Bryson James Murray

It is official, you are Bryson James Murray!

At 8:45 this morning our lawyer called to inform us that the judge signed your final order of adoption this week and everything is signed, sealed, and delivered. We will get our copy this week, order the new birth certificates, close the doors to this part of our life and move on as our forever family! With or without the paperwork I have known since the moment I met you that you were my forever child and you had been waiting for me. That we would learn, grow, and explore the world around us together and never look back.

My heart dropped when I listened to the news and a felt as if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders. The news I have been waiting to hear.. finally! I cried a little but tears of joy - you were in the bath tub (where you like to spend a good deal of times these days) and I just smiled at you and said "you are officially Bryson James Murray - welcome to the family!" Its hard to explain and describe what all of this means. The years of waiting for this day and the roller coaster of a ride it has been to get here. I know God has plans for both of us. That it really is out of our hands and life happens on its own time when everything falls into place and as we have seen with the entire adoption process, nothing we can do can make it happen faster or in a different way. The adventure had to lead me to you. I went to Uzbekistan and back, worked my way through an agency in Montana, held on to a brief bit of hope in Maine, and then finally found my way to Idaho in order to hold you in my arms. Who would have thought that the little boy I saw on a webpage sitting with his older sister would one day land himself into my arms and curled up in my heart forever? Who would have thought that a child who had fallen through the cracks for so many years would be the light of the life for so many he encountered? Who would have thought a child could have so much life, personality, and spunk after all he had been through? Well, you saved it all for me. You knew you would find yourself in the hands of a family and you knew you had so much to offer the world it was worth fighting for. And you knew all that spunk you have offer would be paybacks for my childhood days :) We are two peas in a pod who like to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders but are both learning everyday to let down our guard, trust those around us, and simply enjoy our lives together and today was another stepping stone on that path.

I look back at paperwork, and pictures, and think about the process it has been on occasion and once I spoke with the social workers in Idaho about you it all happened so smoothly (minus missing a flight to pick you up) and quickly that I don't think either of us had to time to think. You were legally free for adoption in January of 2010. I submitted my home study and letter of interest on March 22nd, 2010. On March 31st, 2010 I received a phone call and email that the selection committee had met and I was selected - that I was matched with my son. On April 13th, we received confirmation that both Idaho and Virginia approved the adoption (the say that it was the fastest approval they have ever seen). On April 19th, 2010 I arrived in Idaho and laid eyes on you for the first time and fell in love with you. Then, May 13th, 2010 you finally came home. I have to tell you baby, that is very fast compared to what I have seen and worked through in the past. So today, January 22nd, 2010 we have been told that the process is finalized, only 8 months after you arrived home and less then a year after I met you. I will find out what actual day the judge signed the degree but really we have always known nothing could separate us once you arrived home.

I know you do not completely understand all that happened today, the relief, the giant steps forward, and the security that this means, but I do know you realized, a long time ago, that this was final. When we walked through security at the airport in Idaho you suddenly had a new name, a new life, and there was no looking back. You took everything in stride and in all honesty accepted what was placed in front of you. Not that you don't have your moments and I see the times you take a few seconds of reflection but you are allowed that. You are allowed to take in the world around you, to see, to hear, and to absorb all that is occurring. You are allowed to simply be Bryson James Murray!

I love you baby and I cannot wait to start this next chapter of our lives

Mommy