Party of 4 Anniversary!
It's here and I can't believe that 1-year-ago today we were standing before a judge who made Nate legally a James!! It was in the top 5 most amazing days of my life, filled with so much emotion, my heart just wants to burst and I could still cry tears of joy just thinking about it.
It was also a CRAZY day as we were supposed to have our court day at 1 in the afternoon. We had the whole day planned. I had our clothes picked out, I had basically a picnic to eat in the car on the way so that the boys would not be hungry and cranky, and I even woke up early just so that we did not have to rush.
Then we got a phone call about 9:30 that morning that the judge who was going to be over our case, had something personal come up and they were wondering if we could get there at 10 or just as early as possible that morning, otherwise we would have to reschedule.
Well - a couple of things of things makes that difficult: 1) We lived about 40 minutes from the court house. 2) Nate was 1 at the time and I had 4 of us to get ready still, and 3) His Buckner case worker, CPS case worker, our CASA case workers and our lawyer all had to be there as well!
If you have ever dealt with CPS and/or the court system, you know the last thing you want to have do is reschedule something. It could literally take MONTHS. We absolutely did not want to risk losing our court date - also risking a potential family member coming in the picture at the last minute and complicating the adoption (every foster parents biggest fear). Not to mention we had told the boys that we were going to get to be official. We all would have been devastated.
Honestly, God orchestrated the day to make this happen. Our CPS case worker happened to already be at the courthouse. Both our CASA worker and her supervisor made it. And our lawyer didn't have anything scheduled that morning and could shift his schedule around as well.
To top it off, our lawyer just happens to be our best friend. Our CASA worker, I absolutely consider part of our family. Our adoption agency, well you know I can't say better things about them. They changed our life and I will forever be grateful. And my mom happens to be crazy, amazing talented and captured and documented every piece of the day with her beautiful photography so I can cherish every moment for the rest of our lives.
It was absolute insanity! Not the peaceful, quiet, calm morning that I had planned! Haha! But isn't that how it usually work out for us mommas?! But God made it happen!!!! And what a fun/crazy story for us to share that allowed God to shine through in every piece of it - letting it be KNOWN that to HIM be the glory.
Having a year perspective away from "the system" and going through the whole process, I am still absolutely blown away by God's grace and His mercy. His plan was not for Nathaniel to be with a family who was not his birth parents. Sorry, but it just wasn't. But this world is flawed. And has sin. So he couldn't be with them. But isn't it amazing the beauty He makes of our ashes?! I am so honored and blessed that God chose me to be my boys' mom.
So in honor of the day, I wanted to re-share a video of pictures from the day! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!
If you are having fertility issues and you feel like you are never going to get to be a parent; I am praying for you and with you. If you are in the process of being matched with a child and you feel rejected and like it is never going to happen for you; I am praying for you and with you. If you are in the throws of being a foster momma and dealing with adjusting, bonding, paperwork and CPS; I am praying for you and with you. If you are an adoptive momma and you are just trying to make it day-to-day being a mom; I am praying for you and with you. God knows your heart, has a plan for you, and loves you sweet friend!
xoxo
Holly Nicole James
