It is official, again.....

No judge, no fancy papers, no formal ceremony... "here ya go" said the lady behind the desk, as if I had not spent hundreds of dollars and countless hours preparing documents, submitting them, resubmitting, and traveling back and forth in and out of the court house for months...as if it was a receipt of sorts for "time served."
The "re-adoption" decree...a form I filled out months ago, is now finally stamped and signed and given back. The names the boys have been calling themselves and writing since January of 2009 are now legally theirs. Now we can pursue the change of "legal alien" to "citizen." More money, more forms, more waiting...reminds me of being "paper pregnant" with them: waiting, fundraising, forms, fees, more waiting, more fundraising, more forms, more fees.
It is bittersweet. I am reminded of how full of hope, love, dreams, excitement we were...how we LONGED for them to be here and part of the family. Two and half years later we still have the sting of RAD smacked across our faces and our hearts still long for one of them to take their place in the family.