Tuesday Details

Well, it was such a wonderful day.

I woke up feeling a lot more positive & hopeful. In fact, that blog post when I announced that she was ours? I wrote it BEFORE court. Yep, wrote it up, saved it as a draft, and then went to court. I just knew it would be okay today.

Not that it was easy. The necessary documents were indeed in place, but then another question arose that could have messed things up all over again. I sat there thinking, "oh no. No. We are NOT going through this nonsense all over again." And remember, all of this is being done in Russian, which means I only get the summary of what was said when they stop talking long enough for my poor translator to interpret!

Anyway, that issue was resolved - I'm still not sure how, but it all ended up okay. The MOE lady repeated her approval of the adoption. Then the prosecutor summed up the facts and gave her approval as well. The judge asked if I wanted to continue ... thumbed through all the paperwork .... asked if the current US financial crisis would impact us, to which I could only say, "I hope not!" Then the judge left for a few minutes, and when she came back, she read the formal decree. Adoption granted, WOOOOHOOOO!!!!

Now, of course, we have the ten-day waiting period, during which anyone could appeal the decision. but mostly that's just a chance for me to go home, get some fresh clothes (!), and prepare for the next trip.

After court I went for my last visit. Remember I didn't go on Monday because I was so upset? Well, somebody missed me, I think. They brought her into the room - she whimpered, stuck her thumb in her mouth, and started to fuss. I picked her up and she just kind of melted into my shoulder. Did not move. I walked her back and forth around the room, and she never budged, not once. Didn't throw herself on the floor to have her usual rocking/self-soothing. Didn't push away from me to inspect the toys or hunt for food. She just sank as deep into my shoulder as she could and let me comfort her. That was such a huge step for her. Of course it makes it doubly frustrating to have to leave her again, but now I know that she's attaching to us, learning to trust us and see us as a source of comfort. Major step.

We played all the usual games. She borrowed Vala's copy of Glamour and thumbed through that, getting very excited at the ads for cars. She also had fun pointing at eyes, noses, and mouths on the models, and then pointing to them on herself. But the big hit was Vala's red high heels. Vala is so good with the kids, and so patient - she let LS slip into the shoes and clomp all over the room in them. I can't wait until she sees the dress-up shoes we have at home!

Leaving was very very hard, especially when she tried to slip past us and get to the door. She let me give her lots of kisses, though, and even though I hated to hear her cry as they took her away, I know that in the long run it's a very good sign.

So now, I have to pack (shouldn't take long :-) and try to sleep before I fly home tomorrow. We leave again on the 25, arriving in Astrakhan on the 26. Gotcha Day will be on Josh's birthday, October 27! And how's that for a full circle moment - both our first child and our last will share the same day of joining our family.

Can't wait!!!