Post-placement Pieces

As with many life endeavors, there are more pieces to the story than surface circumstances reveal. On the outside of our adoption journey it would appear that everything was final when Eli was placed in our home. In all actuality, post-placement steps are still in progress.

After an adoption placement has taken place, post-placement visits must occur. We have had three monthly visits from our case worker since Eli was placed in our care. These visits are prerequisites for filing a court petition for adoption finalization. Our visits were no longer than an hour and were enjoyable. Our case worker came to our house to see how Eli was doing. She asked us how he has been the last month such as what he is eating now, what his sleeping and eating patterns are, what changes have taken place, how are we adjusting, etc. Once her part was finished, our case worker provided us with the opportunity of asking her questions such as has our birth mom viewed Eli's pictures, how is our birth mom doing, what are the next steps, how long will it take to get our court date, etc.

Court date? Yes, we still have to attend a court hearing before Eli's adoption is final. Once our post-placement visits were complete, those documents were given to our adoption attorney. She then filed our court petition. We received notification this week that we have an official court date! Eli's adoption will be finalized on June 4th at 9 a.m.!!!!!! After the judge signs off on our paperwork, we will be able to apply for Eli's new birth certificate and social security card. We are looking forward to that special day, even though in our hearts Eli is already officially a Miller!

Four Months Old Photo Shoot with Mommy

Four Months Old!