6.03.2009

Do you love this little boy?

A gift of life for one, a gift of motherhood for another.

I was not prepared for how emotional and special Declan's court hearing was going to be. Our son's been our son from day 1 so I thought that court was just a technicality in our adoption journey. Little did we know, it was a highly intense and amazing 10 minutes. 


After we were sworn in and up on the witness stand, the judge asked "do you love this little boy"? Cue tears. He also asked "are you committed to bestow all the rights and privileges to Declan as your child as if he was born to you" and "are you committed to be a role model and mother figure to Declan"? These are just a few of the deep questions we were asked. It was amazing. When he said he was signing the adoption decree and wished us congratulations, we felt pure elation. It was the punctuation to a very long journey that brought us joy, fear, excitement, frustration and unadulterated love

We were blessed to be surrounded by family (also known as our paparazzi). The judge made an exception and allowed them to take pictures and videotape the hearing so we'll have these memories to show Declan some day.


The rest of the day we continued to feel loads of love as we celebrated our sweet son over lunch with family and followed up by a big party at our place in the evening. 

It's hard to explain how special I believe Declan to be. He was chosen by God to be our son. I didn't grow a belly and feel his kicking and bring him in to this world. I did labor- not in the physical sense (though infertility most definitely has it's physically painful moments) but I labored emotionally. If I'm completely honest there were times of spiritual labor as well. As we sat in that court room yesterday I felt that every single moment until then was worth it. Every penny spent at the doctor trying to get pregnant, every negative pregnancy test, every tense moment during our match, every day of those 7 days we waited to hear if Decs would be our son. It's all worth it. I would wait forever to feel what I felt yesterday. 

"Do you love this little boy?" With every shred of my being.

My heart overflows. Happy Adoption Day, little man. 

28 comments:

Sarah M said...

::tears::
::hugs!::
Congrats to your sweet family, Ash.
Sarah M

Heather said...

Happy Adoption Day to you all!

bb said...

Congratulations to you and your beautiful family!!

jess hustad said...

i am still so overcome with emotion. i am so thankful for this journey you and mark have been on. i'm so thankful to be with you on that journey. and even more thankful that deckers is ours forever. :)

thank you for who you are in my life and for sharing all of these moments with me...even though at times i feel so far away. love you so much.

Anonymous said...

What a beautifully written recap! Congratulations to all of you!

Bri said...

Powerful post! Congratulations!

Tracey said...

CONGRATULATIONS! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! ISN'T AMAZING HOW CLOSE TO THE SURFACE THOSE EMOTIONS ARE! I THINK THE JUDGE ASKS THE MOM QUESTIONS JUST TO SEE HER CRY. WONDERFUL DAY! GOD BLESS.

Tracey said...

PS...YOUR ON THE PRAYERS ANSWERED LIST FOR SUNDAY!

RB said...

Great post! Yay!

Julie said...

That is just awesome! What a memorable day. Congratulations!

Melba said...

Oh this is SO sweet, and I am overflowing with joy for your beautiful little FOREVER FAMILY! Just reading those questions brought tears to my eyes...I cannot imagine what you must have been feeling, standing up there answering them.

We will follow suit with Charlie in about six months - I love hearing about all the details of your day, helps me know a little more about what to expect.

Hugs to you,

Melba

Christy said...

YAY! Happy Adoption Day! You managed to bring tears to my eyes with this post. I think every adopted mom has felt those exact feelings on Adoption Day. I know I did. Congrats!!!

Meghan said...

Cue more tears here. Congrats on your adoption day!

BecMama said...

So so happy for you friends. Tears of J-O-Y are welling up in my eyes. The love you have for Declan shows in your every step. Yippe-ki-oh!!

Rebekah said...

Thanks for the good sob...I needed it, today! :)

Jess said...

Oh, your recount of it made me tear up!!

Happy Adoption Day! :D

N7 said...

BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!!! Happy Adoption Day baby Declan! You are so loved little boy- so so so so so so loved and such a gift from God. You are the missing piece to a puzzle that is complete and perfect! Congratulations Ashley!!!

Kristin said...

ya, tears for me too.

Simply Complex said...

Oh, I am so happy for you!

Joy said...

Ok, you made me cry. We finalized the adoption of our daughter on 5/15 and it is still so fresh in my emotional memory. Thank you for sharing and congratulations!

Sam said...

YAY!!!
Congratulations!

KimboSue said...

YAY! I got goosebumps. Congratulations little man! You have some great parents!

Shauna said...

oh my gosh.....that makes me so overwhelmed with emotion!

congrats to you....
i haven't read blogs in a while and i just opened this post....i needed to read it.

thank you so much for your post and again congrats on declan.....he is lucky!

our court date to finalize andy's adoption is set for september 10, 2009.....i can't wait!

Montefusco Family said...

Let me add my happy congratulations to you too! How wonderful to have all the photo's and video of your very special day.

*Brandi* said...

Congratulations!!! I'm actually crying tears of joy for you! Its amazing what a child can make you feel.

HappyAutisticMama said...

Congratulations!!!

KLTTX said...

Congratulations on your finalization. It was amazing to me how emotional I was on that day since it is really just a formality.

nickoletta100 said...

Congrats!!! What a wonderful day!!!