Finalization

Friday we went to court in Dallas to make our adoption final. Joaquin Zavien Weir is now officially a part of our family according to the state of Texas. In a few weeks we will receive his birth certificate in which we can use to get his Social Security card.

The process was quite simple (especially when working with an agency because they take care of every tiny detail). We showed up at 8:15 and met with our lawyer who went through the paperwork and then reminded us what to expect. We waited our turn to be called into the courtroom which was about 45 minutes. While we waited we had the opportunity to meet two new families from Generations that we hadn't met before. I love networking! We enjoyed conversation with them while we waited and all swapped adoption stories. I had a bag of tricks for Natalie so she behaved very well while we waited!

Once we were called in, we raise our right hands and swore to tell the truth. Our lawyer proceeded to ask Brian about 6 or 7 questions to which he answered 'yes' to all of them. He then looked to me and asked if I, too, would answer yes to every question and I said absolutely!  The judge then declared that it was in Joaquin's best interest to be in our family and declared it legal! The lawyer took our picture and we were off! It literally took 5 minutes=)

After that, we waited on "the bench" again for a good little while until the lawyer brought our official documents for the adoption decree! The rest of the day was spent with family and friends and we couldn't feel more blessed!