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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

It's Done! :)

Elias' adoption is complete! I gotta admit, Ryan and I were both a little nervous yesterday leading up to the hearing. Not sure why. It just felt like a big day. I sat in the backseat with Elias on the way to the courthouse so that I could feed him. It reminded me of the day we brought him home from the hospital, when I sat in the backseat just to be able to look at him. I remembered how surreal it felt to finally be a mom after everything we'd been through. And there I was, 11 months later, feeding a handsome little boy with a cheesy grin, and only an hour or two away from the adoption being complete. Then the pregnancy hormones took over and the weight of finalization day oozed out of my eyes in tears. :')

The actual proceeding itself was somewhat anticlimactic. lol. The judge was fine, but didn't exactly seem enthusiastic about life in general. I was kinda hoping that he would make it special, but no such luck. We signed a document, agreed that we will raise Elias as our own blood, and then took some pictures. And of course the one time I want our little goober to be all smiles for the camera, he's a hot mess, ready for a bottle and nap. Anyway, that was it! 

Happy boy on our way to the courthouse.
Walking the halls with Grandma
Waiting for the judge
Signing the final documents



Family photo. Elias melt down. lol. 

Ryan and I are so thankful for our biggest cheerleaders and supporters - our family! But also for all of you who have been along on the journey with us. God has blessed and abundantly provided for every aspect of Elias' adoption. We're very happy to have it all done and official. Elias was always meant for us, and now it's just formally written on paper. <3

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

11 Months

Elias is 11 months old and oh my goodness, this boy is pure personality. He loves making us laugh, flirting with the nursery workers at church, and chasing or being chased. It's been so much fun to see him actually interact with other kids, especially his cousins. I'm convinced that he's going to be a social butterfly. There's not a drop of shyness in him. lol

He's still army crawling, and he really likes pulling himself up to stand these days. My little explorer is into EVERYTHING. lol. He definitely keeps me busy during the day, that's for sure. Communication really improved this month which has been fun. He signs "All done", "more please", waves hi and bye, claps when we tell him he did a good job, and most recently learned how to say "uh oh". :) After a constant refusal to drink his bottles, we started transitioning over to more and more solid food. He currently eats three meals with us, and has three bottles. Bananas, apple sauce, beans, and string cheese are favorite foods so far. 

I think that's about it. Here are some pictures of month 11! :)
Pulled himself up to stand and gave us a big, proud grin. :)
I put it off as long as I could, but we finally had to transition to the big boy bath tub this month. 

Sleepy little love. He likes using his stuffed animals as pillows.
Happy boy at the dinner table! We like eating and laughing together. :)
This face is one of his favorite ways to make us laugh. He's such a cheeseball. 
Enjoying a little family getaway in San Diego.
Snuggles with Mom!
First pool trip of the year. He LOVED splashing around. This summer is going to be a lot of fun!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Elias' Finalization

WE FINALLY HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!! Elias' adoption will be officially complete on March 30th!!
After Elias was born, we needed to have a handful of post-placement visits with our agency (per CA state law) before we could finalize. Those visits were a pleasure to do since we always enjoy seeing our friends at Nightlight. :) We completed that process back in November, and have since been waiting for all the necessary documentation on the adoption to get filed so that we could get a court date. 

Even though Elias has been entrusted to us from day one, and the birth family's rights have already been terminated, the adoption finalization is when the judge legally declares us as Elias' parents. He will be issued a new birth certificate with our names on it, and we can move forward with any other legal documentation for him like getting a SSN, passport, etc. It officially marks the end of all the adoption stuff and we are sooooo excited to have it all done.