS FAVORITE CHAIR
WITH HIS REMOTE
WATCHING BACKYARDIGANS or Food TV


SEE ABOVE



FALLING ASLEEP IN HIS FAVORITE CHAIR



FALLING ASLEEP WITH DAD-PRICELESS!!

Spring has Sprung-but not for long!

What a beautiful day!! I have a love/hate relationship with days like these. I love them but I hate them because I know it will be followed by a blizzard or freezing rain or some other weather catastrophe. Regardless, the Wilson's enjoyed the day as much as possible before going to work.

Collin was especially crazy today. I don't know if it was the nice weather but he was in a great mood and very chatty. He talks and talks but we have no clue what he is saying. He does say "yeah" a lot. We can make out the occasional mama and dada. There have been a few nana's and pops. I guess he knows what he is saying though because he looks right at you and tells you how it is!!

So we had our first taste of Spring and it was great. I didn't want to go to work today. We can't wait for it to warm up so we can go to the park and on bike rides. There is so much more to do when the weather is nice. Collin is getting so much more interactive and attentive. He actually seems like he is enjoying himself so the zoo will be much more fun this year. We can actually play outside instead of at the mall and in the house.

We finalized our plans for family vacation! We are going to Beaches an all inclusive Sandals resort in Jamaica. Everyone is very excited. My parents are taking Brylie and Kahlen. Alexis and Peyton will be coming with us and of course Baby Collin! The kids should have a great time. The resort is family oriented and very kid friendly. They have a water park and tons of kids club programs for the little ones. The big kids have an XBox game theater and teen disco-not to mention the beach and pools (with swim up bars for the really big kids). It should be a fabulous trip.

All the kids are getting their passports. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Collin will have all of his paperwork back in time. I thought we would have plenty of time but after reading some posts on an adoption site it looks like the US government is taking their sweet time (and lots of our money) processing Certificates of Citizenship(CoC). Collin already has his but it is in his other name "Rodrigo Alejandro Wilson" so we have to have it changed once his name change is complete. Speaking of which, Collin's final adoption hearing is on March 13th. That is when he will have his official name change. We didn't have to readopt him here but they call it "recognizing" a foreign adoption so that he can get a US Birth Certificate. It will make things easier for him in the long run having a US Birth Certificate. Then we will have to wait 6-8 weeks until he is in the system to get a copy of that and then go to the Social Security Office to get his SSN changed to Collin rather than Rodrigo. It is all very complicated AND expensive! Just when we thought we had all of the adoption expenses paid for they hit us for something else. All I know is I booked Collin Jeffrey Wilson on his vacation so it better all be official by August 11th!!! Keep your fingers crossed!

Here are a couple pictures of the resort. Maybe I will make one a screen saver to keep the positive weather thoughts flowing!!