Our Lifemark and Kirk Cameron

Exactly one year from our "Gotcha Day,"  the day we had Roman in our arms, I went to see the new adoption movie called Lifemark starring Kirk Cameron.  Brian was out of town so I took Isaac with me to see it to celebrate the day.  It was a really sweet movie, and I admit that I cried during most of it because it really hit home with me as we approached our official adoption day when we would finalize our adoption of Roman after more than a year of loving and caring for him as our very own.

One week later was our biannual benefit dinner for an organization that is dear to our heart, A Woman's Haven.  They provide help and services of all kinds for women with unplanned pregnancies to be able to choose life and love.  The speaker for this event was Kirk Cameron, and since we are VIPs and host a table every time they have an event, we got to meet him before the dinner for a photo and a quick meet and greet.  I was so excited to tell him that we were finalizing our adoption the very next day!  He has four adopted children and two biological as well.

Fast forward to the next day.  We kept the big kids home from school.  We were all in our living room with the laptop hooked up to the TV on a Zoom call with the court in Kansas.  It was a beautiful moment, and again I cried.  I cried the moment that the judge said the final words congratulating us as Roman's forever family!  It is such a relief to finally have this adoption decree and for Roman to have our name.  We love him so much and he has felt like ours really since very shortly after we got him.  What a precious gift we have been given!  He's already made us better people, each and every one of us.  

We at least got part of everyone in a selfie!

I think he likes us too!

Roman Gabriel Charles FORVER!

 He is our Lifemark.  He has indelibly marked our life.  And just like in the movie (based on a rtrue story) we thank Roman's birth parents for choosing life, choosing us, and making this amazingly cute, little guy.  He is not "less than" for having Down syndrome; he has something "extra" and it's not just a chromosome.  We adopted him on September 23rd, but I am posting this in October, which  is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  So happy DS Awareness Month!