The best words I have ever heard...

This is what our judge said as he granted our adoption...

"This Decree is absolute and final, and that from this day forward, the minor child, Tate Kenneth Peakin, shall be the child of Sean Peakin and Jennie Peakin, and the rights, duties, and relationships and legal responsibilities between the minor child and Sean Peakin and Jennie Peakin, adoptive parents, shall be the same as if the minor child had been lawfully and naturally born to Sean Peakin and Jennie Peakin."

I love it...it feels so good...I have had butterflies all day...we are so happy!

Tate Kenneth Peakin

Well, we had our hearing and it went great! Tate now officially has a name and is stuck with us for life! :) We couldn't be happier! Pictured below is our lawyer on the left and the judge on the right. The judge gave Tate a little puppy named Bernie that's birthday is 2 days before his. Tate loves the puppy! Everyone in the courtroom loved Tate. He was jabbering so loud that you could barely hear anyone talking. It was so funny. I never realized what a relief it would be to have this part done. I have always felt that Tate was 100% ours from the day we got him, but now it's official...it is documented and final! We are so happy and thankful for this blessing and everyone that helped us to accomplish the creation of our family!

Today's the day!

We've been waiting for this day for almost 8 months!!! It's Adoption Day! We have to be in court at 8:15 this morning to finalize the adoption. I have butterflies...it will make everything complete and over with. No more post placements visits, no more paperwork, no more lawyers...nothing...just our family, official and permanent, NO MATTER WHAT!

Love Birds...

Hmmmm...I don't know what I think about this boy...

maybe he'd be okay if he'd just keep his hands to himself!!!

Ummmm...Tate, something tells me that's not your pacifier.

Do you think that these children might be teething?!!! Ha.

"Ya, I kind of want that pacifier too."

We went to the Quad Cities to visit the DeCooks on Monday for a few hours. It was absolutely hilarious watching Tate and Ava. They were so funny! It is always so fun seeing those 2 together since they're only 2 months apart. Ava is such a strong girl...definitely ahead of where Tate was at her age! She's sitting up already, so we were able to get pictures of them sitting up together. Tate found her pacifiers very intriguing and wanted to take them from her. As you can see, he was successful once! Ava was playing a little hard to get, but Tate just went right in for the kill...he couldn't keep his hands off of her! We go to Florida with the DeCooks in a few weeks, so we are looking forward to that! We'll have many funny moments there I am sure!

Bagg-O

Look at that form!!!

Mom and Cassie are just so photogenic! Ha!

Tate was having just as much fun cheering us on!

Lani is so excited after getting a "ringer"!

We had a Bagg-O tournament on Sunday evening. The kids had a ball and Tate sucked on some pineapple in his mesh feeder and watched us all and cheered along. The grand champions were Mom and Paul. Lani and Brigg were doing great though and were carrying both of their teams! :)

Lani's Big Day

Lani had her first dance recital on Saturday. She did such a great job and looked like an absolute princess. I did her hair and make-up...I think she felt pretty special. Here are some of the pictures of her. She is so beautiful!

Our Little Eskimo

I just thought this picture was cute.

This is Hilarious!

1. YOUR REAL NAME: Jennie Peakin
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle.)Jenizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal) Green Monkey
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street) Amanda Hickman
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name.)Peajeclod
6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink). Pink Pepsi
7. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (Mother’s middle name and father’s middlename ) Ann Eugene
8. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets ) Black Sydney

