It’s Max’s Gotcha Day!

Today is the day we celebrate the official entrance of Max into our family. This day last year we gathered with family and friends to sit in a Warren County, OH, court room before a judge to finalize Max’s adoption. While we met him just two days after his birth and had him in our custody shortly after that, it was finally official and legal on April 22, 2014.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since that transpired. Much has happened since that day and, as with everyone who reads this post, life has moved on.

The picture at the top of the page is Max on his Gotcha Day. Today he is walking, repeating a lot of words (some easier to understand than others) and constantly wanting to go outside. One of his most repeated words at this stage in his life is “Go!”

We are grateful for Max and look forward to how he will continue to grow, continue to change our family and influence those around him.

Max is 1!

This was a big weekend for our family. Max is a year old! It’s always fun to put the cake (with icing, of course) in front of the birthday boy and watch him go to town. He didn’t really hesitate and, as you can see, had cake and icing all over his face, hands and a few other places.

For most parents, it seems the first year goes by quickly. You feel like you bring your baby home from the hospital and before you know it, he is sitting up, then crawling, then starting to walk and you are putting the first candle on the cake.

We had two celebrations this weekend with Max. The first was on his birthday (Saturday) and he got his very own pancake. We went to one of our favorite breakfast restaurants and our server brought out a candle and sang and everything. It was a fun morning.

Then on Sunday, we got together with Max’s birth mom (Mommy Kate), Grandma Terie, Aunt Sissy and some other special friends and family to celebrate. It was a fun afternoon and just highlighted what a blessing Max has been to both our family and to his birth family. I don’t think my wife and I imagined celebrating Max’s birthday this way when we first adopted him, but I don’t think we would change a thing.

We are so thankful to have Max as part of our family and look forward to many more birthdays with him.

Gotcha! 04/22/14

Yesterday – April 22, 2014 – was a pretty big day for our family. It will be known as Max’s Gotcha Day. Gotcha Day is the day we celebrate Max’s official entrance into our family. We know several adoptive families that celebrate their children’s Gotcha Day.

Max was born September 27 and was placed in our home October 1, but yesterday was the day the judge finalized his adoption. While we can’t imagine our family without him, yesterday was the day he legally became a Brackemyre.

It was great to celebrate the day with his four siblings, three of his grandparents, an uncle and several friends who were able to sit in the courtroom. We also had a friend who is a photographer attend to capture some pictures of the day. The photo of Max and his brothers and sister on this page was taken by her. Only a few of the other pictures have a been posted, but more are to come. You can check them out (along with other photos by the photographer) on her Facebook page – Susan Marie Photography

When Max was just weeks old, Cheryl and I gave a quick recap of how Max became part of our family. It was originally used in the worship services at CrossView Christian Church and then was shown at the Wilmington Church of Christ. It just gives the backdrop to how we got to meet and pursue the adoption of Max.

We are so grateful to have Max as part of our family and look forward to helping him grow to be a man of God.