The Final Post...

This is my last post on "journey towards parenting" blog, not because the journey is over but this chapter has closed. The boys finalized (finally) on Friday and parenting is my life, therefore I've decided to continue my parenting stories on my "Tea and Sweatpants" blog.

Reflections from Friday:

Grammie Lynn (Nick's mom), Nick, and the boys and I crowded into the car early Friday morning to begin our commute to Eugene, OR. A little over two hours later we pulled up into the Lane County court house parking lot. We had enough time to get out, stretch our legs, have a snack and bask in the sunshine that the Lord brought our way. We buttoned ironed shirts, fidgeted with ties (zip and clip style), and tied on our fancy shoes. About that time Grammie and Grampie (my parents) pulled up and the boys took a running dash into their arms. We proudly walked into the court house and had some giggles and awe as we made it through security. We made our way up the large staircase to the seating area to wait for our names to be called. Right about this time our friend Rhonda Birchard showed up to support us making the trip from Portland as well. Rhonda has been mentoring me through this parenting journey in that she herself is a foster-adopt mother.

We made it with the perfect amount of time that had the court been on schedule we would have walked right in and sat down for our hearing at 11:30. A clerk approached me and let me know the judge was running very far behind and that we would have to wait for about an hour. My stomach turned but I said with confidence that we would wait, nothing was going to send me back to Portland now. Grammie Lynn to the rescue, she found with some snooping, a kids play room! The boys did great despite the wait. Dom lost the zipper tie within the first 5 minutes (no big deal, I don't blame the kid) and Eli reached his limit when his stomach started throwing a tantrum on him out of hunger. Grammie (ziebart) to the rescue on this one, she found a vending machine with peanuts. Thank the Lord my children like and are not allergic to peanuts becasue the only other choice was MnMs! Now, the boys were really getting wiggly and the grown ups were too. Finally at 1:00pm the clerk let us know the judge was almost ready and we could get into the court room. Elation probably best describes my emotion at that moment. We went in there and started snapping picutres which, as you can immagine, the boys were thrilled to do while feeling tired, hungary, board and ansy.

The jude came in and we tried to sit all formal like and really tried to pay attention to every word she was saying. She asked us a few questions, she wanted to know our story, and she really truly found so much joy in doing this ceremony. She sees and deals with so much crap daily and this is one thing that really gives her life and joy in what she is doing. She thanked us for choosing adoption, she proudly signed the paperwork, and I choked back my tears of joy. I knew if I let even one tear fall my pregnant self would be sobbing for the next 45 min.:)

I do feel different. In our eyes the boys have been ours since the day they moved in. No name change or legal work would change that. However, I felt as if a burden, a hesitation, was lifted. I don't have to explain to drs. or preschool teachers, or anyone else why they have different names than us. Now and forever our names are on their birth certificates. Now and forever they are Muccis, their children will be called Mucci's as well. Our family tree is their family tree. Now the state, the US, the world recognizes these two as ours. It's a bit freeing to me and I don't think I can exactly articulate why.

Lord, thank you for my sons, thank you for a beautiful day in Eugene to mark the joining of our lives forever.