Court in the Chi

Today the fam headed to the Daley Center for our refinalization appearance. As we had never met the girls before the adoption was finalized in Ethiopia, they came to the United States on a visa that required refinalization here for citizenship and such. We had a really wonderful attorney who explained everything as we went, and was super prepared and organized. We got to the waiting area with about 15 minutes to spare. First, we went to the Sheriff's Department so the girls could be served with the court papers. Then we headed back up to the play room to wait for the court calls to begin. Jim, the 4 kids and I were called fairly quickly and asked to approach the bench. I'm pretty sure the Q & A in there was all of three minutes and the judge granted the interim order. We'll get a final order in February, but we do not appear for that. In the meantime, our lawyer will also enter a motion to adjust Alexa's age by one year, making her 5 on Christmas!

Some themes totally stood out today:

• People can be so super nice, and we sometimes don't expect that. From the security at the Daley center both on the way in and out, to the lawyer and "courtroom people", to the random passers-by that complimented our family and were greeted with Lex and Liana blowing kisses and waving, we came in contact with a lot of nice people. Heck, our lawyer even let Liana drag her wheeled "work bag" all over the Daley Center today as we completed our steps. These were people that were clearly busy, and just took time for a smile or kind words. Love that!
  



• We're going to end up at McDonald's for "celebrations" until the end of time.




• We have really awesome kids. The little girls seem so very acclimated, yet are still in awe and appreciative of new things like the city skyline with "castles", a teddy bear from Grandma and the snow. Mark is so thoughtful and kind, and, even when the judge asked him how he does with all those sisters, he sincerely said he likes it. Tess, and the others for that matter, keeps us laughing; she's really growing up a lot in the big sis role. They look out for each other in crowded playrooms, like the one today, and, sure, they tattle and wrestle like its going out of style, but you can see their goodness and love for each other and us.




• Sometimes, when people are parents, they have to do crazy things like climb to the 3rd row of the minivan on the Dan Ryan to get the middle girl a pull up and help her put it on while seat belted because you've been in the car waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long and she just can't wait...hypothetically. Sure beats pee pants in court :)!
  
  

Sadly, the weather was on the extra cruddy side, so we didn't make any other stops in the city, but I totally look forward to sharing that with Alexa and Liana. We're so excited for the time together over winter break and the first Christmas with our girls at home!