Good to hear from you. Wow - those girls are growing fast! It's only been about a month and they've already outgrown the clothes you bought then! Must be the new good nutrition.

Congratulations on the finalization of the adoption. Do they have your last name now?

Oh it is soooooo good to see you here. Congrats on the finalization of the adoption and I am very glad to hear that the "no contact" has been put in place. It sounds like a wonderful birthday for Tanna and her friends, and I sure am happy to hear that you and your hubby got a date night. I hope you two can do that often. Hard to believe those girls are growing that fast. You are feeding them well.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop, we really missed your posts, but the family comes first!
Kathy G in MI

Wow! Those kids must be growing fast if in less than a month the 10 month old can wear the 2 1/2 year old's clothes and the 2 1/2 year old can now wear the 5 year old's clothes.
Then again, cake and ice cream will definitely make me out grow my clothes too.

So good to see you posting again. Sounds like things are going well, and should be that way for at least a while.

Keep on keeping on.

And keep on keeping us in the loop with the girls, and you and DH.

Date Night! That is great therapy!

Sue

CONGRATULATIONS on the adoption, MOM and DAD!

Thank you SO MUCH for updating us - we have been here, praying everything was ok and that you'd come back and fill us in. It sounds as if all is going well and is normal - I am SO HAPPY for all of you!

Ohhhhhhh, so good to hear from you. Congratulations on the adoption!!! what a great idea, having a date night. It's important to keep things fresh and close with the Hubs.

I'm wondering if that was Tanna's first Birthday Party. I'm sure she felt so special.

Thanks for checking in. Glad all is calm, all is bright! (Especially glad to hear you and Mr. Fireman got a breather.)

So happy to read this good news! Keep up the great work! It sounds like you are doing exactly the right stuff. It also sounds like you are having a good time...just the way it should be. Enjoy!

sooey

I bet your family doctor will be tickled pink to see how much the girls have grown, especially considering they were all underweight when you got them. Good nutrition is so important, and sets a wonderful foundation.

Congratulations! on the adoption being final. I know it was just a technicality, since Megan had already signed away her parental rights ... but it was an IMPORTANT technicality, and a definite milestone for your family. It's got to be a huge relief, that she has absolutely no legal foothold over those babies.

Thanks for checking in, FMW ... blessings to you and your family.

Wow I'm surprised that an adoption like that could be final so quickly. I know several people who have adopted and even with the parents signing over the rights, it still takes at least 6 months. Maybe it varies by state.

I know it was agonizing for them to wait so I'm happy that you were able to do it in 2-3 weeks! Must be such a relief. Congrats!

I must say thay you're an amazing story teller.

Hello you busy mom! What a wonderful update and thank you so much for keeping in touch.

Good for you and hubby taking time out for yourselves...hope you'll do that as often as possible.

Granlan Hugs

Haha - laughing at gardenspice: "Then again, cake and ice cream will definitely make me out grow my clothes too". Me, too! And yes - for the 2 1/2 year old to have grown into the 5 year old's clothing in 3 1/2 weeks is amazing! They must be very close in size to start with (small for 5 and large for 2). I understand your reluctance to post pictures, and I'm not advocating it at all, but they'd sure be fun to see.

It is so good to hear from you and it's wonderful that you have good news. That was so sweet that you and hubby were able to go one a date. The girls must feel so loved and comfortable in their new surroundings that they had no difficulty staying with your in-laws.

Thanks for the update. We all love hearing from you.

Date night, huh? Tell the truth: How many times did you call DH's parents to check in on everybody? LOL!

Your home sounds like a beehive of activity, but a joyous one!

Please give Tanna a big post-birthday hug and tell her it's from all your (and now her's, too) friends in this virtual Web world of friends!

Thanks so much for the update! We've missed you! Congratulations on the adoption. These children finally have parents that love them. I had wondered about Tanna's birthday and about her starting school. So glad that everything is good. We do respect your privacy and the need to protect the girls but we do like to hear how they're doing. Good job Mom & Dad!!!

When we got the girls they were so under weight and tiny that the clothes you would normally buy for a 5 year old where way too big. Even now buying her clothes they are tiny for what she shoul be. Tanna's pants are still too big for Trace but her shirts kind of fit...enough to be play clothes.

