Adoption Day

Charlie came to live with us on March 22, 2008.  We have had 2 summers, 2 falls, 2 winters and are getting ready to celebrate our 3rd spring.  We have seen social workers 41 times.  We've gone to countless meetings, visits, doctors... and have really gotten to know the state's systems.  And now it is over.  Because on March 3, 2010, a Snohomish County Supreme Court judge declared Charlie  an official member of our family.




We talked to Charlie quite a bit about adoption as the day approached, we didn't want him to be confused or apprehensive when it arrived.  He was a bit baffled by the idea.  For him, we are his family and the concept of a judge saying that we are family was a bit foreign.  Still, we wanted to make the day special for Charlie.




We started out with a breakfast brunch.  We had french toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns and OJ.  Charlie was pretty pleased with his special meal.

Once breakfast was over we all got dressed to go "to court the judge" as Charlie kept saying.  Ephram and Charlie had matching outfits... but Ephram was not in picture taking mood.  In fact, he slept through the entire affair - which is just as well, because it was Charlie's special day.

Snohomish County Supreme Court is located in a complex with several other of the county buildings.  Charlie had a grand time in the parking garage and getting up the elevator.  (The elevator was quite crammed already, and I had to get the stroller in as well!)  Finding our building was pretty easy.  It was a beautiful day.

When we got through security, our lawyer met us downstairs and we headed up to our courtroom.  Both of Charlie's social workers were able to make the hearing.  He was pretty excited to see them, and I'm still not sure if he realizes that they will no longer be coming to our house on a monthly basis. 
We had the whole large room to ourselves, and Charlie thought it was pretty neat.  We were probably in there for about fifteen minutes before the appointed time, so we took the opportunity to take some pictures.  Charlie had fun sitting on the benches.  When the lawyer told him that he could sit at the big table, he got pretty excited.  He tried out several chairs.  It was obvious that he was excited, although a little nervous.  I can't blame him, because I felt the same way!

Our lawyer took a shot of the three of us together, (Ephram was still asleep in his stroller,) and then we were asked to rise as the judge entered the courtroom.

Andy, Charlie and I stood in front of the judge and said that we wanted to forever be a family.  The judge quickly went through his findings and then ruled that we were a family.  Something that took two years to get done was over in about six minutes.  The judge then took a picture with us, and even let Charlie play with his gavel.

After the hearing we had to wait to get our copies of the decree.  There was another bench outside of the courtroom that Charlie was playing "volcano" on.  We took a couple more pictures - one with just Charlie and another with our lawyer.

Then we headed home, where Charlie continued to be quite hyper.  We continued to celebrate him and let him chose dinner.  Big shocker here - we had McDonald's.  Then for the real treat, banana splits.  My first job was at a Dairy Queen, so I had some fun making them pretty.  Charlie thought it was the best thing ever, although he only finished about half of it.

We capped off the evening with a couple of gifts for Charlie to celebrate his special day.  He was very excited to receive Handy Manny on his motorcycle and a book about his motorcycle adventure.  My timing was good, because Handy Manny's Motorcycle Adventure actually came on the Disney Channel a few days later.  This is definitely his new favorite toy.

All in all, this was a very special day for our whole family... one that I look forward to celebrating again year after year!