One year ago today, I called our agency director and he told me we passed court in Ethiopia. We finally had a child, a perfect little boy. He was legally and forever ours. Sam was a DeZutti at last.
Can you believe it? I can’t.
I looked at him this morning and realized I’ve had the priviledge of being his mama for the past year. And it has been bliss. Pure bliss.
I am a big believer in miracles: amazingly fantastical moments you think could never occur, but magically do, and JUST in time. And, ladies & gentlemen, I’m very pleased to be able to present to you the first of this holiday season: a wonderful family, whom I am very honored to call friends, just received their court date for gorgeous little Evie: December 28th. How fabulous is that? (let’s collectively cross fingers & toes that this means first time passage and travel by the end of January!!)
So, party over here. Please leave your congratulations for the Kovac family!
It’s officially official! It’s all legal-schmegal, with a court order and everything. Our little Yeabsera DeZutti is now, finally and forevermore, Samuel Louis Yeabsera DeZutti. In other words, Sam is now SAM.
Here is the proof:
Now, we can get an IL birth certificate, apply for citizenship, and get that boy a passport!! Oh, and we have to change his SS card, as we didn’t anticipate receiving it before the court order. Way to go federal gov’t!
Although the final decree won’t be entered until December 9th, today we went to court, swore before the Judge, had orders entered and Sam is now “technically,” if not officially, SAM. For those not familiar with the process, when we passed court in Ethiopia, Sam became Yeabsera DeZutti but is not officially Samuel Louis Yeabsera DeZutti until a judge in the US says so.
No one told Sam about daylight savings time, so he was VERY fussy/cranky, but we made it through the 2 minute hearing, and Sam even got officially “served” by the Sheriff!
We were thrilled Grandma DeZutti could come to court for our big day. My folks are in Pennsylvania but we know they were thinking about us!
Some photos marking our big day:
very tired fussy boy with our Judge
enjoying pancakes after court
exhausted boy waiting for the train
SAM DeZutti and his happy parents!
Oh, and if you live in Illinois, I can let you know the process…very simple, no need for attorney, and less than $200 for the entire process. Just send me an email.
Because WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!! Never thought I’d say that again, but Monday November 2nd, yes THIS MONDAY, is Sammy’s readoption day. I filed the papers today. Can you believe it? Guess there was an opening on the judge’s calendar.
My parents will be in Pennsylvania, but we hope my MIL can make it. I’ll take tons of pictures…promise!
Re-adoption is NOT a requirement in Illinois. That being said, we WANT to re-adopt Sam in Illinois because (1) we want to legally change his name. It is currently what’s on his ETH passport: Yeabsera Gregg DeZutti. We want it to be: Samuel Louis Yeabsera DeZutti (boy that’s a mouthful!) (2) we want to legally change his birthdate (they got it wrong on his passport.) and (3) we want a US/Illinois birth certificate. Although we have a legal ETH birth certificate, it will be easier for Sam down the road if he has a US one as well. Since the name change requires a court order, and since we cannot get the birth certificate without a signed petition for re-adoption, we might as well start the whole process. In Illinois it supposedly only takes about 8 weeks to complete.
Right now (literally, as I type this) I’m researching whether or not we need to hire a family law attorney for the process in our county. The lady on the phone (I’m on hold) is telling me no, I can DIY it. I have to find a copy of the Petition for Re-Adoption which the judge signs and then enters a Decree of Judgment Order (which changes his name.) Then we send that in with a form and VIOLA! a birth certificate is issued.
Hopefully, sometime before or around the holidays, I’ll be posting pictures of our court day and of Sam’s official Illinois birth certificate!
What did we do after we found out we passed court?? Called every frickin’ person we know, of course. Then I emailed everyone we know, Facebooked everyone I know, and updated the yahoo group and blog.
After that, everyone said we have to have a “celebratory dinner.” G and I are on a strict “spending no money” plan, so we decided to make dinner at home. The grill is already out and ready, so we decided on a steak dinner. We went to Target and got the 2 biggest T bone steaks we could find, along with salad fixins and potatoes for baking. The result was this:
for less than $10/person. Cannot BEAT that, can you?
Soon we will be with Sam forever…can you believe it??
I now present, in his first internet appearance, Samuel Louis Yeabsera DeZutti.
Sam, Sammy, Yabby, Little Bug, Tiger…it doesn’t matter what you call him, he’s just OUR SON. Wow, I typed that, he’s OUR SON. LEGALLY, OFFICIALLY, UNEQUIVICALLY, AND FOREVERMORE a DeZutti. We are a family. I am breathless.
WOW! I am so overjoyed for my friend, and fellow AAA mom, Mona. Mona got “the call” today that Janissa is HERS and they ARE A FAMILY! Ie: Janissa passed court today in Ethiopia.
Visit Mona’s blog here and gaze upon this perfect little girl for yourself. CONGRATS Dube family, CONGRATS!!!
In a few short weeks, I will be PRIVLEDGED to meet Mona and Janissa IN PERSON in Ethiopia. Mona and I are both staying at the orphanage guest house, so Janissa and Sam will have a lot of play time together (although Janissa is 3 months older, we think they have been playing together for a while now) and Mona and I will have some mommy time together! I’m so excited to meet this amazing woman and her daughter!
I don’t have any clever words today. I am in awe, and frightened, and excited, and about to jump out of my skin all at the same time. Ie: I think I’m in the same place as ANY AP at this point in the game.
Please think of us tomorrow. I’ll post pictures as soon as we have confirmation.
Vicarious Cuteness 