Yet another agency?

It seems that M has managed to piss off yet another agency in TN. They are thankfully still willing to work with her, but only under certain conditions. Apparently she is still sending relatives to bring in receipts, and the receipts are for things like soda, more hair products than anyone can use in a year, and junk food. No real food, no fruit, no vegetables or anything that resembles groceries. They have asked me to call her and "put the fear of G-d into her" that she needs to start following the rules if she wants to get her expenses paid. She also blew off the lawyer on Friday. The lawyer was willing to drive out to M and meet with her at home, but she couldn't be bothered to call the lawyer and set up a time. I am feeling very frustrated and will call M and have a talk with her when I get home.

The social worker does agree there is no way that M can keep this baby and that she thinks it will work out. But she has to question the validity of most of her expenses and how our money is being spent. She also doesn't want to be the cause of problems with our adoption, but has said they cannot work with M any longer if she doesn't start behaving.

Sigh.

Flaky, flaky

M had an appointment scheduled with the lawyer last Thursday, and was supposed to bring the rest of her family history forms (she filled them out wrong initially), the ultrasound video, sign a release for her medical records, and to provide info on the pbdad so that the lawyer can find him in prison. But M did not show up and did not call, which annoyed me (and the lawyer). The lawyer reached her yesterday, and M was hemming and hawing about car troubles. The lawyer has court out her way on Thursday and said "I'm coming out to you" and I'm glad about that. I really hope that M is home, or I will be majorly annoyed.

Honestly, I have a feeling that she has been skipping doctor's appointments and doesn't want me to know. I still feel like she is on track with placing, but just not super-concerned about appointments since she has an adoption plan and is getting expenses paid.

Seven more weeks.

My brother in law is an Asshole (with a capital A).

I was emailing with my SIL in Florida yesterday, and she casually mentioned that her husband (David's oldest brother) is not planning to attend the bris. Apparently it's too hard for him to plan one day off with three month's advance notice. He is a doctor and moonlights on the weekends at one of those urgent care clinics, and I'm sure it's hard to find someone willing to cover the night shift. But you make exceptions for family and important family events. David's dad and David have both spoken to BIL to tell him how disappointed they are. BIL and SIL are planning a trip to Hawaii in a few weeks and will come here at Christmas, so his excuse is he can't take any more time off. I think he's just a selfish jerk and doesn't want to be bothered to come to Houston twice. We explained that we will be taking the baby to Maine at Christmas to see my grandmother, who may not have another Christmas. Therefore we won't see them at Christmas, and if they wait until next Christmas to meet the baby, he'll be over a year old. But then again they haven't come to Houston to meet their nephew Jake, who is now 7 months old. And they couldn't be bothered to come to their niece Kayla's welcoming party, the one her grandparents flew all the way from Japan to attend. They had never left their village or flown, but they came. BIL should take some lessons from them.

I am so angry at him. I don't even really like him much (nor does David), but it's a matter of principle. We had to fly to Florida for his son's bris on the typical 8 days' notice, in the middle of the week, but we didn't feel inconvenienced because we wanted to meet our nephew. I just can't believe that ONE FREAKING SHIFT can't be rescheduled. So, my BIL gets the Biggest Asshole Award.

Eight weeks and counting

The baby's due date is 8 weeks from today. I can't believe it's only eight more weeks. I feel like I'm living in some kind of suspended animation these days, although somehow the weeks keep trickling by and that magic day gets closer and closer. There is still so much to do and so little time. I feel really badly that we're going to have to leave our pets for a couple of weeks and I wish we could take them with us, but I think we're going to end up using some kind of in-home pet care service.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the differences between our son's life and his half-siblings' lives. We plan to stay in contact and even have visits, and I wonder what Bubba is going to think when he realizes that he has so much more than his siblings do. I also worry terribly about what M is going to do to take care of herself after we are no longer paying support to her. We can only pay for six weeks post-partum and that's it. I almost feel guilty for having so much when she has so little.

We discussed the hospital plan further the other day, and the hospital is going to allow us to have a room and access to the nursery. We also asked her not to have the baby circumcized, so that we could do it here in Houston, and she agreed.

So, wow. Eight more weeks. Can you believe it?

Oy! The drama.

Our first big news is that the Shuttle is safely home. I went and watched the landing with David on the big TV and it was very cool, they were showing us what the pilot was seeing out the window. So congratulations to Discovery for a very successful mission, and we are eagerly waiting for the next launch, scheduled for August 28th.

I talked to M on Friday. Her sister called me about some problems with the agency not paying expenses, but we got it sorted out. M called me after her sister got home and told me about 6 times that she thought them not wanting to pay for shampoo was BS and I agreed with her. The agency thought her buying things like pots and pans for her new apartment was not cool, but it's allowed under TN law and we told the social worker we didn't mind paying. M is definitely a drama queen and likes attention. She has been sending her mom and sister to the agency for her, and the social worker doesn't like that. I told her to be firm with M that she needs to come in person, and that we had to have the lawyer tell her the same thing and it worked. I think she's just spoiled and lets others wait on her as much as possible. But all is well with her and the baby, and she has an appointment with the lawyer this week to bring the family history papers and the video. We can get the medical records too so that's a relief.

Sigh. Eight more weeks. I can make it.

YAY Discovery!!

We couldn't have asked for a better launch. Wow, was I nervous though! It was pouring here in Houston, but I slogged through the water and went over to the Space Center and watched on the big TV in the auditorium. It is wonderful to be around hundreds of other people cheering as we had liftoff, then SRB separation, then ET separation. I was so relieved that we didn't lose any major chunks of foam, and so far everything is going smoothly.

So I can't count, and the baby is actually due 9 weeks from this coming Wednesday. I spoke with the agency yesterday and they said M had another counseling appointment, so I hope it all went well. They are being firm with her about for receipts, which I think is good. I'll give M a call over the weekend or early next week and see how she is doing.

Now I'm actually starting to worry about becoming a mother! It's all so overwhelming. I don't know how to take care of a baby, really. I guess I'll figure it out.

Launch Day?

If all goes well, the Space Shuttle Discovery should have her second return-to-flight today, after a couple of failed attempts due to weather over the weekend. We're all very anxious and hoping that no large pieces of foam come off. The last time we had return-to-flight was a very mixed day for me. I was almost 9 weeks pregnant. The Shuttle got off the ground safely, but unfortunately we found out that same afternoon the baby wasn't going to make it.

So I sit here almost a year later, and it's amazing to think that in just over 9 weeks I will (hopefully) be a mother. I had a nice talk with M last week. She told me that she was busy all day getting paperwork together, because she is going to court to terminate rights on her third child. I thought this was a very good sign. And she volunteered to me that she had gone for the counseling session and that she liked the counselor. She was asking the counselor about what happened after we had taken custody and we changed our minds about the baby. I thought that was interesting. Basically she is doing fine although the summer heat is bothering her. She keeps telling me that she'll take the ultrasound video to the lawyer's office to send to me, so one day hopefully it will show up.

I'm feeling a little more hopeful that this is going to work out. And you know what? I'm having a baby shower! Yes, me, a baby shower.