It's official!

Samantha Leah officially became ours on July 8. Of course she was already ours in every sense of the word, but now it's legal and nobody can take her away from us--a fear I lived with every day.

Our moment at court was exactly that: "a moment." We got all dressed up for our court date, nervous and excited for the process to be finalized at last. We waited for a little while before Steven, Sami and I, and our attorney, were invited into the judge's chambers. I honestly do not think the judge even looked at us. We were asked a few very quick questions, and he pounded his gavel and it was done. The whole thing took less than five minutes. Our attorney explained to us afterward that by the time it gets to the judge, all the work has been done, and it's just a formality for him to finalize the adoption. But I still feel that judge should understand what a big moment it is for people like us, and show a little emotion.

Anyway, we didn't let it ruin our day. After court, Steven, Sami and I went out to lunch near the beach to celebrate together. Steven apologized to Sami for giving her a last name she will be forever spelling to people. And as for me, well I just couldn't stop hugging and kissing Sami all day long.