Finally!

Just wanted to post to let everyone know that we finalized on Friday afternoon!

We arrived a few minutes early as our attorney advised us to because she wanted to meet with us prior to going into the chambers to sign some documents. We literally had the entire waiting room area to ourselves which was very cool because he wandered around looking at the paintings and sat at the little peoples desk and enjoyed himself and looked outside at the city and expressway.

We were able to take some pictures in peace and just relax until the staff returned from lunch. Then we were escorted back to our assigned judges chambers by our attorney and case worker. I want to say that Fridays must be light days for that particular building or floor that I was on because it was not a lot of traffic and I am thankful.

Prior to going back there, we saw one of our friends that works as a court reporter and we met her through close friends of ours years ago and she attends our church. Guess what? She actually works for the judge and she was so tickled to see us. I had no idea that she worked in that building and worked for that judge! I knew that she was still working that job sat times, but they are also part owners in a large entertainment establishment here and I thought that she was running that full time and I forgot that she reports from time to time.
She was so happy and did not realize that we were finalizing. When I saw her going into the hallway, I called out and she came over and said she would come to see us before the signing. She was so excited and happy and she sent my girlfriend a message that we were there doing our finalization, even though she was not apart of the finalization. It is so funny and amazing how things work out and how people are put into your path.

It was so quick and we had a ball. The judge and her office staff fell in love with him. He actually received a whole basket of toys, and I was advised when we arrived that they typically only give one toy away. So, I guess we are a little special! (Wink Wink!!)


We took pictures with the judge and I took pictures of my son's caseworker, my son and husband. Although the signing and swearing only took a few minutes with our attorney and the judge, we actually shared the story with the judge of how everything happened and she was so thrilled. She also commented on how he blended so well with us and favored my husband a lot and she enjoys seeing happy endings and we discussed adoption in general. It was a wonderful meeting and the judge told me to send her pictures that we took us and her signing. We are actually going to send her a thank you card with a personal picture of my son in addition to our group shots and of her signing.

It has been a busy week and I am still behind with posting, with traveling to family events out of state, and having his final baby shower on Saturday (yesterday). I am relaxing this week and I plan on doing some posting here! I will be posting pictures from his shower as well. I have not had a voice since last Friday due to my allergies, so I sound really bad and I just need to relax and give my throat some downtime and hopefully my sinus drainage will stop. I am so excited about catching up some on this blog!

Our attorney advised us that we should be receiving his new birth certificate, with his name change within a few weeks and what to do from that point with getting a new ss number and such. She also advised us about the Federal tax credit that we get and the state credit.
We are exciting about applying for his passport so that he will be able to travel internationally with us. Oh, and by the way, our attorney is an adoptive parent as well, so it was a very good experience for us. We mentioned in the finalization that we would like to eventually adopt another child in the future, a baby girl. We have a few eyes looking out for us as well. It is always good to have those extra eyes and ears who have your best interest and know what kind of parent you are and know that things will be alright with a placement!

We thank God for his favor on us with this placement and how quickly things went for us, and how blessed we are with our son. We got off to a slow and rocky start, however, once we changed agencies and continued to be prayerful, everything fell into place. Words can't express our joy.

Like I've said before, God gives you more than you can imagine, if you let him handle things.
I am so glad that I was patient and waited and never gave up. He gave me what I needed and I was not anxious. I have a son that loves learning about the Lord, is happy when he wakes up, loves hugs, is friendly with everyone, is very intelligent and loves to learn new things and is absolutely adorable. He is more than what I could have ever asked for. He is going through his toddler stage, however, even with the stubborn episodes, he is still a well rounded child.

(Standing in front of daddy, patiently waiting to go back into the chambers...He wants to say, "Really, all of the pictures and who are all of these people???)
(This basket was filled with brand new toys, books, cars and dvd etc from top to bottom. My baby received the whole basket from the judge as a gift! What a surprise! His caseworker and our attorney were across the table in the background)