Adoption Finalization

The State of Alabama and LDS Family Services judged us to be fit parents, and on July 21st, 2010 at 2:30pm in Birmingham, AL we officially adopted Jessica.

It was pretty quick: 10 minutes was all it took for Lawyer Bob and Judge Friday to say in effect "Please sit here all the paperwork looks great this is a day you've been waiting for sign the paper isn't she cute? let's take a picture make copies of the paperwork thank you" in very strong Southern accents.

I thought more about visiting with the birth family than the finalization in court. Probably because the birth family has been so good, and the paperwork so gradual.

We flew up to Atlanta (it's cheaper than flying straight to B.) and stayed overnight at my sister's house. We drove over to Birmingham in the morning, had lunch with the birthmom and walked around a hot Botanical Garden, went to the court with Jessica's biological maternal grandparents, went to their home for cake, dinner. Met the birthmom's sister. Stayed the night, then drove back to Atlanta, caught our flight and were home in 48 hours.

We had a wonderful time. I got to try Southern succotash & catfish and fried green tomatoes, yum. Jessica was an angel through all that travel and fuss (except the hot afternoon in the garden.) Wow, she is an attention magnet. These are the most common phrases I get for her:

"Oh, I thought you were pushing a doll in that stroller!"

"She is big for her age!/She doesn't eat well, does she?"

"How does that bow stick to her head?"

"Look at those round cheeks!"

"Look at those big blue eyes!" ("Daddy needs a shotgun." is pretty common too.)

"She looks just like you."

"Wow, your baby is so calm/good/quiet/happy on the plane/store/babysitting."

"Oh, look how cute!"

To which the answers are:

"Oh, she's real."

"She has tall genes/We stuff her with milk" (when really I have no idea why she is her size)

"Corn syrup."

"They are very pinchable! Squeeze her thighs, they're chubbier!"

"They are pretty."

"Thanks./I hope she does better than that./She's adopted & the birthmother picked us out."

"She is a good baby/she's adopted and came with great DNA" (but I also think

'She can be unpleasant, just not now' or

'Yes, but soon she will be 2 years old' or

'She gets plenty of food, sleep, and attention so of course she's happy!')

&

"Thank you. We love her."

Because we do. Head over heels.