The Last Good-Bye

We had a brief visit with Emma today. I posted a couple of photos of her playing. I also posted a picture of the baby house kitchen. Like the rest of the baby house, it was clean and organized. As we left the baby house, a heap of snow dropped right in front of us. A bit startled, we looked up and saw a young man on the roof shoveling off snow that landed right in front of the entrance. Another of today’s sights was the lady with the dog in the snowsuit. We’ve seen her before, and I think I posted a picture of her on one of the early posts, but I swear the doggy had a different outfit on today. It seems even the canines in this former capital city have fashion sense.

After the baby house visit, we went to the law offices to do paperwork, to the notary, then back to the law offices, and to the notary again! Then we made a final trip to the Ramstore to get the candy we promised to bring to the boys. That left packing and blogging (or in Jim’s case, napping) for these last few hours in Kaz. One of these photos is the view from our apartment that I took as I was putting off the packing part.

In a way, we’re both glad that Emma is too young to understand that we’re leaving again today. We wish there was something we could do to speed up this process. Anyone who knows me well knows that I’ve tried just about everything I can think of to control, influence, or at least understand this process. I’ve finally come to the realization that we are not the ones coming to get Emma, but that she is being given to us. Now we have nothing to do but try to patiently wait to receive this most precious of gifts.

The judge said YES!

Great news everyone - this morning the judge approved Emma’s adoption!

Court went well for us. It lasted about twenty minutes. Neither one of us had to give a speech. The judge asked us questions and we answered. Our facilitator prepared us well for what would be asked, and also the “four points” we were to mention when asked why we were coming before the court:
1. To ask for a favorable decision regarding the adoption of our daughter,
2. To give her the name Emma Rose Petre,
3. To keep the place and date of birth on her birth certificate the same, and
4. To list us as her parents.

Some of the questions the judge asked were centered around our home, family, jobs, income, health, and marriage. We were asked why we wanted to adopt. We told her that nothing gives us more joy than being parents, and we wished to give a child already born a family. We had to prove to the judge that we visited Emma for two weeks with date-stamped photographs. The judge was concerned that Emma is Asian, and we are Caucasian. She asked us how did we think she would feel about looking different than other family members. This gave us the opportunity to show the judge pictures of our beautiful nieces Lea and Carlee who were adopted from China. We told the judge Emma looks like her cousins, and that they can’t wait to meet her. Lea and Carlee - if you are reading this you should know that because you are members of the Petre family, you have helped Emma to have a family too!

Someday we will tell Emma about the morning we went to court and asked the judge to let us be her parents. We’ve posted a picture of us outside the courthouse after the session was over. We’ll remember that when we came out, it was the sunniest morning we have ever seen here in Kazakhstan.

A Better Day

Today was a better day. It started with a phone call from our family back home. It was great to hear your voices!

We visited with Emma this morning. It went better than yesterday. She was still quite hesitant to play with us, and mainly wanted to be held by Mom and walked around the (very small) room over and over. She gradually let Jim get closer to her, and smiled a little when he starting banging blocks together with her. We regret not packing the hammer toy this time, as she really enjoys making noise with her toys (the toy just made us a little crazy last time since there was no way to turn it off, and it would sound off constantly just from being jostled in the toy bag). Boys: we are going to need your help in keeping the noise level up once we get home to keep Emma entertained - somehow I don’t think this will be a problem. Emma let Mom give her a few airplane rides, which drew a few smiles but not the belly laughs we’re used to. She also seemed bothered by the camera, so again, we didn’t take too many pictures. We’ve posted one picture of a mural painted in a stairwell. It was impressive, although we’re sure it would have been even nicer if it had been painted by Cricket and Grandma Judy, designers of the childrens’ mural in our office. We got to stay during Emma’s lunchtime, and are glad to report she is still the fastest eater we have ever seen.

This evening we enjoyed dinner with our friends the Kilpatricks from the US embassy. They were grateful for the margarita ingredients we brought from the states (yep that’s the margarita drink, not the pizza). We were grateful for some wonderful chicken taco soup, salad and cookies, not to mention the fun conversation that took our minds off court. Once we got back to the apartment, reality set in again. Jim and I both practiced the speech, since we can’t be absolutely sure who will be asked to speak tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for rooting for us. Now it’s time to try and get a little sleep.

We made it back to Kaz

Hi everyone! Well after 24 hours of travel we made it back to Almaty, and got into our apartment at 2 AM. It is a larger apartment than our last one, but the TV doesn’t work. Our flights were fine. There were empty seats so we got to stretch out a bit. The only glitch happened during our layover in Frankfurt - going through security Jim was searched, and as we picked up all of our things from the conveyor belt, we didn’t notice that Jim’s laptop was missing. We realized it on the plane, but it was too late. We’re going to check lost-and-found on our way back through Frankfurt, but we’re not terribly optimistic about our chances of recovering it.

Today was busy - no jet lag allowed. We met at the law offices for an hour with our facilitator. She went over the process for court on Monday. She also gave us specific details of the speech Jim is give to the judge (the father is asked to do this). Jim has decided that since he has to memorize and actually give the speech, I should write it. Therefore, that is next on my to-do list.

After our meeting we were taken to the orphanage to visit Emma. She was very shy with us at first, which is understandable given the time between these trips. We tried playing with her, but she was in a somber mood so we didn't push it. She mainly wanted to be held and rocked by Mom. At that point poor exhausted Jim fell asleep on the visitation room floor. We did get her to smile just a bit as the visit went along, but we didn’t take many pictures. It was amazing to feel her in our arms again.

Following the orphanage visit, we went to the Ramstore to get groceries. We also went to buy an international calling card. Unfortunately we can’t get it to work, so please e-mail us or post to the blog if you want to stay in touch. We’re now settling in for the night, and already missing our boys and everyone at home. So I will say goodbye for today…

Court is in One Week!

Hello everyone,
It feels strange being back on the blog after these few weeks at home. We just want everyone to know that our court date is Feb. 25! We fly out on Feb. 21. Look for more blog entries starting (hopefully) on the 23rd or 24th. We are trying to stay calm as we pack and wrap up details here at home. This trip is bittersweet - we get to see Emma again, but we won't be able to bring her home yet. We have to wait out the post-court appeals period of 15 days, and then additional birth certificate and passport processing days. Our agency estimates we won't be able to return for the final trip to bring Emma home until Easter weekend. If will be an awful wait, but then again if it's true - what a wonderful Easter gift for us all!
Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated as we hold our breath waiting to hear the judge say "Yes!" to our adoption of Emma.
Blessings to all, and please post comments to the blog often - it is an amazing comfort to us to hear from you.
Anne and Jim