I really don’t understand all the reasons, but there is a requirement that when a step-parent wants to adopt a step-child, there is a 1 year mandatory waiting period. You can start all the paperwork before that year is up, but the adoption can’t take place until that 1 year mark has been reached. This is the “dragging its feet” part. That deadline was 1 month ago.

Johanna and I mailed the last of the paperwork shortly after that 1 year milepost, and were wondering how long we would have to wait to hear from our lawyer. As of Friday last week, we still hadn’t heard…so we decided to call and find out what he knew. On Monday of this week, he hadn’t heard anything, but expected that the courts were getting caught up from the weekend (Utah now closes all gvt. offices on Fridays, shorter work weeks). Tuesday, he called us and asked “Can you make a 10:15 court appearance on Thursday?”

Wow. That was the “really move” part.

So today we went to the courthouse, and the Judge looked over the papers. The lawyer asked me a whole bunch of “just answer yes to these, so we can get it all on record” type of questions. After a few comments on how cute our kids were, the judge said in a very anti-climactic sort of way, something to the effect of “Congratulations. This file is now sealed, and this adoption is completed.”

What?! That’s it?! That only took 15 minutes!

Now, lest you think I am not as excited about an event as life-changing as this, worry not. I really AM excited!!! I was just really expecting something more. The closest I can come to describing the feeling is to say it’s just like getting released from a mission (y’all who have done that know what I mean.) It’s way simpler than your imagination makes it out to be.

And so, Aiden and James are now officially members of the Dodge family. Their names are officially changed in the courts – now we just wait for new birth certificates to arrive and go get new social security cards. Johanna needs to get her name changed at the social security office as well (I give y’all permission to tease her about being so prompt…but politely…)

It’s not quite as big an event as when Glen was born, I doubt anything is as life-changing as the birth of a child. But still, I think it’s pretty dang cool!

Our Ford Windstar has just become a real Dodge Caravan.

So here it is, a picture of all 4 Glen Dodges. And just for kicks, a picture of Glen, Glenna and Glen. Do you think we have overused this name? Or is it just taking this many attempts to get things right? We’ll just have to see.

You see, earlier this week, everyone was asking me “How’s the baby doing? You getting any sleep?” and I felt obliged to make some comment about how his feeding schedule meshed with my need for rest. But Johanna doesn’t like me saying anything, because the truth of the matter is that so far, he hasn’t caused me to lose much.

Glen is really pretty mellow, and Johanna doesn’t want a bottle lear his mouth for fear he will stop nursing altogether. So my job consists of nudging her when I hear him cry (she is wearing ear plugs because of my snoring), and getting a diaper from the closet for her. I lose a total of 5 minutes of sleep whenever he wakes up, which isn’t anything at all.

Some of you out there will undoubtedly cry “foul” when you read this, saying I should do more to help out. And I would LOVE to do more. But nursing is out of the question. Occasionally Johanna does let me change the diaper, but this is just the way things have worked out so far.

So no more asking if I am losing sleep. The answer is “Yes, some, but not enough to fuss over.” I am sure that the simple act of writing that statement will call down the wrath of Murphy’s Law, and the road will get rocky from here. But I won’t make a peep…Johanna won’t have me complaining at all…if anyone gets to, it’s her.

Oh, and I should explain that James is wearing a mask in some of these because he has a bad cold, and we don’t want Glen to get it.

Normally I try to remember to call Johanna when I am leaving work, so she knows how long to cook dinner and when to expect me home. This day was no different…or so I thought.

The call started out like most of them do, with the “Hey there”, “Howdy”, “Where you at?” “Driving on the freeway with Dad” sort of stuff. But then, something amiss.

“Ask your Dad to be on call tonight.”

“What do you mean…wait…you’re thinking it could be tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ve been miserable all day, and these things are coming every 5 minutes or so.”

Needless to say, I told Dad, called and told Mom, and when I got home, we packed overnight gear for the kids. By the time that was done, Johanna was miserable at regular 3 minute increments. En route to Mom and Dad’s house, we stopped by Apollo Burger for a sort of “Last Supper” before the big night. But then, a strange thing started to happen.

After eating, the cramps slowed, got irregular timing, and by the time we were at Mom and Dad’s house, she couldn’t tell me what was going on. Just to be safe, she said, let’s leave the kids here, and go home. If I go into labor, we won’t have to make any detours, we can just head straight for the hospital.

And that is how Johanna got the best night of sleep she has had in over 8 months.

And still, we wait.