Finalization and Our Final Post

It's been a while since we've posted, so this post is long overdue.  Amazingly, life with two kids is much busier than just with one!

Now that it's been 4 months since our last post, Ariel is 4 months old (math!).  A lot has changed as Ariel has gotten older, Dominic has gotten used to having a baby sister, and I feel like I've gotten a +5 bonus in multitasking.

Over the past few months, we've been in great contact with Ariel's birth parents and their families.  They've been very proactive about staying in contact and we've seen them several times since we brought home from the hospital.  While it will be tough to meet as often with Andy and I being back at work and life going back to normal with less time at home, we're definitely going to be keeping in close contact.

On the other side of things, we really hope to be able to see Dominic's birth parents again soon. While we've tried a few times to meet up and give them a chance to see Dominic and to meet Ariel, it's been a challenge to get things lined up.  We'll have our fingers crossed that we can get together soon.






Finalization

Family photo at finalization with the judge

Similar to Dominic's adoption, bringing Ariel home from the hospital wasn't the final step.  Finalizing Dominic's adoption took place several months after he was placed with us and we brought him home.  During those months, the adoption agency had follow up meetings at our house, the counselor wrote up a report, our lawyer also drafted some paper work, and then a court date was finally scheduled.

For Ariel, all of that process took a little over 4 months and we were able to go through finalization just last Tuesday!  In effect, this milestone marks the end of the adoption process.


Looking Ahead
While this represents our last post on the blog, the fact that both Dominic and Ariel were adopted through open adoptions means that we will continue to be connected to their birth families for the years to come.

There will also be a lot of fun watching these two grow up together.
She's already giving him judging looks from her car seat during car rides!

After starting our process in late 2011, it's been an eventful 5 years to reach the point where our little family is complete.  Thanks to everyone that has read the blog during our journey and provided so much wonderful feedback and support!