Day 29: Colombia Recognizes Daniel as a Forrester

Tuesday, June 21st was the BEST Day for the Forrester Family. Afer a month in Colombia we finally got the sentencia from a judge saying Daniel is our official baby boy. It was an emocional day.

We got up early because we were waiting for Lucia's call at any time. Around noon we got the good news. Our court appoinment was for 2:30 pm. Also, she recommended for Brian and Daniel to stay at the condo because it was going to be a long afternoon of paperwork. We went out to eat a quick lunch and right after that I headed to Casa Lanthana with my grandfather to meet Lucia's partner Andres, who was going to take us to the court in downtown Bogota. Around 2:15 we arrived at the building and met our lawyer Oscar.

We went trough all the paperwork to make sure all the information was correct. It melted my heart to see my son's name for the first time on paper with our last name. I don't have words to describe the moment. It was awesome. I signed the papers and we waited for about 30 minutes for the judge to sign it. Andres and the lawyer shook my hand and told me congratulations, "It is official. Daniel is your son."

 At that point I was ready to cry. My son, my fist son, was finally offcially my baby boy.

Right after that we headed out to the Notary to change Daniel's last name to Forrester on his birth certificate. In Colombia, you need to go to the Notary where you were first registered to obtain original birth certificates or make any changes. This means we were going to the Notary where Daniel was first registered. It was a special connection to part of Daniel's past. It was really far away and the traffic in Bogota can be a mess sometimes.

As soon as we walked into the Notary building, I saw all the couples registering the little babies. I became a really proud mom also. I was going to register our baby boy under our names as his parents. What a great feeling! What a great Day!!!

While we were waiting to get copies of the documents, I finally had time to call Brian and give him an update. He was really excited also and couldn't wait to celebrate. He also had great news for me. He was having a great afternoon with Daniel; a great bonding time for both of them.

I got home around 7 pm. It was a long day for everybody. As soon as Daniel saw me at the front door he was so excited that he was jumping and screaming like crazy. It was like he knew what a great and significant day we had as a family of three. All my exhaustion melted and I was ready for some play time with my son. I love my two boys with all my heart.

Good nigh everybody. We have another busy day tomorrow!!!

Claudia