We Are Family

I love a good party, and I will usually find any excuse to throw one.  Caleb joining the family was certainly good cause to celebrate, and the week after he officially became ours, we had a little get-together to welcome him to the family. 

Family from Tony's side and my side drove over to our house on a dreary evening to join in the festivities.  Caleb, who has recently discovered his belly laugh, thoroughly enjoyed all of the attention and tickling.

After Caleb went to bed, the fun continued...

Lovely.

Beautiful.

Oh my...

Gotcha!

This is what happens when you leave your camera unattended.

Welcome to the family, little guy!  I know you can't wait to join in on all of this fun and frivolity!

Caleb Goes to Court

This past Thursday was a momentous occasion for us all.  It was the day that we went to court to finalize our adoption.  While we did not anticipate that there would be any problems with finalizing, we're thankful that there were none and that it's now official:  Caleb is legally our son!  Of course, he has already been a part of our family, but now it's recognized by the law.
We made the trek to the state where we first met him (always fun with a 5 month old) where we spent 20 minutes in court. While in court, we were sworn in, and then our attorney and the judge asked a few questions.  And then he signed the Final Decree of Adoption, and we were on our way home. 
As the Final Decree of Adoption says:  "said adoptee [Caleb] is hereby legally adopted by the Petitioners [Tony and me] and from this date the said adoptee shall be, as to all legal intents and purposes, the child of the Petitioners...and that the name of the adoptee shall be Caleb Augustine Argo..." 

Caleb was still a little sleepy from the drive.

The judge was such a nice man.  He stated that he himself had been adopted when he was just 6 weeks old and that adoptions held a special place in his heart.  He reminded us that his courtroom was not Wal-Mart - there was a strict no return policy.  As Tony and I have been bound to one another for better or for worse, so too are we now bound to Caleb.  He's our child, even on those difficult days ahead. 
In our profile book we prepared when we began the adoption process, we included this for our children: "Remember that we will always love you and accept you, regardless of your decisions in life, not because of anything you have or have not done, but merely because you're ours!"  Caleb, always know that we love you, and always will, because you are ours...legally and in all other ways!

 

Halloween and Such

My baby celebrated his first Halloween this week...by "celebrated" I mean he wore a candy corn onesie and helped mom hand out candy to the neighborhood kids.  He sure was cute!

"Why, yes, I think I will have a piece."

I think he's definitely looking forward to dressing up and trick-or-treating next year.
We also had our first frosts of the season, which resulted in some pretty chilly morning walks.  Caleb decided he would combat the cold by hibernating.

Checker has warmed up pretty well to Caleb.  Either that or I think he wants Tony to feed him a bottle...

Back in August, Caleb received the cutest little camouflage onesie at a shower, and he's finally big enough to wear it.  The only problem:  now we can't find our baby. :)

Can you help us find our camouflaged baby?

This last picture was taken a few weeks ago, and it really makes me laugh.  This is totally one of those pictures that we'll have to show to Caleb's girlfriend one day when she comes to visit...

I don't think he was too happy about the hat, but isn't he cute anyways?