Just when we thought we were one step closer...

It's true. We are still waiting for our adoption to finalize. If I can't laugh at the lack of fortune we've had with the process, I will cry. Jake is amazing and I couldn't picture life without him. Our only wish is to put the legal piece behind us. We spoke to Mary yet again about where we stand with finalization. Not good news. The judge is ordering an amendment to the termination which could take days, weeks, months (let's hope not.) She is also ordering another home study to be done since so much time has elapsed. Our energy and positive spirit is running low. Words can't express how helpless we feel. Everything is completely out of our hands. We are looking at a delay of at least another two months if we're lucky. We cannot believe it's been a year and a half and we still have not finalized our adoption. Ludicrous!

Now the good stuff. Jake is a happy boy and growing like a weed. He's weighing in at a solid 29lbs. and standing 34" tall. Nick names: Bohemoth; Maine; and just your regular "Big Jake". He has a lovable personality and laughs a lot. My favorite Jake laugh is his faux-laugh when he hears Cruella deVille's evil cacchination.

Our baby Jake

It's been awhile since our last posting. Many of you know why we didn't blog anything in the past ten months. But this week changed all of that.
As you all know, we brought Jake home at six days old on April 26, 2007. We've been having the time of our lives with him and enjoying every second. However, the adoption process was looming over us because birth parent rights couldn't be terminated.

We are proud to announce that on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, exactly 10 months after we brought Jake into our home, birth parent rights were terminated. The judge decided very quickly after reviewing all the paperwork. We are ecstatic and wanted to share the news with everyone.
As you can see, Jake is getting so big and we believe he is a really happy baby. It was a long road to get to this point. We can finally breathe easier, sleep better, and smile more often knowing that he is Jake Samuel Hanson.
I wanted to finish this blog with happy news since this is Jake's story. He will always have this story to reflect on so he can always be reminded of the determination we had and the love we feel for him.

They are working on setting the court date for the finalization. This is where his new birth certificate will be issued with his official name. And at that point, this whole process will be completely over.

We thank everyone for hanging in there with us and all of the love and excitement you shared when we brought Jake home. We can't imagine our lives without him. And although this particular adoption had its hurdles, we wouldn't change a thing. We truly believe Jake was meant to be with us.
We will announce when the finalization takes place and after that, we're going to Friendly's to celebrate.