Here Comes the Judge!

Well I hope you have your cup of coffee and ready for the next blog. Last blog I left off indicating that following Jackson's debut party we would be facing the judge the very next day. Our dear friend Tony Valadez (professional photographer) captured the debut party for us and also stayed to join us in court the next day to again document our special day.

We were very nervous about the full events of the that day. And it was not going to be an easy day along with emotions running high and then it was pouring raining! I ripped my paths running from the car to the court house in the rain, no photography was allowed in the public spaces of the court house and you gotta love Tony becuase he didn't care! He took several pictures and continued until they ask him to stop.

We met our attorney in the hallway and proceeded to be prepped for our conversation with the Judge that would take place in the Judge's private chambers. Our big fear really was that we didn’t know what this judge would say or do, would he grant the adoption or not? As we began the proceedings the Judge asked who Doug was and we explained that we were a couple. He then asked what we wanted the last name for the baby to be we said Abbott-Eggleston. His next question was were did you get that stroller? What an awesome conversation with the Judge and his staff and boy did he make us feel at ease...

A few minutes later the Judge had signed all the necessary paperwork and said let’s get some pictures of the great event! It was quick it was wonderful and is was final for me. Georgia law at the time would only allow one adoption of a partent to take place and then you would have to petition the court again for the second adoption. So, now we would need to wait for a date and hopefully the same Judge to finalize Doug's adoption. This was important so that we both would have full custody of Jackson and not have issues when we travel or faced with an emergency.

So, what happens and when is Doug's adoption to be finalized? Those updates on the next blog... but for now I will end this block with Jackson’s full name… Jackson Brooks Abbott-Eggleston. If he has a nickname it is to be "Jax" . Look for a featured blog that highlights Jackson's Top 10 Favorite things in his 1st year.