Adoption Finalized!

As my last few posts have indicated, life has been non-stop around here. And ever since our adoption finalization took place this past Monday it has continued to be crazy so that’s why this post finally comes Saturday. After waiting 7 ½ months to get to this point, ironically the entire process of finalizing only took about 10 minutes. Brian, Wesley and I headed to the Superior Court of California, Sacramento County early Monday morning to meet up with my parents for Wesley’s 8:30am hearing. As we headed upstairs to our assigned courtroom, we passed by other families that were clearly waiting to finalize their adoptions as well. We look at one another’s children, smiled and gave a nod of the head; it’s like we instantly shared a common bond.

After waiting for almost a half an hour, we are called into the courtroom with another family. The other family is on the docket first so we patiently wait. Then, it’s our turn. They call “Fuller Family.” It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for after almost 22 months. The five of us proceed into the judge's chambers. Again, kind of ironically, the judge is Asian and he immediately lights up (as does Wesley) when we walk into the room. We all introduce ourselves and then take our seats. We sit in silence as the judge reviews our paperwork checking off some sheet as he does so. He asked us to sign one of the forms we had filled out prior to the hearing and then, he smiled and said, “Well, you’re all set. Congratulations.” What? That’s it? We’re done? I thought I was going to cry but I didn't; it seemed as if it was over before it began. We thanked the judge and took some photos out in front of his bench before we waited for copies of our paperwork to be handed to us and we could leave to really celebrate.

Waiting inside the courtroom to go into the judge's chambers.

Adoption Finalized!

Proud parents (Brian is proud even though he looks a little freaked out or mad)

VERY proud grandparents

We left the courthouse and decided to go have a celebratory brunch at one of our favorite places in Sacramento called The Tower Café. They have the most amazing award-winning French toast. It’s soaked in rich house made custard and it’s unbelievable! Both my mom and I got the French toast. Wesley got cornbread pancakes and he scarfed those down in no time – I guess finalizing your adoption works up quite an appetite! After our fabulous meal, Brian, Wesley and I headed to Social Security to apply for Wesley’s SS#. That process was painless thank goodness and his Social Security card just arrived in the mail yesterday with his American name – sooo exciting! We are having a finalization/USA citizen celebration Sunday with family and the close friends that provided references for us for our homestudy; we couldn’t have made it through the last 22 months without any of these individuals. We will be thinking of our family back east (especially Nanie) and wishing that they could be here with us to celebrate, but lot of photos and video will be taken and we know you’ll be with us in spirit.