Our night

We had plans to go to Chris and Brenda's tonight for a yummy dinner. I gave Tate a bath before we left and got him all clean and smelling good! On the way there, I heard Tate making some heaving sounds and I looked in my rearview mirror and saw orange liquid coming from his carseat and flying through the air. I pulled over in some parking lot to see that Tate had thrown up all over his carseat and himself and my car. He was all smiles and having a ball playing in his self created pool of thrown up squash and formula. I didn't know that a baby could throw up so much! I decided that since I was only about a mile from Chris and Brenda's that I would just leave him be and clean him, his carseat and my car when I got there. Man was it a mess! I had to take my whole carseat apart and wash it and clean out all of the nooks and crannies that had vomit in them. Somehow, it had also leaked out of his carseat and into the base that was in my car, so there was a pool in there and boy did my car stink!!! Tate was happy as a lark, you would have never known that he just projectile vomited all over the place! He's never thrown up before, so it's a first for him and hopefully it won't happen again any time soon! Poor baby! The rest of the night, we was acting fine and he's sleeping like a baby now, so I don't know what that was all about! Oh, and to make it worse, about 20 minutes before his throwing up incident, he had a massive blow out poopy diaper that required a serious wiping down and clothing change! Had I not given Tate a bath, I am certain none of this would have happened! Ha...isn't that always how it works!

Sean had some studying to do for a test, so he headed home after dinner and Tate and I stayed and hung out. Tate didn't hang out long, he went down for bed and Chris and I played a few games of cribbage. After getting beat by Chris twice (although, the one time I won, I double skunked him!), I decided to pack Tate up and head home. Thanks Chris and Brenda for a great dinner and great company!

We're heading to Muscatine tomorrow for a fun-filled Memorial Day weekend with the family...we wish Chris, Brenda and Bode could be there too. :( We've got Lani's dance recital, and some other fun things planned so we're looking forward to it! I am sure I'll have many pictures to share after our weekend! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Seriously!

I could not sleep last night...I didn't even get to sleep until around 3:30 a.m and then I didn't sleep well. Sean got up with Tate this morning so I slept in a little later than usual, but was still exhausted! Tate's a good napper, so I wasn't too worried, I thought I would just nap when he does. Isn't it just typical though, that the day I REALLY need a nap, my "good napper" of a baby has only slept for 1/2 an hour?! Seriously, of all days! He would have ordinarilly slept 4 hours by now...2 1/2 for his morning nap and 1 1/2 for his afternoon nap, but NO, he decided to stay up all day. I don't really know what his deal is, he doesn't have a fever or anything. I think he's just doing it so that I can't sleep! I actually just put him down and now it's after 4:00 and I have too much to do around the house, so looks like I won't be getting a nap! :(

Zweiback Toast

After our fun filled day outside, Tate got to eat some Zweiback Toast for the first time. He LOVED it! He didn't completely understand it at first...he thought it was a toy, but as soon as he put it in his mouth the first time, he barely took it out. It is so messy and got soggy really quickly, so I had to watch him carefully so he didn't get big chunks in his mouth that he could choke on. When it was all soggy and I was nervous that he was going to shove the whole peice in his mouth and choke, I took it away...as you can see in the last picture, he told me what he thought about that! He was yelling at me for taking it away...he wanted it back and NOW!"What is this thing?!"

"MMMMMMMMM...whatever it is, I LIKE IT!!!"

"Mommy, give that back to me RIGHT NOW!"

The Peakin Boys

Tate had so much fun in his Jumperoo outside today while Sean and I landscaped.

I love my blue eyed boys!

Our Day Outdoors

Okay, I have to tell my pre story for those of you who don't know our living situation...

Last year, Sean and I sold our house because we needed to be closer to Des Moines because the commute (even though it wasn't much of a commute) was wearing on Sean between school and work. We knew that our plans were to move out of the area when Sean finished school, so we didn't want to purchase another home because we knew we would have to turn around and sell it fairly soon and so we thought we would rent until we left the Des Moines area. We LOVED our house and had just finished doing a lot of work outdoors on it. Sean and I really love doing landscaping projects so we were sad to leave a house that we had that option to live in an apartment. We stayed in the apartment for a year and had to move to a bigger place because we were busting at the seams with Tate's toys and "baby items", SO we decided to rent a duplex. We were excited that this would give us the option to do some landscaping! We know that we won't be here long, but we will enjoy our plants as long as we're here and hope that the next tenants will be able to enjoy them too! So today was the day...

This is what the house looked like last night, it definitely was in need of some TLC and WEEDING!!!

It's starting to improve...

My proud boys with the finished product! Quite the difference I would say!

We're pretty happy with the results, but know it will look nicer and nicer as the plants grow and bloom!

