Finalized!

Here is another finalization post to add to the many that seem to have taken place lately. Last Friday we finally signed the last papers and made our appearance in court to become the legal parents of our two sons. :banana: :love: What a long, long road. We just passed the 3 year mark of them moving in, 21 months since TPR was granted, and many months since my optimism ran out on this whole thing. I remember someone saying that there is a peace you feel after adopting, even if it has been a long time that the kids have lived with you. I wasn't sure what the poster meant, but now understand completely. Even my husband was nervous the night before and day of. After court he mentioned how he felt relieved, didn't realized how stressed he had been about this. We have relaxed at home a bit, kids have been in good moods, and can live without feeling like we have to report to someone. I hadn't realized how that last part had been weighing on me, making me feel guilty for not being the "perfect" parent. (Side note: I HATE those ads saying, "you don't have to be perfect to be a parent." I feel like they are misleading. There should be fine print clarifying - "that is till you are licensed and we require you live up to standards far above what we would expect of anyone else.") So what have I done now that I am "the parent"? For starters I called the school today to see what I needed to do to remove my kid from preschool. He has been saying almost daily that he doesn't want to go, even though he is doing very well and likes it there; he just likes to be at home. I'm ready to have him here and my afternoons not interrupted by someone else's schedule. After all, Kindergarten is next year. If we send him to public school they will have another 12 years to spend hours with him, give me the few months till then to enjoy him all I can. I actually feel bad for not having been able to do this with our oldest. Anyway, I just wanted to share the new with everyone! Thanks for being there through this journey. I'm not sure I would have made it past the first few weeks with these kids if it hadn't been for you all.