The Final Chapter

March 22, 2012. That was the day our baby boy became a McLain! Exactly 5 months to the day that God brought Ethan into this world, we finally got to give him our name.

So when we were called with the date that the court would see us, we decided to make this our family vacation and celebrate Ethan's finalization all at one time. It was SO great to get away. As we arrived in Florida, all the memories came flooding back. The day we arrived in Sarasota to meet Ethan, the 2.5 weeks we spent in a hotel room visiting Ethan daily in the NICU, while trying to balance our time with Aiden, with one car, 12 hours from home and learn how to be a family of 4, then the day he finally got released to come home, then the 2 additional weeks we spent in Pensacola waiting for clearance to leave Florida with our new little guy. Then the day we got to finally come home with our entire family!

We spent the first 2 days just relaxing and enjoying family time. It is amazing how much easier and more enjoyable a stay in a hotel room is when you don't have the "powers that be" telling you that you CANNOT leave the state until they decide and that it could be 1 day or 30....just whatever they feel like! There was just something about that feeling that made me feel like a trapped rabbit!
So we enjoyed the hotel, went swimming, went to the beach, went on a dolphin cruise, went to Dinosaur World (I'm sure you can guess who that was for)! Then on Thursday, we just hung out at the hotel that morning while waiting for our 2:00 court appt.
We prepped Aiden for how to behave in a court room, dressed everyone up in our best clothes, thanked God for completing what HE started and headed to a quiet lunch and then to our appt. Court went pretty well. Both boys had fallen asleep about 10 minutes before we got to the court house so that started things out a little hairy for us. Nothing like going through security in a courthouse with a 5 month old and a 3 year old, both grunpy and tired. Once we got to our court room, they took us on in. We had to sit in the defendants chair and everything (wasnt expecting that one).Then we had to just make some small talk with the bailiffs, court reporter, attorney, and secretary and wait on the judge, who was a little late. Aiden was mad at the world and wouldn't talk to anyone! Of course, this made everyone want to try to talk to him more, which made him even more angry. I was already beginning to sweat! Then Ethan wanted to eat! He REALLY wanted to eat! So Joe took over feeding him while I tried to keep Aiden from pulling plugs out of the floor. Then Aiden started to warm up to the others in the room and then everyone wanted to be his friend. So he started to get up and walk around. I stopped him but then everyone told me to let him walk around.........so against my better judgement, I did! Just about the time Aiden got brave enough to make it to the OTHER side of the room, the bailiff suddenly said, "All Rise." What did I do?? I rose....and froze. My 3 year old was on the other side of the court room and was not at all intimidated by the judge entering the room! I didnt know if I should go get him and disrupt everything or just let him go and pray he didnt do anything he shouldn't. I decided to let him go since no one seemed to care that he was walking around. They swore us in and then the attorney began to question Joe. I knew that I would be next but all I could concentrate on was where my 3 year old was. He was on his tiptoes trying to look over the judge's desk to take a look at him. Then it just got worse, he went over to a stack of papers,(apparently confidential papers), that were sitting on a desk and began to thumb through them. Just about that time, the judge interrupted the attorney and all I heard was, "Aiden, you need to go sit with your mom." Can I just say that I wanted to go under the table??? I might add that the judge did not choose to send Aiden to his dad....but to his mom.....seriously???? Great! So Aiden came back and sat with me at the same time that the attorney started my questioning.
Have you ever tried to hold a 3 year old, squirming like a wiggle worm, trying to get out of my lap, knowing I can't say anything to him at that moment, all while trying to look and sound professional while answering questions by an attorney about being a parent. Seriously, that might have been the MOST stressful thing I have done all year! Then to top it all off, my son belched loudly in my lap while ALL eyes were on me. That was quickly followed by my other son relieving himself rather loundly in his diaper in Joe's arms.
Somehow the judge still let us go home with our Ethie!!!! He didnt even take time for a picture with us, though, so I'm not sure how much he really liked us. :( Oh well, we may not be perfect...but we were real!!!!

So our adoption journey is complete. We have our 2 beautiful children, both with our last name...and we are SO blessed!