It was such a great day and we got a lot accomplished! We are exhausted and looking forward to a relaxing evening! :)

Our Weekend

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day! We enjoyed just hanging out together as a family. We went to lunch kind of late because Tate decided to sleep the whole morning away. Then we decided to go look at bikes and a trailer to cart Tate in behind Sean's bike. We didn't make a big purchase, but just decided to price some things. Sean LOVES riding his bike and take's long rides frequently and it would be fun to be able to do that as a family. Then, we decided to go to the Lowes Garden Center and get our annual plants! I got a couple of pots and plants to put in them and we're doing some small landscaping projects as well. We plan on doing all of that after church tomorrow. Then, we talked about going out on the boat with Chris and Brenda. If we end up doing that, it will be Tate's first time on a boat! I am sure I will have tons of pictures after our day outdoors tomorrow! Tate and I don't have a lot on the agenda for this coming week, but Daddy will be busy with work and school as usual. Next weekend, we will be heading to Muscatine to attend Lani's dance recital that will be on Saturday and just hang out with the family for Memorial Day Weekend! Pictures will be up soon!

Tate's New Toy

So I decided to get Tate an exersaucer today, but when I went to purchase one, I changed my mind. I got him a jumparoo instead. It has almost as many toys as the exersaucers, played music and lit up and also, he could bounce in it. Tate has been so spastic lately and has been wanting to bounce when he is in the standing position, so the jumping feature on this toy was key! The minute we put him in it, he went nuts! It was hilarious! We got it on video. Notice his right hand in the 2nd picture. He's waving it with excitement! I could not get a clear picture of him in it because he was bouncing instantly and wouldn't stop for a picture, so these kind of blurry pics will have to do! He was so excited and bounced so vigorously that he rubbed his big toe so hard on the carpet that it started to bleed! Seriously, he's a spaz! The bloody toe didn't seem to bother him at all! I have a feeling, he'll be spending a lot of time in this new toy!

Babysitting

I babysat Bode yesterday and Sean joined us after he got off work. Bode is such a little comedian! He was so good as usual and so funny as usual also! He LOVES his cowboy hat! From the moment he woke up from his nap until the moment he went down for bed, he had that hat either on his head or in his hands! Tate loves all of Bode's toys, but Bode doesn't particularly like that Tate loves all of his toys. He did a pretty good job of sharing anyway! Oh, how the years ahead will be interesting! :)

Tate/Child Supermodel

So I got Tate's pictures taken at Sears on Tuesday and when I was picking the ones out that I wanted to purchase, the manager came up and asked me if they could get one of the pictures (it's something HUGE, but I am not sure of the dimensions) to put up in the studio as a display shot. Of course, I was fine with that! Seriously, not to make his head any bigger than it already is (which is pretty big!), but the pictures are SO ADORABLE! Especially the one that the studio ordered! I am going to be so proud every time I go in there and see him on display! So needless to say, he was very cooperative and smiled huge for the pictures...as usual. He loves getting his picture taken!

My Mother's Day

Tate thinks I am the #1 Mom! :)

Seriously, how can you not want to constantly kiss those cheeks?!

In addition to Tate's dedication and the company of many great family and friends this morning...we celebrated as a family for Mother's Day by hanging out, eating dinner out and enjoying Tate! First, when we got home from lunch, Tate and Daddy took a nap and I just relaxed and did some downloading of pictures. When Tate woke up, we had a little Mommy/Son photo session and Tate hammed it up as usual. Then we went out to dinner to Pancheros...I know, pretty fancy! I love it though and it was my choice! :) After that, Tate fell asleep in the car and it was such a beautiful day that we decided to just take a drive around town and let him sleep and we just chatted about our great weekend. Then, as if we hadn't eaten enough already, we drove through DQ for some ice cream. We came home and Sean had some studying to do, so Tate and I hung out upstairs and watched our Sunday television. It was such a great 1st Mother's Day and I know I will never forget it! I am heading to bed with a smile on my face tonight!

