Our adoption day was absolutely perfect! We headed to the courthouse around 1:30 with all the grandparents following us. We were greeted by this banner hanging from the parking deck.
When we got to the courthouse, we battled our way through security which meant taking off shoes, jewelry, and even removing the baby from the stroller. I know they were doing their job, but it was difficult! We waited in the lobby for a few minutes for an agency representative. We made our way up to the sixth floor where we were greeted by a ton of people. There were a lot of families there and we had to wait to enter the court room.
Around 3:00, the judge started to move all the families into the court room. It was crowded but we all managed to fit in there.
The court room.
This is the judge and she started the ceremony with a little introduction about herself and the significance of the day. The judge is an adoptive parent herself and really cherishes the process of adoption. I believe she said in 1994, she started this tradition of a special ceremony during the month of November in honor of National Adoption Month. There were lots of introductions of different people who were attending the ceremony and I loved the fact that she said this was not going to be a quiet ceremony because there was a court room full of children! She instructed that each family would be called to the front of the court room by their adoptive child's name. We were presented with an adoption decree and each child would receive a teddy bear, pink for the girls and blue for the boys.
Will waiting patiently but was getting hot. The court room was very warm!
We had to lose the sweater vest.
I loved the bowtie!
This is a sweet family who adopted through our agency. Cheryl has become a friend of mine through adoption and blogging. This is her wonderful family, Ted, Cheryl, their girls and their adoptive daughter Lucy. It was very special for us to be there on the same day!
Will's name was called next. We went down to the front, shook the judge's hand, and received our paperwork. The judge commented on Will's bowtie! She thought it was cute!
Proud daddy!!!
Our official family with the judge!
The whole family. We were so lucky to have all of them there with us on our special day!
Nana & Pawpaw
Bebe & Poppy
Just one more family pic!!
This is a group photo of the four families from our agency who finalized their adoptions.
Bryan and I were really surprised how quickly the judge moved through all the families. We were afraid that we were going to be sitting there forever and Will would get fussy. The whole ceremony lasted about 45 minutes and she probably recognized around 25 families.
One lady touched everyone's heart. She adopted five kids! We don't know any details but they looked like they may have been siblings. Everyone clapped and you could feel the emotion in the room. I don't know her but I say she is an amazing person! There are not many people in this world who would step up and take care of those children. It was really a moving moment!
In the car, headed home and officially ours!!!
On the way home, we stopped at the Outback for dinner. Bebe & Poppy gave Will his first Bible with his name on the front in honor of this special day. Look at how sleepy he is!
Daddy entertaining Will at the dinner table.
Yesterday was a day that Bryan and I will never forget! Looking back on our LONG journey to this point, we really feel like it couldn't end any better. Will is our son forever and we were always meant to be a family. God had a wonderful plan in store for us but we just had to be patient. Sometimes it's hard to understand God's timing but on a day like today, it all makes perfect sense! (The tears are now flowing!) Our family was formed in a little bit of a different way than most people but I really can't imagine it happening any other way. It makes us special! My heart has grown by leaps and bounds thanks to adoption. My outlook on what makes a family is completely different now. Every child deserves a family to love them. I am so grateful that our birth mother chose life for Will otherwise this precious baby boy would not be with us today. This is our happy ending and I am so proud of our little family of three!!!!
