Just Laundry Day

Elsie was keeping me company while I folded mountains of laundry today. Even captured a smile too. Usually she's too enthralled by the camera's flashing lights to let us get her smiling.

Enjoying every day life!

Moving Right Along

So, I'll start with a picture of the four kiddos. Outside on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

We are down to one last visit with our social worker before we head to court to make Elsie legally ours! When we first brought her home, that 6 month mark seemed so far away. 6 months and 6 visits is what Ohio requires before adoption finalization can occur. In a couple of weeks, we'll see Kim for the last time and on September 23rd, we'll see a judge. He'll declare Elsie Faith a member of the Watson family forever, just as if she had been born to us. We are SO looking forward to that day! (It will forever be special for 2 reasons. We'll also celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary on that day. We're thinking an 11 year anniversary getaway might take the place of number 10.)

Another exciting bit of news is that after 2 trips to the lab and 2 blood draws, Elsie's "4 month" HIV test has come back negative. She still carries her birthmother's antibodies, so we'll retest again around the 1 year mark and again, if necessary, until they are no longer detectable. But in the words of her doctor, "I think we can safely assume that Elsie does not have HIV."

We are very thankful for the Lord's blessings on our expanding family.