Annual adoption day swells 49 Clark County families — PHOTOS

The well-dressed 15-month-old boy played with a bright yellow balloon without realizing his life — and even his name —were about to change forever.

About two hours later, the child was in the courtroom of Clark County Family Court Judge Cynthia Giuliani, where he became Oliver Buhl, dropping his old last name to officially join the family of Darci and Devin Buhl. Oliver was the couple's 18th foster child.

"With him, it's always been different," Darci said. "He just fits right in."

The toddler was among 75 children who were adopted Wednesday by 49 families during Clark County's 13th-annual adoption day event. Nevada Supreme Court Justice Nancy Saitta was one of several officials on hand to honor the parents. Wednesday's adoptions should bring the total number of adoptions to 531 by the end of this month, said Michael Knight, assistant director for the Clark County Department of Family Services.

The department had a total of 552 adoptions in 2014, Knight said. That's down from 718 in 2011, 603 in 2012 and 573 in 2013.

"We always hope to pass last year's numbers," he said of the 2014 total.

Adoptions spiked in 2011 because there was a backlog of termination of parental rights cases in Family Court, said Erik Pappa, Clark County spokesman. The Department of Family Services hired two deputy district attorneys to help process those cases, which resulted in the higher number of adoptions. In order for a child to be adopted, their parents need to have their parental rights terminated.

Around 500 adoptions per year is the norm, Pappa said.

Wednesday's adoptions included three children older than 13, Knight said. The department usually has about 100 children waiting to be adopted.

"We have children of all age ranges," he said, adding that there's also large sibling groups.

Event's like Wednesday's helps the department raise awareness about children in need of a foster or adoptive families, Knight said.

This wasn't the first time the Buhl family adopted a child. Their eldest daughter, Madeline, 8, was the couple's first foster child before she was adopted as a newborn.

The couple has two biological children — Hadley, 6, and Bridger, 4, and is also fostering a month-old girl.

Their children kept asking if the family was going to be able to keep Oliver.

"We can finally say, yes!" the mother said with excitement.

"It's good to have everything finalized," the father added.

Tracy and Frank Damewood also returned home Wednesday with two new daughters — Sage, 2, and Kami, 1.

Four years ago, they adopted twin 5-year-old boys, Nate and Luke, and have a third son, Trey, 9.

"We love Kami, she's just a little crazy," one of the twins said in the courtroom of Family Court Judge Frank Sullivan before her adoption was finalized.

All the Damewood's children have special needs, but that doesn't matter to them.

"We are committed," the mother said.

For more information about adopting or fostering children: 702-455-0181.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-4773843. Find her on Twitter: @YeseniaAmaro