Cherished Moments

Tate was dedicated today and it was even more special and wonderful than we anticipated! It was so great to have many of the special people in our lives there to share in this special occasion and we are feeling so filled with joy this Mother's Day! I feel so blessed to have the greatest family and extended family and couldn't have been more proud of how great Tate was during the whole thing. He has not slept great these last 2 days, so he was SO tired, but you never would have known...he was a complete angel!

Here is Tate spending time with his birth grandma! How special this time was! We look forward to many more gatherings with his birth family!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I think that Mom is just glowing in this picture with all of her grandkids!

Here is Tate with his AMAZING birth father! It is so special for us to be able to share Tate with Brandon. Brandon loves him so much and Tate is so lucky to have him! Brandon has become part of our family, and we cherish the times we spend with him!

My heart is still fluttering just thinking of all of God's blessings that fill our lives!

Blessed!!!

Well, tonight began our fun family weekend. Everyone is in town to celebrate Tate's dedication and we all gathered at a hotel to hang out. We had the pleasure of meeting more of Tate's birthfamily. Brandon came and brought his mother, step father and his grandfather. It was so amazing spending time with all of them and meeting them, they are truly amazing and wonderful people. We are feeling SO BLESSED tonight and can't wait until Tate is able to see how loved he is! It makes us feel so blessed as well to have all of these new members to our family. They all really do feel like family to us and we look forward to more memorable times with them.

God is so amazing...His perfect plan is unfolding before our eyes and we are really feeling His presence in all of these special moments. I know I have said this so many times before, but I am SO thankful that I am not in control of my life and that He is! He has given us a life that is so different than we would have ever given ourselves, it is a life that is so much more fullfilling than I ever could have imagined! Brandon's family said how much they appreciated us inviting them to come to Tate's dedication, but I hope they know how appreciative we are for them! What a blessing it is to have them be a part of Tate's and our lives...we are honored to call them an extended family!

Tomorrow, Tate will be dedicated. We pray that he will grow into a man of strong faith and always look to the Lord for guidance. We will pray for him daily and guide him as best we can, but we know that his life is in the Lord's hands and that He has a plan for Tate. Just like I am glad that I am not in control of my life, I am glad that I am not in control of Tate's life either! The Lord can much better handle that job than I can...so I will let him!

I will post pictures from this weekend soon!

3 Teeth!!!

Tate cut his 3rd tooth today! Now he has 3 teeth on the bottom! It looks like he's working on his 4th bottom tooth now!

My Babies!

I love my boys!!!

Suds...

We gave Tate a bath the other night and it was sudsy! I left him in there with Sean for about 30 seconds and when I came back in, Tate had suds all over him and a bubble mohawk! I think Sean was having as much fun with the bubbles as Tate was! I seriously have 2 children!

Tate's Toy

Tate LOVES his boppy cover that has the toys attached and so do we! It seems like he is constantly throwing his toys just out of reach and then whines because he wants them back. With this, his toys are always in his reach!

Looking Forward

This week will fly by I am sure. We are really enjoying the beautiful weather and are looking forward to this weekend when Tate will be dedicated and we will be able to see all of the family! It sounds like probably all of our immediate families will be in attendance in addition to some friends and some of Tate's birth family! What a special and memorable weekend it will be. Tate is going to be able to meet his birth grandfather and birth great grandfather and see his birth grandmother as well. She was at the hospital when he was born, but hasn't seen him since. I am sure it will be a very emotional and special gathering that we will have on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, they will all be attending his dedication as well! Tate is so blessed to have so many people who love him! We are feeling really happy and blessed to be able to share part of Tate with his birth family. We cannot imagine doing it any other way! Tate will be able to look back on pictures and see how much love has surrounded him since he was born. We always look forward to our meetings with Brandon, Tate's birth father and now we are able to introduce him to even more of his birth family! We never imagined we would feel comfortable with a situation like this, but until we went through it, I don't think we could have ever begun to imagine how important and special it would beto be able to include Tate's birth family in our lives. Now, we can't imagine being comfortable not having them in our and Tate's lives! God definitely had a completely different plan for us and for how things would pan out and His plan far surpassed any expectations or plans we had of our own. God is SO GOOD! :)

Just Cute!

He is just so darn cute!