Today is a very special day for our family. Three years ago today Erich and I stood before a Russian judge in court and promised to be Josh's parents. I still remember sitting on those hard wooden benches while waiting our turn and how nervous we were while we waited for the judge's final decision after all the documents were examined and we had each answered her questions.

I couldn't find a photo from court day as we weren't allowed to see Josh that day (court was 3 hours away from the orphanage so not much time for a visit) but I did find one from another special day in December of 2009, the day we met to be exact. The second is from a couple weeks ago at Erich's birthday party. It's hard to remember how tiny he was when we first saw him!





This year is actually extra special too as tomorrow is the social worker visit for our fourth and final post placement report. I know some families have thought these reports to be intrusive but it has actually been kind of fun to go through my pictures every year and pick out a dozen or so to represent our family's year to Russia and show them how we are doing. And honestly at this point we've interacted with the two social workers from our agency so often that its not really like we're having a stranger over anymore. It's a major milestone that completes Josh's adoption requirements completely but I think I may kind of miss it though I won't miss writing the check:)