Last week we began the process in court to finalize Joel's adoption. For those of you who don't know, a Korean adoption takes six months from placement to become legal. We completed all the necessary paperwork when he came home and were just waiting for our court date. It was set for last week, so we drove to the Daley Center in downtown Chicago and met our lawyer in the adoption room. Her other clients were already there, and we chatted for awhile with Dan, father of a beautiful baby girl named Isabella. We went through the same agency, so we had a lot to talk about! It was also great to meet our lawyer after speaking on the phone. I liked her very well then, and she was even greater in person! She was very professional, yet warm and so sweet to all of us. She briefly explained the legal process and we started by giving Joel his summons. We then headed to the adoption court and the judge asked us a few questions, gushed over how cute Joel was, and then gave us a finalization date of January 18th, 2010. We took more pictures, talked more with our lawyer, and we were free to go! We had breakfast nearby and then headed home. I didn't want to leave...Michigan Avenue was calling my name! Unfortunately, Travis had to work.
View of beautiful Lake Michigan
Waiting to go into the adoption room (please note the new adorable outfit)
In the adoption room
Getting his summons
We cannot wait until Joel's adoption is legal. Although we know he is part of our family forever, it will be nice to have his birth certificate and other legal documents as well as the formality of knowing that he really is ours forever. We couldn't be happier about that!
7 comments:
almost there!!! that will definitely be another day for celebration! oh, and i LOVE his cute new outfit! so handsome!
yay! you are so close! i recognize that adoption room! that's where we started our finalization, too!
It must feel nice to make progress on the finalization front. Yay Joel!
YAY! Very cute pictures! We have our finalization hearing tomorrow morning. I'm excited for everything to be official and done AND to finish this last bit of paper chasing.
Good luck@
Yay! Sooo much closer! How could I not notice his adorable outfit? Joel is such a cutie pie!
Cute, cute, cute.
We also are starting the finalization process...but are only at the paperwork stage. I know it is slightly different for every state.
Woo Hoo!! We are just waiting for our finalization too. Hopefully by the end of November at the latest!
Post a Comment