Our Happy Adoption Day!

Ivy's adoption was finalized on Wednesday, July 1st. We've been an authentic family since the minute we took her into our arms on November 26, but the finalization hearing officially puts our names on Ivy's birth certificate and grants American citizenship. (This is a simplified explanation of the process.)

I've been focused on being a mom to our 16-month-old toddler and really didn't spend a lot of time pondering the significance of the hearing, so I was surprised at the tears of happiness that welled in my eyes as Kevin, Ivy and I sat down in the courtroom with my parents, sister, nephew, niece and Tantes Kimi & Mimi. I was glad that they were all with us on our special day. Ivy happily played with my necklace throughout the 10-minute hearing.

Judge Ebert finalized our friend Natalie's adoption in April and we were glad that we were assigned to him, too. July 1st was his last day serving as a Dane County judge before his retirement and he was thrilled to spend some of his morning with us. He gave Ivy a giant teddy bear that she absolutely adores.

July 1st is an important day; not only is it Ivy's adoption day, but it's also my parents' wedding anniversary and Tante Kimi's birthday. We gathered up our dear ones and enjoyed a celebratory lunch at our house after the hearing. There was so much to celebrate and my sister surprised us with lovely little handmade dolls that look like our family. Readers of previous blog postings might recognize the clothes that the artist painted on each doll.

To our great joy, we're an official forever family.

Thank you to everyone for all the support and love you've given us these past 14 months.

The CALL!

So, how did the rest of you spend your weekend?  We're spending the weekend packing for a trip to.... Detroit!  We are meeting Ivy and bringing her HOME on Wednesday, November 26.  Hurrah!  The agency in Korea completely surprised us and instead of us flying to Seoul, as we intended to do since the beginning of our adoption journey, they are sending Ivy to Detroit with a loving, experienced escort.  We don't know what happened and this is an extremely rare situation, but I am unconcerned about the specifics - the most important thing is that our daughter is coming home next week and that the three of us will be together for Thanksgiving and for the rest of our lives.  Kevin and I are spending this weekend by going out for dinners and movies, cooking and freezing some meals for our homecoming feast and preparing for our cloistered, special days alone at home where the three of us will start bonding and begin to define who we are as a family.  Thank you to everyone who sent positive thoughts our way.  I am touched by everyone's love and thoughtfulness and I'm looking forward to bringing Ivy home to this amazing community of compassion.  

Preschool photographer

Ivy's 3-year-old cousin took this photo and I absolutely love it.  Ivy's grandpa and 5-year-old cousin look so happy and this photo is one of my favorite family shots.

Generations

Here is Ivy's first photo with her Grandma & Grandpa B., her Aunt Kersten & Uncle Jim and her cousins who can't wait for her to come home.  She's a lucky little girl and as soon as we get a photo with her Grandma & Grandpa K. and her Aunt Christine I'll post it here, too!  We're looking forward to infusing some Korean culture into this family that's made up of Germans, Poles,  Norwegians, Swiss, Irish, French-folk and Russians.  I think that Ivy's Great-Grandma Anna and Great-Grandpa Ottmar would have enjoyed sitting down with her to share a big bowl of kimchi.

Ivy's Great-Aunt Aggie has already promised to sing the Polish birthday song to her on her first birthday.  So, on March 3rd we'll begin Ivy's birthday party by having the traditional Korean Tol celebration and then we'll call the Great-Aunts Aggie & Lola in New Jersey and ask them to sing Sto Lat to their great-niece.