Today is ADOPTION DAY! This morning, we put on our fancy clothes and appeared in a Florida court via video-conference to make Cassie's adoption officially official. YAY! The judge took one look at this happy family and said YES to our petition to adopt Cassie. We should be getting her new birth certificate with her real name and ours in the next month. This also means we can continue her immigration process to make our little Haitian-American princess, Canadian. :-)
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This was my cabbage patch doll when I was little. My mom kept it all these years and gave it to me at Cassie's shower. I picked her out myself. I still remember the first time I held her; I was beyond happy. Perhaps she was a sign of things to come. :-)
Ok... That title is a bit misleading. We've been home for almost two weeks now. It's amazing how time gets away from you when you have a newborn! Hats off to all the mommy bloggers out there who manage to post consistently; I don't know how you do it. We're happy to be home, even if the weather isn't quite the same as it is in Florida and our home doesn't offer housekeeping services like our hotel did. Our family and friends are also very excited we're back. Cassie has had numerous visitors and has had the chance to meet so many new people. She's adjusted well to her new home, new room and new life. Even our dogs were happy to meet her. Actually, Bentley our greyhound seemed very uninterested by the squeaky little human. Our shih tzu Pacha, however has been very "motherly" with our daughter. She likes to be close to where Cassie is and seems distraught when she cries. The flight back was a huge success with Cassie gathering ohs and ahs everywhere we went. She pretty much slept the entire way and I'm happy to report we didn't have any major diaper incident. I will admit it was a challenge changing a diaper in a tiny airplane bathroom while there's turbulence, but we still managed. How someone manages to join the mile high club in those itsy bitsy bathrooms is beyond me! That's the latest on our little family. I have several posts brewing in my head and I hope to post them soon... If Cassie lets me. I'll make an effort to post more frequently, I promise. Thursday, Cassie got to go home... Well, not her REAL home, but at least her temporary Floridian home. Yay! She was eating like champion and regained the weight she had last after birth, so she was ready to go.
The doctor and nurses at the hospital were all amazing! I love that they immediately treated us like Cassie's parents. In the last years I've read a lot about adoption and particularly cross-racial adoption. While most people applaud any adoption, others are sadly less accepting. Honestly, the fact that Cassie doesn't match us physically has not even been an issue. I found this acceptance particularly touching since 90% of the staff and other families are visible minorities. To be fair, WE'RE the visible minority here, but no one seemed to care and that made my heart so full of joy and love for this wonderful community. We've even had nurses and doctors comment that Cassie was as easy going and calm as her parents and that we were clearly destined to be a family. This whole journey has been amazingly touching and beautiful. Thursday afternoon, our caseworkers/social worker/lawyer/all-round-good-guy, R, came to the hospital to finalize the adoption paperwork. We were very happy to see R as he had been a wonderful support the last we were in Florida when our last match failed. It was the best feeling hugging R, knowing he had been through this journey with us. He had helped us get through our loss 6 months ago and was so happy to finally see our little family come together. We met in a quiet room to go over the papers that basically said, we will love this little girl forever... sure, it was all in legal terms, but essentially, that's what it said. :-) Finally, we signed our names on one of the most important documents ever. The nurse gave us our discharge papers and we were off. We got to our hotel and settled in. The next few days were your typical days full of chaos, sleep derivation and awe that accompany every newborn's first days (weeks? months?) home. We were just like every other parent: exhausted and happy. Signing the adoption papers also meant we were able to share pictures with friends and family! You can check out our gorgeous little pumpkin here. |
Follow our blog:ContributersDanielleI'm a pediatric nurse with a passion for photography and all things crafty.
THINGS I LOVE: Creating my own happiness (at 31, I left my career in marketing to become a nurse), my awesome husband and family, my hilariously cute dogs, sarcastic and dry wit, making lists and lots more! PierreI'm a departement manager for a commercial construction contractor
THINGS I LOVE: My wonderful wife; my two dogs; reading and learning about dog behaviour, dog psychology and dog language; finding great deals at auctions and flea markets. Archives
June 2015
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