Tuesday, March 9, 2010

We Are Family

With the judge after the adoption

Well it's finally over.  The adoption was finalized on Friday March 5th.  We made the drive over to Los Angeles Thursday afternoon and got our hotel in Old Town Pasadena.  Sabrina was pretty good, but she got in a power nap for the last hour or so of the drive.  She thought the hotel was just so much fun, and spent from about 9 PM to 11 PM zipping around and having a blast way past her bed time.  In fact, she decided this was fun enough to keep going until around one in the morning.  So what if we were due in court at 11 the next morning for only the most important event in our family so far.  She managed to get up and get ready anyway...

Sassy

One member of our family, Bobby's Hair Spiking Product, was inadvertantly left home.  Driving around the courthouse for forty minutes did not turn up a single store were I could get some.  My signature feature, great hair, is sadly left out of our picture.

Sabrina was the star anyway.  She wore a white satin dress with a lavendar and seafoam stripe.  Gregg and I each matched one of the stripes, to symbolize our new family.  Surprisingly, lots of people at court picked up on it.  (When I showed the dress and shirts to my mother before we left, I could tell in her voice it choked her up a little.  Geez!)

I admit, I was tearing up during the whole proceeding.  I swore I would not cry in front of the judge, but when he pronounced us a family it was just so overwhelming.  They presented Sabrina with a teddy bear, and invited us up to the bench for the picture.  Everyone there was great, and we met a family (Christine and Keyvan and their son Devan) that worked with our agency and were coincidentally there at the same time as us.  Since the court was running behind, talking to them was a great way to ease everyone's minds.  We all had a bit of a challenge explaining our situation to Christine's mother but once she realized that (1) Gregg was not a representative of the adoption agency there to help me, (2) there wasn't going to be a mother and (3) we're Daddy and Papa, it was all cleared up.  She was so wonderful to be there for her grandson, and gave us big hugs when they came out of court.  She was crying, so I blame her for getting me going! (Who am I kidding I was already on the verge!)

Tomorrow I'll tell our story of reuniting with Sabrina's birthmother, sisters, and birth grandmother.


Waiting for the judge with Papa

30 comments:

Mickey Blumental said...

Congratulation! You must be so relieved that the whole process is finally over!

2 AFRO DADS said...

Congratulations on this milestone!

Best wishes to your future ahead as a family.

Leah said...

Congrats!!! So exciting, and I am so happy for your family. She was already your daughter, but it must be so wonderful for it to be official. :-D

And I love the color coordinating outfits. Great touch! :-D

Mark said...

That is super news and I'm very happy for all of you. Congratulations!
m.

2momswithaplan said...

Woohooo! Congrats on your family!

I could clearly see the tears in your eyes in the picture with the judge. What a beautiful moment! I'm so happy for all of you!

GIsen said...

I bet you two are re-leaved that's finally over! *exhale*

Bobby the first thing i notice was your cool doo was missing.lol I figured you didn't want to look too rad in case you got a conservative judge[then your explanation].Wouldn't want the adoption to go up in smoke because the judge was a hair-a-phobe.

Sabrina's adoption outfit is just precious.I love that little dress:)

Saran said...

Congratulations! It is such an amazing day.

Kirsten said...

Congratulations! Your family is beautiful!!!

Daddy Times Two said...

This is wonderful news! We are very happy for you guys.

Anonymous said...

Wow! It's done. I'm so excited for you all. CONGRATULATIONS! What a wonderful way to get 2010 rolling. Lucky, lucky Sabrina!

C.I.W. said...

I read this post right away in the morning- and my heart has been singing since!!! I am SO happy for you all and could that "sassy" picture be any more adorable?? Lord almighty you guys are going to have your hands full!!!!

Big Congrats!!!!
Casey

~Katie said...

Yaaaa! Congrats! She has always been yours, but it's so nice to hear those words and make it official, isnt it!! So Happy for All of YOU!

MJ and Bella's Dad said...

Congratulations you guys! FYI....now you get to wait for a year to get the new birth certificate from the State of California. Ours finally arrive a year a seven days after we finalized. I look forward to the blogs about this wait! :-)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!!!!! That is so exciting. So happy for the 3 of you!

Lucy said...

This makes my day! So happy for you 3!

P.S The 1st thing I thought when I saw the picture in the pack n play was "SASSY!" And then I scrolled down and saw that that was what you titled the picture. She is ADORABLE! And YOURS!

s said...

HOORAY!!! you were a true family before the adoption, but how wonderful that it is now recognized!!! congratulations!!!

Tim and Louie said...

WOW!!! How awesome!!!

Congrats to the new family!!!

Now I have that song in my head "We are family!..."

And we LOVE Old Pasadena! We especially like staying at the Residence Inn (very family and lgbt friendly) in Arcadia.

Well, have a safe trip home (if you aren't back already).

- Louie and Tim
Cave Creek, AZ

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Legal is awesome. I'm really happy for y'all.

mommy3 said...

Just can't beat that finalization. . . congratulations to all three of you! Also, just the beginning of having *everything* your daughter needs and leaving your one BIG important item at home -- ahhh, what a dad. How cool you got to meet Christine and Keyvan. Yippee for being a family for real real! Ready for #2!?

jaysinwantsu03 said...

I'm so happy for you 3.. what an exciting day, and I so would tear up too. I so need to catch up on my blog reading and posting it's been well over a month. Homestudy is now complete Again. Ugh will it ever end? LOL.. Again Congratulations to your family. And miss Sabrina is getting so big. And So Beautiful. TTYL8R

Anonymous said...

Oh Bobby, I'm all teary for you. Many congratulations. I love the outfits.

2momswithaplan said...

To celebrate this event - I have a little gift for you over on my blog.

You're Welcome. :)

Anonymous said...

This chapter is closed. Yeah! Hugs and kisses to all.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!!!! AWESOME!!!

Kristin said...

Yahoo! I'm so happy to read this.I know what a long road it's been for you.

You ARE family (and an adorable one at that). Congratulations!

welcome2ourworld said...

Congratulations ! Love is all it takes to make a family...Greetings from Germany, Jen

Karen (and sometimes Casey) said...

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing the story with us.

Wendy said...

I'm so happy for you!! (and I'm tearing up too). She looks like an absolute princess in that dress. A million congrats!!

Anne said...

Aw, she looks beautiful! Congratulations to the three of you. Truly a special day:)

Michelle said...

oh my gosh, just reading this gets me all teared up. Congrats you 3. Im so happy for you.