Finalization

I thought I'd tell you about what is to come in these upcoming days regarding the finalization of our adoption. I thought I *knew* what was going to happen but I didn't :)

In NC you don't have to go before a judge to have everything signed. Actually it's not even an option. They sign the paperwork and send you a copy. A few people have asked if it was a certificate or something....nope :) Just a very formal 2 page paper that states that biological parental rights have been terminated and we are the official forever family to this sweet boy. It's stamped with the seal and the judge signs it. That's it; it's funny because that's all that came in the mail--not even a paper that says "here's what you should do next."

We are very eager to get the birth certificate for one reason.....Tommy wants to buy Garrett a lifetime hunting and fishing license. Here, if you buy one before they turn 1 it costs around 200 and they are set for life. If you wait, it's upwards of 800. I know not the typical reason for wanting a birth certificate.

So, what happens now. Well I was told I could *possibly* get his social security number with just the adoption decree (it says his birthdate etc). So the next day I go be bopping down to the social security office to try to get his number. No can do! The lady who helped me was really nice but she told me that she'd have to have the birth certificate to verify the birth (the adoption decree that had that on there with a judge's signature wasn't good enough--only in NC) :)

I called the office of vital statistics in Raleigh to find out more information. After holding for what seemed like hours, I finally talked to a lady who told me what would happen. (funny thing is, this past weekend we got a letter from our adoption agency telling us the same thing)..... The courts send the adoption decree to the main office in Raleigh where it has to get processed along with all of our other paperwork. They check to make sure everything is correct and then once that happens they supposedly send us a letter saying everything is filed and we can then contact the vital stats office to get the birth certificate. They have told us that this can take 2-3 months :) The lady at vital stats told me that they have a backlog of birth certificates and that it could take a couple of months to get it, unless we come up there. So that's the plan :)

Hopefully this will help some of my NC friends who will have to go through these same ropes :)

The best piece of mail ever!

We arrived home around 6 tonight :) We had a great trip and I'll have lots more to share later. But I had to write about a great piece of mail that arrived while we were in FL. Without further ado...... THE ADOPTION DECREE!!!!!! Woohoo! To say we are excited is an understatement. Garrett is officially our's and we couldn't be any happier. Now to file for a social security card and call to expedite the birth certificate!

I also need some party ideas! We've always said we wanted to have a big party when everything went through the courts to celebrate him joining our family. Let me know what you can think of!