I’m late to the Adoption Carnival Party today, but I’m still going to play:

This month’s Grown in my Heart Adoption Carnival is:

Carnival III: Photos of Adoption. What is your most treasured adoption photo (or two)? Block out faces if you have to, find a scanner, or simply tell us about it if you can’t post it. We do understand that.

For me, my most tresured Adoption Photos is a no brainer:

See, this is the first time ever that all four of my children were together

As in; breathing the same air, in the same room, much less the same camera viewfinder.
In fact, while I had met up with Max earlier in the year for our face to face reunion, none of the other kids had ever met their brother until this day.

It was a great day to begin with

If you can’t tell by my not so traditional garb, this is the day that Rye and I actually married, August 19th, 2007. After making him wait 7 years after Rye first asked, we finally decided that our 8th anniversary would be a good day to make it legal. And so, because “it’s how we roll” we planned a huge fun party at our favorite bar and planned a good time.

Now, I had sent an invite out to Max, but I didn’t hear back from him. By time the wedding had come about I had convinced myself that he just wasn’t coming and that was OK. I didn’t want to spend the whole day either looking around like a goon or feeling sad and disappointed. Us birth moms often have to rely on mental tricks like that to keep ourselves sane, you know. Anyway, I was busy enough to keep my adoption brain occupied as a whole flock of us all got ready in my room.

I was almost done with my pre-wedding primping, when Garin came back from Snapper’s where his band was setting up ( yes, I let the teens Punk band play at my wedding!) and as I was getting ready to apply the lovely fake French nails, he says to me; “I think I saw Max there.” That’s the kind of phrase that makes me fall off the side of the bed, so I have to struggle to remain composed and NOT let bad adoption crap create a shadow over the rest of my life. Hard to act nonchalant, though.

Anyway, we finish up, leave the house, and take some pictures. We walked down the street that I live, down past the office that I now work in, over to Snapper’s.

And I see practically everyone that I know and love in this world all in one place at one time and it’s a happy occasion. And I do manage to forget about adoption; I am happy. I see Rye and I go to him.

And he says, “Do you see who’s here?” and he spins my around by the shoulders, and finishes with, “It’s Max!”

It’s about 7 minutes later that this picture is taken.

After I had stammered and gushed with mad hugs all around, as I tried not to cry off my make-up and blubber like an idiot, the very next thought in my head was to gather all my children together. Just to see them all at once for the very first time in my life, was of prime importance.

This is that moment.

I am the happiest I have ever been in my life.