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12:22 p.m. - November 09, 2005
Adoption Day! It's Official!
Well, it�s over!

Kristin is legally ours!

Of course, there�s a tale to tell, and I�m here to tell it.

It all started about 300,000,000�.no, actually it started in the wee small hours this morning.

Kristin is still a bit punky, and at 1:30 she woke up from her slumber, so I went in there and rocked her back to sleep.

Well, at about 2:30 she woke up again. Liz asked if I fed her, and I said, �No! She just needed to get back to sleep.�

Grumble, grumble.

Next thing I remember is the alarm going off at 5:30, and then I hear Liz come into the bedroom.

�Up early?�

�No, I was up all night with Kristin. Grumble, grumble.�

Not a way to start the day.

We had to leave around 7 to get to the courthouse in Noblesville, Indiana. (Yes, it�s another flippin� �ville here in BFE land. We were sooooo original in our names back in the day. Take it up with Josiah and Zebulon, OK?) Katie crawled out of bed around six (literally) and we basically all stumbled around getting ready for court.

We were to meet our attorney at 8:15 and court was to start at 8:30.

Of course, those times are, I think, attorney standard time, so give or take an hour or so for them, but woe to us if we were late.

So, tired and a bit cranky, we journey over to Noblesville. But it�s a special day so we�re not grouchy.

Well, that is until some idiot won�t let me change lanes as I�m leaving town. Hello, I have my turn signal on � I�m being polite, why are you speeding up? Mo-ron.

That aside, the rest of the trip was uneventful, and we even found a parking spot right next to the courthouse. After we go through security, we trudge upstairs and check in the office of the court and wait for our attorney.

There are three other families going to court today along with us, and we all kind of exchange pleasantries and stories. We�re the veterans, since we�ve been through it once.

At 8:30, 15 minutes after he said he would be there, our attorney shows up. He briefs us on the procedure and then goes to the court office to check in and start his thing.

We notice that there are a couple of people hanging outside the courtroom with us. They had a hearing this morning in the same courtroom, but the doors were locked. No one inside the court knew the doors were locked, so the court thought they just missed the hearing. Sigh. We�re going to be pushed back to around 9.

Oh, well, that gives us a chance to take some pictures. Here�s yours truly with the star of the show, and her wonderful big sister.

Kristin is wearing the same dress Katie wore when it was her adoption day.

(I noticed my tie is a bit pulled down. Gee, wonder who was grabbing onto my tie when I was holding her??)

So we wait and wait and finally, our attorney escorts us in.

The judge is all smiles, as is his court reporter. He says to our attorney, �Now, I have a 9:30, but I�m not too excited about it, so take your time!�

We�re up first, because we�ve been through this before. So we�re escorted into the court and in front of the judge and answer the stock questions.

Our attorney even allows Katie to answer some questions in front of the judge, so I guess she�ll be in the court transcript. That�s neat.

The judge said, �Granted!� and with a stroke of the pen, Kristin is legally adopted by us. Now comes the fun part, the pictures with the judge. A couple of others from the court staff come into the courtroom to take pictures as well. It must be a very happy day, compared to what else goes on in Hamilton Superior Court #3, Courtroom #7.

Notice where I�m sitting! Yep, that�s right! I had the gavel within my reach! Oh, I was tempted, believe me.

We then go out of the courtroom and wait for our attorney downstairs, as he needs to get the paperwork copied and given to us. After about 20 minutes, we had everything in our hands, with the proper seals and legalese.

With that, we headed back home, all happy, yet tired. Kristin was such a good girl � she never uttered a peep during the whole thing. Katie was shy, which is unusual for her.

Now Liz is taking a well deserved nap, as is Katie. I�m going to fix lunch and then hug Kristin, who is now officially part of our forever family. Yippeee!

 

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