Monday, October 12, 2009

Things I love about Camden (10.5 months old)

He loves to crawl under stuff and get stuck. Every single day I find him stuck under my desk, under his walker or under the piano. His favorite place to get stuck is under the kitchen table...
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He can stand up for very long periods of time but he still can't walk.
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He likes to suck/chew on my shirt, on my shoulder. The shoulders of my shirts are usually crusty and soggy. Gross but cute.
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He likes to eat. He gets very impatient when he sees us making his food.  Normally it doesn't take that long to get his food ready but lately Aric has gotten really into the baby food grinder, so it takes longer than usual.
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Camden took his sweet time figuring out how to put things in his mouth. He just started doing it a couple of weeks ago. On one hand it was great because I didn't have to worry about him choking on stuff, but now it is so nice to have him sit in his high chair and eat stuff.
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Now that he's gotten the hang of it he tries to put his whole hand in his mouth.
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It is finally cold enough to put warm jammies on Camo. Aric and I couldn't stop laughing when we put these on him...
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When I check on him at night this is what I find...he likes to sleep with his little bum in the air...
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For most of his short life, Little C has been a pretty mellow baby. But this kid definitely has developed his lungs. It's like he just realized that he could be loud.
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(Notice the toes...well that's because he rubs his feet like a cricket so we can't keep his socks on him. Today I got him some Robeez...they stay on.)

Camden has recently discovered his fingers. In this picture he is showing me his thumb.
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This kids hair is OUT OF CONTROL!!!!

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(I took this picture while he was sitting on Grandma K's lap. I didn't realize it until later how it looked like he had an afro!)

We seriously have to do something about this hair soon. Aric is very protective of Camden's hair and he won't let me touch it.
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Needless to say it is not growing in very even. I wish I could get a better picture of his tight little curls.

This next picture isn't the greatest quality but I love his sweet little expression. As you can see by his drooliness, his teeth are finally coming in...YAY for teeth!
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What's not to love...really!? Sometimes I will just stare at him with a giant grin on my face, I can't believe that he is mine. That he is really here to stay. Maybe it's because of all the D.R.A.M.A that we are experiencing...who knows.
What I do know is with this adoption stuff still hanging over our heads, it's so easy to get frustrated. I try not to let the weight of it squash me. Most days I do pretty good. But lately I have had to make a conscious effort to not be angry or bitter. I just can't believe that Camden is almost eleven months old! That means we have been dealing with this legal stuff for almost a year! When I find myself going to that ugly place, I look at that precious face and I am comforted.
I know that Camden is worth every single moment of stress, every single dollar spent and every hour of work I've had to do just to get us this far. So today, just like every other day, we are still hoping and we are still praying, that this month we will finally make some progress.
I just realized that most of you don't know exactly what the DRAMA is....well let me tell ya.
Right now we are trying to terminate paternity, something our lousy agency didn't do. The problem is that the laws in my state are way different than those in South Carolina. The details are long and boring so I will spare you them. But for now we are grateful to finally have an attorney in South Carolina who seems to know what he is doing. We thought we were going to have to go back to S.C. but now it looks like we may not...we'll see.
The other thing we are still dealing with is the financial issue with the agency that we got stuck working with. They found us on line, the day C was born, and because they were working with our birthmom we had to switch over to them. They left us high and dry and want us to pay them a RIDICILOUS, and I mean RIDICULOUS amount of money for services they did not provide. In fact, we had to pay other people to do the work they didn't do! Again, more long...boring details. Bottom line is, we have been trying to settle things with them but they are not cooperating.
I wish I had more happy news. I feel like my adoption updates are depressing. One of these days I will have great news. One of these days I will have a birth certificate. And that birth certificate will have Camden's name, Aric's name and my name on it. It's crazy how a little piece of paper can mean so much...but it does.
So I leave you with a much happier note...someday, hopefully soon...hopefully before Camden is bigger than me...

...we...
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...will be here.
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12 comments:

Mrs Ana said...

love that little guy and his precious little face. He gets cuter everyday. Hugs and kisses to Camden.

just the five of us said...

Camden is so cute! I hope soon that everything is all worked out for you! Your post made me choke up! I didn't realize that you didn't have a birth certificate. How did you find the birth mom? (If the agency you were using wasn't hers?) I guess I am confused. Post on my blog and let me know:) My friend adopted twins from the LDS adoption agency and she said it was nightmarish too!

Jessica said...

Every single one of those pictures was out of control cute.

Really. Someday we will look back and be like "Remember when it was SO long to get Camden sealed and finalized?"

Lauren in GA said...

It is so funny that you have to rescue him from places. I remember my Brian getting stuck under his walker...I kind of miss those chubby little legs sticking out...

That picture of him chewing on you just proves that you are delicious.

Those footie jammies are so, so darling.

Sorry about the adoption hang ups. I literally got chills when I read about you all going to the temple one day. It will be so amazing when it happens.

Melissa-Mc said...

I love the afro picture. You have been through a lot. You are going to have one big huge keg of lemonade when this is all done.

the wrath of khandrea said...

i can't believe how big he is getting! jeeze. a tooth.

please post more about your tat. i want to see it better.

Elena said...

I love all the pictures. I love Camden, his hair, his antics and I love all the Liberty Lake Albrechts. Look forward to seeing you a few weeks. xoxo

calibosmom said...

Oh my goodness, this post made me cry. I really can't imagine what you have been and are going through. What a struggle but how sweet it will be when you all can be sealed in the temple. BTW, my tat is on the opposite shoulder. Man, do we need to get together or what!?!

AMY said...

kids are just too darn cute! it will be a great day when Camden is sealed to you... it's been too long a wait.

oh, and your kid looks good in purple!

doodooguru said...

Alright lady. That boy is so cute, but the picture of him sucking on your shoulder makes me cringe. Travis is just starting to wear suits to church again because of the crazy dry cleaning bills that our kids created when they were young. There is something 'stainy' in kid drool. I guess that is why kids are cute, so you can easily forget about the 'stainy' bits.

by the way, 'the next iron chef' is not for pregnant women. I can only see so much raw meat and guts before I start to dry heave! Maybe I will Tivo it and watch them in 3 months.

Anonymous said...

oh i loved this post. he is a doll baby. i want to hear more about the tatoo as well. i think it is quite pretty. is that your only?

about the adoption. it's not depressing to hear about what you guys are STILL going through. it just reminds us all to keep praying. i think sometimes it seems that all is well and so our prayers shift around and we forget to keep praying and hoping for you guys to get this all worked out quickly. Thank you for the reminder:). I adore you and can't wait to hear about your beautiful little family all gathered in the sacred temple. it will be well worth the wait:)!

Erin said...

This post brought me to tears...after putting some serious smiles on my face. C is so beautiful, so special and so going to be yours forever (officially) soon.

You're in my thoughts and prayers!