After all the excitement and roller coaster rides of the past few months, we stood in front of the judge for about 5 minutes and just like that, it was done!
But, I 'm getting ahead of myself. First, we woke up a 4am, thanks to an upper tooth. And, as usual, I wake up and cannot get back to sleep - and this time - neither could Levi. So, we had a little bit of quality time in the silence of the morning. Just me, Levi, and God.
Then, the alarm clock went off. Time to get moving.
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Ready to put on the rest of the suit!
Ben and Allison going through Security
Finding our names on the docket list
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We were up and about and ready to go in time (about 6:45am) - believe it or not - we were actually on track this morning! Miss Lynn came over from across the street, we all piled in the car and then we were on our way. We made it to the courthouse at about 8am. (We were instructed to arrive by 8:15, no later). Ben and Allison met us in the security checkpoint.
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We met our lawyer outside the courtroom.
(He is holding a bag of stuffed animals) |
Waiting for the judge - Levi entertained us quite a bit while we waited.
When the judge is ready, we are called to the bench first!
We are standing there with our lawyer, the Guardian ad litem (Levi's Lawyer) and the lawyer for the unknown birthfather.
They each asked us a series of questions - all of them pretty much the same thing. They asked if we have lived in Texas for at least 6 months, if we knew the birth father, if we wanted to adopt Levi.
First, there was an order of business of terminating the parental rights of the birthparents. (Hence the lawyer for the birth father.) Once this was done, then we could proceed with the adoption finalization. It's just the way Texas does it. Kentucky has a different process, so we had to go this route with terminating in Texas.
The judge was thrilled to do adoptions today. He typically hears criminal cases, but another judge was out of the office, so he got the honor of hearing the adoption cases today. There were about 5-6 adoption cases on the docket this morning. Also, the bag of stuffed animals - the one our lawyer has in that picture above - well, that is by request of the judge. He was happy to offer up the toys for the little ones to make a choice after the adoption was finalized. Levi looked at his three options and chuckled when I showed him the little puppy. So, that is his new precious toy to commemorate the special day. This day that will forever be known as Levi's "gotcha" day.
The DeVol Family
(including the puppy from the judge)
The lawyers that made it happen
In front of the Justice Center
Ft Bend County, Richmond, TX
Some random photos of the day.
Later in the day, while we were just lounging around and soaking it in (no, it still hasn't set in), we received a surprise delivery of balloons from the Music family. Levi had never seen balloons before, so I just HAD to share this pic of the look on his face. He was amazed and bewildered.
