Worth the Wait

Tomorrow is going to come, just like the 114 other Fridays that have dawned since Oliver first came into our lives.

We will wake up, go downstairs, eat breakfast, do chores.

It could be any other Friday that has passed since February of 2008.

But this Friday--tomorrow--is Oli's Adoption Day.

Tonight is the very last time I will tuck in "someone else's son." Because as of tomorrow, he is ours. Fully, legally, wholeheartedly ours.

I couldn't be happier.

A few weeks back, I began making preparations for this big day. I scanned adoption blogs and etsy shops and whatnot, looking for ideas to commemorate everything that is burbling in my heart as we prepare to finally claim Oli as our own. As I looked, one phrase stood out among the crowd: "Worth the Wait." Yes, that sums up our entire experience. All of the visits, the social workers, the court hearings, the CASAs, the paperwork, the physicals, the evaluations, the training. The whole package ... it was all one big wait. But Oli? Worth it. Worth every minute.

So I contacted a talented friend and asked if she would take a custom order for an item or two that shouted our thoughts to the world. She agreed, and you can see the results above, or on her blog, the Blissful Stitcher. They turned out so well that I think she's offering them as a general sale item now. The blue is for Oli, the brown is for Mani. I know that, traditionally, adoption proceedings are fancy-get-up affairs but, well ... we're not a fancy get-up family. What we are is a forever family. And that, my friends, has been worth the wait.