While we are celebrating with parties today (or recovering from parties, as the case may be), let's focus on a fun part of adoptive parenting – the finalization party! After all of the hard work you did to become your child's parents, your family deserves to kick off your legal status as a family by having a party.

In my state, you do not go to court for the finalization if the adoption is uncontested. So, the paperwork just arrived in the mail one day with no pomp and circumstance. While that piece of paper was extremely important to me, there was nobody to celebrate it with.... more

Today was an adoption day in our family!

It’s been a long time coming. Still, I was surprised when it all seemed to go off without a hitch. No stop-ups! Not any major ones at least.

We left a little before 6am this morning. All showered, cleaned, hair fixed up, breakfasted. (This is a feat for my kids. It’s monumental for the mom!! I’m NOT a morning person!) Three vehicles packed full of children - all the way through one city in rush hour morning traffic - to the next city 2hrs away that was then... more

Our adoption finalization date is only a couple of days away!

I’ve been through this experience a few times before. Still, I am nervous and jittery. I think it’s a combination of excitement mixed with a little bit of fear that something could possibly go wrong to stop it. I’m sure that won’t go all the way away until everything is truly finalized.

So, we prepare.

We’ve called our family and friends. We’ve invited them to the courthouse for the adoption itself and/or to the lunch scheduled afterwards. It will be interesting to... more

We have a date!

After three years of waiting, we’ve finally been given a court date to finalize the adoptions of our littlest sibling group of five. Later this month, if all works out, we’ll be standing before a judge.

And then we want to celebrate!

Share your celebration ideas and experiences!

We have adopted several times in the past and have developed a sort of “traditional day” already. But I’m wondering if we could add or change something to make this one a little different, just... more

Yay! Today is May 11th. That's the day the girls came home for good. No more trips back and forth between the foster mother's home and our own. No more hellos leading up to goodbyes. No more waiting for days and weeks between seeing each other and learning to love one another. Just a great big welcome into our lives forever. I will never forget the excitement of that day. And as is always the case when adding to the family, our lives have never been the same.

The girls have not asked to hear their coming home story for a little while. They are over due for their quarterly... more

The days and months after delivering my son were like riding a roller coaster. Here we are almost 12 years later and there are days when it feels like my husband and I are still adjusting to excitement of having our "baby" boy. Of course the adjustment was different after we adopted the girls because they were older and we already had a six year old. It was not the same as bringing a baby home from the hospital, and not only were we adding one, but two, new children to the mix of our family. Before the final placement day arrived there had been lots of transitioning visits, but that was different. They were just that, visits. Once the final placement was made, then it was time to get down... more