Today we are Official

It all came down to today. All this waiting (nearly 2 years for baby # 2, 8 months since he came, a half hour for the judge to finish in open court). In total more than 2 and a half years, came down to a less than 15 minute hearing in the judge's chambers. My mom was there as well as our dear friend M (also baby E's Godmother and fantastic babysitter) and her awesome kiddo Z (aka the kid's bff). We are so glad they were there to share and wittiness this huge event.

I was afraid we were going to be late because baby E decided he needed to eat just before we left, but we managed to get there just on time. We had to wait because the judge was still in the court room. The boys were pretty good waiting. Here's a couple of pics of what they were doing.

They both loved climbing up in the window to look at the skyline.

Not that they stayed still in that chair for long, but that's okay. Aren't they cute together?! Baby E was being patient and hanging out in the Moby while we waited and the boys ran around in their typical tornadic style. He was super tired, but stayed awake the whole time we were there.

We finally went into the judge's chambers and there were also a couple of other people there, whom I assure were clerks, in addition to us all, our attorney, the guardian ad litem, and the judge. We were sworn in and had to testify to the accuracy of the facts included in the adoption petition (i.e. our names, birth dates, how long baby E has been with us, etc...). The judge then asked us a few questions, I think just to get to know us a little better. He had me tell him about our typical week and seemed quite surprised that we actually eat dinner all together (not in front of the TV) every night. (Side note: thanks, mom, for making us do this growing up - I so now see the importance/benefits!) The judge then read that whole spiel about how baby E will now be afforded all the rights/privilege's of a "natural born" child (how I hate that term is a topic for another day). He said a bunch of other stuff, but, honestly, I was trying to convince myself to hold it together so I didn't go into the ugly cry. I was successful, btw. I didn't even have to wipe away any tears. I only got a bit glassy eyed.

As an added bonus, our attorney, who I know from my "social services" days, told the judge he isn't charging us his fee for the adoption! Hubby and I were quite surprised and touched. Come to think of it, we don't think he charged us for the kid's either (though that certainly doesn't mean we were looking for the same thing this time). Note to self, send him a gift card to somewhere cool as a thank you.

And then it was over. The judge let each of the 3 boys pick out a beenie baby to commemorate the day. The 2 big boys got bears with backpacks. The kid picked out a lobster for baby E. Don't ask me why. I'd put some pictures of this whole thing on here, but, well, we don't have any. Hopefully my mom and M got some good ones and will share. But here's one of us outside the court house. Finally, a legal forever family.



It's been an awesome day, y'all. I feel relieved and happy and tearful. I am sitting here nursing this crazy baby who refuses to sleep at night, and I am hit by the enormity of this day. And I am reminded, with his gooey, gummy grin, that he has no idea what happened. No idea that today is a big and important and absolutely momentous day in his life. A day that I have waited for for more than 2 and a half years. An awesome day. Because today we became official.

Today's lesson - we apparently need to work on government vs. church lessons for the kid. He asked, on the way to court today, "hey, Momma, are we going to tell the Pope that he can't ever give baby E to anybody else? Is that what today's all about?". "Sort of, kid, sort of."