Interrupting my regularly scheduled break...

...to talk about how wonderful it is to be done with the adoption process!

May 17th was a greatly anticipated day in our house. I mean, we didn't know until about a month ago what our finalization date would be, but we often dreamed about the day we would be finished with the process.

Monday morning I woke up and couldn't wait to get to the courthouse. We {amazingly} got out the door by 7:20 a.m. with 5 kids, all clean and hair brushed. They even had clothes AND shoes on. And, they had all eaten. Tell me that isn't impressive?

We got there at just the right time...got right through security and only had to wait a few minutes before we were called back to the judge's chambers. We had so much family there that we didn't go back to his office, but were out in the court room. It was wonderful. I can't even put into words the joy I felt when he announced he was terminating G's dependency on the court and signing her off as "our child." I cried a bit, but a lot less than I thought I was going to.

It was all over within about 15 minutes, and we all went and had hot cocoa afterwards. It was a perfect day for it--cool and overcast. We came home and just enjoyed our day. It still hasn't really sunk in yet...maybe after a month's worth of social worker's visits passes and no one shows up. Or maybe after G falls down and gets a bruise and I don't have to e-mail anyone to let them know. Or maybe when we want to go on vacation and I don't have to tell anyone where we're going and when we'll be back. Or maybe when I take her to the doctor and don't have to get a form filled out and sent back to the adoption agency. Ah, so many freedoms!

I'm just so thankful for our sweet girl and so happy to be done. Done. Done. Done. DONE!