Finalization in Court

We were very pleased to find out this week that we have been scheduled with the court to finalize Claire's adoption. We finalize on December 18th! This is really great for several reasons. The most important thing is that this officially makes Claire our daughter forever. This is also when her name officially is changed from Mun Ji-na to Claire Ji-na Charlton. Also, she becomes a US citizen that day as well. The second most important thing about that date is that it is the last date the court is hearing adoption cases in 2008 so we barely made the cut off for tax purposes. Since we finalize this year we will be able to claim Claire on our taxes to get the adoption tax credit. The final thing is that the 18th is my birthday and it just makes the day really special to me that Claire is officially ours on my birthday. Some of you may remember that she actually arrived to us in Chicago on my sister's birthday.

We also found at that at the last court date of the year the Judge dresses like Santa and all the court clerks dress like elves. They give the kids gifts and have cookies and hot chocolate. It sounds kind of goofy but sweet too. This is assuming that it doesn't totally freak the kids out! We'll take pictures and let you know.