H's final court date. Her case will be transferred to the adoption unit soon and we'll get to move forward in adopting both A and H together! I spoke with our adoption attorney today as well as our AFS, and CPS came out for their monthly visit. It was a busy day- but we're so anxious to get an adoption date on the docket and finally have our forever family!
I have no idea when it will happen but I do know that it won't be before the end of May due to the 90 days that relatives still have to come forward. Maybe June? And then we are throwing a PAR-TAY!
It's so hard to believe that at this time last year, A hadn't even been placed in our home yet. What a difference a year makes!
As we begin filling out paperwork for the adoption, we have to decide now whether we're changing their names and what their new names will be. For A, we've decided to only change his middle name and we thought we'd do the same for H, but recently I've felt like this might be my only chance to name a child. Since H is still so young, a name change wouldn't affect her. The reason we were thinking to keep her first name is so we can keep that connection to her birth mom so when (not if, but when) she goes through that period in life where she hates us for adopting her, she might find comfort in knowing she had the name her mother gave her. Does that even make sense? What are your thoughts? We need advice! And if you have a name suggestion, feel free to throw that out too!
YAY! YAY! YAY! Really there are no happier words. Just imagine me doing a happy dance right now. Haha. I can see both sides of the story for whether or not to change H's name. I think that no matter what you do, the important part is that you guys are awesome parents and that through any trials and tribulations that come up in the future, you're there for these two. I'm no expert here, but I really do see how changing H's name could be something really special for you guys. :)
ReplyDeleteWe kept our daughter's first name even with the weird spelling. We changed her middle name (same as my grandmother) and of course the last name. So in our case, her birth mother gave her the first name, I gave her the middle name and my husband gave her the last name. She's 17 months but her first name fits her so well that I doubt we could come up with a better name. I also got an email from her birth mother on how she came up with the name, so that's special too.
ReplyDeleteQuick tip: once you write it down on the adoption paperwork, it's hard to change it. We wanted to change the first name's spelling and told the caseworker about it. Then we changed our minds and decided to keep the original (mis)spelling. So we had to check the paperwork carefully each time to make sure the spelling was right. Even at the adoption, we had to correct it.
I can't believe you're so close to adopting both kiddos!
Wow, that is super exciting! Especially that they are siblings it will be someone they can relate to when it comes to adoption.
ReplyDeleteSuper exciting! Hoping that everything goes smoothly from here on out!
ReplyDeleteWe kept the first name of all three of our kids that their birthparents had given them. If anything, its the one positive thing their birthparents did. We changed middle and of course last on all three. CONGRATS on being on this step!
ReplyDeleteWe did change Mea's entire name, first, middle and last. She was thirteen months when she came home.
ReplyDeleteWhen I talked to her foster mom, J, she had said that she rarely called her by her first name. Usually nicknames, peanut, princess, etc. Mea's first name was very similar to one of our granddaughter's names, so I felt pretty stongly about it being different. J had also told us that she had changed some of her own adopted kid's names as late as three years old, and they adapted with the changes.
So exciting for all of you!