Becoming a Family of 3: Our Adoption Journey: June 2016

Over the Last Few Months

This blog post is much overdo, but thought I should tie up the lose ends to Carlee's adoption journey! Reflecting back to this time last year...as we sat and waited for our homestudy to be approved, I can't believe how quickly everything has gone.

When Carlee was about 3 months old, we traveled South to visit with Scott's family. A 12 hour drive quickly became 16 hours with a baby. YIKES! When she was 5 months old, we traveled to the Chicago area to visit my grandparents and Aunt. She did much better on that trip...but it was only a 5 hour drive. Other than that, we have stayed put in our little farming county.

Oh yeah! She has started army crawling! Bring on the baby gates!

Anyway, moving on, we have VERY much enjoyed parenthood. The giggles, smiles, and now she reaches for us to pick her up have been so rewarding and special. I try (and I know Scott does, too) to NEVER take a moment with Carlee for granted. Often times prior to Carlee, I would hear people complain about their pregnancy....or lack of sleep...or the amount of dirty diapers, etc. I can say from our experience, when you are sitting in a doctor's office looking at a life with no children, you would do ANYTHING to have those sleepless nights, or poppy diapers, or long car rides with a crying baby...Why? Because that means you HAVE a baby. I sit and rock our fussy baby sometimes and just smile because I am able to experience having a fussy baby. Never take for granted those moments, folks. Some people would give anything to have just that.

Finalization

Carlee has been placed in our legal custody since court in November. However, finalization ties it all together. It gives her our last name...it gives us paperwork saying she is ours forever. It is a special time. Once that flooded us with emotion. (Which actually surprised me!)

We all traveled to our court destination (about 3 hours away) the night before. Scott's parents flew in and stayed with us...a surprise Scott knew nothing about! (I really CAN keep secrets!!) Once we arrived at our destination, we met with one of my new best friends! We met through a mutual friend and our adoption journeys. So thankful for them. SIDE BAR: If you are considering adoption or are currently going through the process, I highly recommenced having friends that are also adoptive parents. They get it. We get it. The venting, the laughs, the tears. It is real...and we just get it...Continuing on, we swam, had dinner, and went to bed. It was then, laying in bed (or is it lying in bed? Sorry English/Grammar fanatics) that I started to REALLY feel nervous. I really do not know why, but nonetheless, nervous.

Thursday morning arrived. Everyone got dressed up and headed to the courthouse. Our attorney was there to represent us (she's awesome by the way!) and we waited until it was our turn to go before the judge. Once called into the courtroom, Scott, Carlee, and I sat at the front table, while our family and friends were behind us. The judge asked us a few questions regarding Carlee and documents we had received. He then began to read the final adoption decree...and when he said ""is now legally adopted..." the waterworks began. I can't even begin to describe the feeling because Carlee was already ours. But this proved it. This took weight off of our shoulders. This made it permanent and forever. The judge gave Carlee a gavel and explained that each judge has given the adopted child a gavel for many years. The court session ended, pictures were taken, hugs and handshakes commenced, and that was it! We headed off for a celebratory lunch and back home to get ready for Carlee's celebration!

Gotcha Day!

Often times when someone is adopted, they have what is referred to as a "Gotcha Day". Some folks consider the day of placement Gotcha Day, while others (like us) count the finalization. We had a Gotcha Day celebration with friends and family at my mom and dad's house on Saturday. It was rainy and poor Carlee was getting over diaper rash (like bad diaper rash) but overall it was a great time! Sunday, Scott and Carlee were baptized at our church followed by a short reception. The whole week was truly special and something we will never forget. I am looking forward to starting scrapbooks and shadow boxes filled with the memories!

Now What?

I THINK we plan to adopt again! We have sent in all the documents to keep our homestudy open with our current agency. We are not actively 'waiting' at this time, but very little (in comparison) will be needed to go live with our profile once we are ready...or, if an opportunity should present itself unexpectedly! I have a hopeful dream that Carlee's birthmom would have another baby that she chose to place with us. Although that DOES happen, I am not expecting that in our case...but how special would it be for Carlee to have a biological sibling to grow up with? Nonetheless, we will be so blessed by any little one that comes our way! (Once the first loan is paid off!)

Remember, if you shop on Amazon, please consider using this link to start your shopping experience. It costs you nothing extra (and the screens do not look any different) but it DOES give us a small percentage of your sale to go directly on the adoption loan! Amazon Shopping Link for Carlee

THANK YOU!

Thank you all for your prayers, love, gifts, and support during this journey. We had no idea where God would lead us but we are SO thankful it ended with Carlee. She is the perfect missing piece our family needed.

Love to you all!

Scott, Lindsay, and Carlee

P.S. Enjoy the pictures below!