Now that B and J are (almost) finished with termination, and adoption, we've started to change over their names.

Their new names will be: Braeden Lucas and Olivia J...

As I stated previously, I've called B, Braeden at home off and on since he was born. We are now calling him Braeden B so that he and others can get used to the "new" name and will then drop the B and just call him Braeden. Lucas is a special family name. J has known since she came to live with me that this is why I would call him Braeden at home on occasion. She has talked for a year of changing her name too. I kept putting her off to make sure she understood what that meant. She was emphatic, so I choose 6 names I loved, and she in turn found one to call her own: Olivia. We are keeping J as her middle name. As soon as termination happens for her we will begin calling her J Olivia to transition to her new name as well.

So, long story short I will begin calling them by their new names in my blogs.

Well, since B is officially terminated, and J is only a month or two away, I have decided to post their picture. This is my favorite one right now.

So... Meet Braeden Lucas and Olivia J...

My two, very soon to be legal, children! :)

We finally have our first TPR court date for J!!! Yesterday, the date of June 27 was set for the unfitness hearing. After that will come best interest and then termination. We're on our way! Adoption, here we come!

Well, we are finally in our new place. I LOVE it!!! It is going to be so great for so many reasons. And if you read my last post, you can tell the kids, especially B, love it too.

The one thing that will be difficult to get used to is the fact that I now will be living in the city where I teach. I already had two 6th grade girls who came over to "visit" as I was hauling stuff in after they were home from school. One family lives right across the street from me. I have two of their kids in Language Arts and Study Hall, one being one of the girls who stopped over. My life will essentially be under a microscope. And not from always the best of people. Such is the one drawback of living where I am.

The only bad thing from yesterday's experience, aside from the fact that the closing to sell mine took almost two hours and the closing for my new one took 15 min!, was that I ended up with about half the money I thought I would after the completion of the sale ( minus my new downpayment and paying off a loan ). So I'm back to refiguring and working on deciding what I absolutely need at this point in time - such as finishing the fence in the back yard to allow the kids free reign without my worry of them ending up floating away in the river that is very close by! I also am in NEED (no matter what some may think) of putting in a dishwasher. I did not have one in this last house and while it wasn't a big deal with just me, with kids in the mix it's a nightmare. There are always dishes to be done, especially cups it seems! Beyond that, curtains and a little tikes picnic table that I wanted, etc, I'm waiting and will get things once in a while as time goes by.

But the house itself is great. It'll take a while yet to unpack the POD and get everything situated, not to mention the removal of wallpaper border in 5 rooms (I am just not a wall paper person!), painting, etc, but we're on our way. Can't wait to see what the future holds!