Jacob's Adoption Finalization
Jacob's adoption was finalized on March 7th, 2006. It was a fabulous day.
When Nancy and I first spoke with our lawyer about the adoption finalization, we figured that it would just be us, Jacob and my step-son in the courtroom, but our lawyer kept talking about how this was a "big deal" and she expected our family and friends to be there. Our mindset was that Jacob came into our lives when he was 4 days old and that this was just a legalization of our relationship, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
I'm so happy that our lawyer kept insisting that we should invite people to share in Jacob's big day.
My Mom flew up from California and had an outfit for Jacob that included a vest and tie. He looked very dapper. We also had about 10 friends in the courtroom with us. They all sat in the jury box and Nancy and I stood right in front of the judge's desk. We were sworn in and then answered a few questions from our lawyer like how long Nancy and I had been together (10 years) and that we had done all the paperwork for the adoption.
Then it was the judge's time to speak. Our lawyer had said that she was good. She wasn't just good, she was outstanding. She started out by saying how incredibly pleased she was to be able to sign the legal forms for our adoption of Jacob and that she had looked through our paperwork and written "Wow!" a lot on the margins of the pages because of our educational background and life experiences. She commended us that we opened our hearts and minds to a child who might have otherwise languished in the "system," and that our son is incredibly lucky to have us as his parents. Of course, we feel like the lucky ones to have such a sweet, happy, outgoing and incredibly cute baby. I guess it's a "win-win" situation all around.
The judge asked all of our friends to say a few words about us and Jacob. Everyone had such wonderful and kind things to say about how happy they were for us and for Jacob. My step-son talked about how we'd been such wonderful parents to him and allowed him the freedom to figure out what he wants to do with his life. There weren't many dry eyes in the courtroom.
The judge ended by quoting something from our homestudy report that I had stated in the paperwork, which is part of a longer Ralph Waldo Emerson quote about success: "Success is knowing that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived."
I actually almost fainted at one point. When we walked up to the judges bench, I could feel my face go red and I got all hot and sweaty. I'd been waiting to be a parent for about 5 years, and here I was finally going to be legally recognized as one. At a certain point, I began to feel unsteady and thought about asking to sit down, but fortunately, I was able to shake it off and didn't faint. One of our friends later described it as my face had a lot of color, and then it all went away quite suddenly, so I guess our friends we a bit worried about my fainting too!
After it was all over, we had pictures taken with the judge and everyone in the courtroom. That was when Jacob started clapping! There's no way that he could really know what was going on, but he seemed pretty happy to be there.
We all went out for ice cream afterwards and then we went home.
I didn't expect to feel different after Jacob's finalization, but I find that I'm relieved that he is now forever ours. I think I'd been holding back a bit about how deeply in love I am with Jacob. I got a little teary-eyed several times today when I thought about Jacob and how much I love him. I'm so happy that we're all legally recognized as a family now!!
When Nancy and I first spoke with our lawyer about the adoption finalization, we figured that it would just be us, Jacob and my step-son in the courtroom, but our lawyer kept talking about how this was a "big deal" and she expected our family and friends to be there. Our mindset was that Jacob came into our lives when he was 4 days old and that this was just a legalization of our relationship, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
I'm so happy that our lawyer kept insisting that we should invite people to share in Jacob's big day.
My Mom flew up from California and had an outfit for Jacob that included a vest and tie. He looked very dapper. We also had about 10 friends in the courtroom with us. They all sat in the jury box and Nancy and I stood right in front of the judge's desk. We were sworn in and then answered a few questions from our lawyer like how long Nancy and I had been together (10 years) and that we had done all the paperwork for the adoption.
Then it was the judge's time to speak. Our lawyer had said that she was good. She wasn't just good, she was outstanding. She started out by saying how incredibly pleased she was to be able to sign the legal forms for our adoption of Jacob and that she had looked through our paperwork and written "Wow!" a lot on the margins of the pages because of our educational background and life experiences. She commended us that we opened our hearts and minds to a child who might have otherwise languished in the "system," and that our son is incredibly lucky to have us as his parents. Of course, we feel like the lucky ones to have such a sweet, happy, outgoing and incredibly cute baby. I guess it's a "win-win" situation all around.
The judge asked all of our friends to say a few words about us and Jacob. Everyone had such wonderful and kind things to say about how happy they were for us and for Jacob. My step-son talked about how we'd been such wonderful parents to him and allowed him the freedom to figure out what he wants to do with his life. There weren't many dry eyes in the courtroom.
The judge ended by quoting something from our homestudy report that I had stated in the paperwork, which is part of a longer Ralph Waldo Emerson quote about success: "Success is knowing that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived."
I actually almost fainted at one point. When we walked up to the judges bench, I could feel my face go red and I got all hot and sweaty. I'd been waiting to be a parent for about 5 years, and here I was finally going to be legally recognized as one. At a certain point, I began to feel unsteady and thought about asking to sit down, but fortunately, I was able to shake it off and didn't faint. One of our friends later described it as my face had a lot of color, and then it all went away quite suddenly, so I guess our friends we a bit worried about my fainting too!
After it was all over, we had pictures taken with the judge and everyone in the courtroom. That was when Jacob started clapping! There's no way that he could really know what was going on, but he seemed pretty happy to be there.
We all went out for ice cream afterwards and then we went home.
I didn't expect to feel different after Jacob's finalization, but I find that I'm relieved that he is now forever ours. I think I'd been holding back a bit about how deeply in love I am with Jacob. I got a little teary-eyed several times today when I thought about Jacob and how much I love him. I'm so happy that we're all legally recognized as a family now!!
posted by Karen at 9:08 PM
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