Finalization Photos

The finalization was actually pretty fun. There were several babies there to be adopted, which was so cool. You go through this long journey feeling so unique, only to see that this happens every week to several people. We sat in the back of the cozy little court room with our attorney.

When it was our turn, we went to the bench. We had to raise our right hand before giving the testimony.

Giving the testimony was as solemn as it should have been. I thought it would just be a formality, but, to me, it felt as serious as saying my wedding vows. Even though we rehearsed it minutes before, it seemed so real at the bench, and it was. Even though the judge and lawyer had done this so many times before, they were very serious and treated us as if this was the most important thing they would do all day. I really do feel more of a sense of "ownership" in my motherhood, although of course that word could never apply to a human being. But I do feel more like his mom than I did when I woke up that morning.

I think, in the very farthest corner of my mind, there was always an escape route, the knowledge that we were, technically, more like fostering him. I never really thought it out, much less considered using it. I didn't even realize it was there until it was taken away. Of course I've been living as his mom, acting and talking like his mom, worrying like his mom, from day 1. But it does feel a little different now that it's legal. We'll no longer have social workers making sure he's OK with us. Now, when I think, "I'm his mom", it feels more real. I can say it without that tiny hesitation, without any qualifiers. I didn't expect that the finalization would feel like this. I thought it would feel like a formality, but it felt as exciting and as important as our wedding.

After we finished the legal business, the judge let us come up to pick out a stuffed animal, and I got him a little elephant. I'm going to get it embroidered with "Adoption Day" and the date. I thought about putting it somewhere special and bringing it out on his adoption day, but I think I'll leave it out for him to play with. Maybe someday, years from now, it'll help him bring up adoption, and it sure is cute.

Jim's parents gave us some presents, which is always fun:-)

After that, we got some pictures in the courtroom, which I don't feel comfortable posting here, and then we got tons of photos in the courthouse lobby. It's an historic courthouse, and it was even prettier than the photos show. I'm not going to post them all, since I'm going to use one of them for our Christmas cards, but here are some of the cutest ones.




It is so strange to think that we're done with the adoption. I may be unusual in the adoption community to say this, but I actually enjoyed our post-placement visits from the social worker. She was always so nice and professional, and she never made me feel like I had to prove myself to her (although you know I made sure the house was reasonably clean on the days of her visit, of course). I'm not going to miss the visits, exactly, but I'm looking forward to the annual Christmas party at our agency. I'll probably even go to the post-adoption support group every once in awhile. Maybe I'm just getting nostalgic, but I didn't mind the adoption journey, and sometimes I enjoyed it. After spending so many years waiting for this, it's hard to believe that the adoption process is over! At least for a couple more years, anyway:-)