Legal in Arizona

What an amazing day.

Here's the legal rundown: Violet is now a US Citizen, and has been re-adopted according to the state of Arizona.

Here's the real rundown: We have a new bond with our daughter, and have never been so aware of the incredibly support network surrounding her and our family.

We arrived at the courthouse on time, passed through security, and met up with our friends, family and social worker outside the courtroom door. We weren't allowed to take cameras inside, but were allowed to snap a few photos of us with the judge afterwards.

During the actual hearing, we sat in front of the bench at a rectangular table (Me, Fernando, Daniel, Violet and Terri, our social worker). Everyone else sat behind us in pew type seats. It actually felt a little like some kind of business interrogation - a little scary at first.

They asked us basic information for the record, then the judge went over it again. The highlight of the hearing was when he asked Daniel (in a loud booming voice from his elevated seat) to state his name. Daniel looked up with big eyes and whispered into the microphone: "Astroboy." The judge said, "Excuse me?" And Daniel said a little louder: "Astroboy."

Our friends died laughing and thankfully the judge did too. The rest was easy.

Except at the part near the end when the judge looked at me and said, very meaningfully, "Carrie... you are now her mother. Your relationship with Violet is that of mother and child." And right in that beautiful moment, Violet whacked herself in the head with a plastic water bottle and started to cry. Perfect.

On the way out, we were such a big group that some of my friends carrying their baby got congratulated on their adoption! (Their baby is not adopted).

We took some photos, then headed to The Good Egg for a big group breakfast. Celebration time!

There are a series of paperwork items we'll need to take care of given Violet's new legal name (she is finally, officially Violet Mariam) but for now we'll just take a deep breath and enjoy the "end of the legal journey" feeling!