Yes all three girls have our last name.

That is really good news. When does school start for the kiddos?

Trin

I am so very glad everything is going so well for your wonderful new family. The girls growing and blossoming are not only because of the good nutrition you provide. The support and strength and guidance and personal interactions and so much love in the familial and spiritual ways are the bases for the girls growth and blossoming. They needed the love as much as the good food. Please keep us posted when you can.
Greatest Blessings to you and the Fireman and all your babies.
LIL

Glad to see an update! Amazing that the adoption is already final! I remember when we adopted (back in 1979) we had to file a petition to adopt and that had to be "on file" for 6mos. There could be no contact from either parent..or even an attempt to contact (knocking on the door, letters, phones calls,etc.) during that time. In our case, the bio-mother signed the papers (but she still had a year to "appeal"). From start until I sent out "announcements" was about a year. The original birth certificates were sealed and that was that! Like you, we knew the bio-parents, but DHR was still brought in, made home visits and background checks. The bio-dad didn't sign the papers, but he didn't show up for any of the court hearings.
to "contest" it..so the Judge signed for him. I guess things have really changed a lot since then! Lucky you!

I wish you and your little family the best! Enjoy it..those little girls will be grown before you know it!! lol

I was so happy to see a post from you. Those girls are really growing with all the nurturing they get from your family.

I don't know if you saw my post or not but there is a children's book called 'The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn. It is the perfect story for reading the couple of days before school starts. I won't give the surprise away but it gives the child a way of making herself feel comfortable about leaving "Mommy"(Doesn't that sound great?") You can also go on line and google the title and there are printables that you print out to go along with the story. If you aren't close to a big library they may not have it but you could probably get it from a bookstore in a few days.

I am so glad all is going well and again, congratualtions on the final adoption.

Thank you for posting. Congratulations on the final adoption.

I am so glad to see all the latest updates. Congratulations on becoming officially a family of five. And I'd like that teacher to know that I think it's wonderful and that she deserves a teacher of the year award for the extra time/effort she's spending on your oldest daughter. That can help set the stage for rest of her educational life, having such a good start.

Shirley

Good home, good food, good lovin. No wonder they are growing like weeds. Congratulations on the adoption being final!

Your post just brightened an already good day and made it even better. Especially when I read that the adoption is FINAL. Hugs to you and your new family.
I have a recipe for homemade playdough that we use at preschool. If you are interested, let me know and I'll post it.

I'm so happy for the girls and for you. Glad it's finalized and the girls are doing well.

Many congratulations to you all on everything being finalized! I love reading your posts and wish you all every happiness.

Sounds like everything's going great! Good luck to Tanna at school!

Just curious about the adoption - is it *final* final, as in all done? I thought you just got them last month. (Sorry for prying - it's the lawyer in me asking.:)

I love that it's final now. What lucky little girls they are.

Frankly, this quickee adoption story makes no sense.

In an earlier post on this subject, Firemanswife said "We live in Nevada". Since there's no mention of crossing State lines to attend adoption procedings elsewhere, we can only assume they took place somewhere in Nevada.

However, here's an interesting quote from the Nevada Statute on adoption proceedings:

NRS127.150 "....No order or decree of adoption may be made until after the child has lived 6 months in the home of Petitioners."

To put our minds at ease, perhaps Firemanswife can tell us how "Petitioners" circumvented that part of the statute.

Of course I'm probably missing something...

FMW, Tanna's party sounds great. She knows and is friends with the kids from her class already, even though school hasn't started? How did you manage that? Good job - it'll make it easier for her when school does start. The party must've been so much fun for her, but pretty overwhelming, too, since she's not experienced anything like that before. I'll bet she (and her sisters) crashed afterwards.

This story just gets better and better!

"She knows and is friends with the kids from her class already, even though school hasn't started? How did you manage that?"
She stated in an earlier post that they live in a very small community,(800 people or so?)and that some of the kids in Tanna's class are related to her.I would think in a community that small she would know most of the parents of children that age.I don't understand all the negativity!