Finalized!

Halloween was an extra special day in our household as Miss Belle officially became our daughter!  I was kind of caught off guard by just how special this day was going to be.  Yes, LB has been with us since birth and while her birth mother could not change her mind after she signed consents at 48 hours, technically all we have carried is power of attorney over LB since then.  We had to wait 90 days and have 2 post placement visits with a social worker before the adoption could be finalized.  We did a phone conference with our attorney and a judge to make things official!  He asked us each a few questions and told us what a special treat our hearing was as he was filling in for the normal adoption judge and so he usually deals with felons all day and this was a fun change of pace.  It was all a formality but being able to verbalize our desire to be her parents and have the judge grant that request was still pretty special.

We are thrilled and so blessed to have her in our family!  We announced our adoption last year on Oprhan Sunday which was November 4th and here we are completely finishing the process almost exactly one year later!  Adoption is never easy and seeing up close and personally all that goes into making that decision for a birth mother made this one even more difficult. We still maintain contact at least on a weekly basis with LB's birth mom and I am so grateful that open adoption has been in the cards for us this time.  I am just grateful to have the process all done and complete and now we just get to enjoy this girl for the rest of our lives!