The Papers are Filed...

I'm including some more photos of Alivia here--these are from my first trip to meet her. I'm amazed that it was only two months ago! It seems like I've had her for much longer than that! I'm also amazed at how the long wait for her referral seems to have just faded away. My life before Alivia seems like the most vague of memories and the reality of "now" with Alivia is so wonderfully real!

Today Alivia and I journeyed downtown to the courthouse to file the papers for official "Recognition of a Foreign Adoption" by the State of Florida. The filing fee was $293. Small change in the overall scheme of things! Now we are just waiting for our day in court! They told us that we should hear something in the next two to four weeks--not quite the quick turn around that I was hoping for, but I'm quite experienced when it comes to waiting now, so it's not a big deal.

Alivia was in a very happy frame of mind today. She laughed and played all day long. She is so solemn a lot of the time that it was really nice to see her chortling away at every thing. She also learned a new trick--how to fake sneeze. She discovered that whenever she "sneezes" Mommy will say bless you and she thinks that's just the most marvelous thing so she does it over and over again.

I think Alivia is also getting her first words. She keeps saying something that sounds like "ditta ditta" and I think it's coming from Dora the Explorer's "We did it!" song. I have been singing it to her when we watch it and also singing a "You did it!" version when she does special things. She spent most of this evening before bed saying "ditta ditta" and then grinning with the tip of her tongue poking out. It was just too precious!

Don't you just love babies!

~ Jeana