Adoption Day

 Today was our adoption day! We're blessed to be able to officially call this little girl our daughter!

We thought about how we wanted to celebrate this day. A party seemed like the obvious way to go, but a couple months back, A started talking about her time in WA as though it was a vacation we all took together. We started to realize that her memories of her time there was changing. Being little, she doesn't really understand. By the time our adoption day rolled around, she was baffled at the idea of "becoming a member of the family" because she thought she already was - and she wasn't wrong. So we decided against any type of big party ordeal. 

We invited a few people to the adoption - which was all done through zoom. I was thrilled to see our favorite judge was presiding. She was very fair, but no nonsense during her hearings. Karen, Monica, and Gina, Skipp, and their foster daughter, G, was there, too. 

Ben and I answered a few questions. I stumbled over the spelling of my middle name and Ben had to finish for me. I was pretty choked up and ended up bawling at the end. 

A wasn't sure what to make of it. She was confused about what was going on and annoyed that she had to be there, but had to be quiet. At one point she dove under the table to retrieve a sticker she'd dropped and everyone had a good chuckle. 

After everything official had been done, the judge asked if anyone had anything to say. Our CASA, Tammy, spoke for a moment and said she had no doubt as to this being in Azalea's best interest and was so happy to see a good outcome. She teared up. Our SW, Maddy, echoed those statements. Gina also said some sweet things that I mainly forgot because I was bawling my eyes out. 

Then it was over. Just like that. Years of craziness resolved in a 15-minute zoom call. 

We'll be receiving a new birth certificate in the coming months and we'll use that to get the new SS card. And that will be that. 

We went out to eat at a local Gyro place and called it a night. This precious girl is officially a Nolen!