Welcome Back!!!!! Glad you found us again, we've been waiting on you to get here!!
Ok let me start with, Monkey is adopted from foster care!!! Knowing that is something very important to our story. I brought him home from the hospital when he was 4 days old~ and he has never lived anywhere else!
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| (Excuse the messy hair, it was rainy and cold that day- and we were already late for our first doctor’s appointment, little did we know it would be the first of MANY!!) |
So now our story begins- We had so many things happen that
just 'didn't happen in foster care' that it was inevitable he was to be my
kiddo...
It all started while I had another child in my home who had been
w/me since he was 3 weeks old and was 4.5 at the time—my caseworker called me
about this new baby, who another family had declined placement b/c his birth-mother (Bio)
had mental health issues—she was actually hospitalized her entire
pregnancy and that’s how he ended up being born in our hometown. Being a
glutton for punishment I said "OF COURSE I'LL TAKE HIM!!"—(meant to
be moment #1!!)
My caseworker talked her boss into letting me have two unrelated
infants under the age of one in my home—her boss didn’t see a problem with it
although it wasn't typical practice, it wasn't totally
unheard of… so, I was given custody of “MJ”
as he was named at the time. (meant to be moment #2)
When I held him for the first time—and I kid you not (I wasn’t
high or hallucinating) but the first time I held him he was pretty much just a
head in some blankets and he opened his big brown eyes and I heard him say...
“So, My name’s Monkey Boy—are you my mom??” I told him I was pretty positive that
I was and we then bonded over our first few short minutes together in the
newborn nursery. (meant to be moment #3)
We learned in the newborn nursery that he appeared to be deaf in
one ear, but hopefully it was just from fluid and ‘the birthing process’…
(important fact to remember in the future)
He was assigned a not so wonderful social worker, boy was she
was a piece of work… she wasn't known for being on top of things and
was doing NOTHING to help the case, either way, good or bad. She kept
rescheduling court etc and cost us 3 months of time—she was finally relieved of
her duties and we got an AMAZING caseworker and a bulldog of an attorney who
had no patience for the way his previous SW had conducted business. (meant to
be moment #4)
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| Isn't he ADORABLE??? |
So I volunteered to help w/transporting him to visits if it
meant they didn't take him. They agreed to my proposal and let him stay w/me,
however the case was moved to the courts in that county 2 hours away- (meant to be
moment #5)
About this
time we discovered his congenital virus (Info Found Here) and
brain damage (Click Here to Learn More) as
well as some visual issues—which as daunting as they seemed on paper, weren’t that bad at six months old—but to a ‘step great uncle’ who wanted to take him, it was BAD—so he declined
placement!! (meant to be moment #6)
In
November of 2008 he had a visit w/his Bio that I drove him to—little did I know it would be his last visit… she
decided she didn't want to see him anymore! (meant to be moment
#7)
We
made it to February when we had to do DNA testing to determine if this guy Bio
said could be his father was in fact his biological sperm donor—well what a
huge relief!! He didn't pass the test, he was NOT Monkey’s biological
father!! (meant to be moment #8)
Shortly
after getting the results of the failed DNA testing, his Bio decided to
terminate her parental rights, and the state terminated rights on ANY potential
fathers!! The state still went through all it's hoops and made her case an
involuntary termination because of an open case on in another state—they were waiting on that to wrap up before
proceeding—meaning her next child born would go IMMEDIATELY in
the system and to me if they’re born in our state. (meant to be moment #9)
Due to the fact the case was moved to a
SMALL rural (Mayberry type town/county) and there were very few cases in their
courts, things moved QUICKLY. In August of 2009 I signed the ‘intent to adopt’
and in September he was LEGALLY mine… in less than 18 months the whole case was
closed which is unheard of in our courts here in ‘The Big City’! (meant to be
moment #10)
So
as you see so many things lined up—quite
unusual in foster care—but I can
tell you that I knew the first few weeks he was w/me that he was MY son… w/my former foster baby I never felt
the hormonal and biological feelings I felt when Monkey came to me—my nails grew, my hair grew—shoot my boobs grew too! Everything a new mother
experiences… and even though he
was only 3 days old when we met—Monkey knew I was his mommy!
Due to the fact the case was moved to a
SMALL rural (Mayberry type town/county) and there were very few cases in their
courts, things moved QUICKLY. In August of 2009 I signed the ‘intent to adopt’
and in September he was LEGALLY mine… in less than 18 months the whole case was closed
which is unheard of in our courts here in ‘The Big City’! (meant to be moment
#10)
So as you see so many things lined up—quite unusual in foster care—but I can tell you that I knew
the first few weeks he was w/me that he was MY son… w/my former foster baby I never felt the hormonal and
biological feelings I felt when Monkey came to me—my nails grew, my hair grew—shoot my boobs grew too! Everything a new mother experiences… and
even though he was only 3 days old when we met—Monkey knew I was his mommy!
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| SO VERY TRUE |
Another thing, he is VERY MUCH a “Simply
Shonda” family kid, he looks like my grand-daddy and my great uncle—as well as having some of my
grandma’s habits… and I have NO doubt he knew
them before he came to me… that’s another story and more on the ‘supernatural’
side of things… but all true!!
Shew, that's a lot of info... and only a brief overview for those who are new to us... we will continue on our journey to Ohio and to get our dog in the next few 'chapters'... we hope you're intrigued enough to continue to join us as we get everyone caught up!!!
S~S and Monkey Boy
