Exciting Transitions

The next few weeks will be a whirlwind of exciting transitions: 

On March 10^th, we will go to court to finalize Vera’s adoption.  This is the last step in the adoption process, and as of that date, Vera will officially, legally, forever be ours.  Of course, this happened in our hearts as soon as we found out about her, but it will be wonderful to make it official.  Now we will be able to apply for her birth certificate and social security number, update our wills, create a savings account for her, etc.  We will also no longer need to notify our social worker when we take Vera out of state, nor will we need to have special forms filled out and sent in each time we go to the pediatrician.  Yay! 

The day after finalization, we will go to settlement to close on a new house.  We are thrilled to be moving from our condo into a “real” house that will grow with our family for years to come.  (PS:  Anyone want to rent out our condo?)  The timing on this move is pretty amazing.  Due to adoption regulations, we couldn’t move until Vera’s adoption was finalized in court.  We began looking for a house in the fall, but were worried about the timing.  What if we found something but couldn’t move in for a few months?  Would we be able to afford paying for the new house in addition to our condo until the adoption was finalized?  In January, we found the new house and took a step of faith and set the settlement date for March 11^th.  A week later, we heard from our lawyer that the court date for Vera’s adoption finalization had been scheduled – for the day before settlement on the new house.  God’s timing sure is perfect!

On March 17^th, Vera will turn one!  Unbelievable.  Watching her transform from a baby into a toddler has been the sweetest, hardest, most fascinating experience of our lives.  God definitely knew what he was doing when he set us on the path to adoption.  He has stretched us and grown us and blessed in ways we never could have anticipated.  To Him be the glory forever and ever.  Amen. 

Decree of Guardianship... and Pictures!

Most of our adoption process has been an exercise in patience.  But in an unprecedented turnaround, we found out on Monday that Vera’s Decree of Guardianship arrived – a whole month earlier than expected! 

Explaining what this means and why it is significant is a little complicated… stick with me here for a minute: 

Even though Vera was placed directly with our adoption agency upon her release from the hospital, her birthparents were still her legal guardians for a bit – until 30 days after they each signed the “termination of parental rights” paperwork.  After those 30 days were over, they could no longer change their minds and decide that they wanted to parent Vera (you may recall that July 27^th was that magic date).  At this point, the risk of the adoption being disrupted was over (whew!).  Once July 27^th came and went, our agency was able to officially petition the courts for official guardianship of Vera.  Usually this process takes about six weeks, so we were shocked to hear that it was done in only two weeks!

What does this mean?  Well, our adoption agency now has official legal guardianship of Vera.  They have delegated her daily care to us and we are, practically speaking, Vera’s “official” parents.  However, guardianship will not legally be transferred to us for another six months or so.  Between now and then, we have to work with our lawyer to get her a new birth certificate (with her new name) and a social security number, petition the court for a date to finalize the adoption, etc.  At some point (likely about six months from now), we will go to court and stand before a judge and legally adopt Vera.  This is all good news – there is no more risk of the adoption being disrupted, and we simply need to finish out the final parts of the legal process over the next several months.  Hooray! 

Here are nine of our favorite pictures starting from when we first met Vera when she was one week old, up through today (when we tried on her baptism dress - adorable!).  At the end, there’s also a video included at the end that shows you her happy personality – if you’re on facebook, you likely saw it posted there earlier this week.  :)

Risk Over!

We received GREAT news today – news that we have been anxiously anticipating for over four months.  Vera's "risk period" is officially over!  This means that we no longer need to worry about her being removed from our home and returned to one of her birthparents or to foster care. 

We still have about six to nine months of completely normal legal stuff to do before we go to court and formally/legally adopt her, but that is all part of the normal adoption process.  The tenuous legal situation that caused her placement with us to be classified as “high risk” has come to a close.  God is good all the time and no matter what, but we are especially basking in his goodness right now! 

PS:  We still can't post her picture on social media – we need to wait for the official "decree of guardianship" paperwork, which should arrive in approximately four to six weeks.  In the meantime, if you’d like to see a picture, email jeannineshannon@gmail.com or text 301-613-5790 and we’ll send you one that way.