It seems like ages ago that we were in the Gladney nursery waiting to meet Noah for the first time. On the day, we were in the moment and I remember relishing every minute BEFORE we held him in our arms. It's like an out of body experience to count down your final seconds as a parent-less couple...not many people have that luxury. But at the same time, each minute was painstakingly slow because of the anticipation of meeting our son who we had waited for so long. I remember everything about that day.
Fast forward 5 months (give or take) and already we found ourselves this past Friday at the family courthouse standing in front of a judge and walking out with Noah as our legal son.
I tried my best to "soak everything in" - and I'll remember alot about the day - but we were definitely in uncharted waters so I worked hard to keep any stress down. The end result was still the same! AND we get to cross off Noah's #1 item on his Life List!
So here's an overview of the day:
Our appointment was around noon to be at the family courthouse downtown. The reason we have not legally been Noah's parents for the last 5-6 months is because the adoption agency gives you that time to a.) make sure that they are satisfied with you as the parents and b.) that we as the parents are satisfied with the placement. So during that time we're more like stewards of the agency caring for the baby. The court hearing, as described to us, is the adoptive parents "suing" Gladney for custody of the child. Nicely suing, of course.We used Gladney's recommended lawyer and 99% of our interaction with her offices was via mail - verifying documents, sending in final fees, etc.
Both our parents, my brother and my best friend were able to take the afternoon to come to the hearing. As we walked into the courthouse and onto the floor we were directed to, there were several other families scattered about that were all there for the same reasons. The husband and I were taken aside by one of the lawyers to sign a couple more documents and for a brief overview of what would happen in the courtroom.
A few pics of the family waiting around:
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| My brother and I |
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| The Grandmas |
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| The husband with Noah and Grandpa |
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| My parents |
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| Best Friend! |
Once the courtroom was opened, all of the waiting families piled in at once and just as you'd expect, the bailiff had us all rise for the judge. They had the entire front of the room and the judge's stand covered with an array of stuffed animals and one by one they began to call the adoptive families up. We were fourth to be called. They let everyone from the family come and stand before the judge, who was handed each baby. Noah was very excited to see what was going on behind the stand and of course play with the judge's gavel. (She kept calling him the perfect Gerber baby.) The husband and I were sworn in and our lawyer/representative asked the husband all the hard questions (not really) and I was asked to affirm. And that was it! We were invited to come up behind the stand and take pictures with the judge.
On the way out, they let us choose a stuffed animal for Noah. When we first walked into the courtroom, I had my eye on a cute monkey but the first adoptive mom took it for her son. They had plenty of teddy bears and regular-looking stuffed animals, but I wanted to be sure to get something special. So I zoned in on this cute hedgehog-looking animal and was excited to be able to pick it out! We're not sure if it's a hedgehog or a porcupine so I'm either calling it a "porkyhog" or "hedgepine". LOL!
I'm so thankful for our families and was glad that we were smart enough to invite them to this special day. It ended up not being as stressful as I'd imagined and like the day we first met Noah, I will never forget his Finalization Day.
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