A breeze before the storm

Adoption # 3: What a breeze.....sort of The breeze: Our third adoption was very smooth. We had no issues! Other than some people thought we were crazy because Trey had just turned one. Everything just fell into place. We did all of the paperwork, home study etc... and then waited.
About 2 months later we received a call. Peyton was born healthy. His situation was fairly solid. There was little chance the birth mother would reconsider. We waited our 2 weeks. LB, the foster mom, sent us pictures and information during that time.( Above: the first picture we received of him.)
We flew to Alabama with my awesome mother-in -law. We asked her to come with us because we needed help! The thought of traveling with three kids for the first time was pretty scary. We were so happy we asked her. She was a life saver. I was so motion sick on the plane ride home that P(mother-in- law)held Peyton the entire time. They bonded. Peyton still quite likes his Grandma.
THE STORM: We had to hire an attorney after arriving home. This is necessary so we can finalize the adoption at 6 months.
We were very disappointed to find out that our previous attorney who was so awesome had switched jobs and no longer could do adoptions. We found someone else. We met with him. I didn't feel that we clicked. My instinct was we should go with someone else but naturally I ignored my instinct.
An attorney who knows his job will collect what he needs to finalize from the adoption agency. He will then do all the necessary work and call around 6 months to get a court date. The process is and should be fairly simple by this point.
Well.. Our attorney didn't do anything. He was impossible to contact. When Peyton was 8 months old and we still had not been able to reach our attorney. I did something I should have done along time ago. I gave him the boot.(no, we didn't pay him a dime)
I heard from a friend that Larry Jenkins was excellent. I called him and asked him to represent us. I could tell from our very first conversation that he was the man for the job.
After he took over, we found out that our previous attorney really didn't do anything. Our birth father still had rights because he never sent the birth father petition. (stays in a registry for 30 days during which time the birth father can come forward and claim his parental rights.) It should have been done months ago.
Jenkins and staff did what they needed to do and in October we were able to finalize. Peyton was nearly a year old.
My advice is: Find and adoption specialist such as Jenkins to represent you, even if it costs a little more. It is worth it!!!

Peyton is one year old. He brings us so much joy! He has the cutest smile and fun personality. We love him!