A TRUE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE..........

December 24, 2010  9:00am Ekaterinburg time we walked into the brand new court house and into our court room.  I looked around the room and saw Irina, the wonderful Social Worker that we had met several times and the Psychologist from the Orphanage, what a lovely woman as well.  The judge sat on her throne in her robe and to be honest, she did not look as daunting and scary as I had anticipated.  The prosecutor sat at a desk to her right in a uniform that reminded me of the communist era; I giggled as I thought of our prosecutors in the states having to wear this get up ! 

At the desk to the right the social worker and Psychologist and we sat to the left with our translator Olga. 

Two nights prior Olga had prepared us for court, and I have to say that she did a fantastic job !
She layed out the entire scenario piece by piece and then gave us the daunting list of questions that we worked on for two days and took less than 2 hours to detail back to the judge.

 

THE COURT STRUCTURE:
1) Introductions
2) Our Story - includes questions by Prosecutor and Judge
3) Social Worker Speech and Psychologist Speech
4) Prosecutor Speech
5) Judge's Resolution
6) Forms Signing

Our Court lasted from about 9:15 am when we began until about 12:30pm. It took a little longer than normal because we had two children's information to review.   Joe went first, as we had planned, and he did great.  He was calm and to the point and didn't bable on like he does in real life ! (lol).  The judge on several occasions told him to speed it up because she had another case waiting in the hallway; this really worked to our advantage because I think it could have been alot worse if she had a lot of time on her hands !
Joe was thinking, "NO, you wanted all this information B and now you're gonna listen to it !", but of course he didn't say that. He just complied and spoke faster.  Joe spoke for about 52 minutes about our interactions with the boys and about the medicals, then the judge asked him to sit and me to get up.

To all of you that worried that my big mouth would get the better of me, you would have been proud. She DID NOT shake me for even a second ! I spoke for about 45 minutes and I answered all of her questions quickly and to the point and didn't even need to look at my paperwork, I did it all on the fly. (I work much better that way.)  BUT, the answer of the day was :
Judge Says (thru translator) "So, you have 2 children, they are sick, they are crying, you are trying to read, you can't go out for a walk, the kids want to eat, you must cook for them and then you and your husband, you have not slept, Joseph is working, the home is messy, blah blah blah blah.....Do you really think this is easy and you can handle this, what will you do when this happens?"   ........the translator looked at me, I posied  myself and looked right into the judge's eyes and said  " I cannot wait." ----------SHE REMAINED SILENT.  It was at that point that I believe she had no further questions for me.  

The prosecutor asked a few questions about punishment and discipline, which we answered with no problems.  Then we spoke about Theoretical and practical knowledge of raising children.  - I always loved this questions because one would think that all parents are naturally given the complete ability to understand, discipline, associate, and handle children when they are born....HA !  What makes a bio child easier than an adopted child; why because you already know and understand the messed up genes they come from ?!

The Social Worker and the Psychologist spoke and said wonderful things about us and our interactions with the kids. They said things about our visits with the boys that I could not believe they remembered or that they were even paying attention.  Goes to show you, you have to be careful who's watching !  They remembered a time on trip one in March 2010, when Pavel's skin was dry and I was rubbing lotion on it and she said that I had acted at that time as if this was already my child.  (she was right).

The Psychologist also confirmed that we interacted with the kids and played with them and that she watched Joe lie down and place the children on his stomach on several occasions.  She also watched us rub the children's backs and massage their shoulders and legs and she confirmed how important this contact is with the children to facilitate bonding.  She also noted that Pavel and Alexander have truly bonded as brothers since our two weeks of visits with them and they all saw the change in them as siblings.

These comments made us feel really great  and even more so that we could not wait to take them home ! Don't make us wait 10 more days !!! AHHHHHHHH. 

But it was a great day and tonight we will celebrate with Don and Julie Palazini from Rhode Island, they became Anton's Parents on Dec 22, 2010 !  Anton is in the same class and Pasha and Sasha as well.  They will be losing 3 children from their class, but all going to great homes.

The SW and Psychologist were also happy that when we were asked why we are adopting 2 children, Joseph said "because we don't want any child to be an only child. We want them to have a sibling and to always have someone that they can count on. ".  They were very happy with this answer because many people have answered "because we don't want to do the paperwork all over again for a second.". 

We wanted one or two, and we were lucky enough to get twin brothers !  We are the Lucky ones !
and in just a 2 weeks they will be home FOREVER !!!!

I will post pics when I finish my wine !!  Thank you for all your support ! and Thank you Lord for giving us the greatest Christmas Miracle anyone could ever want !

CELEBRATING WITH OUR RUSSIAN FRIENDS ANATOLY AND MARIA !



DON AND JULIA FROM RI - ADOPTED ANTHONY ON 12/22/10 !!  AN AMERICAN CELEBRATION !