HOOORRAYY!

SO!
We aren't going to trial in October anymore!!
Yesterday we had our final mediation and they decided to change their minds, put the TPR trial into abeyance and reinstate the goal of reunification! It will still be a lengthy process and we have more tasks to complete, Allen is not allowed to visit her without supervision yet, but we are perhaps at last on the road to the end?!?!!
I honestly was shocked and confused and felt like their had to be some sort of horrible catch or they were going to pop out of a closet in my house later and be like HAHA JUST KIDDING!! But my lawyer has assured me things will continue in this direction and we will be finished in a "timely" manner if nothing new arises and Phoenix continues progression! HOORAY!!!

Please continue to pray for us - the "timely" is not a short amount of time. And continue to pray for Phoenix's recovery - she is "too smart for her own good" and has begun to take a bit of a detour in her recovery because she is becoming a master at getting around using her left side at all. We are working with her every day but she is very stubborn - a trait that has done her a lot of good in the past because it helped get her where she is now - and is not easily swayed into believing that using the left side is better. Small things (and I wish I had a picture) like when she has her sippy cup, if she does not feel inclined to use her left hand to hold it she just whips her right leg around and holds the left handle up with her toes. I couldn't even believe it the first time I caught her doing it! But every time something new is introduced she is very, very quick to find a way to do it without the left side helping - she has begun whacking people when they try to help her left hand do things as well. All in all she is becoming a normal cantankerous one year old and I LOVE IT!! Every time she does something like going stiff and shrieking when I sit her down in her car seat I just have to remember that there was a time when we didn't know if she would even be able to do something like that and it really does make parenting a lot easier :) Plus I usually just think her antics are hilarious which I'm sure helps a lot with getting her to stop doing naughty things...hahaha!! Perhaps I am creating a monster! But I really find it difficult most days to not just laugh at the little things that she does that I see a lot of parents reprimanding their children for - such as screaming like a pterodactyl in the store at people who pass by...

Anyway! Wanted to share the super news and let you all know how Phoenix is doing :)
Love,
Shell, Allen and Phoenix

Please Pray

Hey everyone,

We go back to our final mediation on Monday, Aug 13 at 0900. I'm not sure what could happen there but maybe something good, maybe nothing at all. Please be praying that God works in the hearts of the lawyers and DCF reps present there.
Love
Shell, Allen and Phoenix

New Pictures :)

To sleep...or not to sleep...

Whew! It has been a really long time since I have found time to come update you all!

Phoenix is doing GREAT!! She will be crawling soon (we hope) or maybe she will skip it and go straight to walking...she wants to be mobile!

She will be getting in a splint for her hand to try and keep the left palm open during the day. That should be in really soon - I can post some pictures and show you what she thinks of it. They had to fit her for one and she was quite peeved at someone putting something on her hand she couldn't get off. She settled for biting it...With no teeth.

As far as legalities go, the state has decided to take us to trial for termination of parental rights. They want to remove her from us permanently and put her on the state list for adoption to a FL resident.

This will be decided October 5th and 6th, so please keep us and our lawyers in your prayers.

Anne has been staying with us babysitting Phoenix over the summer but has to go back to school SOON and we are still looking for a good babysitter. Pray about that please! Babysitters these days are not like they used to be...

On other news, Phoenix has decided that night time is the time to be awake! And stay awake! We have tried everything! We have even swaddled her like a newborn so she can't escape the covers and then fuss because she is cold. The newest weapon in her arsenal is: humming. Last night she hummed for 3.5 hours (after I tried rocking her to sleep for an hour) AND attempted to flail without rest so I just had to keep a hand on her crazy kicking legs. I finally gave up around 5:00 AM and went to the couch to sleep thinking she would figure out that I wasn't going to get her up because I wasn't right there so she would just get bored and go to sleep.

Aaa! Where is my shirt?!

I came in at 6:30. She had escaped the blankets, thrown the binky across the room and was laying there happy as a clam biting her toes.

This is not the first night of its kind...

Today she has been falling asleep sitting up and her therapist can't get her to do anything because she is so tired so the whole no-sleeping thing isn't working for baby or mommy!

So! If you have ideas for getting stubborn babies back to sleep please let me know!!

Also. She weighs 24 lbs and is still gaining and has officially reached the milestone of "half as tall as mommy!" and is proud, proud, proud!! We are breaking out the 2T/24month clothes!! Aaaa!!

Her Aunt Lyndsey came to visit a few weeks ago and they had a super fun time yelling and trying to steal toys away from each other! They had matching dresses...that were too small for both of them. Hehe...

We love you all!
-Shell, Allen & Phoenix

Sometimes I play small goats...

Good news!

And folks we actually have some good news to give you today!

Yesterday in the placement hearing the judge decided to put Phoenix into my custody! Hooray! Allen still has to have supervised visitation by a third party and is not allowed to live in our house, so it has been hard for him, but we both believed that Phoenix NOT going into foster-care was worth whatever price tag went along with me having custody.
I will be going to night shift sometime next week and a nanny will be taking care of Phoenix while I am at work, so I will be able to take Phoenix to all of her appointments during the day and in general just be able to work with her as her mom and not a random person she doesn't know. It has been very nice to just be able to spend time with my daughter without someone hovering. For the first time in four months we were able to just have a mommy and baby trip to the store today! HOORAY! :) Little steps, but we are perhaps maybe beginning to find our way slowly out of the valley.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and I ask for your continued prayers as we are still not a whole family and child services are still a major part of our lives (as in they will be visiting the house every single day to see if things are going ok with me and Phoenix).
Love you all!
Allen, Shell and Phoenix