Got'cha Day anniversary and more!

Okay, so I realize now that I really shouldn't try to do the whole "cliff-hanger" thing because of our schedules and other crazy stuff.  So, I may have learned a lesson and maybe won't do that again... perhaps...

Anyway, on to the post.

If you're a regular here, you may recall that December 5th is Caleb's "Got'cha" day.  That's the day we first met him in the Federal building in China and started the process of grafting him into our family unit.  The Schmitz Mobile Chaos Unit, that is.

When we went to Guangzhou for the final phase of our trip last year, the reason for that is that in China, that is where the federal courts reside, and so he legally became the littlest Schmitz of our immediate family while we were there.

Then, when you fly home, you protect with your life a packet of papers that they give you in China, only to give them to the immigration office of whatever airport you fly into. There's a packet in there that is not to be opened by anyone other than the immigration officer too.  However, once that packet is opened, processed and stamped, the kid, in this case, little Calebber, is officially a U.S. citizen.

Later, you're faced with a decision to adopt the little critter domestically or not.  

We chose to.

The reason for that is so Caleb will have paperwork that will hopefully make his adult life much easier for things like college, marriage and whatever else a birth certificate would be required.

Oddly enough, we started the process back in August and met with the lawman in September.  He thought it would be about 3 weeks before we would be in court and finalized domestically.  He called back and talked to Momma, saying, "I'm surprised but the earliest date we can get is Dec. 5th."!!  

Just another weird date/day coincidence since we've started this process.

So, this Wednesday, Dec. 5th, we had our little court visit.  Grandma Schmitz and Aunt Molly attended the festivities with us.

 

This is a button that our lawyerman gives out to the kiddo(s) being adopted.  We had Caleb wearing his for the occasion.

Daddy and Caleb snuggling/clowning around while waiting for the good judge to emerge from his chamber.

After Mom and Dad had taken the stand to answer questions posed by the 
lawman, it was Robby's turn.

Here he is fielding questions from the gallery like a champ!  Our lawyer commented several times on how well spoken he was and how he handled himself up there.  It was cute, indeed!  Oh, and the judges name was Robert James as well so in addition to the lawyer asking questions, the judge asked Rob a few afterwards as well.

After the proceedings were finished, the judge invited behind the bench to present them with some beanie baby teddy bears.

The whole family was allowed to go behind the bench for a photo op with the good judge.  Nice guy and I think he really enjoyed Robby.  Heck, I think for most of these family judges, they probably just enjoy a happy story once in a while as opposed to all of the other "stuff" they hear for the majority of their cases.

So that resolves my nearly worthless attempt at a cliff-hanger...

I promise that I probably won't do that again.  Maybe...